May Round-Up | Mission: Impossible, Andor, The Last of Us & more
- amisha
- 24 hours ago
- 5 min read
May saw the return of my favourite action franchise, and the end of The Last of Us S2, The Studio S1 and Andor. I also beat Margit and Godrick in Elden Ring, yay! Read on for more of my highlights from last month...
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Movies 🎬
One of my most anticipated movies of the year, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, may not have fully lived up to my expectations - that first half is an exposition nightmare! - but Tom Cruise always delivers with his insane action set pieces. This time, it's a claustrophobic submarine dive and an aerial biplane chase that had me wondering how the hell Mr Movies pulled it off this time. I'll honestly always enjoy these movies, and hope it's not the end of the road for them. You can read more of my thoughts in my Letterboxd review here.
Another cinema trip this month was for Marvel's Thunderbolts*, which I actually quite enjoyed! Sure, you still get some of those pesky MCU-isms, but the studio seem to have recognised that the reason for our love for these films wasn't empty CGI battles, Glup Shitto cameos, or even intriguing set-ups for the next Avengers movie (though the post-credits scene here does have that) - it's the thrill of seeing a diverse group of heroes and villains riffing off one another. And in this case, it doesn't hurt that we have a cast of actors that includes Sebastian Stan, David Harbour and Wyatt Russell, led by the always brilliant Florence Pugh. If anything, it's a shame we won't get more movies with this group before the next bombastic crossover event.
In the 'Amisha catches up with famous movies' corner, we have 1948's Letter from an Unknown Woman, a tragic melodrama about a man who receives a letter from a woman who has, unbeknownst to him, being in love with him for years. Next up, I filled in a vampire blank spot with Interview with the Vampire starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst. An enjoyable but slightly bonkers movie, with surprisingly great performances by Cruise and Dunst especially.
After finishing Stephen Fry's third Greek mythology book, I was quite intrigued to watch 2004's Troy starring Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana. It was a famously critically panned movie and... yes, it's quite bad - but you know what? The novelty of seeing these mythological characters come to life even in a poor adaptation of the story was enough to keep my at least vaguely interested in this.
Speaking of disappointments, I found The Last of the Mohicans, though well-made with a great score, ultimately quite unengaging. Ditto for The Shape of Water, which was gorgeously crafted with a really sweeping aesthetic, and yet quite a dull story.
Moving onto a recent film, M. Night Shyamalan's Trap has a killer concept and a brilliantly unhinged central performance by Josh Hartnett but a disappointing execution. I'm usually quite game to go along with Shyamalan's often baffling depiction of human interaction but this film stretched credulity so far even I had to tap out. There's a world where this movie focuses more on the father/daughter relationship and pulls out all the tension from that, and I wish that was what we got.
I rewatched quite a few movies too. Wes Anderson's Asteroid City is definitely his best since The Grand Budapest Hotel, even if the radio-play framing device gets a little wearing. Watching Rogue One: A Star Wars Story after Andor was brilliant. Romancing the Stone reminded me of my utter disappointment at the lack of great adventure movies in the last decade. And finally, the National Geographic documentary about the rescue effort for the young Thai football team stuck in a flooded cave, The Rescue, once again restored my faith in humanity.
Shows 📺
The Devil's Plan is a Korean reality-game show that just might be one of the best series of its kind I've ever seen. Each episode features an insanely detailed, well-thought out challenge that genuinely takes about 10 minutes to explain. On the surface, these games may seem overly nerdy or dry, but the editing on the show and the genuinely likable contestants makes this such an engaging, addictive watch. So if you watched The Traitors and wished for better challenges, and, er, smarter contestants, you have to watch The Devils Plan.
The Last of Us S2 came to an end this month. All in all, despite some highs - including a devastatingly emotional flashback episode - this was an odd season. I already have mixed feelings about the second game, but the show doesn't do itself any favours by taking away the potency of the most impactful things about the source material.
A more successful season finale came from Andor, which ended its run as one of the best TV shows of the year, and certainly the best Star Wars has been for ages. I haven't stopped thinking about the show, especially the Ghorman arc in the middle of the season. Check out my favourite lines from the show here.
The Studio also wrapped up its first season, and though the finale wasn't my favourite episode, I've absolutely loved this show. From Seth Rogen's brilliant performance as a hapless movie exec, and the impressively shot oners, to the many, many references to cinematic pop culture, this is one of my favourite comedy shows to debut in the last few years.
Finally, Season 19 of the hit comedy gameshow Taskmaster made its return. My enjoyment of a season entirely depends on the lineup of people and their chemistry, and this season is shaping up to be a great one! I've also gone back to rewatch older episodes on Netflix, and it's such an easy, comforting watch.
Books 📚
I finished Stephen Fry's Troy, a recounting of the mythological battle of (shock horror!) Troy. In all honesty, before reading this, I didn't know much about the myth outside of the famous Trojan horse story and whatever else I'd picked up from Percy Jackson. Fry's retelling of the myth is entertaining and manages to juggle the myriad of names and lineages. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
Gaming 🎮
I am happy to report that I have now vanquished both Margit and Godrick in Elden Ring, the behemoth fantasy RPG from studio FromSoftware made in collaboration with George R.R. Martin (who finds anything to procrastinate from The Winds of Winter, seemingly). As a humble noob, I genuinely didn't think I'd be able to get this far before rage-quitting, so this is a big win.
Other! 🎭🎧
I attended a concert by one of my favourite bands, Wet Leg, at Brixton Academy at the end of last month. It was great fun, and I'm really excited for the release of their newest album. My favourites songs: Angelica, Ur Mum and Catch these fists.
Finally, I started a Substack newsletter, where I'll be going through my 100 favourite movie scores of all time! Check out my page here and subscribe to find out when I next post :)
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