The Sofa and Popcorn Degree

THOR: RAGNAROK starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Cate Blanchett directed by Taika Waititi A review by Helen J. Reynolds This is the third movie to the franchise, though of course Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is part of the Avengers and other spinoffs so by now audiences are pretty familiar with the Viking-styled God of Thunder. So what development - besides a haircut - does Thor: Ragnarok offer? Not much. But it is hilarious, there's about a joke a minute and the ones that got the biggest laughs were probably the simplest. My personal favourite was the idea that Thor routinely hurls random objects at Loki (Tom Hiddleston) just to see if he's really standing there.    The story is about as roundabout as a movie can get: the big prophecy mentioned before the credits comes back for the end, and the stuff in the middle are fast-paced fights with jokes smashed in. Superhero movies do have a tendency to take themselves too seriously but this one keeps in the Th...

THE SNOWMAN starring Michael Fassbender and Rebecca Ferguson directed by Tomas Alfredson A review by Helen J. Reynolds  The Snowman is the second movie to be based on the bestselling novels of Jo Nesbo. This time it's a bit less Scandinavian, and a bit more Hollywood. Michael Fassbender stars as Detective Harry Hole. He's your typical alcoholic who works in mysterious violent crimes and likes to keep people at a distance (unless they can drive him somewhere). Seems a simple enough concept but somehow even that is confusingly layered. Our introduction to Harry starts him out as a homeless man, then crazy gunman, to finally the reveal that he's a police officer. It's a lengthy stretch to mould his character and unnecessary since any fan of this genre will be very familiar with this tragic image of the homicide detective. The story follows a series of murders involving women and the falling of snow. The killer chooses Harry Hole, taunting him in childish n...

BLADE RUNNER 2049 starring Ryan Gosling. Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas directed by Denis Villeneuve A review by Helen J. Reynolds Do androids dream of electric sheep? That was the title of the book (Philip K. Dick) and the question posed by the first Blade Runner movie in 1982. If you haven't seen the director's cut version you might still be wondering that question. Well, wonder no more as this sequel leaves no room to doubt. Androids dream. Beautifully crafted and fake memories are implanted, but from those come real dreams, real feelings and a new meaning to just what the hell is real anyway.  Just as Harrison Ford's character, Rick Deckard, Ryan Gosling takes the lead as replica/detective K. He arrests, or in some cases, ends, old replica's that are judged as too "independent". Those of course refer to the replicas of the old movie, made by the Tyrell company. These days a new maker is in town and his "angels" are fully complyi...