The Thursday Murder Club

My wife and I watched this on Netflix, she had been looking forwards to watching it having enjoyed the book. She certainly enjoyed it more than I did, but this is more of her kind of film. I am glad I did not pay to watch this in the cinema but saying that, it was an average film, one that I doubt I would watch again. The all star cast brought the characters to life and will hopefully stay together do so in the sequels to come. In summary, worth watching, but there are better films out there. Especially as I do not know why the first cold case was being investigated. 

Crime and being transgender

Sadly, there was another mass shooting in the USA, two children were murdered in Minneapolis in the USA. Some have felt the gender identity of the murderer is important, others have focused on the mental health issues. The obvious cause is simple, that is the availability of guns in the USA, an issue which I have posted about before. Basically, many people in the USA value lax gun controls over the lives of children. Also, it appears that being transgender makes it less likely that an individual will be the perpetrator of a mass shooting. It is my view that transwomen are more likely to be the victim of crime than the perpetrator. 

However, it is also important to note the figures about transwomen in UK prisons. That is that they do pose a greater risk to women than men do.  I mention this as it has been claimed that this is not the case. 

It is a shame that these awful murders are being used to demonise those with mental health issues. It is also wrong to blame the transgender community for the murders, facts and statistics show what risk they do not pose when it comes to mass shootings. 

Oppenheimer

This film was both better and worse than I expected. I watched it with my daughter, both of us having not watched it in the cinema and both of us wanting to see it. We would agree that at times, it is a male film, but considering the characters, it would be. Watching it at home, we missed out on the audio experience a cinema would give, and in that, this was not as good as I thought it would be.

But otherwise, it was amazing. Yes, its special effects were good (okay, amazing), but the film was produced and directed so well. Having an all star cast means nothing, we saw that with the disaster which was the Twilight film franchise, but here the quality showed. It dealt with so many issues at the same time and I can see why it was nominated for so many awards. I do not want to say too much as I think that if you are to watch it, it is best not to know too much, but it is a film worth watching, and I may watch it again. That is if my wife decides to watch it, but I am not sure she knows it is three hours long! 

Protect our women and girls

Listening to The Rest Is Politics they raised a very good point about the recent protests to protect our women and girls. Basically a large number of those engaging in protests have been felt to be a danger to women themselves. 

The Newsagents had addressed the matter of how the protests seem to be happy to ignore threats to women and children from white people, and it is right that this issue is raised properly. 

The Pathways Horizon project

One of the many things said about Starmer and gender issues is that he is the enemy of transgender people. Those who say that forget his spat in PMQ’s with Rishi Sunak from 2024. In addition to his comments on bathrooms, they cite restrictions on care for transgender children (or those aged under 18 who consider themselves to be transgender).  However, thanks to Starmer and the Labour government, The Pathways Horizon Project is to take place to look into this to see if this is safe or not. In the UK at least, concerns have been raised over the care provided to those under eighteen by those working in the services. 

Despite the Cass review calling for more research into this, there are those who feel no more research is needed into this topic on both sides of the debate, one stating that it is safe, the other stating that it is unsafe and should be banned. Which means that Starmer has united both sides of the debate again! 

The Map That Leads to You

This is a film that we watched as a family yesterday.  I really liked it.

First of all, my daughter and I went for a walk earlier in the day with our dog, the dog loves it the more people walk her. After that, I rested before taking the two children to Freeport to get some shoes and trainers. The kids did spend money, but we returned without either.

Arsenal played well but our injuries will make the game next week even more daunting. Our striker scored, and a fifteen year old looked amazing! But it is early days and The Scum have almost the same record as us. 

Now for the film. It was enjoyable and I think it was worth three out of five, as opposed to the two stars given by The Guardian. Watching it as a family, we could talk to my daughter who has spent parts of this year travelling. Yes, the ending is predictable, but it is a sweet tale which I will compare fondly to my memory of a similar film which I watched many years ago.  I doubt I will watch it again, but it is worth watching, despite what those with a stone heart may say. But unlike the review on the image, it is not a good enough to be unforgettable. 

Materialists

This was meant to be a date with my wife, and then a family film out as both children wanted to watch it. In the end my son did not come as he felt ill. We started experiencing the film when eating our dinner in the foyer. A couple met, the man bringing in roses, the woman not being pleased with this. After drinks, he was trying to be nice, she left, for a bit, taking her coat and leaving the flowers. She did return stating “I don’t know why I came back.” 

The film, allegedly a rom-com was one that I liked. For an American film, it was shot really well. For a man, I thought that it dealt with dating really well.  This is a film I would certainly watch again, and like we all did, this includes watching until the last credits have finished. The reviews are interesting but while they rate this three out of five, I am tempted to give this four. It was funny in bits, but I would not call it a romantic comedy.