The Founder (2016)

 "You know,contracts are like hearts.They're made to be broken."

This is not, by any means, the sort of film I'd naturally gravitate to watching- the origin story of a major corporation. Yet, as a drama, this is quietly brilliant, both in terms of characterisation and what it has to say about business, morality, and the chimera that is the "American dream".

We're introduced to Ray Croc, a struggling salesman, viuaa straight to camera sales pitch, a device that, rather cleverly, gets us rooting for this underdog... only later pulling the rug out from under us and show that hehas, all this time, been not only a deeply driven go-getter but a callous dick with no morals or integrity, a terribe husband and utterly amoral. Michael Keaton, whose career seems to have had a real renaissance over the last decade, captures this superbly.

The contrast with the McDonald brothers is instructive. They are business geniuses, introducing thbe methods of Henry Ford to the burger bar, but still with a core of morals and integrity. And, while Kroc genuinely deserves credit for the success of the franchise model, he turns out to be an amoral parasite.

And there is, I think, something deeper here... the cruel concept of the American dream, that anyone can make it if they work hard enough. This is an ideology that crassly ignores the fact that we do not all start out from the same position- poverty, illness and discrimination exist as barriers for many. Capitalism goes hand in hand with a social safety net, making it safe to take risks. And ethics must be enforced by laws. Without such things... we won't have real, creative entrepreneurs like the McDonald brothers. We'll have the world of Ray Kroc.

Hawkeye: So This Is Christmas

 "Is this what heroes do? Arrest their mothers on Christmas?"

It's interesting watching this season finale the day after an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Doctor Who finale. But Hawkeye was in no way overshadowed.

Much of the episode was a big, fun, set piece Christmas party battle, with trick arrows, owls, LARPers, falling Christmas trees and... the actual bloody Kingpin. Wow. Vincent D'Onofrio is exacrly as superb, in the same way, as we've seen, but in another context. No way does he die. No bodies are seen.

Yet there are so many character moments. Kate is such a hero. Her whole privileged life is based on immoral acts... so she abandons it, in a heartbeat, hard though it is. Because kit's the right thing. Her mother is an unrepentant gamgster and criminal who isn't very good at gaslighting... so she gets her arrested. Hard, so very hard, but the right thing. Also, she's awesome in a fight. And this time more tactical. And Clint is, by now, impressed. So much so that I suspect he sees a successor in her, accepting her as a partner and inviting her to spend Christmas with his family. And she's made very welcome, bless her. 

Kate's confession to Hawkeye about her childhood glimpse of him is cute. And the scene between Clint and Yelenba turns out to be far more heartwarming and less murderous than we might expect. The rapport between Kate and Yelena is awesome too.

And we even get a musical number at the end.

This is really rather good. Not top tier telly, perhaps, but well characterised and acted. I enjoyed the episode and I enjoyed the series.

Hawkeye: Ronin

"Kate, this is not cutlery."

This is a bloody brilliant episode. Yes, there are revelations upon revelations, but after last episode we see Kate deflated at Clint's rejection of her, until she's ultimately determined to, er, reject his rejection, and he ends up saving Clint, as Ronin, from Maya, genuinely saving him. She even has her escape route planned. Nice one.

And Clint seems to accept her. He's very much worried, though, hinting that the Tracksuit Mafia is much bigger than Maya, that there is a "Big Man" behind the scenes, gunning not only for him but also for his family. Yet he has revelations for Maya, too, about who killed her father...

Families are very uncertain here. We learn that Yelena died when Thanos snapped his fingers, only to instantaneously return after five years, her sister dead and very much blaming Clint... why? Her conversation with Kate is delightful. Florence Pugh and of course Hailee Steinfeld both excel. Yet we also have a final bombshell... Kate's mother seems to be the one who hired Yelena. Well then. And it seems her boss is... Kingpin.

Yes: Kingpin. As in Daredevil. As in the Netflix shows now appear to be canon...

Hawkeye: Hide and Seek

 "A twenty-two year old vigilante. Shouldn't you be in school?"

Ok, first of all, the Hawkeye LARPing montage was obviously awesome. But we hearing aid wearers find it easier to follow what's going on with tabletop RPGs. Maybe Clint would enjoy that more...

Yet there's so much elseto admire in a series that is settling down quite nively. Clint's frustration at not being with his family at Christmas brings us closer to him. Yet Kate is awesome, too, just like us in a way: wanting to learn from Clint to achieve her dream and make it as a superhero. Anything to escape from the life with the family business that's been planned out for her.

Then there's her new stepfather, Jack... the Swordsman. Charming, evasive... and seemingly at the scene of Armand's murder. Kate has problems, and complications. Not only are she and Clint captured and at the mercy of the, er, Tracksuit Mafia, but the cops want to question her in the morning.

Best of all, though, is the chemistry between the hero worshipping, naive yet resourceful Kate and the gruff and annoyed Clint. The script, and both actors, are superb.

Hawkeye: Never Meet Your Heroes

 "I need a bow and arrow!"

This is all very new to me. I know Hawkeye, obviously, but Kate Bishop is from well after my comics-reading years. I know Jack must be the Swordsman, which is exciting, but I've never heard of Hawkeye as the Ronin, which I think of as a massive great big robot kaijin that went up against the Avengers.

We get a big revelation about Clint's unexpected past, we see him with his kids, and we get an actual mentioj of his hearing aid- although, trust me as one who knows: if you switch your hearing off you bloody well take it out and let your ear breathe a bit. Hearing aids help you hear more like other people do so you can fit in, but they're bloody uncomfortable to wear for hours on end.

I like Kate. The odds are stacked against her as a spoiled little rich girl, but I like her, a credit to both Halle Steinfeld and the writing. She's cool, resourceful and has just the right amount of sadness in her past. Plus she worships superheroes, especially the esteemed Mr Barton.

This is mostly set-up, but there's much to intrigue. The Swordsman. Simon Callow, as the late Armand, playing American. What the hell is going on with all this Ronin stuff. This isn't quite up there, so far, with WandaVision and Loki, but I'm enjoying it.

Scooby-Doo (2002)

"I'm so over this damsel in distress nonsense."

Let's admit it: a live action Scooby-Doo film was never on my peoples' wish list, especially not one starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, an actress who has loads of natural talent but, sadly, is rather prone to phoning in her performance, as she has done ever since halfway through Buffy. This is no exception but, annoyingly, she has just enough natural talent to pull it off. Just. Still, we have the consolation that this film is rather excellent, mainly due to a splendid script from James Gunn, now famous for helming Guardians of the Galaxy.

This film is great because it's funny, and it's funny because it nods and winks,in a delightfully metatextual way, at all those drunken/stoned conversations about Scooby-Doo that we all had as students. You know, the ones about how Shaggy was a massive stoner who always has the munchies. I mean, he's so stoned he thinks his dog can talk. And that's the only reason why this film gives us a little snippet of Pass the Dutchie. 

There is also, of course, the spectacle of seeing cartoonish running in live action an thus incredibly expensive. And the deconstruction of the gang's personalities- Fred is vain, Daphne superficial and Velma the only clever one and, bizarrely, not gay. And Rowan Atkinson. Rowan Atkinson is always a good thing.  

Best of all, though, is the twist with Scrappy. This is a witty and enjoyable bit of metatextual fun and a cut above most similar films.