Latest news with #summerblockbuster
Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
F1: The Movie – Brad Pitt's spectacular racing drama is Barbie for dads
Is this summer's officially branded Formula One film the new Top Gun: Maverick? It's certainly straining every sinew to make you think as much. Unlike the 2022 Tom Cruise blockbuster, F1 sits a few hundred feet below the pinnacle of modern blockbuster showmanship: it's rousing, sleek entertainment rather than transcendent pop cinema – even though in pure sales-pitch terms, a Venn diagram of the two would resemble a hula hoop. In Brad Pitt, it has the 1980s-minted movie star lead playing a wayward yet gifted (and ruggedly handsome) veteran who's pressed back into service to show the youngsters how it's done. While in Joseph Kosinski and Ehren Kruger it has the same safe-pair-of-hands director and screenwriter, intent on hitting all the summer movie beats of a generation ago, punctuated with plenty of armrest-shredding cockpit photography, captured with a fearlessness you can feel in your limbic system, and no visible digital tricks. Yet there is another recent studio hit with which it arguably shares just as much of its DNA. Behind its dewy-eyed machismo and breath-stopping technique, F1 is essentially Barbie for dads: a crafty brand extension exercise that gets away with it through sheer implementational brilliance. To put it another way, there are a hundred possible versions of this film that are awful, and Kosinski and his team have made none of them. Pitt is puppyishly charming, if not quite Cruise-level magnetic, as Sonny Hayes – a crumpled Steve McQueen type and one-time leading light of the 1990s racing scene. His career was ended prematurely by a crash in the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix – while neck-and-neck with Ayrton Senna, no less – though his driverly intuition and nerve have endured. (That really is Pitt driving in the cockpit shots, albeit in a modified Formula Two car, which your non-F1-fan of a critic presumes must be exactly one formula slower than the terrifying aerodynamic beasts shown on screen.) During Sonny's two-decade absence, his flashier former comrade (Javier Bardem) has sidestepped into management, and now owns his own team, Apex Grand Prix: they're on a losing streak, things are desperate, and you can already guess what the last-ditch rescue plan is. Britain's own Damson Idris makes hay with the role of Pitt's new teammate Joshua Pearce, an ambitious, impulsive young Londoner still finding his feet in the sport and the circus surrounding it, while an extremely good-value Kerry Condon is Apex's cool-headed technical director, who brings expertise and nous behind the scenes. This quartet's personalities clash then mesh in all the obvious ways throughout a season that takes Apex from the back of the grid at Silverstone to jockeying for pole position at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina. But while the film feels monkishly devoted to its subject-slash-product (lots of jargon and driver cameos), those with no prior knowledge of and/or interest in Formula One aren't left to twist in the wind. Commentators constantly explain the rules during the race scenes themselves, and there is much radio chatter about the outrageously unorthodox nature of Pitt's various strategies on the track. (Though note that the first red flag to start flapping around Tobias Menzies' vaguely Muskian investor is that he now feels au fait with the sport after having binged Netflix's F1 documentary series Drive to Survive.) Does the film's corporate tie-in status have a dampening effect? Well, the stakes are never allowed to feel too life-threatening, and rival teams never serve as villains: amusingly, after a Ferrari employee exhibits a mere wisp of poor sportsmanship, we cut instantly to various triumphal shots of the company logo, backed by an old-fashioned blare-a-thon of a Hans Zimmer soundtrack. Yet for the most part F1 feels faithful rather than hamstrung, and the peerless race photography and deft writing around Pitt's character – a late moment involving a pack of cards is even rather moving – are enough to smooth over the niggles. It's a film which understands the pleasure of seeing familiar roads driven with consummate expertise. The F does stand for formula, after all.
CNET
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
'Shark Week' Comes Early as 'Jaws' Turns 50. Here's Where to Watch All the Movies
Somehow, five decades have passed since Steven Spielberg's Jaws chewed up the big screen. Turning the big Five-Oh is a big deal, so it's time to celebrate. The iconic movie, based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name, took style notes from Hitchcock and the grindhouse movies of the era and became the first-ever summer blockbuster. Jaws isn't a complicated movie: It tells the story of a vengeful shark and the tourist beach town of Amity Island, which it decided to terrorize. The movie starred Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw as police chief Martin Brody, oceanographer Matt Hooper and grizzled shark hunter Quint, respectively. This core trio of men became the only thing standing between the dastardly great white and the unsuspecting folks on the beach. Jaws chomped its way into the pop culture lexicon thanks to John Williams' iconic theme music and Spielberg's less-is-more approach (mainly because that shark kept malfunctioning). I remember seeing Jaws as a kid at the local theater. I'm almost exactly one year younger than the movie, but there was this delightful trend in the '80s where cinemas would revisit these incredible movies year after year so fans, young and old, could relive the glory. I was immediately hooked on the scope, soundtrack and cinematic terror of the whole thing. Soon after, a ride on the tram at Universal Studios through the Amity Island set cemented my newfound fear/fascination with great white sharks. Five decades later, the legacy of Jaws has endured. I have this tradition where I do a Jaws marathon just before the summer season. It's like my own personal Shark Week ahead of the official one that happens each year on The Discovery Channel. Of course, the first is still the best but there's something comforting about seeing Brody return for Jaws 2 to battle another shark threat. As for Jaws: 3-D and Jaws: The Revenge, there's certainly a place for them here, even if the plotlines don't connect as well as the original film. Sometimes you just want to see a revenge-hungry shark pick off unsuspecting people, one by one. That banana boat rider never had a chance. Read more: Peacock Review: Few Originals, but Cheap Access to Network TV, Movies May Grab You How to watch 'Jaws' parts 1-4 Beginning today, Sunday, June 15, you can watch every installment in the Jaws franchise on Peacock. This includes the 1975 classic, Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983) and Jaws: The Revenge (1987). The movies will be available to stream on the platform until July 14. NBC will air a special three-hour telecast of Jaws on Friday, June 20, at 8 p.m. ET/PT to celebrate the movie's 50th anniversary. It will open with a special introduction from Spielberg himself. Peacock/CNET Peacock Home of Jaws 1-4 If you want to get in on all the shark streaming action, you'll need a Peacock subscription. The streamer has two subscription tiers to choose from: Premium (with ads) costs $8 a month or $80 a year and Premium Plus costs $14 a month or $140 per year. With Premium Plus, you'll have the perk of being able to download titles for offline viewing and access to your local NBC channel. Students and customers of Xfinity Internet and Instacart Plus can get some cool discounts. It may seem like a lot in the long term but if you choose to pay for the entire year of Premium or Premium Plus, you'll pay less compared to the streamer's monthly cost. For more information, head on over to our review. See at Peacock Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw go shark-hunting in Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic to watch all the Jaws movies with a VPN If you're traveling abroad and want to keep up with your favorite shows while away from home, a VPN can help enhance your privacy and security when streaming. It encrypts your traffic and prevents your internet service provider from throttling your speeds and can also be helpful when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks while traveling, adding an extra layer of protection for your devices and logins. VPNs are legal in many countries, including the US and Canada, and can be used for legitimate purposes such as improving online privacy and security. However, some streaming services may have policies restricting VPN use to access region-specific content. If you're considering a VPN for streaming, check the platform's terms of service to ensure compliance. If you choose to use a VPN, follow the provider's installation instructions, ensuring you're connected securely and in compliance with applicable laws and service agreements. Some streaming platforms may block access when a VPN is detected so verifying if your streaming subscription allows VPN use is crucial.
CNET
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Happy 50th Birthday, 'Jaws': I'm Geeked I Can Binge All 4 Movies in 1 Place This Summer
It may be hard to believe, but Steven Spielberg's Jaws is turning 50 (the movie premiered on June 20, 1975). The low-budget thriller, which was adapted from Peter Benchley's novel, leaned heavily into Hitchcock and grindhouse territory and became the first summer blockbuster. It told a simple, yet terrifying story about a vengeful shark and the tourist beach town of Amity Island it would relentlessly terrorize. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw lead the cast as police chief Martin Brody, Matt Hooper and grizzled shark hunter Quint, respectively, the core trio tasked with capturing and killing the water-dwelling monster. It immediately tapped into the pop culture lexicon thanks to John Williams' iconic theme music and Spielberg's less-is-more approach (mainly because that shark kept malfunctioning). I remember seeing Jaws as a kid at the local theater. I'm almost exactly one year younger than the movie, but there was this delightful trend in the '80s where cinemas would revisit these incredible movies year after year so fans, young and old, could relive the glory. I was immediately hooked on the scope, soundtrack and cinematic terror of the whole thing. Soon after, a ride on the tram at Universal Studios through the Amity Island set cemented my newfound fear/fascination with great white sharks. Five decades later, the legacy of Jaws has endured. I have this tradition where I do a Jaws marathon just before the summer season. Of course, the first is still the best but there's something comforting about seeing Brody return for Jaws 2 to battle another shark threat. As for Jaws: 3-D and Jaws: The Revenge, there's certainly a place for them here, even if the plotlines don't connect as well as the original film. Sometimes you just want to see a revenge-hungry shark pick off unsuspecting people, one by one. That banana boat rider never had a chance. Read more: Peacock Review: Few Originals, but Cheap Access to Network TV, Movies May Grab You How to watch 'Jaws' parts 1-4 Beginning on Sunday, June 15, you can watch every installment in the Jaws franchise on Peacock. This includes the 1975 classic, Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983) and Jaws: The Revenge (1987). If you want to get in on all the shark action, you'll need a Peacock subscription. The streamer has two separate subscription tiers to choose from: Premium (with ads) costs $8 a month or $80 a year and Premium Plus costs $14 a month or $140 per year. With Premium Plus, you'll have the perk of being able to download titles for offline viewing and access to your local NBC channel. Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw go shark-hunting in Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic to watch all the Jaws movies with a VPN If you're traveling abroad and want to keep up with your favorite shows while away from home, a VPN can help enhance your privacy and security when streaming. It encrypts your traffic and prevents your internet service provider from throttling your speeds and can also be helpful when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks while traveling, adding an extra layer of protection for your devices and logins. VPNs are legal in many countries, including the US and Canada, and can be used for legitimate purposes such as improving online privacy and security. However, some streaming services may have policies restricting VPN use to access region-specific content. If you're considering a VPN for streaming, check the platform's terms of service to ensure compliance. If you choose to use a VPN, follow the provider's installation instructions, ensuring you're connected securely and in compliance with applicable laws and service agreements. Some streaming platforms may block access when a VPN is detected so verifying if your streaming subscription allows VPN use is crucial.
