New Release Reviews
Bradshaw covered five current releases this week across written reviews and video vlogs. His standout post — the vlog for Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's A Useful Ghost at ~3k views — urged followers to click, watch, share and subscribe [1]. He framed Spider-Man: Brand New Day as a 'sometimes shocking, occasionally sluggish' instalment in which 'Zendaya saves Tom Holland's semi-Cronenberg-style superhero' [2]. The Bourdain memoir adaptation Tony drew a mixed-to-positive verdict: 'a tasty reheat' with Dominic Sessa as 'a conceited yet vulnerable young chef' alongside Antonio Banderas, though 'the feelgood factor is compromised by what we know of the author' [3]. Wham! 10 Days in China was assessed as 'pop meets politics' — a 'strange collision of pop stardom and communism' re-edited from Lindsay Anderson's original footage [4]. His Samuel Abrahams's Lady vlog rounded out the week at ~3.2k views [5].
Superhero blockbuster (Spider-Man): Framed Spider-Man: Brand New Day as a 'semi-Cronenberg-style superhero' film that is 'sometimes shocking, occasionally sluggish,' with Zendaya as the saving element opposite a now-30-year-old Tom Holland [2].
Vlog reviews (A Useful Ghost, Lady): Promoted two video vlogs: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's A Useful Ghost (~3k views) and Samuel Abrahams's Lady (~3.2k views), both with calls to click, watch, share and subscribe [1], [5].
Biography & music documentaries (Tony, Wham!): Called Tony 'a tasty reheat' of Bourdain's memoir whose 'feelgood factor is compromised by what we know of the author' [3]. Assessed Wham! 10 Days in China as a 'strange collision of pop stardom and communism,' a re-edit of Lindsay Anderson's tour footage [4].
Re-releases & Classic Films
Bradshaw reviewed three archival re-releases, each from a different national cinema and decade. Bill Gunn's Personal Problems (1980) drew his strongest enthusiasm: 'an exhilarating lo-fi epic of Black working-class life in 80s New York,' praising Gunn's use of 'analogue video and improvisation into a work of startling intimacy, humour and emotional force' [6]. Konrad Wolf's Solo Sunny (1980) was assessed as 'a rueful East German gem of ambition, loneliness and faded dreams,' capturing 'the melancholy of thwarted ambition with warmth and wit' [7]. John Schlesinger's Billy Liar (1963) received a more tempered verdict: Tom Courtenay 'is superb' in 'a classic study of a young man and his quixotic dreams,' but 'the film is too quick to surrender' his preposterous ambitions [8].
Personal Problems (1980, Bill Gunn): Enthusiastic retrospective discovery: 'an exhilarating lo-fi epic of Black working-class life in 80s New York,' with Gunn turning 'analogue video and improvisation into a work of startling intimacy, humour and emotional force' [6].
Solo Sunny (1980, Konrad Wolf): Assessed as 'a rueful East German gem' about a singer navigating 'the drab compromises of GDR life,' capturing 'the melancholy of thwarted ambition with warmth and wit' [7].
Billy Liar (1963, John Schlesinger): Praised Tom Courtenay as 'superb' but tempered the endorsement: 'the film is too quick to surrender' the young man's 'preposterous ambitions' [8].
Also this week
Personal & other (~11%): A single brief administrative reply apologising to a follower that a new post was delayed — 'Sorry - new post up now!' [9].
