Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

There are three minor issues to contend with watching this fifth and final Harrison Ford-led Indiana Jones adventure: one, the Uncanny Valley effect of Ford's de-aged face floating through the lengthy opening sequence; two, a plot development at the end that derails the whole movie (but only until one brief line of dialogue so glibly uttered you could miss it puts the minecart back on the track); and three, a moribund and frankly preposterous "go on without me, leave me here" moment at the end; but other than that, this is as good as Indiana Jones gets: a fun, fast, funny family blockbuster action adventure.

★★★★★

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Cruising (1980)

Because he resembles the murder victims, a policeman (Al Pacino) is sent undercover into the S&M gay sex clubs of NYC to flush out a serial killer, but forget the danger posed by a brutal knife-wielding maniac — what effect will all the gyrating mustachioed bears in leather — with whips, chaps, handcuffs and gimp masks — not to mention coffee dates with a new gay neighbour, have on the young policeman and upon the relationship he has with his girlfriend (Karen Allen), left-in-the-dark about her lover's undercover nocturnal adventures...you'll never know because although there is one fleeting scene that suggests the policeman willingly gets trussed up in masochistic fashion and a line of dialogue that suggests the couple's love life has changed, the movie prefers to skirt ambiguously, frustratingly around this pivotal and at-the-time sensational subject matter.

★★★☆☆

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