REEL ESTATE

FOR SALE Stunning red-brick Boston mansion with fairy-tale spire and highly desirable literary history –this was the former home of iconic author Harlan Thrombey. Current owner wishes to sell as property too spacious for one. Would suit a large, backstabbing family with ample grounds for high jinks and writer’s garret for wannabe New York Times bestseller. Numerous elegantly appointed rooms for family gatherings and visiting detectives. Aperfect property to flip –new owners would make a killing. Please call Marta for a viewing (you’ll know if she tries being untruthful).

HINDSIGHT CORNER AARDMAN ANIMATIONS

CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET

The Daily Telegraph, November 2023 ‘Aardman is about to run out of clay –now the Chicken Run creators face a crisis.’

Aardman, November 2023 ‘We wanted to reassure fans that there is absolutely no need to worry. We have high levels of existing stocks of modelling clay to service current and future productions.’

FLOP CULTURE

The MCU has suffered its first outright flop. Was Nia DaCosta’s team movie too minor to weather broader industry crises?

Why it was a good idea (on paper)

Watching Avengers: Endgame’s women-united moment, director Nia DaCosta had a dream.

‘Two hours of this, please,’ she said. Duly, DaCosta promised top-grade MCU bonding, battling and bantering from the power team of WandaVision’s Teyonah Parris, Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani and box-office star Brie Larson.

What went wrong?

First up: the ‘go woke go broke’ line doesn’t wash. When Captain Marvel crashed the $1bn club, its positioning between Infinity War/ Endgame wasn’t the sole reason – Ant-Man and the Wasp enjoyed a similar slot and netted half-ish of Cap’s payday. More persuasively, The Marvels’ worrying weekend reports can be attributed to cumulative problems, a meeting of inner shortcomings with gathering storms of external crises. The movie itself is a quick, quippy minor Marvel, the villain sketchy and plotting skittish. Post-Endgame/No Way Home/ Guardians 3, such an early-MCU throwback feels borderline inconsequential and plays like something that’s already – and surely soon will be – on Disney+. Arguably, the streamer has made Disney a victim of its success: the studio’s branding is so all-consuming that

everyone knows The Marvels will dock there shortly. That loose phrase ‘superhero fatigue’ sticks, too, with DC’s recent flops also soiling the overstuffed genre’s rep. Strike-diminished promo and other, well-reported, MCU jitters surely didn’t help matters. Mostly, though, The Marvels feels like a tipping-point case for the fortunes of superheroes and streaming, its perhaps predictable failure illuminating wider studio and genre issues.

Redeeming feature Cats, firstly. Otherwise, the power-swap scrap, cosmic score and Vellani’s giddy lead keep things brisk and bright.

What happened next?

Subject to ongoing flux. So far, Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts have moved to 2025, with production delays cited as the reason for a sparse 2024. Vellani fielded interviews like a pro, while Stephen King tweeted in admirable support.

Should it be remade?

No, cat’s your lot for this one. Like Elaine Paige in Memory, Marvel needs to face a new day and move on. KEVIN HARLEY

BUDGET BOX OFFICE AWARDS TF STAR RATING ROTTEN TOMATOES