Ad Astra (2019)

When, late in the 21st Century, the Earth is bombarded by disruptive electronic waves seemingly emanating from Neptune , the U.S. Space Command contacts unflappable astronaut Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt).

It turns out his legendary father, Dr Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) disappeared in that area decades ago.

He had been leading an expedition to the edge of the solar system in pursuit of proof of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life.

SpaceCom reveals to Roy that they believe his father is actually alive and they want him to travel to Mars to send a message to where they think his father's craft is, to try and find out what is going on.

However, upon reaching Mars, Roy discovers that the story he grew up believing about his father's heroism might not be the truth, and darker things are afoot.

Very quickly, the cineliterate will realise that Ad Astra is Apocalypse Now in space.

Roy's journey into the heart of darkness of space is a a series of vignettes, random encounters (to borrow a gaming phrase) with people and incidents that echo Willard's journey into Cambodia (there are no tigers in space, but there are experimental primates).

This connection is heightened by Roy's inner monologue and, later, the playing of random excerpts from Clifford's log, when he's seeking to justify his actions.

As the film strives to present a realistic view of space travel (more Gravity or The Right Stuff than Firefly or Star Wars), this throws up some bizarre incongruities along the way, like the moon buggy chase with gun-totting space pirates and the utterly preposterous sequence when Roy "breaks in" to a launching rocket.

Ad Astra could also have benefited from more time with Clifford in its last act, giving Tommy Lee Jones a chance to go full Marlon Brando and start mumbling about "the horror, the horror".

Conversely, the whole sub-plot about the "power surges from space" hitting the Earth felt, ultimately, redundant.

Even though it served as the inciting incident that sent Roy off on his melancholic solar quest to find the father he had long thought dead, it added a level of confusion to the story that just wasn't really needed.

Especially when it seemed, in the end, the problem was essentially solved by flicking a switch.

There are also inevitable 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes from Ad Astra and the Chekhov's Gun feeling that there's going to be a big twist, or some major surprise, in the final act.

Spoilers: that there isn't actually plays to the hard science message of the story, and I'm not one to quibble over what a film isn't about as writer-director James Gray and co-writer Ethan Gross clearly had a point they wanted to make about man's place in the cosmos.

And they made it. I'm just not sure how well they made it.

3.10 To Yuma (2007)

Yee-haw, I sure loves me some Western action!

It was the Deadlands roleplaying game (the original, pre-Savage Worlds, pre-d20 detour, version) that rekindled my childhood passion for the Wild West.

However, it really blew up when I was at university and researching my major, final third year project - a film script based on the life of Elfego Baca, the wannabe lawman who held off a veritable army of riled cowboys from within an adobe hut. The hut (a jacal) took about 4,000 bullets during the 36-hour gun battle but Baca was unharmed!

During that time at university, I watched wall-to-wall Westerns, from the true classics (such as Shane and Hombre) to the cult favourites (like Django and The Magnificent Seven), and read whatever text books I could lay my hands on, to immerse myself in the culture and language of those wild, frontier times.

Sadly, after University, my love of the genre kinda cooled. I'd probably rather overdosed and none of my old gaming buddies shared my interest in the genre (we are British, after all, so I guess it's not even our history!) so except for a few shoot-outs with a homebrew miniatures system I knocked up and the odd DVD purchase, the West rode out of my life and into the sunset.

However, as the 2000s dragged on, I noticed it sneaking back in on the coat tails of my 'discovery' of the whole 'pulp' thing (that is, putting a name and classification for a style of entertainment I already enjoyed), helped by Deadwood and several mainstream cinematic releases, such as Seraphim Falls and this one.

Turns out that as a cinema genre, Westerns weren't dead - they'd just raised their standards.

In 3.10 To Yuma, Christian Bale is crippled, ex-Union sharpshooter-turned-struggling-farmer Dan Evans, who volunteers to escort charming, stone cold killer and outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the train station to catch the 3.10 to Yuma prison.

Evans' 14-year-old son, William (Logan Lerman), who sees his father as a coward and rather idolises Wade, tags along in the small posse - which includes a grizzled bounty hunter (Peter Fonda) and the town's doctor (Alan 'Firefly' Tudyk).

The film starts in Unforgiven territory, but becomes increasingly Young Guns as the escort party's troubles escalate and numbers are whittled down by Wade's pursuing gang, renegade Apaches, troublesome railworkers and in-fighting.

It all builds to a dynamic, heroic and rather far-fetched climax as - having turned into a reluctant buddy flick - Evans and Wade make a final dash for the train, facing up to Wade's merciless gang and vigilante townsfolk.

The ultimate conclusion is suitably powerful and emotional, undermined only by a rather silly final scene.

Crowe is perfect as the supremely confident and calm killer, while Bale is, simply, superb as always; both of these actors are at the top of their game and guarantee a solid performance with every role they take.