The Rip review – Ben Affleck and Matt Damon tear through flashy Netflix bro thriller

The Rip review – Ben Affleck and Matt Damon tear through flashy Netflix bro thriller

The longtime friends and colleagues add weight to Joe Carnahan’s enjoyably boisterous Friday night crowdpleaser January has long been a B-movie buffet for those exhausted by prestige awards bait, a month when Gerard Butler and Jason Statham are suddenly commanding wide releases and often No 1 mini-hits. But as the former’s apocalyptic sequel Greenland 2: Migration lingers in the top five and the latter’s action romp Shelter prepares to premiere, we find two more prominent stars – Oscar winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon – resigned to the small screen instead. In a non-Netflix world, a film like The Rip – flashy, action-heavy, led by two household names – should be available this weekend on the biggest high-format screens across the country. But then in that same world, at this particular time, it’s doubtful that a film like this would even get made, granted a budget that’s reportedly close to $100m, highly unusual for R-rated non-IP. The streamer was, in fact, so keen to get it made that it has briefly agreed to change its pay structure, allowing Affleck and Damon to bring across their profit-sharing Artists Equity rule, by which each member of the cast and crew gets a bonus if the film performs well. So, as with many films at this weird moment, it’s a take-what-you-can-get situation and while it would have been preferable to see a film like this, which looks and feels like it was made in 2002, on the big screen, the landscape has dictated that the small will have to do. Continue reading...

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Chelsea need to avoid long-throw blues, plus: a vacant spot for Liverpool and West Ham’s best hope for survival Race for the golden boot: Premier League top scorers Can the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United and their latest interim manager, Michael Carrick? This is his second caretaker tenure though the three games of November-December 2021 (beating Villarreal and Arsenal, drawing with Chelsea) hardly compares to sending out an XI to try to beat Manchester City in Saturday’s early kick-off. Pep Guardiola’s high-performing unit remain in contention on all fronts. Carrick takes charge of a United suffering the aftershocks of a latest manager sacking , hoping to salvage the season via European qualification. The lad from Wallsend has 17 games to do so – his new team are in seventh place on 32 points, so victory over City would be a fine start. But you wonder if the match might end with Carrick and United humbled or, even worse, humiliated. Jamie Jackson Manchester United v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT) Chelsea v Brentford, Saturday 3pm Leeds v Fulham, Saturday 3pm Liverpool v Burnley, Saturday 3pm Continue reading...