Da'ud Bob's Movie Review
for
  January 2026


13 years and one month ago this review of what was, even then, a much older movie, was first published. Looking through my old movie reviews to see which one to re-publish for you this month, this one caught my eye, mostly because of the song clip which opens it (to the tune of "I've Got Rhythm"). And I felt that I just had to share! Enjoy!



I’ve got music; I’ve got chessboards;
I’ve got Black Death, who could ask for anything more?

Sorry about that!  Every once in a while, I end up watching a movie that just gets me started on a line, and if I don’t eventually let it out, I feel certain that my head would explode.  And we wouldn’t want that, would we?  I know that I wouldn’t, in any case.  Anyway, what started this particular line going in my head was the plot of this month’s movie review, which is all about ... well, the blurb on the box it came in said that it’s the “Allegory of man’s search for meaning”.  And throughout the film, you find one or another of the characters asking lots of questions about the meaning of life, love, and death.  All with a game of chess as a running theme through it all.  And, unsurprisingly, it left me with a few questions of my own.  Though my questions don’t appear to be as “deep” as the ones asked in the film.  (“On the surface, he’s very deep; but way down underneath, he’s awfully shallow.”)  Like, for instance, if you have the incarnation of Death appear on screen, does he count as a dead body, or not?  (I finally went with “not”, so Death is not included in the body count.)  But so it is that this month, Da’ud Bob reviews for you Ingmar Bergman’s classic, and dark, film, The Seventh Seal.

Starring Max von Sydow as Antonius Block (a knight back from the Crusades), Gunnar Björnstrand as Jons, his squire, Bengt Ekerot as Death, Nils Poppe as Jof, Bibi Anderson as Mia, Jof’s wife, Åke Fridell as the blacksmith, Plog, Inga Gill as Lisa, Plog’s wife, Gunnar Olsson as Albertus Pictor, the church painter, Erik Strandmark as Jonas Skat, Anders Ek as the monk, Inga Landgré as Karin, Antonius Block’s wife, Gunnel Lindblom as a girl, Bertil Anderberg as Raval, and Maud Hansson as a witch, the basic story is that of our returned knight buying time from Death by playing an ongoing game of chess, all the while getting closer to home and trying to find answers to some of life’s greatest questions in a land ravaged by the plague.  Much of the movie is taken up the various ways people react the to the overall situation in which they live and with which they have to deal, with the threat of death all about them: some with fatalism, some with acceptance, some with forays into alcohol and (implied, not on-screen) promiscuity, some with joy for the current day’s life.  The end, of course, is a lot like a Shakespeare tragedy; most everyone ends up dead.  (As we all do, I suppose.  As one wag once remarked: “No matter how hard I struggle and strive, I’ll never get out of this world alive.”)

Good points: The thatched roofs.

Bad points: Sleeping on the stones at the seashore.  Fabric chain mail.

Zero breasts.  No blood.  Three dead bodies (not including Death, or the dead folks dancing off into the hills following Death at the end of the film).  Knife fu.  Fire fu.  Whip fu.  Waves roll.  Jof rolls.  The blacksmith’s hat rolls.  Gratuitous wandering penitents.  Gratuitous clouds of incense.  Gratuitous squirrel.  (No, really!)  Gratuitous witch burning.  Gratuitous visions.  Gratuitous omens.  Academy Award nominations to Åke Fridell as the blacksmith Plog for “[Life] is crazy, that’s what it is”; to Gunnar Björnstrand as the squire Jons for “Love is the blackest of all plagues” and “Dry your tears and wrap yourself in a cloak of indifference”; and to Bengt Ekerot as Death for “Nothing escapes me.  Nothing.  And no one.”  A mere 65 on the Vomit Meter.  Two stars.  Da’ud Bob says, “The moral, I suppose, is that you should enjoy the moment.  Death can be everywhere and anywhere, and may come for you at any time, and won’t be delayed for long by a game of chess.  Check it out!”



Upcoming movies and miniseries to watch for!


The King, the Swordsman, and the Sorceress
Said to be released December 30, 2025, but I can't find it anywhere		 Starring Donna Hamblin, Deborah Dutch, Jeffrey Schneider, and Nick Dent, still no plot synopsis has been released. But given the title, surely it must be a Da'ud Bob kind of movie, yes? Well, maybe. AI seems to think it is a remake of 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer, a movie which featured, as I said in my review of it, "the amazing new Ronco [three-bladed] Rocket Sword.  'It slices!  It dices!  It makes mincemeat of your enemies in minutes!')". If AI is right, we are all in serious trouble.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
January 18, 2026		 Set a century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wander through Westeros ... a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends. A(nother) Game of Thrones prequel. Streaming on Max.
Highlander
2026		 Starring Henry Cavill, Russell, Crowe, and Karen Gillan, with Dave Bautista as the Kurgan. This is a remake of the 1986 original starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery that no one I know of is asking for. "An immortal Scottish swordsman faces off with other immortal warriors in order to obtain a coveted ability." Director Chad Stahelski confirmed the movie will be using Queen's soundtrack from the original, but "Probably in a different way than you think, but hardcore yes." [Da'ud Bob says, "How about 'hardcore no'?"]
The Odyssey
July 17, 2026		 A new film version of the epic poem by Homer. Directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, with Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, and more. Quite the impressive cast! I hope the script will let their talents shine. The plot is exactly what you'd expect: "After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Circe along the way."


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