Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft (James Cameron and Billie Eilish, 2026)

I did not even know this movie existed until I saw the trailer in front of Avatar 3. I know a few Eilish songs (and I love her Bond theme), but I am not across her entire discography. 

Still, the combination of Eilish with James Cameron was such a seemingly improbable collaboration, it rocketed onto my must-see list.

The big question I had going in was why:

why is Cameron here, not just as a director, but an onscreen presence.

One can certainly see Cameron’s interest in strong women, but that is too simplistic.

Cameron is largely offscreen, but when he does appear, I was kind of shocked.   

He appears largely deferential and soft-spoken.

I was wondering if he was playing nice, trying to avoid showing the tyrannical auteur. 

But the film seems to dispel this idea.

We open on the first number, played in full - sets out Eilish, her dynamic with the crowd, and the reactions of fans. 

We then cut back to show the design and construction of this initial setpiece.

We see Eilish taking Cameron through the specifics of the show, and offering detailed ideas on staging and coverage. 

That is when it hit me: Cameron has met his match.

It might also have something to do with her being a master of a medium he is not familiar with.

 

The film brackets every song with snippets from an interview between Cameron and Eilish.

Eilish is presented as down to earth and self-aware (she seems to recognise her relationship with her fans).

The most successful aspect of the film’s presentation of the star is the way it creates a visceral sense of working onstage - the sheer athleticism and effort it takes to keep a massive show like this going.

Eilish uses her own camera at points throughout the show - recording herself, the audience and running underneath the stage set, through a Warren of makeshift tunnels where the crew are keeping the show running.

We get some sense of the toll touring can take: Eilish is working with an injury, and we see her working with her vocal coach to maintain her voice. 

These moments reinforce the sense of Eilish as a relatable human being, but the movie does not try to dig deeper than physical exertion.

One nugget we do get is that Eilish’s favourite part of her job used to be the ride between the hotel and the venue because it was the one time she could smell fresh air. It is a moment that raises more questions that the film does not address directly.

Eilish has been in the industry since she was a child, but, aside from this one quote, we get no more exploration of how she looks back on her career so far.

The enigma is Eilish’s relationship with Finneas.

He shows up to guest on a few songs toward the end, but we never see him in the behind-the-scenes footage, and the only time we hear his voice is when he sings.

The intimacy of the camerawork captures their onstage chemistry  - Cameron’s 48 frames obsession pays off in this movie - but he is the one aspect of the show that is not explored.

As a viewing experience, Hit Me Hard and Soft is immersive. 

I was worried I would be checked out during the music, but the numbers are all staged in distinctly different ways, and the filmmakers try to shoot them in unique ways that foreground the show. I recognised more songs than I thought I would (no No Time To Die, sadly).

Cameron is not a filmmaker known for irony or subtext - aside from the chronological reshuffling of the behind-the-scenes footage, this is a straightforward chronicle of the experience of Eilish’s show. 

As such, it is a considerable success. 

Related

Xenogenesis 

The Terminator 

The Abyss

Avatar

Avatar - The Way of Water 

Avatar - Fire and Ash

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BITE-SIZED: The Farmer (David Berlatsky, 1977)

As the Second World War comes to an end, a farmer (Gary Conway) returns home to rebuild his farm. After saving the life of a gambler, the farmer finds himself in the crosshairs of the gambler's enemies, a ruthless group of gangsters.

When of the gangsters kills his friend, assaults his lover and burns down his property, the farmer turns the tables on the gunmen from the big city...

 

I had not even heard of this movie until The Action Boyz podcast covered it a few weeks ago. Some enterprising individual had uploaded a decent version online which put it right at the top of my to-watch list.

This movie is a lot of fun.While it falls within the subgenera of 70s revenge thrillers, the 40s milieu gives it a unique value.

While the story is familiar, the details make it interesting, and the low budget context gives it an added thrill. It is almost aspirational in what choices it makes to evoke this setting.

Now I was primed by the podcast, but the protagonist is given a surplus of motivation for vengeance. As stated in the plot summary, his family suffer death and serious injury, and the farm he is struggling to hold onto is significantly damaged.

On top of these significant events, any of which could have served as a catalyst for action, our hero is offered a massive financial reward by the gambler he saved to kill the gangsters (before they attacked the farmer, the gangsters blinded the gambler with acid).

The heavy-handedness of this approach almost pushes the extremity towards parody. But that clunkiness also adds to the movie's charm.

This is one of those movies where I am half-invested in the movie while marvelling at the details: the number of vintage cars in the underground parking lot during one of the farmer's assassinations, the carefully angled montage of the parade (clearly on-the-fly shots of a contemporary event, carefully framing out contemporary fashions).

I recently watched Rolling Thunder for the first time a few months ago, and this movie plays like its cheaper cousin - lead Conway is even styled in a similar way, with dark aviator glasses (no hook hand, sadly).

Conway is a little flat, but when framed behind those dark shades under a wide-brimmed hat, he is rather effective as a monosyllabic killer. 

The final twist is a neat touch, and the final block of text which ends it is a gloriously ham-fisted attempt at pathos that should deflate it, but once again, just adds to the home-made qualities of the whole piece. 

Budding genre directors could do far worse than checking out The Farmer - and taking a few notes.

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Shoot to Kill (Roger Spottiswoode, 1988)

On the hunt for a mysterious killer, FBI agent Warren Stantin (Sidney Poitier) discovers his quarry has joined a hunting party heading for the Canadian border.

He joins forces with mountaineer Jonathan Knox (Tom Berenger), whose partner (Kirstie Alley), is leading the party.

While the pair struggle against time and terrain, there is a greater obstacle they will have to overcome: each other.

 Starring Sidney Poitier and Tom Berenger, Shoot to Kill (aka Deadly Pursuit) is a terse action thriller that makes effective use of its stars and effectively balances their characters' respective skillsets.

A buddy movie without the comedy, Shoot to Kill is sadly underrated.

I first heard about it after Poitier's passing - from memory, a local arthouse decided to play this as their tribute screening, rather than one of his more recognisable titles.

At the time, Shoot to Kill was the star's return to screens after 11 years.

First, time to eat some crow.

I have been rather dismissive of director Roger Spottiswoode, largely based on my disinterest in his Bond entry, Tomorrow Never Dies, and his Arnie vehicle The 6th Day. I never thought he was a bad director - he just seemed to lack anything special to recommend him.

Shoot to Kill is a really fine picture, and Spottiswoode is a big reason why.

I was especially excited by the variety of different locations, and how he found unique ways to photograph them. You always feel like you are moving between distinctly different environments, with new challenges and stakes.

If you are familiar with Clancy Brown's distinct tones, his reveal as the bad guy will come as the least surprising reveal in the movie. What makes this reveal shocking and effective is that once his identity is revealed to the audience, the film does not extend the cat-and-mouse with the other members of the travelling party - he just kills them all.

It is an economical story-telling choice, but also reinforces the character's ruthlessness and the stakes for our bickering heroes. 

As the leads, Poitier and Berenger are an effective double act - while they have a little back and forth, most of their conflict is nonverbal, conveyed through their differing reactions and approaches to obstacles.

It is an interesting approach that enlivens a familiar buddy dynamic.

While most of the action takes place in the wilderness, the third act shifts back to an urban setting, which reorients the pair’s dynamic. Rather than obvious signposting, the film just has Knox quietly take a backseat to Stanton’s greater skills and knowledge in the city.

Un-flashy but intelligently assembled, Shoot to Kill is a fine showcase for its stars, and its director’s talents.

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BONDIFICATING: Why they walked away

When Daniel Craig was blown to smithereens at the end of 2021’s No Time To Die, it marked not just the first time the character’s demise was shown, it also marked the one time a Bond actor had the opportunity to craft his own exit. 

His predecessors had very different experiences…

Sean Connery says never again… again and again

By the mid-sixties, Sean Connery was losing interest in the role that made him a star. His relationship with the producers had deteriorated - Connery  felt like he was not receiving the financial compensation he deserved, while the producers seemed to be raking in profits.

The final straw was the intense publicity during location filming in Japan for You Only Live Twice - including an incident in which photographers followed him into the bathroom. 

Believing the character was more important than the actor, the producers let him out of his six film contract and moved on with one-time Bond Lazenby. 

Following Lazenby’s departure, Connery was lured back by a 1.125m pound fee for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. Despite a rumoured 5m pound offer to return again, Connery declared it a one-time deal - he would never return to the role of Bond again…

Until he did in 1983’s unofficial Never Say Never Again, whereupon he again declared this was the end of the road (unless you count 1996’s The Rock).

George Lazenby

The youngest person to ever play Bond, Lazenby felt that Bond was past its used-by date in the Age of Aquarius. He walked away from a seven film contract (which could have seen him into the early 80s) to make his own franchise with Universal Soldier (nope, not that one). 

Roger Moore

After his original contract ran out in the late seventies, Roger Moore made repeated statements that he was retiring from Bondage. 

During the making of For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy, Moore stated that this was definitely going to be his final film. 

Aside from Moore, other factors helped extend his tenure - an unimpressive list of potential successors and the threat of a rival Bond production headlined by Sean Connery made Moore a reliable set of hands. 

When Moore finally did hang up the Walther after A View To A Kill, it was reportedly because he discovered that he was older than his leading lady’s mother.

I have nothing to back this up but pure gut, but I wonder if the reason why Craig’s death was so explicit in No Time To Die was to avoid repeating Moore’s example.

Timothy Dalton

Following the release of Licence to Kill, Dalton sounded dour about whether the franchise would continue, but remained onboard until the earliest stages of GoldenEye, seeing it as an opportunity to end his run on a high note. However when he learned producer Cubby Broccoli would want him around for multiple installments, he amicably bowed out.

Pierce Brosnan

A lifelong Bond fan, Brosnan first came on the producers’ radar during the making of For Your Eyes Only, in which his wife Cassandra Harris had a supporting role.

After winning and losing the role in 1986 due to last-minute conflicts with his  contract for TV series Remington Steele, Brosnan got a second chance in 1995, bringing the franchise back from the dead after a 6 year absence. 

By the mid-noughts however, the combination of the Austin Powers franchise, the arrival of a more contemporary spy in Jason Bourne and real world events (the September 11 attacks) had rendered his Bond obsolete. 

Brosnan was ready to go for a fifth instalment, but eventually the producers made the decision to break with the established template and Brosnan had to give up the role.

If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond, The James Bond Cocktail Hour. 

You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you enjoy something I wrote, and want to support my writing, here’s a link for tips!