Feeding the Doves (1896)
Directed by James H. White this is an early short film. We see a woman and a young girl throwing out feed for birds to eat.
This is a simple rustic scene shot in a single take. There is some charm to the subject matter and it is nice to see an early film shot on location. Maybe not a short with great depth but entertaining none the less.
3/5
Twist (2020)
Directed by Martin Owen this film based on the novel Oliver Twist stars Rafferty Law, Michael Caine, Lena Headey, Rita Ora and Sophie Simnett. An orphan joins a gang of art thieves.
Coming about ten or fifteen years too late this is the parkour version of Oliver Twist that sets itself up for a fall by referencing the David Lean adaptation right up front. There is a place for a modern version of Oliver Twist but this film takes all the Dickensian poverty out of the story which does not leave much. My biggest question is how Michael Caine and Lena Heady ended up in something this bad.
2/5
The Swerve (2018)
Written & directed by Dean Kapsalis this film stars Azura Skye, Bryce Pinkham, Ashley Bell and Zach Rand. A married middle aged woman suffers from insomnia to tragic consequences.
Far too rarely do we get a proper look into the dark side of the human mind. I loved this look at a woman's life falling apart and the depths to which her depression sinks. The whole film rests on a fantastic performance from Azura Skye without which it would not work.
4/5
Faith Based (2020)
Directed by Vincent Masciale this film stars Like Barnett, Tanner Thomason and Lance Reddick. Two slacker friends plan to get rich by making a Christian movie.
There is a decent concept to this film but unfortunately the script is as weak as many of the Christian films this film looks down on. With a few revisions this could have been decent instead of the amateurish effort we get here. A disappointing miss.
2/5
Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory (1897)
Directed by James H. White this is an early short film. We see Thomas Edison at work in a laboratory.
While this may pretend to be documentary it is entirely staged. The set is not a real laboratory and I very much doubt Edison is even doing any work. Just goes to show even in 1897 you could not trust Hollywood.
2/5
Windows on the World (2019)
Directed by Michael D. Olmos this film stars Ryan Guzman, Chelsea Gilligan and James . A young man from Mexican crosses the border illegally to find the fate of his father who was working in the World Trade Centre on 9/11.
This is not a bad film but I wish it had focused more on the protagonists disillusionment with his father rather than glossing over that moment towards the end. The most interesting part of the story is a mere after thought. Could have been much more hard hitting.
3/5
Thank You for Your Service (2017)
Directed by Jason Hall this film inspired by real events stars Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale and Joe Cole. Three American soldiers have trouble getting back to civilian life after serving in Iraq.
Covering familiar “coming home” territory this is a decent look at serious issues. Nothing is very new here but is in a slightly more modern context to a slew of similar Vietnam era films. Well made and acted.
3/5
I Used to Go Here (2020)
Written & directed by Kris Rey this film stars Gillian Jacobs, Jermaine Clement and Hannah Marks. When her first book is published a writer is invited to give a talk at her old university.
This is a fun little film about revisiting an earlier point in your life. Down on her luck the protagonist quickly reverts to her younger self. Enjoyable if not deeply insightful, this is still a fun film.
3/5
The King of Staten Island (2020)
Directed by Judd Apatow this film stars Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr and Bel Powley. A 24 year old drop out living in Staten Island has no direction in his life other that smoking weed and giving bad tattoos.
This film is worth watching just for seeing Bill Burr and Pete Davidson go at each other, perfect casting. I did not find the plot to be anything revolutionary but there is enough humour to carry this film. Underneath it all there is something really human.
4/5
All These Small Moments (2018)
Written & directed by Melissa Miller Costanzo this film stars Brendan Meyer, Molly Ringwald and Harley Quinn Smith. A high school boy has a crush on a older woman while his parents marriage breaks down.
This is a classic coming of age film that has plenty of charm if not originality. There are definitely worse ways to spend 90 minutes than with this film. Nothing will surprise you but it is nice to see Molly Ringwald working again.
3/5
Seminary Girls (1897)
Directed by James H. White this is an early short film. Several young woman in nightgowns have a pillow fight.
There is really not a huge amount to this short film but it does have some charm to it. The first of many pillow fights to be caught on film. Probably not the most important film ever however.
3/5
Volition (2019)
Directed by Tony Dean Smith this film stars Adrian Glynn McMorran, Madga Apanowicz and Bill Merchant. A man that can see glimpses of the future finds it is caused by time travel.
Unfortunately there is nothing original here, if you want to see the definitive low budget time travel film just skip straight on to Primer (2004). The plot is predictable and the happy ending feels entirely forced. Not one worth seeking out sadly.
2/5
A.X.L. (2018)
Written & directed by Oliver Daly this film stars Alex Neustaedter, Becky G and Thomas Jane. A dirt bike racer comes across an escaped military robot dog.
If you are looking for anything original you will not find it here. That being said there is some charm to the robot dog even if it is fairly blatant what strings the film is pulling on. This film might have been a flop but it is really not that bad once you get past the lack of originality.
3/5
Collide (2016)
Directed by Eran Creevy this film stars Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins. A young man attempts to rob a drug dealer to pay for his girlfriend's kidney transplant.
There are some really odd choices in this film like having two British stars do American accents. The plot is pretty weak as are some of the performances. Most disappointing of all is Felicity Jones just being used as a damsel in distress.
1/5
Fatima's Coochee-Cocchee Dance (1896)
Directed by William Heise and James H. White this short film stars Fatima. A woman does a belly dance of sorts.
The version I saw of this had surprisingly high image quality given the age. There is not a huge amount to the film, around a minutes worth of the dance. As this early snippets of acts go this is a decent one.
3/5
Blithe Spirit (2020)
Directed by Edward Hall this film based on the novel of the same name stars Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, Judi Dench and Leslie Mann. A writer is haunted by the ghost of his first wife who is not happy to find out he has remarried.
This is a fairly fun but not very deep farce. The plot varies some from the source material, especially towards the end of the piece. In the end rather forgettable and rooted in the period it is set.
3/5
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan (2019)
Directed by Xavier Dolan this film stars Kit Harington, Natalie Portman and Jacob Tremblay. Across two time periods we see the life of two gay actors who were pen pals while one was a child.
I think there is a great film in here somewhere however the script fishes around in over sentimentality too much. Given all the acting talent on show here it is a bit of a shame how this film ended up. With a big rework of the script it could have been really good.
3/5
Campbell's Kingdom (1957)
Directed by Ralph Thomas this film based on the novel of the same name stars Dirk Bogard, Stanley Baker and Barbara Murray. A man with a terminal illness inherits land in the Canadian Rocky Mountains where his grandfather believed there was oil.
Despite being based on a best selling novel the plot of this film is nothing special. North Westerns are a little bit rare but that is not really enough to carry this film. There are times when it is pretty clear the scope of the film escapes the film maker's budget and ability.
2/5
Miss Juneteenth (2020)
Written & directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples this films tars Nichole Beharie, Alexis Chikaeze and Kendrick Simpson. A single mother tries to get her teenage daughter to enter the beauty pageant she won fifteen years ago.
I really enjoyed the way this film takes the mother's point of view rather than make this a teenage coming of age film. The script covers a lot of stuff but captures living in poverty really well, especially when race is an added issue on top of that. Well made and well acted.
4/5
Cold Skin (2017)
Directed by Xavier Gens this film based on the novel of the same name stars David Oakes, Ray Stevenson and Aura Garrido. In 1914 a man goes to stay as a weather observer on a remote island where he meets a strange lighthouse keeper and they are attacked by monsters every night.
This film never really managed to capture an atmosphere to hold your attention. The plot is decent enough but never really hits on a clear subtext. I like the bleak landscapes more than anything else in the film.
3/5
The High Note (2020)
Directed by Nisha Ganatra this film stars Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ice Cube and Kelvin Harrison Jr. A young woman working as an assistant to a music superstar wants to be a producer.
On the surface level this is a romantic comedy mixed with “follow your dreams” cheese that does not have much depth to it. Underneath there is something really uncomfortable about the idea that all black people need for a successful soul career is an inexperience white woman to come along and tell them what to do. Unfortunately there is nothing really redeeming about this film.
2/5
Princess Ali (1895)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film staring “Princess Ali”. We see a dance from Princess Ali, one of the acts in the Barnum and Bailey circus.
Barely ten seconds in length there is not a lot of dance to this film. Obviously the content itself is pretty questionable to begin with. Not a lot to really sink your teeth into here.
2/5
Greed (2019)
Written & directed by Michael Winterbottom this film stars Steve Coogan, David Mitchell and Isla Fisher. An asset stripping fashion mogul plans a massive birthday celebration on the Greek island of Mykonos.
There is a really good concept behind this film however the execution is fairly average. I enjoyed the clear attack on Philip Green but otherwise the film needed a bit more punch to it. Steve Coogan's character is just a bit too similar to what we have seen from him before.
3/5
Blindfire (2020)
Written & directed by Michael Nell this film stars Brian Geraghty, Sharon Leal and Bethany Joy Lenz. Two cops respond to an alleged domestic hostage taking and the white cop shoots a black man.
I was worried this film was going to be unabashed cop-aganda, thankfully it is not even if it is not the deepest take on the subject matter. There is some value to exploring the idea that even people that do not consider themselves racist can make split second racist judgements. I would not recommend this film but it does manage to cover a massively controversial subject without making any really terrible mistakes.
3/5
Real (2019)
Written & directed by star Aki Omoshaybi this film also features Pippa Bennett-Warner and Karen Bryson. Two people struggling with poverty begin a romance.
It is really refreshing to see a romance that is so grounded in reality, especially one filled with hardships. This is definitely not a Hollywood love story and it is all the better for that. A low budget effort that is well worth a watch.
4/5
She's in Portland (2020)
Directed by Marc Carlini this film stars Tommy Dewey, Francois Arnaud and Minka Kelly. College friends now in their thirties go on a road trip to reunite one of them with “the one that got away”.
Living in the shadow of Sideways (2004) this is still a decent film in its own right. There is some lovely scenery and a good exploration of the characters. There is never quite a gut punch dramatic moment to top the film off but I still really enjoyed it.
3/5
Mighty Oak (2020)
Directed by Sean McNamara this film stars Janel Parrish, Carlos PenaVega and Tommy Ragen. Ten years after the death of their lead singer a band that never made it reforms with a child prodigy.
Despite threatening to be a wanky reincarnation film the plot side steps that cheese and barrels into another level of wanky cheese instead. There are some element of the story here that are salvageable but you would have to throw out about 90% to get anything decent. Clearly made on the cheap there is not much to recommend this film on.
1/5
The Whole Truth (2016)
Directed by Courtney Hunt this film stars Keanu Reeves, Renee Zellweger, Gabriel Basso, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jim Belushi. A lawyer tries to defend a seventeen year old accused of murder who refuses to talk to anyone.
As courtroom thrillers go this is a particularly predictable one that has nothing new to offer. The writing seems to be pretty bad, the whole film is rather boring. There are a lot of better options out there in this genre.
2/5
Admiral Cigarette (1897)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. Four men get given cigarettes by a corporate mascot.
Possibly the first ever advert in cinema there is not a lot to this short film. The image quality is not the best so it is hard to tell what is going on at times. Even when you can see what is happening there is not really much of a plot here.
1/5
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
Directed by Adil & Bilall this sequel stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Paola Nunez. Our heroes are hunted by a villain from one of their pasts.
To be honest this film seems fairly tired, an unnecessary third instalment in the franchise. The plot and the character development, such as it is, does not have much going for it either. I struggle to see how others liked this one.
2/5
Tailgate (2019)
Directed by Lodewijk Crijns this film stars Jeroen Spitzenberger, Anniek Pheifer and Willem de Wolf. A couple and their daughters find themselves being hunted down by a man they tailgated on the road.
Pretty simple in terms of concept and scripts this is a decent little thriller. There is not a huge depth to the film but it does what it does well enough. All in all this is a well made film.
3/5
