Four just above average days

 

Four Good Days (2020)

Directed by Rodrigo Garcia this film based on real events stars Glenn Close, Mila Kunis and Stephen Root. A mother tries to help her 31 year old daughter detox from heroin for the 15^th time.

It appears this film sticks fairly faithfully to it's source material which has positives and negatives, I felt the film lacked a little in focus and dramatic impact. I really wanted to see more of how an addict could affect the life of the mother. A decent film on the effects of drugs even if it does not go far enough at times in my opinion.

3/5

Average morning

 

Good Morning Karachi (2013)

Directed by Sabiha Sumar this film based on the novel “Rafina” stars Amna Ilyas, Beo Zafar, Saba Hameed and Atta Yaqub. A young woman in Karachi dreams of becoming a model.

The script of this film is fairly simplistic and pretty on the nose, that being said it is still decent. I would have liked to have seen a few more rewrites of the script to polish it up a bit more really. A nice film from another part of the world if nothing more.

3/5

All fire, little heart

 

Fireheart (2022)

Directed by Theodore Ty & Lauren Zeitoun this film has voices from Olivia Cooke, Kenneth Branagh, William Shatner, Laurie Holden and Mara Junot. In 1930s New York a 16 year old girl wants to be the first female firefighter.

As animated kids films go this one is fairly entertaining if somewhat predictable. The major disappointment here is that the themes of female empowerment the script is built on never go anywhere interesting and are possibly undercut by the third act reveals. Pixar lite at the best I am afraid.

3/5

More tail than the tale

 

The Handmaiden (2016)

Directed by Park Chan-wook this film stars Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri and Ha Jung-woo. A young street thief goes to work as a lady's maid as part of a plan to rob her of her fortune by marrying her off.

I was expecting a dry period romance and what I got was not that at all, dry is the last thing you would accuse this film of being. There is a lot of fun to this one and a bucket load of sexual content. Going into this one blind was well worth it.

4/5

Jump in

 

The Sea (1895)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. A number of boys take turns jumping into the sea.

A fun little short showing sea side activity. There is not a huge amount to this short but it is fairly fun and entertaining. The image quality on the version I watched was not exactly stand out.

3/5

Walking the plank

 

The Photographical Congress Arrives in Lyon (1895)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. A bunch of people disembark from a ship.

There is not much to this one, just a parade of people in hats. No doubt an interesting historical record but not much for entertainment value really. Probably not a film of this period that I would recommend.

3/5

Death Pish

 

Vendetta (2022)

Written & directed by Jared Cohn this film stars Clive Standen, Theo Rossi, Mike Tyson, Thomas Jane and Bruce Willis. A man seeks revenge on the gang that murdered his daughter.

This is one of the worst revenge films you will see, the plot makes little to no sense right from the get go. Just chucking a few big names in this film is not enough to save it. Some of the dialogue is pretty terrible as well.

1/5

Halloween fizzles

 

Halloween Kills (2021)

Directed by David Gordon Green this sequel stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak and Will Patton. After being trapped in a burning house Michael Myers escapes and kills some more people.

Coming really close to making some interesting points this film fluffs the landing in a rather disappointing manner. The core of the film is familiar and not particularly interesting slasher fare. I found this to be a lack luster addition to the franchise.

2/5

A seller if not the best

 

Best Sellers (2021)

Directed by Lina Roessler this film stars Aubrey Plaza, Michael Caine and Ellen Wong. To save her publishing house a woman takes an angry old author on a book tour.

Aubrey Plaza and Michael Caine as stars is an appealing duo, sadly the film never really delivers on the potential there. The script is fairly predictable, telegraphing the major points far too early. There is some fun to be had here just not nearly as much as there could have been.

3/5

Puppet

 

The Merry Skeleton (1898)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. We see a skeleton dance, fall apart and put itself back together again.

Unlike other films of this period this short uses a puppet for its special effects. This is a fun little short that may be lacks a little of the magic of a Melies film of a similar era. Still a fun film in its own way.

3/5

Don't even bother

 

Apache Junction (2021)

Written & directed by Justin Lee this film stars Scout Taylor-Compton, Stuart Townsend and Thomas Jane. A female reporter heads to Arizona in 1880 to report on the real life on the frontier.

There is nothing like a good western and sadly this film is nothing like a good western. The script has far too much tell and not enough show, it also stumbles from one half baked cliché to the next. Even the direction and acting is pretty poor, well worth avoiding.

1/5

No mystery machine in sight

 

Daphne (2017)

Directed by Peter Mackie Burns this film stars Emily Beecham, Geraldine James and Nathaniel Martello-White. A 31 year old woman living in London struggles to connect with other human beings.

Essentially this film is just a character study and a good one at that. I enjoyed the protagonist's voyage through self destruction into something approaching a better place. A good watch if not the most original film ever.

4/5

Not at sea

 

Boat Leaving the Port (1895)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. A boat rows out to sea while people watch from a near by pier.

Like many films of the period this short basically does exactly what it says on the tin. This is a nice little scene, the kind of which many period examples seem to exist. Not a bad watch for the period.

3/5

Red moon over MACA

 

Night of the Kings (2020)

Written & directed by Philippe Lacote this film stars Kone Bakary, Isaka Sawadogo and Steve Tientcheu. In an African prison run by the inmates the current king has become too ill to govern.

It takes a little bit to figure out exactly what is going on with this film but when things click it is a fascinating watch. I never knew I wanted A Thousand and One Nights set in an African jail, thankfully the makers of this film did. A fantastical look into life in another world.

4/5

We sleep

 

They Live (1988)

Directed by John Carpenter this film based on the short story “Eight O'Clock in the Morning” stars Roddy Piper, Keith David and Meg Foster. A construction worker has his eyes opened to the true nature of the world.

The message behind this film is not exactly subtle and unfortunately has still been misinterpreted by some unsavoury types. Even the acting is not subtle, I am not sure that Roddy Piper was the best choice for a star here. I can see why this is a cult hit for some but it is not for me despite how much I have enjoyed some of Carpenter's other films in the past.

2/5

Playful

 

Come Play (2020)

Directed by Jacob Chase this film stars Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr. and Azhy Robertson. A young boy with autism and his parents are menaced by a monster that wants a friend.

There are some decent thematic bones to this horror film but it never really stitches everything together into convincing arcs for all the characters. The parents in particular could have done with having a bit more work done on them in my opinion. A nicely creepy film even if it does not quite reach its potential.

3/5

Falls flat

 

Demolition of a Wall (1896)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. Auguste Lumiere directs four workers as they knock down a wall.

Exactly what it says on the tin with few surprises. The dust cloud as the wall comes down is fairly impressive, otherwise there is not a lot to remark on. It is a fairly small wall that gets knocked down , they could have gone bigger in my opinion.

3/5

Back to life

 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Directed by Jason Reitman this film stars McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd. A single mother and her kids inherit the haunted house of her absent father.

At times this sequel is a little cheesy but it does a much better job of carrying on the franchise than the 2016 reboot did. There is a lot to enjoy here, the mash up of the familiar franchise and the “kids on bikes” genre. By no means is this a film without flaws, there is enough quality to over look the minor missteps though.

3/5

Another Willis direct to video effort

 

Deadlock (2021)

Directed by Jared Cohn this film stars Patrick Muldoon, Bruce Willis and Michael DeVorzon. A wanted criminal and some paid mercenaries take over a hydro electric dam.

Essentially this is Die Hard on a dam with Bruce Willis in the bad guy role. The plot is pretty bad as is most of the dialogue. There is a strange green tint to some of the lighting and rarely a wide shot to actually give you any scope of the place the story is taking place.

1/5

A hit

 

Snowball Fight (1897)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. During winter time in Lyon some people have a snowball fight.

What impressed me most about this short is how good the image quality was on the version I saw. The content of the film is a simple snowball fight, it captures the a group of people having fun really well. It is good to know that some human behaviour persists.

3/5

The last vestiges of dignity

 

The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021)

Directed by Augustine Frizzell this film based on the novel of the same name stars Felicity Jones, Shailene Woodley, Nabhaan Rizwan and Callum Turner. A report discovers love letters from an affair in the 1960s.

Smooshing together a bunch of familiar genre cliches and characters this film lacks any sort of subtlety. The film comprises of a light weight Merchant Ivory section with a modern rom com section, neither of which works on its own and combined are not improved. If you do not mind badly made romance cheese I suppose this film is for you.

2/5

A bleak future

 

The Desert (2021)

Directed by Michael Dockery this is an animated short film. Robots are left to wander a desolate future Earth.

Exploring some classic sci-fi imagery this is a fun little short. There is not too much depth, something to be expected given the run time. Entertaining if not massively thought provoking.

3/5

Strange Finnish nature

 

The Other Side of Hope (2017)

Written & directed by Aki Kaurismaki this film stars Sherwan Haji and Sakari Kuosmanen. A man from Syria seeks asylum while a Finnish businessman takes over a restaurant.

As much as I enjoyed the off beat comedy in this film and its slightly odd pacing I felt it detracted a little from the moments of real drama. The sections on the businessman were definitely less interesting than the parts about the asylum seeker too. A good attempt at looking at the life of asylum seekers even if it did miss the mark a little for me at times.

3/5

Bloody aliens

 

Yellow Belt Fury (2021)

Directed by Katherine Hughes this film stars Melanie Rains, Matt Chute and Charlotte Taschen. Following the murder of her husband a woman learns karate to get revenge on the killer aliens.

There is not really a lot to this film in terms of plot or depth. Where this short does shine is that it has plenty of style to keep you entertained. This is a fun little film and makes me want to see what Katherine Hughes would do with a full length feature.

3/5

Gone tomorrow

 

Here Today (2021)

Directed by star Billy Crystal this film also features Tiffany Haddish, Louisa Krause and Anna Deavere Smith. A comedy writer struggles with the early days of dementia

There are a lot of dementia films knocking about these days and this one is neither particularly hard hitting or overly insightful. The film is decent enough but does little to stand out and the end does get a little overly sentimental. Do not expect too much from this one.

3/5

Not much of a tribute

 

Tribute to a Bad Man (1956)

Directed by Robert Wise this film stars James Cagney, Don Dubbins, Stephen McNally and Irene Papas. A young man takes a job as a horse wrangler for a rancher who thinks he is the law of the land.

As westerns go this is a pretty familiar one, it doesn't hit the heights of Shane (1953) which is also from the same writer. If you are a genre fan this is decent enough, otherwise it is a bit bland. There is also not much depth to the message behind the film.

3/5

Three Roberts

 

Crossfire (1947)

Directed by Edward Dmytryk this film based on the novel The Brick Foxhole stars Robert Young, Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan. A police detective tries to figure out which soldier of a group staying at a hotel committed murder.

This is a pretty basic who done it that rams home its message without a lot of subtlety. I enjoyed the film even if it is not ground breaking in terms of content or execution. To be honest the highlight of the film is seeing some of the stars before they made it big.

3/5

Not legendary

 

Legend of the Lost (1957)

Directed by Henry Hathaway this film stars John Wayne, Sophia Loren and Rossano Brazzi. Three people set off into the Sahara in the search for a lost city.

This is your standard North African adventure film that manages to not dip too deeply into uncomfortable stereotypes common of Hollywood films of this genre. The film makes heavy use of familiar locations so is not that impressive. A decent if unremarkable genre film.

3/5

Not mighty

 

12 Mighty Orphans (2021)

Directed by Ty Roberts this film based on real events stars Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen, Vinessa Shaw and Wayne Knight. A new teacher sets up a football program at a school for orphans.

Essentially this is your usual American sports film, hitting all the familiar beats. The film simplifies and condenses real events down to such an extent that there is nothing new here. Kind of a disappointment in the end.

2/5

Fact check please

 

Charming the Hearts of Men (2021)

Written & directed by S. E. DeRose this film stars Anna Friel, Kelsey Grammer, Pauline Dyer and Aml Ameen. Against the backdrop of the Civil rights movement a divorce returns home to find she has inherited only debts from her father.

I'll be honest this film made me very uncomfortable, it may be attempting to be a film about equality but it comes across as rich white woman co-opting the struggle of black people. To what extent the film lives up to its claim of being based on true events I have no idea. At best this is a misguided effort that does not get to grips with its subject matter.

1/5

Ease up with the religion please

 

Esperanca (2014)

Directed by Nathan Cragun this is a short film set in World War 2. We follow a Brazilian soldier during the battle for Montese in 1945.

Unfortunately this film lays on the Jesus far too thick for my taste, theist films rarely go down well with me. I would really love to know more about the experiences of Brazilian soldiers in WW2 however this film really falls short. The script really needs some reworking to make this watchable.

1/5