Simple fun

 Assignment in Brittany (1943)

Directed by Jack Conway this film based on the novel of the same name stars Jean-Pierre Aurmont, Susan Peters and Signe Hasso. An office in the Free French army assumes the identity of another man to find a hidden submarine base.

As wartime spy films go this is a pretty decent one even if it is not exactly nuanced. The big action sequence at the end of the film was a nice little surprise that is well done. By modern standards the script is no great shakes but this is still a fun watch.

3/5

No smoke at all.

 Playing with Fire (2019)

Directed by Andy Fickman this film stars John Cena, John Leguizamo, Keegan-Michael Key, Brianna Hildebrand and Judy Greer. A group of smokejumpers spend the weekend babysitting runaways.

I am not sure what age is the target audience for this film but even five year olds would likely find this film a bit stupid. There is not enough comedy to carry this lightweight effort and John Cena is not really suited to comedy as a lead actor. Keegan-Micahel Key does his best but is unable to save this film.

1/5

Better than what follows

 Buffalo Dance (1894)

Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. We see members of the Sioux tribe perform a “Buffalo Dance”.

Early cinema does a better job of showing native Americans on camera than most films of the next century did. This small snippet of film catches a moment of lost history. An interesting historical record if nothing else.

3/5

Following familiar reboot rules

 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Directed by Tim Miller this film stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Linda Hamilton, Gabriel Lina and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Picking up where Terminator 2 left off this film sees a different AI sending back terminators to end potential threats.

On the surface this is okay for a big budget action films despite a few plot holes and not making the most of the character drama available. Ignoring some of the worst sequels of the franchise this film is better than some of its predecessors but has so many unfortunate consequences from ill thought out moments. This is one of this films I really think could be fixed with a few more re-writes.

2/5

Born facing the sea

 Catamaran (2019)

Written & directed by Swarnavel Eswaran this film stars Preeti Karan, Anusha Prabhu and Mysskin. In a fishing village still recovering from the devastation of the an uncle tries to find a husband for his niece.

There are moments this film verges on being really great but unfortunately it falls a little short. A little melodramatic in places and not clear in others it is sadly hard to recommend this film despite some of the moving moments it has. A bold effort despite its flaws.

3/5

Cocks out 1894 style

 

The Cock Fight (1894)

Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. We see two cockerels go at each other in a fight.

I am not really a fan of watching people fight and even less so when it comes to animals so this is not really my favourite subject matter. Thankfully things do not get gory but still not something I would be dying to rewatch. Even for fight fans there is not a lot to this film.

2/5

No jokes

 Corporate Animals (2019)

Directed by Patrick Brice this film stars Jessica Williams, Karan Soni and Demi Moore. Workers for an overbearing employer go on a team building exercise and get trapped in an underground cave.

Despite having a fairly decent premise this film is a damp squid, there is a serious lack of actual jokes in the script. With a punched up script this could have been a decent film but I only really laughed a couple of times. More Ed Helms might have helped carry this lacklustre effort.

2/5