VOD: Tales Of Halloween (dirs: Axelle Carolyn and others, 2015)

"Halloween is about to get real!"

Packing in ten short Halloween tales, this portmanteau is little more than simple, silly goofy fun, just like the Halloween holiday itself.  It is not as stylish or as successful as Trick 'r Treat, but it knows its audience and its genre very well and is eager to please, from straight-played urban-legends-styled cautionary tales to engagingly daft parodies of Friday the 13th and John Carpenter movies, and appearances from a host of genre favourites (Greg Grunberg, Lin Shaye, Stuart Gordon, John Landis, Adrienne Barbeau, etc).  Inevitably, some shorts are better than others but there is no real weak link, and there is plenty of (mostly physical) gloop and splatter for the gore fans.  With little scope for real development within each story, Tales Of Halloween therefore delivers basic but well-realised fun for horror fans.

VOD: The Bye Bye Man (dir: Stacy Title, 2017)

"It's a little creepy, right?"
"Nah.  Just cold."

Cherry-picking the best ideas from Candyman, It Follows and The Conjuring series, The Bye Bye Man manages to create a very uncompelling film.  The first half is extremely dull, as three very uninteresting college students rent an unfeasibly huge house and, well, strange things start to happen and a shady past is very slowly uncovered.   The second half livens up a little, but as there is little investment in the characters and the screenplay roves all over the place it is hard to maintain interest.  Carrie-Anne Moss also enters the fray occasionally and seemingly wanders in from a different movie altogether.  With odd pacing and a soundtrack that is not too successful, overall The Bye Bye Man proves to be considerably weaker than many of its contemporaries.

VOD: Cult Of Chucky (dir: Don Mancini, 2017)

"I was six.  My babysitter was murdered....along with my teacher and my case worker and thirty-seven other people over the years...that I'm aware of...."

The Chucky films have proved to be a resilient little franchise, retaining key players on and off screen, and this seventh entry is far better than should be expected and makes for a reasonably interesting film.  Picking up from Curse Of..., whose main character Nica has since been placed in a secure psychiatric institution, here the action follows Nica and her transfer to an isolated mid-security unit, eschewing the previous film's gothic-shadowiness for icy white/blue tones and a wintry backdrop that adds considerable aesthetic interest.  Inevitably, Chucky turns up to wreak some effective physical and CGI-created carnage - here the USP is that there can now be more than one Chucky - and the narrative takes in previous entries, from Jennifer Tilly/Tiffany to the original actor who played Andy (Alex Vincent) in the original movie.  This is very much a bottle story with a limited-number cast who mostly do well, led by another strong performance by Fiona Dourif, but there is a clear effort made all round to do more than just make a routine slasher-sequel.

FILM: Call Me By Your Name (dir: Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

"Is it better to speak or to die?"

In style, Call Me By Your Name is classic European arthouse.  Set in 1983 (everyone smokes, dial-up phones, New Romantic music, teenagers read books), this is a classic long hot summer setting in deserted rural Italy, all faded grandeur, swimming in lakes and dappled sunlight.  The burgeoning romance between a visiting confident 20-something student (another surprisingly nuanced turn by Armie Hammer) and the less-sure 17-year-old son (a wonderful emotionally open performance by Timothee Chalamet - just wait for the final lingering shot) develops steadily and convincingly.  The director controls the different elements beautifully, from purposeful framing to careful character development, and the steady pacing makes this a leisurely but enjoyable experience.  Call Me By Your Name comes heavily lauded from the festival circuit, and deservedly so.

FILM: Breathe (dir: Andy Serkis, 2017)

"That was different!"

The 'based on true events' biopic genre now feels well established, and Breathe ticks all the conventions boxes, right down to the footage of the real couple and the life updates at the end of the film.  In many ways, however, Breathe is almost less about a polio victim's battle to gain some sort of quality of life than it is a genuine (and, as the song says) true love story.  Andrew Garfield again proves to be a truly versatile actor, conveying positivity in the harshest of personal circumstances and often wordlessly (in a far more sincere way than Redmayne's acting exercises of The Theory Of Everything), and Claire Foy gives one of her best turns that is an exemplary character performance of devotion, defiance and love, with strong smaller supporting performances that catch the eye from Ed Speleers and Amit Shah.  Serkis also delivers very well with his first directorial effort, contrasting the natural vistas of Africa and Europe with the confines of hospitalisation, in particular a jawdropping scene in a German clinic.  With the surviving family's strong involvement, Breathe comes across less an airbrushed bit of Sunday-evening revisionism and more a truly life-affirming slice of positivity that is a testament to its two central performers.

FILM: Happy Death Day (dir: Christopher Landon, 2017)

"Looks like you've been here before..."

At first, Happy Death Day seemed to be another Blumhouse cheap-and-cheerful enterprise that does what it says on the tin - the horror version of Groundhog Day, of which is it is blissfully self-aware - but it turns out to have considerable charm and is very enjoyable.   From the looped opening of the Universal ident, this film knows exactly what it is doing, carried along by two delightfully engaging and well-placed lead performances by Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard and a format that effectively creates mini-movies which introduce the new generation of filmgoers to horror movie conventions and locations (the sorority house, the hospital, the bell tower, etc) and also allows horror fans the fun of spotting references, as classic movie themes are echoed and clichés are neatly skewered.  There is a good balance of humour and scares, with a thunderous soundtrack and some well-written dialogue, and whilst it is hardly groundbreaking, Happy Death Day is delivered with a deft light touch and is winningly engaging.

FILM: Jigsaw (aka Saw 8 - Legacy) (dirs: Michael and Peter Spierig, 2017)

"The game's simple.  The best ones are."

Having been wiped out by falling box office and the Paranormal Activity franchise in spite of a late return to form with the seventh movie The Final Chapter, John Kramer returns for Halloween 2107 with an efficient and effective entry in the Saw series.  Although the Saw movies lost their way somewhat after the excellent third film, this film is a more streamlined affair that pays more attention to balancing the police procedural scenes with the traps-and-torture strand.  There is also a clear effort to make the film look cinematic by opening out the police/exterior scenes in contrast with the usual claustrophobic five-people-trapped-in-a-maze routine.  The cast is committed and plays it straight, and the enjoyable timeline-twisting reveal works well in spite of being (very) heavily signposted.  In this series, the traps work best when the victims have to make real choices as opposed to being simply punished, and this element is played upon effectively for the most part here.  Overall, Jigsaw is a well-made and effective addition to the franchise that is not up there with the first three films but is enjoyable nonetheless.

FILM: Thor - Ragnarok IMAX 3D (dir: Taika Waititi, 2017)

"Why fight it?"

Ragnarok is the complete antithesis of the gloomy and dark The Dark World - it is a riotous romp that is hugely enjoyable from start to finish.  Waititi's style hits the mark, also finding an effective comic-book tone that is neither too lightweight nor too slavish and packing in a lot of content.  The emergence of Chris Hemsworth's wonderful comedic talent is mined to perfection here, but there are so many treats in this fast-paced and fleet-footed movie, from Karl Urban channelling Jason Statham, the Thor/Loki and Thor/Hulk banter and a reasonably menacing antagonist (which could still use more screen time) by Cate Blanchett, to some terrific action sequences (the ambitious arena smackdown is one of many exciting set pieces) and more.  Also impressive are the glorious use of scale and 3D plus Mark Mothersbaugh's striking score.  With its bold choice of director and a (slight) loosening up of the formula, Ragnarok is a confident and immensely entertaining addition to the MCU.  For Marvel addicts who like to sit through the end crawl, the mid-credits scene is presumably a set-up for the Infinity War movie, but the very-end scene is a fun but inessential throwaway for Jeff Goldblum's character.

FILM: Geostorm IMAX 3D (dir: Dean Devlin, 2017)

"Some holiday!"

...and this is after the re-shoots?  This much-delayed film follows in the shoes of Twister, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and San Andreas, and it is a slightly guilty pleasure to see the latest CGI wreak havoc on major cities every few years.  The money is on the screen (especially on the gorgeously detailed space-set scenes), because it certainly did not go on dialogue (which here almost elevates Armageddon to a Shakespearean level) or performances, although Geostorm contains one of Gerard Butler's most considered and effective turns.  The first two acts veer between dull and silly, with hard science sitting uncomfortably with complete nonsense, yet there is a sequence of scenes at the start of the final act that suddenly kicks into gear and is exciting for a while but falls back to unevenness towards the end.  A purposeful thriller could have been made out of this material, but instead Geostorm falls back on clichés and past successes all too easily and with less success.

FILM: The Snowman (dir: Tomas Alfredson, 2017)

"...but you can't force the pieces to fit."

The promising trailer leads to a rather disappointing movie.  Its obvious strength is the relentlessly cinematic wintry snowscapes, as alcoholic detective Harry Hole tracks down a personal serial killer case in Norway.  It aims for enigmatic and atmospheric but for the most part it is slow and dull, leading to a finale that seems to abandon geography, plot and timeframe and then ends rather abruptly.  Marco Beltrami's score is at times too melodramatic, whereas a cool synth score might have worked better, and some of the visual effects underwhelm jarringly.  The story shoehorns in fractured familial relationships that sit uncomfortably with the police procedural aspects, and whilst Michael Fassbender underplays to a degree, Rebecca Ferguson attempts to inject a bit of a spark with her performance.  The idea is good, but the execution here is just too lethargic to whip up much interest.

FILM: The Ritual (dir: David Bruckner, 2017)

"Thank you, Trip Advisor!"

To be reductive, The Ritual is a blokey Blair Witch without the shaky-cam, but it benefits enormously from a strong quartet of Brit actors led by the effectively-reliable Rafe Spall, and an effective back story that drives the friends' relationship and starts the film with a brutal and compelling initiating event.  It is a straightforward woods-based horror that does what it says on the tin and little more, but it does it well in all departments, although it would not bear or need a repeat viewing.

FILM: Blade Runner 2049 IMAX 3D (dir: Denis Villeneuve, 2017)

"You're special."

For me, anticipation and expectation for this film was perhaps even greater than for The Force Awakens, as the 1982 original is by far one of my all-time favourites and seeing a sequel was never expected.  Thankfully, Villeneuve has delivered a truly wonderful, beautiful movie.  As Harrison Ford has been saying on the press tour, a major factor was waiting for the right story, and this one certainly is strong as its links to the earlier story are cleverly meshed with this film's compelling central story.   The director's cool and controlled style works beautifully with the material and the glorious visuals - this is a contemplative and steady film for the most part that demands attention  over its long running time, but it is an experience to savour and in which to luxuriate.  Gosling is absolutely terrific in the lead role, and Ford does some great work with surprising developments to his character's story.  The soundtrack is not up to the original iconic Vangelis score, but the soundscapes work extremely well in context and are more than just a carbon copy.  The only real concern is with the very questionable and quite alarming gender politics, but this does not detract from what is a genuinely mesmerising, stunning and hugely satisfying achievement overall.

FILM: The Lego Ninjago Movie (dirs: Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan, 2017)

"Are you crossing your fingers?"
"That's physically impossible!"

The third Lego movie follows a now-established formula, meaning that it is a lively, colourful, noisy and fun affair but this time with added Asian pop-culture stylings that add interest.  Right from the opening sequence you can start ticking off the required elements, but the writing is tight and the voice cast does very enjoyable work.  Interestingly, the audience was split evenly between the very young and adults, with the children surprisingly captivated by it all and the grown-ups having a few laughs of their own at lines that went way over the heads of the little ones.  The current prevalent Hollywood theme of fathers-and-sons drives the narrative - essentially, it is Luke, Vader and Obi-Wan - but throws in a few moderate reflective moments amidst the mayhem.  This silly but reasonably entertaining enterprise does exactly what is expected, not forgetting that it is still an extended and blatant advertisement for toys.

FILM: Goodbye Christopher Robin (dir: Simon Curtis, 2017)

"That was...unexpected."

A family-friendly feature about the world-famous bear stories?  Nothing of the sort.  Goodbye Christopher Robin is a searing and scalpel-sharp exploration of parenthood, the class system, fiction versus reality, the futility of war and the impact of celebrity, the latter notably on the young (actual) Christopher Robin.  It is a beautifully-made film, with the period detail and pastoral Sussex realised wonderfully on screen, and a surprising amount of story/content is addressed.  The ever-watchable Domhnall Gleeson gives a masterclass in control and precision as war-damaged author A.A.Milne, Margot Robbie is exquisite as his society-loving wife albeit in a slightly underwritten character, and the wonderful Kelly Macdonald is a standout as the steadfast nanny.  Balancing nostalgic kicks and serious issues well, Goodbye Christopher Robin manages to be equally entertaining and thought-provoking.

FILM: Flatliners (dir: Niels Arden Oplev, 2017)

"See you later, Jesus!"

In spite of Kiefer Sutherland's presence, the 2017 Flatliners is pretty much a very straight-faced remake, proving to be a far less glossy romp than the original. It is efficient, and sound and editing are notably terrific, but as a whole the film does not really take off.  The actors fire up once the bland scene-setting passes, yet the second half becomes a fairly predictable narrative trudge towards the rather wimpy resolution.  The film is most secure when dealing with established horror tropes which it does well, so it is a shame that the thematic aspects of the story are not developed further and that more risks were taken with the material.

FILM: Home Again (dir: Hallie Meyers-Shyer, 2017)

"Am I one of those women who think their hobbies count as a profession?"

Writer/director Meyers-Shyer carries on the family business in treacly rom-coms with this ridiculously daft confection.  By creating a central character whose life struggles are minimal (and those problems that she has are treated with alarmingly perfunctorily carelessness), there is little in which the viewer can invest.  Little is credible, and dialogue-heavy sequences are easy to tune out of, but the two main saving graces are that it is shot sumptuously by veteran lenser Dean Cundey, and it is great to see Candice Bergen on the big screen again.  Witherspoon - an actress who really needs some strong dramatic material worthy of her talents - may be on a mission to create female-centric and female-empowered movies, but Home Again does little more than simply perpetuate the standard unrelatable romantic fantasy staple.