VOD: Yes Day (dir: Miguel Arteta, 2021)

"I get by on my charm."

Yes Day is a light-as-a-feather, old-fashioned and very basic family movie, in which strict parents (for the best of intentions) surrender control to their three children for a day, with predictably 'hilarious' results. It is held together by the irrepressible charm of Jennifer Garner as the mother who rediscovers fun, and the film is designed to be as gentle and inoffensive as possible at every step.  Young children will love the foam-filled finale but possibly grow bored by the overlong paintball-style mid-sequence.  Yes Day is very innocuous one-note concept which will appeal to very young viewers only.
 

VOD: Moxie (dir: Amy Poehler, 2021)

 

"This feels like something we can solve together."

Inspired by her mother's high school experience, a teenage girl calls out sexism through the creation of an anonymous underground magazine and creates an ever-growing movement.  Based on a hit YA novel, the film blends drama and comedy effectively under the experienced hand of  the wonderful Amy Poehler and delivers on its aim of providing a range of young female representations, issues and voices, if rather heavy-handedly.  Less successful, ironically, is its pitiful representation of its male characters - either dopey predator jocks or puppy-eyed submissive boyfriend material - which somewhat undoes the film's good intentions, especially with the awkward third-act inclusion of rape as a plot device.  Nevertheless, Moxie is a confident, well-made and well-played movie overall.

VOD: Skylines aka Skylin3s (dir: Liam O'Donnell, 2021)

"Hey, don't die!"
"I'll keep it in mind."

This weak franchise inexplicably gets a third, Anglo-centric outing that is possibly the most cohesive of the three films but is still intrinsically daft.  Throwing everything into the mix from District 9 to Starship Troopers to Aliens and many more, it actually does a good job of tying into and expanding the established mythology, and the large-scale effects - a signature of the series - are mostly effective and good-looking.  As one of the characters points out, this film is basically a heist movie with heavy sci-fi trappings as our mismatched troop have to steal a MacGuffin (here, an energy core) from the aliens' homeworld in order to save Earth.  The Earth-bound B-plot is utterly dispensible, but the main story is presented with a sense of commitment and earnestness that makes Skylines a surprisingly reasonable cheap sci-fi actioner.
 

VOD: War With Grandpa aka The War With Grandpa (dir: Tim Hill, 2020)

"Oops - that happened."

Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Jane Seymour, Christopher Walken... a dream powerhouse cast for an inviting drama fifteen years ago maybe, but here they are appearing in this childish, simple family comedy that pits grandfather and grandson against each other when the senior moves into his daughter's home and the younger loses his bedroom and is moved up to the attic.  It is befitting of director Hill's main experience in animation that characters, situations and outcomes are very broadly-drawn and cartoon-like, but De Niro and young Oakes Fegley play the central relationship with sufficient warmth to make it just about bearable for any viewer over the age of ten.
 

VOD: Iron Sky - The Coming Race (dir: Timo Vuorensola, 2019)

"Wait - are you, like, actually insane?"

If you are looking for a film in which the heroes are chased by a lizard replicant of Margaret Thatcher on a chariot pulled by a stegosaurus in a hidden world below the Antarctic, then this is the movie for you.  The original Iron Sky, with Nazis hidden on the dark side of the Moon, held together narratively far better than this scattershot adventure romp, but that is hardly the point, as the manically silly plot bowls along without any regard for pretty much anything, acting and performances veer wildly and the hugely ambitious massive-scale effects work punches way above its weight.  Likes its predecessor, this is demented fun that just about works.

VOD: I Care A Lot (dir: J Blakeson, 2021)

"Trust me, there's no such thing as good people."

I Care A Lot is a gloriously dark comedy-thriller that is hugely entertaining.  It balances both elements extremely well - the humorous moments are laugh-out loud funny, and it delivers well in the tense thriller scenes.  The writing is very sharp, delivered impeccably by a very strong cast led by a stunning performance from Rosamund Pike as the shark-like exploiter of the elderly, ably matched by another precise villainous turn by Peter Dinklage and wonderful supporting work from the ever-reliable Dianne Wiest.  The fast-moving twists and turns of the plot make this movie extremely watchable, and it engages throughout in order to see how it will all turn out...and the ending does not disappoint.  
 

VOD: Coming 2 America (dir: Craig Brewer, 2021)

"Well, look at us, just one big Zamundan-American blended happy family."
"Ah, just like the Kardashians!"

Hardly the sequel the world was waiting for, over thirty years later this story is basically an inversion of the original fish-out-of-water tale, in which Eddie Murphy's Prince is now an African King, but he has no male heir - until an illegitimate son from his earlier time in America is discovered and flown to Africa with his larger-than-life mother to assume his birthright.  Although this is a very much dialled-back Eddie Murphy - and the film is better for it - this sequel is still more of the same: crass comedy that lands very occasionally, Murphy and Hall playing multiple unwatchable characters, and writing and performances that are generally given the broadest of strokes.  Fans of the Wayan Brothers' style of comedy and writing will probably enjoy this film, but otherwise it is quite a long slog, even with a largely pleasantly engaging performance from Jermaine Fowler (going full Fresh Prince) as Murphy's newly-acquired grown-up son.  There are a few bloopers during the end credits that lift the mood, but the post-credits scene is pointless.

 

VOD: Red Dot (dir: Alain Darborg, 2021)

"Suddenly, you have everything to lose..."

This slick and effective Swedish Netflix thriller is very contained and delivers the goods.  A young Swedish city-living couple with a baby on the way take off for a hiking weekend in the snowy North, but a small altercation with a couple of locals finds them hunted and alone in the icy wilderness in a desperate fight to survive.  More than just a standard survival movie, the film takes in other themes such as racial tensions and grief to purposeful effect, and the story certainly takes some unexpected turns.  It also features one unbearable scene that is up there with the kettle scene in Mother's Day!  Whilst not a gamechanger, performances are solid, the set pieces are handled well and the momentum keeps interest right to the end.
 

VOD: Pieces Of A Woman (dir: Kornel Mundruczo, 2021)

"There will be consequences."

Pieces Of A Woman started as fragments of dialogue which were turned into a stage play and now adapted into this impressive but emotionally harrowing film.  With the chill winter of the Boston setting reflecting the emotional bleakness (mostly filmed in Canada), the film starts with some brief introductory shots before launching into the unflinching and much-lauded (and rightly so) 24-minutes single take of a homebirth that goes tragically wrong, and the rest of the movie follows the shattering aftermath over the following months.  The echoes of Ingmar Bergman are very strong, with pain and despair played out fantastically by a hugely impressive Vanessa Kirby and another strong performance from a matured Shia LaBeouf, and a barnstorming turn from Ellen Burstyn as Kirby's controlling mother.  Although the final scenes play out a bit predictably, this is a strong and difficult film to watch but very impressive and rewarding as well.
 

VOD: The Remains (dir: Thomas Della Bella, 2016)

"If you keep trying to scare me, then I'm going to smack you!"

This low-rent haunted house thriller could not be more generic if it tried, as a predictable family (bereaved father, stroppy teenage girl, irritating younger brother and sister) move into a surprisingly cheap house that was the site of a seance-gone-wrong a century earlier, and the discovery of an old suitcase of artefacts in the attic sees the unleashing of an angry spirit - yes, we've been there before, and the lacklustre performances fail to elevate the weak fare on offer here.
 

VOD: Babyteeth (dir: Shannon Murphy, 2020)

 "This is the worst possible parenting I can imagine."

This low-budget Australian gem takes the recent soppy terminally-ill-girl-gets-together-with-unsuitable-boy YA sub-genre and gives it a wonderful grounded and engaging shake-up.  By turns funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming, it skewers character tropes wonderfully and is buoyed by very strong performances all round, especially Eliza Scanlen and Toby Wallace as the mis-matched young couple.  With sharp observations and by keeping things relatively realistic, the conclusion might be inevitable but the characters and their journey are well worth watching.

VOD: The Dig (dir: Simon Stone, 2021)

 

"Time lost its meaning."

Loosely based on the famous Sutton Hoo (Suffolk) wartime archaeological excavation, this is a very slow-moving but beautifully crafted film that evokes its time and setting well.  The standout here is very impressive character work by Ralph Fiennes as the unsung local hero Basil Brown, supported by reliably strong work from (late-replacement) Carey Mulligan and Johnny Flynn.  For much of its running time there is little of great consequence happening, with the off-dig dramas feeling like slightly lightweight filler when it is actually dealing with big issues, but this is well-made, gently-paced if slightly soporific period drama.

VOD: Hope Gap (dir: William Nicholson, 2020)

"It's like somehow you sneaked away while I wasn't looking."

Set on the beautiful Sussex Coast, this story of the dying throes of a stagnant marriage of an older couple is both gentle and powerful.  It has a languid style and pace with its Pinter-esque dialogue and uncomfortable silences, which allows the three main actors to shine.  Annette Bening manages to create sympathy for a horrible character as she negotiates her story arc very successfully, Bill Nighy is at his understated best in portraying a very gentle man who recognises his situation fully, and Josh O'Connor gives another impressive turn as the son who comes to understand how his parents' relationship has affected his own take on life as he tries to act as a bridge in their new situation.  It may be yet another dissection of middle-class angst, but it is presented and performed very well indeed.