VOD: Gran Turismo - Based On A True Story (dir: Neill Blomkamp, 2023)

"This is not a game."

Defying expectations, the Gran Turismo film is placed unusually between videogame adaptation and fictionalised quasi-documentary, recounting the actual (marketing) programme to recruit the the best amateur racing car game simulator players for training to become real competitive drivers.  Starting off in ordinary teen Jann's bedroom in Cardiff playing the game on his Playstation, the film benefits enormously from the collision of videogame and reality, as it establishes Jann's regular and teen-relatable life  effectively before joins seven others at the GT Academy and ultimately makes it through to the professional Team Nissan.  The film looks shiny and hi-tech with visually appealing globe-trotting, high-end visual effects work and thrillingly-staged race sequences that blend the blurring of game/reality with very visceral moments to great effect.  Archie Madekwe proves to be a very engaging lead as the audience's identification point, the unlikely pairing of Djimon Hounsou and Geri Horner as his parents sees good moments from both, and David Harbour as his mentor keeps the tale grounded. The whole thing is of course an unashamed, impressive expensive feature-length advert for the game itself that is surprisingly entertaining and well-made, but it utilises all manner of filmic techniques and tricks to bring to life what is at its heart a classic sporting underdog story that actually became real.
 

VOD: Past Lives (dir: Celine Song, 2023)

"I was just thinking what a good story this is."
 

This Korean romantic drama is a gentle, beautiful delight.  A boy-girl pair of childhood best friends are separated when the girl's family emigrate to Canada.  As we follow their different paths into adulthood, Nora aspires to be a writer in New York, where years later Hae Sung tracks her down and eventually goes to meet her years later.  This is a remarkably assured and clear-visioned feature debut from director Song, and the two adult leads (Greta Lee and Teo Yoo) are utterly charming as they rediscover their easy friendship over video chats and emails and negotiate their adult relationship on separate continents, especially when Nora meets - and ultimately marries - Arthur, an American who is also a writer (a smaller but interesting role, well-played by John Magaro).  Central to the film is the Korean word in-yun (providence or fate in relationships tied to past lives), but the feelings portrayed are universal.  Shot and performed beautifully and carefully-paced, the wistful tone is maintained throughout with a heartfelt simplicity and sincerity that plays through to the devastatingly poignant end.

VOD: The Kitchen (dir: Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares, 2024)

"They can't stop we."
 

The Kitchen is an impressive debut from Kaluuya and Tavares, a vibrant and considered near-future dystopian thriller that sees a sprawling run-down mega-estate in London - the final social housing area - increasingly under attack for re-development, focusing on resident Isaac who is about to move out to a more plush Buena Vida residence and his developing relationship with young newly-orphaned Benji who he meets at work (a high-tech eco-funeral service).  The many layers of the film are interesting, as both Isaac and Benji wrestle with their past, present and future, the presentation giving it a very fluid, almost-dream-like quality through use of camera and largely subdued emotions that belie what the characters are actually going through.  Kano/Kane Robinson delivers a genuinely sincere and honest performance as Isaac, together with an impressively assured screen debut from Jedaiah Bannerman as Benji and noteworthy support from Ian Wright as the community radio presenter.  Almost feeling like two films in one, even if the bigger-picture social settings might not always feel fully drawn, the undeniable heart of this movie and its central relationship is affecting and powerful.  

VOD: 60 Minutes a.k.a. Sixty Minutes (60 Minuten) (dir: Oliver Kiemle, 2024)

"Who did you knock out?"
"All of them!" 

In this German Netflix movie, Emilio Sakraya is MMA fighter Octa, who abandons a fight (to a gambling ring's displeasure) on his daughter's birthday with his ex-wife sole threatening custody action, the real-time gimmick (hence the film's title) kicking in for him to get across Berlin to reach her birthday party with the crime boss's henchmen in hot pursuit.  Playing like Chad Stahelski directing a gym-built Eminem in a lower-budget John Wick film, the momentum is maintained quite well, fight scenes are simple but effective, it seems self-aware and not afraid to throw in some wry humour and heart at times, and Sakraya makes for a surprisingly amiable lead amidst some improbable set-ups.  It is as knuckle-headedly daft and derivative as it sounds, but 60 Minutes is entertaining enough in its own way.

VOD: Bottoms (dir: Emma Seligman, 2023)

"I do NOT talk to girls in overalls!"

Almost up there with Booksmart but far more goofy, this cult US hit comedy proves to be a very funny take on the standard high school movie, as a pair of put-upon girls (the self-labelled 'ugly, untalented gays' at the bottom of the social heap) start a self-defence group/Fight Club that turns into something more against the background of an upcoming football grudge match.  The rapid-fire dialogue is sparky, smart and fearless in not only puncturing stereotypes but also creating genuine characters, but the film also has a strong human and emotional core that takes it beyond the surface comedy not just for the characters but for what it reveals about female empowerment and toxic masculinity.  Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri make an energetic and enjoyable lead pairing as the underdog best friends, and Nicholas Galitzine is fun as the over-the-top self-absorbed football team captain.  To its credit, it is always good when a comedy film like this is genuinely funny, and even more so when it actually says something as well.

 

VOD: The Equalizer 3 (dir: Antoine Fuqua, 2023)

 "Do I look like a guy who kills people?"

This somewhat dreary threequel sees Denzel Washington's cool angel of retribution relocate to Sicily to right wrongdoings that tie in to the series bigger arc, particularly here a violent Mafia gang running a small-town protection racket and international drugs-smuggling.  The new settings are very tourist-picturesque and obviously give the film a different visual aesthetic, otherwise it is pretty much business as usual.  The sparse action sequences have a cartoonish videogame quality, interspersed with slow dialogue scenes and unnecessary padding for its very simple plot.  The small-town troubles are played out well but they do not really gel with the CIA-chasing (and thinly drawn) bigger picture.  Denzel Washington is as always good value and a significant screen presence, but this allegedly final chapter - like its predecessor - does not come close to the first film.

VOD: The Sacrifice Game (dir: Jenn Wexler, 2023)

"Well, someone's not feeling the Christmas spirit!"

In this unlikely cross between Black Christmas and The Holdovers, a pair of students left at an isolated girls' boarding school over the Christmas holiday 1971 with a young teacher and her cook boyfriend have to survive an invading killer cult gang quartet (the media-titled 'Christmas Killers') and an ancient curse.  Music, cinematography and location work all go some way to create atmosphere, but dialogue is for the most part slow and functional.  The first half grinds along efficiently, with a decently-played if rather obvious twist half-way through that livens up proceedings a little and leads to a lively finale.  The story has a little more development than many of its type, but overall The Sacrifice Game is a decently- made if fairly routine supernatural horror movie.
 

VOD: Destroy All Neighbours (dir: Josh Forbes, 2023)

"I'm not a mass murderer.   I'm a mass manslaughter-er!"

In this daft pulpy low-budget comedy-horror, Will is a frustrated studio technician and unsuccessful prog-rock composer who has to contend with a new, weird and noisy neighbour, a flailing relationship and losing his job, but when he inadvertently kills the neighbour, disposing of the body proves more than a challenge and as he descends into madness the bodies pile up, all as he tries to finish his album.  With old-school schlocky practical effects and a clearly committed cast and crew, it plays like a throwback VHS/early Peter Jackson movie with a lurid energy that will clearly please the late-night horror movie festival crowd. 
 

VOD: The Creator (dir: Gareth Edwards, 2023)

"This is a fight for our very existence!"
 

In this near-future sci-fi action thriller, the West has banned AI after a nuke was exploded in Los Angeles, but it is still being developed in New Asia, the new battleground for mankind vs AI and the setting for the hunt for mysterious AI creator Nirmata and the ultimate AI weapon against humanity.  John David Washington gives another sincere performance in the lead role, with engaging support from Madeleine Yuna Voyles as the young robot-child accompanying him and the imperious and nuanced Alison Janney as a veteran Army Colonel.  It is always to be applauded when Hollywood delivers a proper original hard sci-fi epic with resources to match its needs - the SFX work is simply gorgeous here - even if it proves a hard sell to regular cinemagoers (as box-office showed); The Creator is perhaps a little too dark and dramatic for the popcorn crowd and too thin on new ideas for hardcore genre fans.  With inevitable debt shown to genre titans such as the Star Wars, Blade Runner, Terminator and Alien franchises, with Vietnam war movie tropes added to the mix, The Creator does take a current hot topic and extrapolate it interestingly in this big-scale generally entertaining movie. 

VOD: It's A Wonderful Knife (dir: Tyler MacIntyre, 2023)

"Jesus Christmas!"

In this very festive-looking holiday-set slasher, young Winnie saves her town of Angel Falls from a serial killer on a Christmas Eve rampage, but as life takes a downward spiral, one year later - after making an unfortunate wish that comes true - she finds herself in an alternate universe where she never existed, the town has become murder central and its inhabitants in even worse places than before.  The central concept - a slasher take on It's A Wonderful Life with a smattering of A Christmas Carol thrown in - is inspired if obvious (with credit to the wonderful title pun), and the film clearly aims for a Christopher Landon-style vibe that it doesn't quite hit and becomes a bit wayward half-way through, but the film offers enough energy, silliness and thrills to make it entertaining enough as a disposable diversion. 
 

VOD: When Evil Lurks (dir: Demian Rugna, 2023)

"You didn't see what I saw!"

This lauded well-made low-budget Argentinian horror/thriller finds two brothers living in a remote village who discover a disintegrating man possessed by a demon about to birth evil into the world, and attempting to dispose of him unleashes the spirit on the local community.  The fil  plays out in a grounded rural setting and benefits enormously from this and by very ordinary characters thrust into extraordinary circumstances and situations and contending with irrational and extreme behaviour.  It delivers half-a-dozen shocking and unexpected moments which are staged extremely well, with consistently strong and committed performances from Ezequiel Rodriguez and Demian Salomon as the two brothers.  The first half has more energy than the more talky second half, but overall the film delivers well and is an interesting take on the concept for fans of the genre.

 

VOD: Society Of The Snow (dir: J.A. Bayona, 2024)

"What happens when the world deserts you?"

The 1972 plane crash of a young Uruguayan rugby team in the remote Andes mountains that forced them to extreme measures to survive is revisited in this superior Netflix production.  Although the story was covered in the worthy but more Hollywood 1993 film Alive,  like Bayona's excellent tsunami film The Impossible, a lot of the time here is emotionally raw and very hard to watch.  The actual crash comes quite early and is swift, brutal and utterly distressing, and the aftermath is unflinchingly terrible to witness.  Although the story itself is inherently harrowing. the film successfully humanises the survivors in order to convey their resilience, camaraderie, desparation and humanity through an exceptional ensemble cast with an extraordinary performance from Enzo Vogrincic as the focal member of the team.   The immediacy and reality of the situation is ever-present, the cinematography is stunning (from the vast snowy maintains to the claustrophobic confines of the remaining cabin), and one of Michael Giacchino's most beautiful and haunting scores is at times sublime, not least the ethereal theme played over the heartbreaking end section.  Quite simply, Society Of the Snow is a powerful and excellent film that may be difficult to watch but is very rewarding.

 

VOD: Lift (dir: F. Gary Gray, 2024)

"So you're thieves?"
"We rescue works of art from undeserving owners."

This flashy and glossy-looking action-comedy-thriller kicks off with an art auction heist in Venice by Cyrus (Kevin Hart) and his gang, after which they are offered a deal by Interpol to half-a-billion dollars of gold from an international crime lord.  Lift has a solid cast with good work from Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the Interpol agent who gets embroiled with the action and Vincent D'Onofrio clearly having fun, led by Kevin Hart in a relatively straight dramatic non-shrieking mode that is actually quite engaging.    Filled with implausible shiny hi-tech, a nicely-delivered quota of quips, a little bit of tension and a gaping plot-hole, this is a classic case of disengage brain and go along with the reasonably entertaining ride.  F. Gary Gray marshals the big-scale nonsense with his accustomed ease on screen, making Lift a simple, efficient and utterly forgettable easy-to-watch popcorn blast.
 

VOD: Three Months (dir: Jared Frieder, 2023)

"Do you live under a rock or something?"
"No, I'm from India."

In this thoughtful coming-of-age tale, we follow world-weary teen Caleb through three months of summer after high-school graduation, waiting for the results of an HIV test and finding love along the way.  In spite of big themes at play, the film takes a quite gentle and wistful tone more typical of this kind of film with a good blend of drama and lighter moments, the script is well-written and the characters engage.  Australian singer Troye Sivan proves to be a charismatic screen lead, delivering his rather one-note character very effectively, and Ellen Burstyn and Louis Gossett Jr provide excellent support as his grandmother (with whom Caleb lives) and her partner, giving a genuinely interesting cross-generational element to the story.   The way the film ends has attracted some criticism, but it actually makes a very strong point about attitudes to life and to people.

 

VOD: Pet Sematary Bloodlines (dir: Lindsey Anderson Beer, 2023)

"Death is different here."

This old-school-DTV-style prequel is set in 1969, telling the backstory of the town with the infamous cemetery in the woods with the power of (bad) resurrection through three now-young-adult friends, one of which is back from the war but disturbingly changed.  The film is adequately mounted and presented, and the story weaves together solid ideas on the Vietnam War, Native-American lore and small-town insularity, but the overall telling of this (unnecessary) tale proves to be less than compelling.
 

VOD: Down Low (dir: Rightor Doyle, 2023)

"Rest in peace."

In this very silly attempt at a zany comedy, a newly-divorced and newly-out Zachary Quinto hires a male masseur who arranges his first online hook-up; one dead body later, Weekend At Bernie's-style non-hilarity ensues.  The two leads hurl waspish one-liners at each other at breakneck pace - about half of them land - and as the situation gets increasingly daft, the less said the better about the spaced-out old lady neighbour and the cannibal-fetish characters.  If you think people on drugs and wacky nonsensical characters make for great comedy, then you might just be entertained, otherwise Down Low is a real slog to watch.  On the plus side, the beautiful expensive lakeside house in which most of the action takes place looks attractive on screen. 
 

VOD: H.P. Lovecraft's Monster Portal (a.k.a. Monster Portal, a.k.a.The Offering) (dir: Matthew B.C., 2022)

"Well, this isn't terrifying at all..."

Reminiscent of 1970s Amicus/Hammer movies, this micro-budget British horror/fantasy/thriller has lots of potential and to its credit it manages to deliver in some ways.  A young woman and her partner (plus two largely irrelevant and irritating friends) travel to her father's beautiful isolated country house following his apparent suicide, only to uncover his dabbling with an alternate dimension.  The film is shot attractively, the extensive music score is unobtrusive and suitably atmospheric, and the leads deliver capably.  The overall pace is very sluggish indeed, but in spite of its limited and low-key resources, within its limitations the film surprises by being one of the more successful attempts to bring the world(s) of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos to the screen, with the sparingly-used glimpses of other worlds and giant monsters realised fairly effectively for its budget.  
 

VOD: Maestro (dir: Bradley Cooper, 2023)

"I want a lot of things."

 Netflix's musical biopic of the powerhouse talent of Leonard Bernstein is a musical and visual treat.  Covering several decades of the composer/conductor's adult life, the modern-day bookends are presented in full widescreen, with the early years in black-and-white Academy, effectively evoking the period through filmic technique (apart from a couple of intrusively flashy CGI-enhanced transitions) and the middle years in contrasting vivid colour.  The film is all about contradictions, ranging from the tensions in his relationships as a result of his bisexuality to a wonderfully-presented sequence of a bitter bedroom argument with a Thanksgiving Day parade passing by.  Bradley Cooper captures the driven creativity of his subject with obvious passion and commitment as director/writer/star (even with the character being presented as indulged rather than accepted), surpassed only by a remarkable sublime performance by Carey Mulligan of real control and nuance as his long-put-upon but devoted wife.  Indeed, it is the combination of Bernstein's musical talent and journey (the bravura Mahler performance is a highlight here) and a deep love story across the years that makes Maestro an interesting watch.

VOD: Good Grief (dir: Daniel Levy, 2024)

"My love, your voice is like a church organ someone threw out of a window."

Opening with one of those idealised movieworld Christmas parties that then takes a sudden tragic turn, Dan Levy writes/directs/co-produces this romantic drama and stars as an artist grieving the loss of his husband, and after an unexpected discovery about their relationship takes his two best friends on a trip to Paris the following December.  It is beautifully written with an excellent balance of warmth and spikiness, Levy's central performance displaying dignity and honesty, and the supporting characters feel genuine and well-written, with some lovely character work by the great Himesh Patel and a delightfully feisty turn from Ruth Negga as his two best friends.  It treads a very fine (and sometimes wavering) line between exploring grief and being overtly romantic - the overtly glib tourists-in-Paris trappings may look great but lend an unnecessary sense of artificiality - but overall the film is well-played and shot through with a gorgeous sense of gentle melancholy. 

VOD: Saltburn (dir: Emerald Fennell, 2023)

"Yeah, a lot of food for thought there.  Intriguing."

Right from the start, it feels like everything is designed to put the viewer slightly off-balance, from the successfully-used intimate Academy ratio to overblown classical music and unusual graphic design, as outsider student Oliver arrives at Oxford University in 2006 and falls under the thrall of handsome uber-popular Felix, who opens him up to a world of new experiences and feelings, culminating in a fateful long-hot-Summer at Felix's family estate, Saltburn.  Prowling camera, intrusive close-ups and the relentless following of the story through Oliver's emotional perspective keep the viewer closely engaged with the film.  The story's obvious referencing of Brideshead Revisited is dealt with deftly in a couple of lines of dialogue, but it also has clear echoes of Theorem and The Talented Mr Ripley as Oliver grows in manipulative confidence and worms his way into the family through its various dreadful members (with the wonderful Rosamund Pike delivering the mother's scathing lines with relish).  Mainstream viewers have clearly found some of the film's more outrageous moments rather shocking, but even for cinephiles there are a couple of eye-wideningly unexpected sequences that evoke the depth of feelings being portrayed.  The film pulls of its end-of-second-act reveal well to lead into an all-bets-off finale.   Driven by yet another marvellous performance from a courageous Barry Keoghan, this deeply-dark comedy-drama is very well-made and audaciously entertaining. 
 

VOD: Leave The World Behind (dir: Sam Esmail, 2023)

"The quiet is so noisy."

When a family takes a spontaneous isolated-house-rental vacation, a curious event at the beach heralds a communications blackout and the arrival of the house-owners fleeing an electrical outage in the city as they piece together the scale of the ongoing disaster.  The pairing of Ethan Hawke as the laid-back husband with Julia Roberts as the more forthright and acerbic wife works well here, together with a calm and interestingly unreadable Mahershala Ali as the house-owner and Myha'la as his sharp daughter.  From the outset, the movie is constructed to unsettle the viewer through interesting use of sound, camera and visuals - Jordan Peele is very much the obvious touchstone here - as the mystery deepens with various (distant) threats of cyberattacks, terrorism, environmental disaster and apocalyptic events all possibly part of the bigger picture.  The film runs out of steam quite early on, but if you feel like a moody, slow-burn apocalyptic character study then Leave The World Behind fits the bill well, otherwise it may test your patience considerably.

VOD: Punch (dir: Welby Ings, 2023)

"Dad, I got a life."
"Not any more you haven't - you're a boxer."

This gentle and thoughtful New Zealand indie coming-of-age drama tells the story of an alcoholic ex-fighter (Tim Roth) who trains his teen son (Jordan Oosterhof) to follow in his footsteps for his first small-scale professional fight, as the boy's developing relationship with a young lone-wolf gay Maori (Conan Hayes) creates tensions.  The film explores small-town attitudes and masculinity with reasonable success, but it is the more personal journeys of the three main characters that truly work here, with the mix of artfully-shot landscapes and low-key but sensitive performances by all three leads playing well, all leading to a hauntingly beautiful ending. 

 

VOD: Monster Armageddon a.k.a. 2025 Armageddon (dir: Michael Su, 2022)

"What are you talking about - crappy?  They made Sharknado!"

Madness or genius?  This twenty-years celebration of The Asylum studios is totally self-aware and played ridiculously (and at times hilariously) straight.  The high-concept meta-story sees an Independence Day-style alien invasion that uses the roster of The Asylum's greatest creature-features from the last two decades to decimate humanity.  Inevitably the film cannot deliver fully on this astonishing concept, with all-too-brief appearances of giant sharks, piranha and other mega-creatures and giant robots, and the Greatest Hits approach is undoubtedly fun but undone but often cheap-looking CGI, leaden and wordy dialogue and unremarkable acting, all of which rather sink the ambition of the enterprise which far exceeds the execution here.   Once shape-shifers, mind control and poorly-acted zombies enter the fray, all hope is lost, even with Michael Pare as the President and the occasional presence of a sadly-underused Paul Logan.  The audacity of the way the plot is used as shameless celebration/self-promotion of the studio is admirable, but ultimately the film sadly does not deliver what it promised effectively. 

 

VOD: Insidious The Red Door (dir: Patrick Wilson, 2023)

"Some things are just better left buried, you know?"

The fifth and allegedly final entry in this increasingly dull and nonsensical franchise moves the story forwards nine years to the grandmother's funeral and a now-late-teen Dalton off to college and Patrick Wilson (who also directs the film) divorced and his relationship with his son broken.  After an excruciatingly blandly-scripted first half-hour, things start to liven up with a spooky and claustrophobic MRI-scanner sequence but then reverts back to silly set pieces that fail to scare and a relentlessly laboured use of the door metaphor as the secrets of the family's past are slowly uncovered and the sealed-by-hypnosis trauma of the trips to The Further returns.  Sinclair Daniel livens up proceedings as Dalton's sparky room-mate Chris, but with the family-unit-in-jeopardy element reduced and only a couple of very brief appearances by the redoubtable Lin Shaye, this thin and tedious finale to the series has little of interest to offer.  
 

VOD: Rebel Moon Part One A Child Of Fire (dir: Zack Snyder, 2023)

 "This is the beginning of something."

This first half of Zack Snyder's epic fantasy/sci-fi two-film project that has risen from the ashes of his rejected Star Wars movie clearly bears the hallmarks of that franchise but attempts to go a more down-and-dirty route, as we find the tyrannical Motherworld's rule expanding across the universe and crushing any enemies, here with a focus on a small farming community learning to live with the military invaders.  Cue mysterious land-girl Sofia Boutella taking out a bunch of rapey soldiers singlehandedly and embarking on a planet-hopping familial revenge path, picking up a rag-tag band of rebel fighters along the way.  Sumptuous visuals and large-scale action sequences vie with very familiar story beats and character types alongside plenty of heroic slo-mo and that signature flat-looking Snyder sheen.  There is also entertainment to be had deciding which is more bizarre: Ed Skrein's haircut or Charlie Hunnam's unnecessary attempt at an Irish accent.  In spite of boasting a noisy enormous-scale finale, this film is definitely a 'part one of two', but of its genre it is entertainingly po-faced enough.