VOD: Back In Action (dir: Seth Gordon, 2025)

"I think I might be airsick."
"OK - not in the air yet, though..."

Back In Action sees the welcome return of Cameron Diaz after a long break, partnered with Jamie Foxx in another slick cookie-cutter Netflix action-comedy as former CIA couple, now living in suburbia with a couple of teenage kids and forced on the run when their cover is unexpectedly blown and their previous final mission comes back to haunt them.  As is standard for this type of enterprise, the film looks very glossy, has a couple of huge expensive-looking set pieces and some good physical/stunt work, with the rather obvious comedy being mostly based around generation-gap and culture-clash differences (and Jamie Demetriou as an incredibly irritating MI6-wanabee).  The material is elevated considerably by Diaz and Foxx's easy professionalism and energy in both the action and family/comedy elements.  The first half is the more interesting, as the film grinds to a halt halfway through and then limps along to the end with a lot of running around and a reasonable concluding chase along London's South Bank/River Thames (with some attractive night shooting) and a sequel-baiting ending.  The formula may be over-familiar, but Back In Action is pleasant enough if forgettable entertainment. 
 

VOD: The Substance (dir: Coralie Fargeat, 2024)

"This is network TV, not a f**king charity!"

Coralie Fargeat's intriguing and stylish body-horror update of the Dorian Gray story follows the diminishing fortunes of Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an ageing actress/TV fitness guru in an age-conscious industry who seeks rejuvenation through a secretive treatment with very disturbing consequences.  Clearly pitched somewhere between David Lynch and 80s David Cronenberg with a bit of Kubrick thrown in for good measure, its shiny sterile design provides an effective backdrop to the unpleasant transformative body-horror that the unwitting protagonist suffers, amplified by unnerving dramatic extreme close ups and an unflinching camera.  Demi Moore truly shines in the lead role with a very open and fearless performance that mines the character's vulnerability and sadness to good effect, Dennis Quaid brings to life the unsavoury sleazy TV executive well and Margaret Qualley handles the character arc of Elisabeth's younger incarnation with great energy.  At its heart the film has a somewhat simple idea, but the film makes salient points effectively regarding the ephemeral nature of the entertainment industry, gender inequality and the fetishistic superficial values of the modern world, provocative in both its exposure of issues and its treatment of the human body. but it also delivers on the squelchy body-horror front as well with a bloody large-scale Grand Guignol finale that would make Brian Yuzna proud, all of which makes The Substance a bold and interesting movie to watch.   
 

VOD: Perfect Days (dir: Wim Wenders, 2024)

"Why can't things just stay the same?"

Originally considered as a documentary, this much-admired Oscar-nominated film is a gentle and perfectly-formed treat that follows the simple and ordered daily life of Hirayama (played superbly Koji Yakusho), a custodian of public toilets in Tokyo, and the things he enjoys - nature, reading, music - with small but significant reveals about his wider life along the way through people he encounters.  Veteran Wim Wenders (who also co-wrote) paints a masterful portrait of an ordinary man who finds fulfilment in a busy and complicated world.  It is beautifully shot, with wonderful use of composition and and eye for finding beauty in the everyday.  The film makes a clear point about living an analogue life - print books, cassette tapes, camera film, but Hirayama does have a mobile phone as a utility) - and like its protagonist, it is a quiet, precise and gentle movie that finds its pleasures in the little details and simple moments in life that everyone can feel.  The restrained and beautiful ending packs a real and unexpected emotional punch to a most positive and life-affirming film.    
 

VOD: Speak No Evil (dir: James Watkins, 2024)

"Our normal isn't their normal.  They're just a bit more - I don't know - unvarnished."

This swift remake of the 2022 Danish thriller relocates the action to England and sees two families strike up a holiday friendship that leads to the London couple being invited to the other couple's isolated rural retreat, where the clashing values and cultures increasingly revealing themselves to unnerving effect and leading to an ultimately devastating situation in this very grim but generally satisfying pulpy movie.  Reminiscent of the stylish 80s/90s psychological thrillers from the likes of Sluizer, Haneke and Osterdahl, the performers are very committed, the claustrophobic situation is delivered effectively and there is a gloriously-handled moment of realisation over the rural son's actual situation. James McAvoy's excellent, unbridled and very physical alpha-male performance dominates the movie, nicely contrasted by Scott McNairy's finely-judged everyman, with Mackenzie Davies and Aisling Franciosi working well with their slowly-developing character arcs as their respective wives.  The final act in particular may feel very familiar, but overall this is a solid take on the genre.

 

VOD: Longlegs (dir: Osgood Perkins, 2024)

"Is it scary being a lady FBI agent?"
"Yeah."

The familiar premise of an hyper-intuitive young female FBI agent tracking a long-standing serial killer with occult overtones and a link to her past is given a reasonably creepy outing in this unexpected box-office hit.  With its eerie hallucinatory soundscape and bleak and gloomy visual style, the film relies on its simplicity for its effectiveness in creating jump-scares and general atmosphere.  Maika Monroe gives an intense, chilly and precisely-controlled performance as Agent Lee Harker, with Blair Underwood contrasting nicely as her more seasoned family-man lead on the case, and Nicolas Cage uses his unsettlingly unpredictable skills to good effect in the titular antagonist role.  The film plays like an extended grim early episode of The X-Files and is perhaps a case of more hype over substance, and the actual plot mechanism becomes increasingly unlikely, the third act still pays off nicely.

 

VOD: Cocaine Bear (dir: Elizabeth Banks, 2023)

"It's demented or something!"

In this cult comedy hit, a large bear in a National Park finds and ingests a large stash of cocaine and picks off the locals.  It is clearly designed as a throwback to 80s creature-features, the surprise (and perhaps inexplicable) starring of Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich and Ray Liotta with Elizabeth Banks directing makes it hard to determine if the film is a genuine affectionate parody or just a weakly-scripted and rather slow retro-styled cheapie.  Some low-rent hillbilly stereotype characters (complete with jarringly swearing children) and laboured comedic moments are just about outweighed by some effective FX work and well-delivered thriller sequences, so it really depends whether or not you are in the mood to embrace the daft premise and go along for the ride.  There are also two end-credits sequences.

 

VOD: Caligula - The Ultimate Cut (dir: Tinto Brass, 1979/2024)

"I had to take my destiny into my own hands."

Running at nearly three hors, this new and extensively restored, re-edited and reconstructed cut purports to be the closest yet to the director's original vision of this notoriously troubled 1979 movie, through painstaking restoration of previously unused footage, new music, some effects work and the removal of the Guccioni-sanctioned hardcore, er, inserts.  This new version does achieve its aim of restoring focus on character, the dramatic story and its stars' performances to some extent, but the basic story remains and it does still look like a grandiose folly with its painfully slow pace, expensive cheap-looking sets and mannered theatrical-style performances, with occasional flashes of the excesses of sex and violence remaining.
 

VOD: IF (dir: John Krasinski, 2024)

"Sometimes life doesn't have to always be fun."

In this curiously muted children's fantasy movie, twelve-year-old Bea develops the ability to see everyone's Imaginary Friends (IFs), joining a mission to reunite lost and forgotten IFs with their human children before they disappear.  The central conceit of seeing the Imaginary Friends in everyday real-life scenarios is quite sweet and realised on-screen effectively, but the film feels underpowered and lethargic to watch overall.  In spite of an UP!-style heartstring-pulling opening, very little happens in the first forty-five minutes, with a brief mid-point sojourn into a wonderful FX sequence that then leaves the rest of the film to grind away to its conclusion that was blindingly obvious way back earlier - even Ryan Reynolds is subdued here.  The film does benefit from a gorgeous Michael Giacchino score, and Krasinski's direction is once again confident and precise.  Apart from a couple of nods to the power of memory and imagination, the story oddly offers very little with which to really engage, until - unexpectedly - the reunions montage at the very end.
 

VOD: Robot Dreams (dir: Pablo Berger, 2024)

"Happy / I'm so happy..."

A bored and lonely dog (here, all humans are replaced by animals) buys a robot to be his friend in this glorious animated film, and they go on small adventures both together and separately and discover the joy in the little things in everyday life, until they become unfortunately separated and life moves on.  Dialogue-free, this silent-movie-style cartoon has the engagingly endearing feel of Chaplin/Tati meets Aardman, with its colourful and simply-drawn animation style, quirky observations and ideas and its attention to detail.  Its core message about modern day isolation and the power of reaching out and change may be familiar, but the way it is told here is utterly sweet and endearing in a very entertaining manner.
 

VOD: Maybe Baby 2 a.k.a. Bytte Bytte Barn 2 (dir: Barbara Topsoe-Rothenberg, 2024)

"Don't worry,  Everything is fine!"

In this sequel to the successful Danish baby-swap comedy, two years later the mis-matched couples are now raising their now-toddlers in their own idyllic lives and have become grudging friends.  With an increasing suspicion that the bright-as-a-button girl and the 'firecracker' boy seem ill-suited to their respective parents, a routine blood test leads to the discovery that the babies were not actually mixed up at the fertility clinic after all, thus creating the conundrum of whether the children should be swapped back to their biological parents, but a remarkable solution to the situation comes into play and gives the movie new territory to explore.  Carrying on very much in the same vein as the original film, the dramatic core issues (nature versus nurture, gender attitudes in the workplace) are solid, and whilst true to the tone of the first film, it feels that the issues and characters have a more mature heft this time round.  Once again, the wonderful Mille Dinesen strides through every scene to magnetic effect, and indeed the whole returning cast (plus a couple of new additions) exude a comedic and dramatic confidence that works extremely well - and the little kids are of course unfeasibly cute - making Maybe Baby 2 a pleasing, warm-hearted and entertaining extension of the original.
 

VOD: My Old Ass (dir: Megan Park, 2024)

"The only thing you can't get back is time."
 

On a camping trip with her two best friends to celebrate her eighteenth birthday, Elliott tries magic mushrooms and trips out to an encounter with her future thirty-nine-years-old self, but it does not end there, as the older self continues to help the younger to shape her life and relationships for the better.  My Old Ass is a warm, funny indie-inflected coming-of-age comedy, but it also reflects deeply on the choices that shape our lives and the journey we take.  Maisy Stella is a wonderful bundle of youthful energy as Elliott, and as her older incarnation Aubrey Plaza's timing and note-perfect performance skills work exceptionally well with this situation and material, but it is noted that the film is beautifully performed by the entire cast.  With its terrific blend of quirkiness and sincerity, the film is gentle, thoughtful and absolutely charming to the very end.

VOD: Midas Man (dir: Joe Stephenson, 2024)

"Music isn't just what we listen to, it's who we are, who we love, where we belong."

Covering 1959-67, Midas Man follows the story of Brian Epstein from his record store days to discovering and managing The Beatles and guiding them to their phenomenal success.  Lots of key moments deliver well (such as the 'firing' of Pete Best and Epstein's reaction to their first Number One single), as do the recreations and reflections on the times, including the primitive early Liverpool music scene and Epstein's furtive homosexuality.  A tightly-written script and occasional fourth-wall-breaking give the film a friendly accessible feel, as the refined and committed Epstein navigates the leap from a home-spun local music industry to navigating the band's ever-escalating  global fame.  Jacob Fortune-Lloyd gives a consistently excellent and engaging performance in the lead role, the four young actors playing The Beatles portray an amiable wise-cracking bunch of lads infectiously, with notable work from Charley Palmer Rothwell as George Martin and Milo Parker as Epstein's right-hand man.  Epstein's ultimate physical and emotional breakdown comes rather suddenly in this film, which makes the final events perhaps all the more shocking and sad.  Midas Man is a fairly standard biopic overall, but both the take on the material and its delivery are top-notch.

 

VOD: Borderlands (dir: Eli Roth, 2024)

"You're with me!"
"Wish I wasn't..."

How much of embattled Eli Roth's original vision remains is unclear, but the troubled videogame adaptation Borderlands was finally released to a critical and box-office mauling, and it is not difficult to see why.  On paper, the movie has a lot going for it: a name director, an eclectic starry cast (including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gina Gershon and more) and a fair budget.  What emerged is basically a very shouty pseudo-videogame runaround that follows a mis-matched team trying to rescue a girl who is prophesied to be a planet's saviour, playing like a violent and hysterical version of Guardians Of the Galaxy without the charm, wit and heart.  Blanchett inevitably eats up the screen, and there are lots of strong sci-fi ideas and visuals in play. and while there is an effort made to capture the freewheeling wackiness of its source, the film feels rather messy, wayward and a tad indulgent.
 

VOD: Brothers (dir: Max Barbakow, 2024)

"You ever think about trying to unf**k your life?"

In what is one of the most unlikely sibling pairings since Schwarzenegger and Devito, a reformed career criminal (Josh Brolin) gets pulled back into one more job by his unrepentantly felonious twin brother (Peter Dinklage) in order to track down long-lost jewels stolen by their estranged mother in Amazon's goofy Thanksgiving-set comedy.   Brolin and Dinklage - both excellent actors who are clearly cutting loose - have the expected easy-going on-screen chemistry to handle the dialogue-dense banter enjoyably, the film has many ridiculous chucklesome moments, and there is entertaining character work from a starry supporting cast, notably Brendan Fraser, M. Emmet Walsh, an uncredited Marisa Tomei and Glenn Close. Ultimately, Brothers is a lean and snappy movie, that is a daft, fun, disposable and fairly enjoyable adult comedy.