Highest 2 Lowest (2025)

There are very few times, if any, when Spike Lee doesn't know exactly what he's doing. Whether you like or dislike any particular movie from him, it's impossible to come away from any of them still trying to figure out the point that he was making. I mean . . . I'm not including his remakes here, but that's only because I have yet to be brave enough to see how he handled Oldboy (although I did enjoy Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus). The point is that Lee has been a unique and brilliant cinematic voice for four decades now, and Highest 2 Lowest shows that he's far from done when it comes to grabbing viewers by the scruff of the next and forcing them to look at the very best and worst of humanity.

Based on a film by Akira Kurosawa, which was itself based on a novel, "King's Ransom", by Ed McBain, Highest 2 Lowest is the tale of David King (Denzel Washington). David is known to have the best ear in the music business, which is reflected in his status and wealth. It's a tricky time though, with King looking to rearrange finances to allow him to buy back a majority share in Stackin' Hits Records, which would stop a rival from swooping in. Things are made trickier by the fact that his son, Trey (Aubrey Joseph), is kidnapped by someone demanding a ransom of $17.5M. The kidnappers have the wrong victim though, having snatched Trey's good friend, Kyle (Elijah Wright), who is also the son of David's driver, Paul (Jeffrey Wright). That could save David a lot of money, although image is everything. Not to mention morality.

Lee and Washington working together again would have been enough to get me keen to see this, and Washington is as good as you think he will be, but the rest of the cast is just as appealing, and everyone seems to be bringing their A-game when selected to share the screen with the mighty Denzel. Jeffrey Wright has been delivering great performances for years, and he has the bonus in this feature of also sharing some screentime with his actual son portraying his onscreen son. Joseph does very good work as the son who knows when he can push his father a bit and when he has to stay quiet after making a point. Ilfenesh Hadera is Pam King, and is a graceful and calm presence at her husband's side, the main investigators of the kidnapping case are played by LaChanze, John Douglas Thompson, and Dean Winters, there's room for Wendell Pierce to pop in for a minute or two, and A$AP Rocky and Aiyana-Lee Anderson convince as two very different musicians ready to take our main character in two very different directions.

A portrait of a character, summing up their attitudes and attempts to push back against some of the vices of the modern world, and an entertaining crime thriller, Highest 2 Lowest is also, as has happened with other Spike Lee movies, a film that makes New York City feel like a main supporting character. From the opening shots, accompanied by "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'", to the literal journey that David King goes on while also moving through some distance internally, this is a New York movie, and there are times when it feels more like an audio-visual music video than a movie. That's no bad thing though, not when Lee just wants to share the joy of roaming through familiar streets with some classic tracks blasting from your speakers.

I've not seen the Kurosawa film, which I'm sure is a great film (because, well, KUROSAWA), nor have I read the McBain novel, but this seems like a fantastic way to interpret the core plot points from the source material. It feels more like a funky remix than a slavish remake, and the main battle that we see in the third act is obviously the main point of interest for Lee. It's old vs. new, it's instant gratification vs. hard work and paying dues, it's (sometimes) visionary artists vs. a system that makes it all too easy to put the business side ahead of the art. The soundtrack choices alone earn a bonus point from me.

9/10

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Mubi Monday: Her Smell (2018)

I haven't liked everything that I've seen from writer-director Alex Ross Perry. In fact, I really disliked the last time I watched one of his films that starred Elisabeth Moss. But I try to remain open-minded about every film I choose to watch, and I'd heard some other people give positive opinions of Her Smell.

This is the story of a self-destructive rocker (Becky Something, played by Moss) who we watch for the first half of the movie sink further and further into a dark hole. Absolutely narcissistic, deeply unpleasant, and unable to see how her behaviour is negatively impacting the career trajectory of herself and her bandmates, Becky absolutely refuses to get the help that she so desperately needs. Up to a point. The second half of the movie is a quieter, and more fragile, exploration of someone trying to see if they can embrace sobriety without losing their creative spark.

Look, I can completely understand if people struggle so much during the first half of Her Smell that they give up on the film. It's a real chore, forcing viewers to spend time with an absolute nightmare of a main character. It doesn't feel forced though, nor does it feel fake, and all of this bad stuff is there to show how far Becky needs to move forward to escape the perils of her own mentality. It's not just that Her Smell presents that character forced into making a major life decision, but Perry somehow gets you on her side as people observe Becky and wonder about whether or not she can really change her ways.

Moss is fantastic in the lead role, happy to be as horrible and repugnant as possible. She's surprisingly believable as this kind of rocker, and does equally well with the hysterical moments and the much calmer ones. Agyness Deyn is also very good, as Marielle Hell (a bandmate who has been put through the wringer far too many times), and so is Gayle Rankin (playing Ali van der Wolff). Dan Stevens is an ex-partner trying to do the best by a young child, Eric Stoltz is a stressed manager, and other musicians are played by Cara Delevingne, Ashley Benson, Dylan Gelula, and Amber Heard, all fitting nicely into their roles. It would be remiss of me not to mention Virginia Madsen, playing a mother who doesn't really know the right way to deal with her daughter.

We've seen this story before, quite a few times, but I cannot think of a time when it was presented in quite the same way, with the focus being on that worry about a calmed mind losing any creativity. That's a common fear for many artists, of course, but Perry really puts it front and centre here, having the central characters explore and discuss the idea, as opposed to leaving it hanging in the air like an unspoken fear. I appreciated the way this poked and prodded the situation, particularly when showing how a band keeps working under great strain while they hunger for more of the success they have tasted, and I think the ending makes the difficult first half worthwhile. It's a close call though, and others will strongly disagree. 

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Northman (2022)

There are some key words and phrases that I try to avoid in my movie reviews. I don't ever say "we stan *insert whatever performer/director/selling point here*". It's ridiculous, and reduces an opinion to something that seems to be revelling in how much it can lack objectivity. I also try to avoid referring to any films as "just vibes", but I'm not as staunchly against that descriptor. Sometimes films are that way, they can be sumptuous mood pieces, washing over you and being appreciated for the fact that they're . . . just vibes.

The Northman is a muddy and bloody Viking tale. It has the usual gorgeousness you'd expect from director Robert Eggers, who also co-wrote the film with Sjón (based on a classic tale by Saxo Grammaticus), and there's a cast that includes Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Bjork, among others (keep your eyes peeled for both Kate Dickie and Ralph Ineson in small roles, making this a bit of a The Witch mini-reunion). The Northman is all of that, but it's also . . . vibes.

A King is killed. That happens near the start of The Northman. Many years pass. A young child grows up to be a strong man (Amleth, played by Skarsgård), and that man wants revenge. His mother (Kidman) has become the wife of his father's murderer (Fjölnir, played by Bang), which may make things tricky as Amleth plans to slaughter anyone who gets in his way. He's helped in his resolve by Olga (Taylor-Joy).

While the dialogue is fine throughout, and delivered with a wonderful emphasis on the accents that feel as if they are natural in the onscreen world, The Northman is a film all about the visuals. The story is very simple, and the cast are all more than up to the tasks given to them, which allows Eggers plenty of time to indulge himself throughout the 137-minute runtime. This may well be his most beautiful film, and that is really saying something. The main narrative allows for a stark, almost monochromatic, visual style throughout, and there are set-pieces that play out like animated tableaux.

If you don't think Skarsgård can do this kind of role in his sleep then I would argue that you've never seen him in any of his other acting roles. He's superb, and absolutely brilliant in a role that makes excellent use of his presence, talent, and physicality. Kidman and Bang aren't quite as good, but that's mainly due to how the screenplay leaves them slightly underserved. Taylor-Joy is as good as always, however, and Dafoe does enough in a couple of scenes to steal the spotlight momentarily away from our leads. Eggers is the real star though, carrying viewers through the tale with a combination of his refined eye and the ability to pace everything perfectly.

It may be a mid-tier film when ranked alongside others from Eggers, but a mid-tier Eggers film is head and shoulders above many others. I look forward to rewatching this, being fully immersed in the world once again, and I am kicking myself for not having managed to see this when it was on the big screen, when I could have also had my entire body shaken by the score by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough. 

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994)

Whether due to circumstances or my own mindset, I have lately been in the mood for the kind of entertainment that would have clogged up the cheaper rental sections of your local video store decades ago. Dark Angel: The Ascent may have a title that makes you think it is a sequel or a TV spin-off, but it actually appears to be neither of those things. It’s just a supernatural adventure with some romance mixed in, and does enough to entertain those who don’t mind their silly entertainment struggling to rise above some very low production values.

Angela Featherstone plays Veronica, a young demoness who wants nothing more than to mingle with us humans. She is the dark angel of the title, and coming here to our Earthly plane is the ascent. When here, Veronica meets Dr. Max Bariss (Daniel Markel). The two start to form an immediate connection, but things may be complicated by Veronica dealing out some deadly justice to wrong-doers as she spots the bad souls destined to head to the lower realms. There’s also a corrupt and nasty mayor (Milton James) to be dealt with.

Written by Matthew Bright, who would go on to much more interesting fare when writing and directing his own features, this is slight and silly stuff, but does enough to keep people watching until the very end. I am not sure who exactly it’s aimed at (the occasional bits of bloodshed are quite tame, the romance feels ill-fitting), but it gains goodwill by constantly trying to do the best it can with fairly limited resources. Director Linda Hassani doesn’t have a huge filmography. She does well here though, presenting the main character in all her glory without relying on the usual/expected gratuitous nudity and innocence normally seen in such tales of female spirits who are newcomers to our world.

Featherstone is fine in the lead role. I have apparently seen her in some other movies, even if I cannot remember her in them, and she seems to be having fun here. Markel is far less interesting, which doesn’t really matter when he is basking in the glow of Featherstone’s presence. James is enjoyable enough in his few scenes, although his character should have been more of a giant spider looming over the web of crime and debauchery, and the rest of the cast is stuffed with cops, villains, and victims all fairly indistinguishable from one another. The only others who stand out are Nicholas Worth and Charlotte Stewart, playing parents with two very different approaches to the curiosity and strange morality of their demoness daughter.

I expected to watch this and then struggle to remember it as soon as the end credits rolled. Surprisingly, I had such a good time with it that I started to wish it had started a franchise I could start wading through. And yet, slightly paradoxically, I also appreciate it more for the fact that it’s a “one and done”, which is a real rarity from Full Moon Entertainment, the production studios overseen by Charles Band.

6/10

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Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991)

There's something about looking to the past and spending time with some simple pleasures. Whether that's reading a good book without any gadgets distracting you, wallowing in the nostalgic glow of some past TV show you can now find on a variety of streaming services, or sitting down to watch the kind of film that used to make some money by heading "straight to video" for eager and undemanding action movie fans. That's why I ended up watching Kickboxer 2: The Road Back recently.

Sasha Mitchell is the leading man this time around. He plays David Sloan, the brother of Kurt and Eric Sloane (characters in the first Kickboxer movie). And, who could've thunk it, David ends up being challenged to a fight by the menacing and dangerous Tong Po (Michel Qissi returning to the role). That's everything you need to know about this martial arts movie that tries to do nothing more than provide a few more fights for those who enjoyed the first movie.

Albert Pyun directs the whole thing competently enough, and this actually feels like a film that gives him a bit more to work with than he would have throughout many other films in his career. The focus is on the fighting, and it's helped by bringing back characters that we're already familiar with, in the shape of Tong Po and the Miyagi-like Xian Chow (Dennis Chan, also returning to the series). David S. Goyer may have gone on to bigger and better things, but he does well here with what's required. It's cheesy, our hero has an unwavering moral compass, and the fights are nicely spread out throughout the 90-minute runtime.

Mitchell is a bit of a bland lead, but he just about looks capable enough when displaying some fighting skills. It's ridiculous to think of any scenario in which he would be able to beat Qissi though, who remains an entertainingly formidable villain, but the film simply gets viewers onside early enough to keep us rooting for the good guy to win. Vince Murdocco plays another fighter, who you just know is going to receive a major beating at some point, but the rest of your enjoyment comes from watching Chan, the superb Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the equally-superb Peter Boyle, and a small, but worthwhile, turn from John Diehl. Matthias Hues is a second-tier opponent, and Heather McComb has the thankless task of being the only main female character, obviously required to look on as our hero battles with his conscience and trauma on the way to a grudge match.

Not as good as the first film in the series, as expected, and not as interesting or stylish as many other action movies you could choose to watch, but this was more fun than I expected, perhaps because it felt like the shelf-fillers we have lost in the tsunami of constant content that is all just available at the touch of a button. I'm not going to recommend this to people, but I will say that I am much more likely to rewatch this ahead of many big titles that have appeared exclusively online. 

6/10

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The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

It's always a good sign when everyone returns for a sequel, and I cannot spot anyone major missing, either behind or "in front" of the camera, from The Bad Guys 2. Considering I enjoyed the first movie enough, thanks in no small part to the style and the voice cast, I was optimistic about this. That optimism was not misplaced.

Some time has passed, of course, and the bad guys are spending their time trying to be good guys. That's hard when you have earned the kind of reputation that they have earned though. It's even harder when someone is pulling off the kind of robberies that would seem to be very much in line with the M. O. of the bad guys. Hoping to crack the case and change the opinions of people who won't let them move away from their past, Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Shark (Craig Robinson), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and Snake (Marc Maron) quickly put themselves in a situation that makes them look even more guilty than ever, much to the frustration of Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz).

Just as fun and lively as the first movie, The Bad Guys 2 is a pretty perfect sequel. It may not surpass the first film, but it's a very close call. And it made me laugh hard with a couple of perfectly-executed fart gags I assume will go down equally well with younger viewers. Pierre Perifel is now happy to share directing duties with JP Sans (who worked in the animation department for the first film), and Etan Cohen is now happy to collaborate with Yoni Brenner on a screenplay once again born from the books by Aaron Blabey.

The central cast remain perfect in their roles (as well as those mentioned, Richard Ayoade and Alex Borstein also reprise roles from the first film) and there are equally entertaining performances from Omid Djalili, Colin Jost, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova, and a few others. Is the plot a bit obvious and predictable? Yes. It's also easy enough to let wash over you as each sequence packs in a fantastic selection of action and gags. 

Perfect for kids (and those as childish as me), The Bad Guys 2 once again nicely reworks the standard  heist movie tropes, adds even more peril, as happens in many sequels, and provides a very nice excuse to spend some more time with some very entertaining and cool characters.

And look, just in case anyone misunderstands how old or mature I actually am . . . let me just emphasise that it was a VERY good fart gag. Otherwise I wouldn't have felt the need to mention it here. Honest. 

7/10

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Prime Time: Last Straw (2024)

Keeping the acting based mainly in one location. Utilising a cast full of relative unknowns, with a cameo from someone who already has a filmography full of various genre treats. Yes, we're in the realm of the directorial feature debut here. It's Alan Scott Neal sitting in the big chair, working from a screenplay by Taylor Sardoni, and there's certainly enough here to enjoy, although it's just a bit too slight to be remembered as anything more than a serviceable time-waster.

Jessica Belkin plays Nancy, a young woman who has to stick around for the late shift at a diner owned by her father, Edward (Jeremy Sisto). Some makes youths have been causing trouble in the area, which makes them the number one suspects when Nancy starts to be terrorised by some strangers surrounding the diner some time after sundown. There may be another explanation for the unfolding awfulness though, as starts to become clear when there's a jump back in time to show us the situation from a different perspective.

This is made well. The characters are sketched out decently, there's a fun moment before the terror begins that allows Belkin to dance and lip sync to an enjoyably loud and lively song, and some of the violence that ends up occurring is appropriately grounded and raw. It doesn't every feel very interesting though, nor worthwhile (despite the runtime being a nice and lean 83 minutes). The plot developments and character turns never feel natural and plausible, the lead character somehow becomes less interesting as they find the strength to keep dealing with the madness unfolding around them, and the third act all falls a bit flat.

Belkin is really good in her role though, good enough to keep you on her side even as she spends a lot of the earlier scenes being harsh and unpleasant to many of the people around her. Taylor Kowalski is okay as Jake, a young man who finds his day starting to unravel when he is suddenly fired from his job, Christopher M. Lopes is arguably the most sympathetic person onscreen, due to his vulnerability and how he is manipulated, and Joji Otani-Hansen and Michael Giannone would be completely interchangeable if it wasn't for the fact that one is meant to have a stronger attachment to our lead than the other. Sisto is very good in his few scenes, and it's worth mentioning how good Glen Gould is as a local Sheriff.

I feel like I've been a bit harsh here, especially when noting that the film isn't really worthwhile. To clarify, it's perfectly fine, especially when any scene is completely focused on Belkin. I just don't think it does enough to stand out from a crowd of many similar movies, whether we're talking about crime thrillers set mainly in one location or, more specifically, movies with memorable diner sequences (and the fact that I so enjoyed the recent diner-based The Last Stop In Yuma County doesn't help). If you're going to work with such a simple and well-known premise then you either have to throw in a lot of impressive twists or you have to fine-tune everything to make it the best that it can be. Last Straw does neither of these things, which is why it never transitions from good to great.

6/10

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I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

There's no point in providing a summary of the plot of I Know What You Did Last Summer. It's a slasher movie based around the title, of course, and it's another instalment in a horror movie series that began back in 1997. Teens regret being at/causing an accident when they are hounded for it a year later. That’s the starting point for the series. You will either have a fondness for the original movie, and the cast that included Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe, or you will just check this out based on the imagery of the killer holding a bloody hook.

Co-written by Sam Lansky and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, this is a slasher movie that gives us a bland bunch of new characters, some satisfying plotting to bring back some old characters, and a bit more bloodshed than the 1997 film (which isn't hard, considering how relatively bloodless that was). It's decent, certainly in terms of the stalking and slashing, but the poor selection of new cast members ultimately drags everything down a bit.

Madelyn Cline seems to be the latest person that studios are trying to make into a viable star, but I am yet to be convinced. She was perfectly okay in The Map That Leads To You, but does worse work here. The fact that her character here is also given awful dialogue to utter that is supposed to add some unnecessary levity to things doesn’t help. Chase Sui Wonders is a bit better, but not by much. As for Jonah Hauer-King, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, and the rest . . . I couldn’t pick them out of a line-up if asked right now. As strange as it may seem, considering the limits of their skills back in the late ‘90s, both Prinze Jr. and Hewitt are the main people relied upon to deliver more than just the thinnest characterisations. They both do well, and both are in scenes that will surely please fans of the first two movies in this series. One or two developments might not go down so well, but they at least show some effort to make things interesting in the third act.

Robinson does pretty good with the actual direction. The visuals are clear enough, shots are blocked and constructed to maintain the mystery element until it’s time for the big reveal, and a couple of the kills even show some blood being spilled as pain is inflicted. With better actors and pacing this could have been a winner. Sadly, it fumbles those two key aspects. It’s a bad sign when the two best moments are a reprise of a famous line that has already been immortalised in spoof form and a dream sequence that allows for another cameo to be shoehorned in.

Overall, this I Know What You Did Last Summer is on a par with the old I Know What You Did Last Summer. But that is a statement coming from someone who never really loved the 1997 movie anyway. I was always a bigger fan of Urban Legend.

6/10

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Mubi Monday: Hot Milk (2025)

Not every celebrated arthouse movie is going to be appreciated by every film fan, which is obviously part of the reason why they don't have the crossover into mainstream levels of exposure and success. Of course, the world of arthouse and/or independent cinema is where you can find some of the more interesting explorations of the human experience. That's what I was hoping to get from Hot Milk. I got something else instead.

Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw are Sofie and Rose, respectively. Rose has an illness that she can't seem to find a cure for, although that may change as she spends time in Spain to be examined by Dr. Gomez (Vincent Perez). Sofie seems a bit lost, both within herself and how she connects to a mother she views as being affected by an illness that may or may not be psychosomatic. The central relationship is defined by a lot of pushing and pulling, a mother claiming to want her daughter to be free and living fully in one breath before reminding her of just how much she relies on her in the next breath. Things obviously start to get tense.

Director Rebecca Lenkiewicz may be helming a feature for the first time here, but she has a fantastic selection of screenplays in her filmography already. Considering she also wrote this, based on the book by Deborah Levy, I was expecting something that would keep me engrossed and intrigued throughout. While that didn't happen, the very end of the film is strong enough to raise a lot of great questions and keep you thinking about things after the end credits have rolled.

Shaw is fantastic in her role, a twist on the kind of thing that she has played so many times in other movies. She seems to have been given increasingly better characters to play in recent years and I am delighted to see her effortlessly becoming such a grand dame of cinema. Mackey is equally good in her role, although a lot of her character moments are played out more internally. Perez is good in his few scenes, and Vicky Krieps plays a woman named Ingrid who ultimately doesn't create the turbulence that you might expect from her.

While there aren't films exactly like this one, which is something I will give it credit for, there are a number of films that have similar elements. And many of those films are a bit better than this. Hot Milk is a real disappointment, especially when you think of those who worked to get it made. One or two scenes pack a punch, but it needed more, and Shaw, Mackey, and Krieps deserve more. I'm interested in eventually reading the source material one day, another sign that there's definitely something worthwhile here buried under the many mis-steps and fumbles. And that ending really does make up for a lot.

5/10

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Netflix And Chill: Taxi (2004)

An American remake of an action comedy from the late 1990s, one written by no less than Luc Besson, Taxi has a good bit of talent behind the camera. Tim Story is the director, and the screenplay is from Robert Ben Garant, Jim Kouf, and Thomas Lennon. It's just a shame that Jimmy Fallon is one of the leads.

Queen Latifah is Isabelle 'Belle' Williams, a woman who is at the very start of her career as a taxi driver. She has spent years being a courier, and has even managed to get caught speeding while whizzing about on her bicycle. She's a very talented driver, and very quick. That's why she proves to be a useful asset when a police officer named Andrew Washburn (Fallon) jumps into the back of her cab and asks her to head to the site of a nearby bank robbery. Williams and Washburn end up working together on the case, although it's not made official. But it might take a speedy and slick taxi driver to catch a speedy and slick getaway driver. 

Despite the work of the writers, there's nothing very witty or entertaining here, not outwith the stunt driving anyway. A large part of that is due to the screenplay just being a bit too thin, but I think the problem is almost equally down to having Fallon in the role of Washburn. While I can tolerate him in some of his TV spots, Fallon has never done enough in movies to fully win me over, which is a major hurdle when he's given a lead role.

Queen Latifah certainly tries her best to balance out the awfulness of Fallon though, and she's fantastic in her role (as she has been in many of the movies she has starred in). She cannot carry the whole film on her shoulders though, and that's what is being asked of her. Henry Simmons isn't too bad, playing her partner, and Ann-Margret has fun in her scenes, but Jennifer Esposito, Gisele Bündchen, and everyone else are just disappointing non-entities.

Similar to so many other American remakes of “foreign-language” originals, Taxi succeeds when it replicated the scenes that worked just as well in the original, but falters in the attempts to make everything more appealing to mainstream American audiences. You can watch this and not hate it. You’re unlikely to enjoy it as much as the first film though, as long as you can overcome the teeny tiny obstacle of subtitles.

This review may not have given you anything substantial to digest. Nor does the movie. I'm happy enough to have been critical without being too insulting. I'd encourage people to check out almost anything else directed by Tim Story, or indeed anything else starring Queen Latifah.  

4/10

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Shudder Saturday: Tourist Trap (1979)

Another week goes by, another movie watched by myself that I could have sworn I'd already watched years ago. Tourist Trap is quite a well-known horror movie, at least among horror movie fans who didn't just start their journey through the genre in the '90s or at the start of this century, and I always confused it with some other films I'd already seen (probably something like Just Before Dawn). Anyway, now I've finally seen it, and I'm glad.

The first feature from director David Schmoeller, who also co-wrote the thing with J. Larry Carroll, this is an enjoyably simple premise that uses the framework to deliver some impressive imagery and a feeling of spiralling madness. It may seem a bit crude and cheap to modern viewers, but there are still a handful of moments here that really impress.

Chuck Connors plays a man who encounters some holidaying youngsters in a place that is fairly isolated. There are large woods to wander around in, a lake to swim in for a whole, and the titular tourist trap, a roadside museum featuring a number of disturbing mannequins. It's not long until these young people start to get anxious about their predicament, and they start being picked off, one by one, even before you can say "the car engine won't start, dammit." 

Aside from Connors, there's nobody truly memorable in the cast here. You have people like Jocelyn Jones, Jon Van Ness, Robin Sherwood, Tanya Roberts, and one or two others, enough to at least present a generous selection of potential victims. I wouldn't single anyone out as bad, nor would I single anyone out as a real highlight. Connors is fun as the standard old man who advises the younger people against too many shenanigans, but there's more of an impression made by one or two of the aforementioned mannequins.

Considering the relatively familiar and uninspired plotting, Tourist Trap excels thanks to some fantastic visuals throughout, helped by the cinematography of Nicholas Josef von Sternberg, as well as a score from Pino Donaggio accompanying the unfolding insanity. Lots of other people work behind the scenes to make this the best it can be, including Ted Nicolau editing and working in the sound department a few years before starting his own directorial career, and the end result is something that feels as surprisingly influential as it was itself influenced by a number of key horror movie classics.

It could have done with a few more suspects/red herrings, and maybe a few more scenes that showcased some onscreen bloodshed, but this remains a great little horror movie for those who will appreciate the atmosphere, creepy visuals, and general sense of characters being pushed further and further into a bottleneck of absolute insanity.

8/10

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Eenie Meanie (2025)

Written and directed by Shawn Simmons, Eenie Meanie has the air of something given to someone finally allowed a shot at feature film-making after years spent helping to create entertainment for the small screen. A quick glance through the filmography of Simmons confirms that, yes, that's exactly what has happened. Simmons has his name on about 30 or 40 various TV show episodes, but this is his first major film credit. He helps himself immensely by getting Samara Weaving for the main role. Sadly, he spends a lot of the movie then working against himself.

Weaving plays Edie (nicknamed Eenie Meanie by some). Edie used to be the best getaway driver in the business, but she got out of that life. Unfortunately, her on/off boyfriend, John (Karl Glusman), didn't. He now owes Nico (Andy Garcia) a large debt, and Nico has a plan for John to repay that debt with a major score. It will need an excellent getaway driver though.

There's nothing new here. The super-skilled getaway driver has been done in a number of movies. The ex-criminal unable to go straight because they've been manipulated into one last job has been done in almost every other crime flick from the past hundred years. And daring heists that have people using skill and a bit of luck to defy impossible odds? Well, I'm sure you can name a few films with that main plot point. So the only real novelty here is having Weaving as the central figure, and it's her charisma and talent that make this more watchable than it otherwise would be.

Simmons makes the mistake of not really nailing down the tone, which doesn't help. Some moments are fun, some moments are thrilling, and some moments take viewers on a hard turn into a road called downbeat street. If these different strands flowed and blended well then Eenie Meanie could have been a pleasant surprise, but they do not. None of the fun moments reach their full potential as viewers are reminded of the high stakes, the same goes for the thrills (a couple of expected driving stunts aside), and the most downbeat moments feel as if they've been spliced in from another film entirely.

Weaving is great. When is she not? That's rhetorical. Don't answer, especially as I anxiously try to remember the many film appearances she has racked up that aren't deserving of her good work. Glusman is fine, although he has to struggle at portraying a character who feels quite irredeemable. He's a greedy and selfish idiot, and doesn't get any big moment to turn things around. Garcia delivers the goods in a few scenes that are real highlights, and the rest of the supporting cast members - including Steve Zahn, Jermaine Fowler, Marshawn Lynch, Randall Park, Mike O'Malley, and Chris Bauer - are almost all wasted. Nobody is given enough time or character development, which is more annoying when it means more time spent in the company of Glusman's character.

There's a nice muscle car being put through its paces in the third act, the score is decent, and Weaving gets to carry the film. It's just a shame that there's nothing more to it, and it's a shame that I was thinking about twenty better movies I could have rewatched instead of giving this one 106 minutes of my time. 

5/10

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Echo Valley (2025)

Although I have seen at least one other film directed by Michael Pearce, I couldn't say that his name was one that I would be keeping an eye out for. The same goes for writer Brad Ingelsby. But give me a cast that includes Julianne Moore, Sydney Sweeney, Domhnall Gleeson, and Fiona Shaw and I'm happy to give up some of my time. This is why I eventually got around to watching Echo Valley.

Moore plays Kate Garretson, a woman who has given up almost everything in her life as she has struggled to help her daughter, Claire (Sweeney). Claire is an addict. She has cost her mother a lot of money over the years, and perhaps even created a weight that led to divorce from Richard (Kyle MacLachlan). It's hard with loved ones who are addicts though, which is why Kate once again hopes for things to turn out for the best when Claire arrives on her doorstep again. She's had a row with her latest boyfriend, Ryan (Edmund Donovan), but has also inadvertently thrown away some expensive "stock" that belonged to the very dangerous Jackie Lawson (Gleeson). 

While I wouldn't rush to recommend this to people, it's a worthwhile film that tries to balance two very different strands. One is an emotional, painful even, look at how much hurt can be inflicted by those ruled by addiction. The other is a straightforward and dark thriller, one that makes great use of Moore and Gleeson facing off against one another in a number of tense scenes. It's admirable that both Pearce and Ingelsby try to add a bit more substance to the standard thriller movie moments, but it's also obvious that the film works best in a third act that moves further into more standard and satisfying cinematic fare.

Moore is a great choice for the main role, delivering that combination of vulnerability and strength that she has shown in so many other roles. She's the one constant, trying to keep herself anchored as a few different characters do their best to untether her from a life that she has fought hard to create. Sweeney may not be doing her best work, but she's good at flipping between many different moods, depending on how good or bad she is feeling. Gleeson is decent when he gets to be properly menacing, although the script only gives him a couple of moments when he can show the real darkness of his soul. Although only onscreen for a couple of main sequences, Shaw makes a really strong and positive impression, playing the kind of good friend who will turn up and help deal with a crisis without asking too many questions.

It lacks a bit of impact, especially in a middle section that sets up a few plot points that don't all feel paid off by the time we get to the very end, but there's nothing here that I would single out as being bad. The performances all work, and the finale makes up for a lot of the minor flaws elsewhere. I was also happy that it was all wrapped up within 104 minutes, which felt like a nice change from the many movies that seem to need a minimum time commitment of two hours. 

7/10

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Prime Time: The Map That Leads To You (2025)

Although The Map That Leads To You is based on a novel by Joseph Monninger, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks. There are attractive leads, romance blossoming after an inauspicious start, and a secret that could make or break the potential future of the relationship. So, yeah, it's a "Nicholas Sparks movie" in all but name, essentially.

Madelyn Cline is Heather, a young woman on a holiday to Europe with her two friends (Connie, played by Sofia Wylie, and Amy, played by Madison Thompson) before she's due to head home, where she will start her career in the world of banking.  She meets Jack (KJ Apa) on a train, and we know he'll become a main character because he's the kind of free spirit who climbs to the overhead luggage racks in order to try sleeping during this part of the journey. Connie ends up getting on with Raef (Orlando Norman), who is a friend of Jack, and it's not long until Heather is won over by Jack's charm. 

Adapted into screenplay form by Vera Herbert and Les Bohem,  two writers who have a decent bit of variety in their respective filmographies, this is very comfortable and predictable stuff. It's aimed squarely at those who want something romantic to watch, presents everything through a filter of glorious sunshine and idealism, and there are enough moments throughout to make you smile in between the manipulative moments that try to make you leak slightly from your eyes.

Cline and Apa are perfectly fine leads, with the latter having the benefit of playing the more fun and livelier of the two characters, and they're matched by Wylie, Thompson, and Norman, all defined by their youthfulness and looks ahead of any really deep characterisation. Josh Lucas has a couple of scenes, required to do nothing more than play the concerned father, and he's not bad either. The locations are the real star though, in specific terms and as a reminder of the beauty of a world that far too few people have the time to truly appreciate, with the exception of that one annual holiday when we often want nothing more than relaxation and some tanning time.

Director Lasse Hallström may not put any unique stamp on things, but he approaches the material with the skill and finesse that he has had throughout his lengthy film career. I would recommend at least half a dozen other movies from him ahead of this one, but none of them would necessarily hit the exact same sweet spot that this hits for those in the mood for glossy romance. Mind you, that's only because I would be unlikely to recommend either Dear John or Safe Haven (both based on, yep, novels by Nicholas Sparks) ahead of the likes of Chocolat, My Life As A Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and a few others.

This wasn't made for me. The fact that I didn't hate it is more to do with how easygoing I am when I sit down to watch any movie. It was nice to watch with my partner though, considering the many times she has had to sit there and tolerate movies that were much more in my wheelhouse, and sometimes you just want something that can play out while you have snuggles, whether those snuggles are with a partner, with a pet, or with a tub of your favourite ice cream.

5/10

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Eddington (2025)

It's very good to remember that films featuring immoral characters do not make the films themselves, or the film-makers, immoral. We can have stories featuring bad and unpleasant characters, and the best stories can use those characters to explore society and humanity in ways not always possible with bland, "good", heroes. I also have to note, however, that presenting those characters in a way that doesn't do enough with them, isn't good. And, as is the case here, it can sometimes feel quite irresponsible. I get exasperated enough with the news lately mistaking impartiality with equal screentime for opinions that are unequally-informed (or simply incorrect, which means giving equal time to truth and lies). Having to tolerate it for the duration of a 148-minute movie was not a great time for me.

It's 2020. A global pandemic is happening. In Eddington, New Mexico, this creates ongoing friction between a mayor (Ted Garcia, played by Pedro Pascal) who wants to abide by the rules and a sheriff (Joe Cross, played by Joaquin Phoenix) who believes that people should be allowed to maintain their personal freedoms. Everyone is forced to take a side on the issue, and tempers rise, especially when Cross decides to run against Garcia for the chance to be mayor.

There's plenty to laugh at here, and writer-director Ari Aster does enough to justify taking viewers back to the madness of 2020 in the first half of the film. Arguments about what is and isn't permissible, the rabbit holes that people went down when they had too much time on their hands and access to the global asylum that is the internet, and the clarification of the divide between the haves and the have-nots are just a few of the things that Aster explores well enough in the earliest scenes in the film. Sadly, Aster then throws more into the mix (including the ease with which people can try to win arguments by throwing out triggering words that stain others forever, but also looking at protest, counter-protests, false flag operations, agendas and agitation, and domestic terrorism) until it all boils over to create a huge mess that he cannot clean up by the time the end credits roll.

Phoenix is absolutely brilliant in the main role, as expected (considering his usual level of talent, as well as the fact that Aster seems to have placed a lot of faith in him for the two movies that have allowed them to collaborate). He's cowardly, smart enough to make him a dangerous idiot, and constantly pushing back against more powerful people without ever considering just how he is being manipulated by so many others. Pascal is also very good, although he isn't given enough to really sink his teeth into before the film moves beyond him to start reminding viewers of a bigger picture.  Emma Stone feels wasted, as does Austin Butler, but there's a turn from Deirdre O'Connell that makes up for that disappointment. Others caught up in the madness are Luke Grimes, Micheal Ward, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann, Amélie Hoeferle, and William Belleau, and none of them drop the ball.

The one dropping the ball is Aster. What could have been an effective skewering of a situation that turned so many people into temporary lunatics (and I count myself in that demographic, considering there's a big reason why I have now been sober since May 2020) becomes sadly neutered and defanged with each subsequent story beat. Cinematically, there are moments that work when viewed out of context. But none of this should be viewed out of context. The context is key, and the context should have been the target that Aster kept in his sights for the duration. He doesn't. Which means that viewers can, metaphorically, examine the target once the movie has finished to see that it retains the marks of only one or two lucky strikes.

5/10

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Mubi Monday: Toxic (2024)

The first feature film to be helmed by writer-director Saulė Bliuvaitė, Toxic also happens to be the second film this year to show me someone desperate enough to lose weight that they have given serious consideration to making use of a tapeworm. Although this is very different from that other film, especially with the lack of any genre tropes, it's surprising just how close it comes, proving how much of a horror it can be to simply get through life as a woman.

Everything revolves around Marija (Vesta Matulytė) and Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė), two girls who start off as enemies, but soon become friends. That friendship seems strange, and fragile, but it's grounded in their common struggle to do well at a local modelling school, as well as their attempt to navigate through some difficult years in life as boys and men keep sniffing around them like hungry dogs waiting to be fed.

There's something to be said for how deftly Bliuvaitė handled the content and tone of Toxic. This could have been so much worse, in terms of discomfort and nastiness, but things are presented in a way that keeps it watchable without ever letting viewers relax. The main characters face dangers from all different directions, including from one another, and Bliuvaitė easily shows that any respite is only ever temporary, which is a factor that helps to motivate these teens to go to more and more extreme lengths in order to facilitate a move far away from somewhere they don't want to be trapped. It's rare to find a completely safe space for women, both externally and internally, and Toxic illustrates this perfectly without wallowing in the kind of pain and abuse that would have made it a very different, and less effective, film.

Both Matulytė and Rupeikaitė are fantastic in the main roles, especially for two relative youngsters making their onscreen acting debuts. Nobody else threatens to steal any scenes or make a disproportionate impact on the narrative, which leaves everything fully resting on the performances of our leads, a task that they handle with ease and naturalism.

There are a number of similar films that I could recommend to people who end up appreciating Toxic, but the interesting thing is that none of them would feel exactly like this. Bliuvaitė takes us through a familiar world while making use of viewpoints that help to focus our vision on elements and threats that are there every single day for women just trying to make their way through life. There's no trickery used, just a slightly different perspective and the feeling of someone pointing out details that are often not noticed by people who aren't affected by them. I'm already keen to see what Bliuvaitė does next, and I highly recommend this to anyone who has the patience and empathy to appreciate it.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: KPop Demon Hunters (2025)

If you're going to create an animated movie that also happens to make use of a current popular fad (and I know that is absolutely the wrong turn of phrase, I am just emphasising how the mainstream popularity of k-pop has really exploded in recent years) then you could do a hell of a lot worse than KPop Demon Hunters. I started to notice this when it was first released a couple of months ago, but I resisted the pull of it until my movie-centric FOMO seized hold of me.

Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) are the three members of Huntr/x, a hugely successful female K-pop group. They are the latest in a long line of singers who do more than just entertain the masses. Their voices and songs help to create, and maintain, a barrier between our world and a world of demons. Tired of constantly failing, the demons come up with a revolutionary plan to present their own K-pop band, one headed up by the handsome and charming Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop).

Written by a handful of people, including co-directors Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang, this is a stylish animation that has some fun action sequences, a lot of very enjoyable gags, and, well, a couple of songs in the soundtrack that are absolute pop-tastic bangers. Have I started playing these tunes on regular rotation in my home yet? No, but it's absolutely going to happen. It overdoes the standard gag of something being said before a hard cut to the exact opposite of what has just been stated, but it's otherwise a great mix of cute, cool, funny, and emotional. At least one main character has a secret they're withholding from others, which allows for the film to explore self-acceptance and trust, as well as teaching a lesson about not being defined by others who want to keep you as only one limited version of yourself.

Cho, Hong, and Yoo are fantastic in their main roles, Hyo-seop is equally good, and there's strong support from Ken Jeong and Lee Byung-hun, playing what could be referred to as two very different kinds of "handlers". Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim also join in with the fun. It's good to have these names on the credit list, but it's just a nice bonus tucked away beneath the great visuals and music.

Managing to cover an impressive range of emotion without over-complicating things, KPop Demon Hunters is guaranteed to entertain those in the target demographic, and some people who just enjoy a well-made bit of animation. I was going to specify that it would work best for younger viewers, but have to take into consideration how much I, as a middle-aged/old man, ended up loving it. 

Even if you're wary, like I was, of dipping a toe into the K-pop waters, this is likely to win you over. It has memorable characters, a solid main narrative, and those catchy main tunes. I'm going to cave in now and listen to the soundtrack on Spotify, although I know that will lead to me eventually refusing recommendations when the algorithm tries to get me listening to the likes of BTS and BLACKPINK.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: All The Gods In The Sky (2018)

Written and directed by someone who goes by the name of Quarxx, someone I can only assume has enjoyed a full and fruitful life after escaping the confines of the ZX Spectrum text-based sci-fi adventure game he used to be trapped in, All The Gods In The Sky is a dark and brooding drama that has great potential, but ultimately feels like a film with a much better film hidden away inside it.

Jean-Luc Couchard is Simon, a man who spends his life looking after his sister, Estelle (Melanie Gaydos). Estelle was very badly injured and disfigured in a childhood accident that involved a gun, and it's now up to Simon to ensure that she gets fed, medicated, and cleaned while staying in her bed. Other people come and go, including a young girl named Zoé (Zelie Rixhon), but Simon's world is essentially Estelle, and vice versa.

Dark and dour, All The Gods In The Sky is also unable to fully commit to how far into the abyss it wants to drag viewers. Quarxx has a good starting point, the main opening sequence is a hell of a way to grab your attention, but then almost meanders from one scene to the next, all the way to an ending that could only be more disappointing if it had been the rug-pull of everything turning out to be one big dream. 

Couchard does very well in his role, being believably tortured and mentally strained in a way that has him reaching for even the weakest and thinnest of lifelines. Gaydos is stuck under a lot of make up, and the stillness of her character, but also does a great job. Rixhon brings some youthful energy to her scenes, but isn't used often enough.

I can envision multiple different ways to handle this material, from the unrelenting and brutal approach that Gaspar Noé might have brought to things to the more fantastical and stylised movie we could have got from someone like Panos Cosmatos. Quarxx positions himself somewhere between the two, and that doesn't allow the film to make any clear statement. There are times when this is an exploration of guilt and consequences, perhaps questioning the price to be paid for something that happened in childhood, but adding one block atop another throughout turns the whole thing into a confused and unbalanced movie equivalent of a Jenga tower about to topple over.

Disappointing, but not without one or two scenes that may well end up seared on to your memory, All The Gods In The Sky indicates that Quarxx may be someone who could yet serve up something truly astonishing. This just isn't it, but it should have been. 

4/10

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The Life Of Chuck (2025)

Based on a short story by Stephen King, The Life Of Chuck is adapted into screenplay form and directed by Mike Flanagan. For those expecting horror, however, you should be warned. As made clear by the marketing, this is actually one of the non-horror treats from King, and Flanagan has taken the opportunity to revel in an onscreen world full of optimism and, well, love.

Things work backwards, chronologically, but the main thing to know is that, as the title suggests, this is all about Charles 'Chuck' Franz (played at various points in his life by Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, and Tom Hiddleston). Chuck grew up with his grandparents (played by Mia Sara and Mark Hamill), likes dancing, and eventually gets used to the comforting idea that we each contain multitudes. We are the sum of everyone and everything we've ever experienced, even if it can seem as if we haven't done very much with our lives.

It's hard to hate The Life Of Chuck, and it could be argued that this is the kind of fantastical escapism that people need right now (considering the state of things here in 2025 . . . note to any time travellers reading this, SEND HELP). I was surprised to not really love it though. The first act leads up to an obvious enough reveal, even for those who haven't read the source material, and it was a mistake to try to play things off like a big mystery.

Narration from Nick Offerman helps a lot, and his voice is as wonderful as ever, but the rest of the cast is quite a mixed bag, aside from everyone playing Chuck (standouts being Pajak and Hiddleston). Chiwetel Ejiofor is wonderful as a teacher, Marty Anderson, but Karen Gillan isn't so good as his ex-wife, a nurse named Felicia Gordon. Mia Sara is lovely as the grandmother, Hamill overdoes things slightly as grandpa. Then you have many others who are just sorely underused, including Rahul Kohli, Matthew Lillard, and Annalise Basso. There's time for some superb drumming from The Pocket Queen AKA Taylor Gordon though, and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss is a winning presence to convincingly motivate our lead to keep enjoying his talent for dance.

One big set-piece at the halfway point is what you're ultimately left with here. The messaging of the movie is very good, but it's a fortune cookie homily that is somehow paradoxically given too much of the screentime and yet not enough of it. That one set-piece ties everything together so beautifully that it still works though, and thinking of that moment should make most viewers smile and appreciate the beauty and connections of life. It's just not quite enough. Reminding us that we contain multitudes should be done with much more of an emphasis on the multitudes. The Life Of Chuck tries to tell be grandiose and intimate at the same time, which leads to it feeling caught in between the two, and not being as successful in either approach as it could have been if Flanagan had figured out another way to present the material.

I enjoyed this while it was on. I would probably rewatch it. I didn't love it though, although it seems to have worked much better for a lot of other film fans. Maybe it will grow on me whenever I do end up giving it a rewatch.

6/10

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Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

We're at the stage now when a new Jurassic Park movie no longer inspires the awe and excitement it used to. That started when it became Jurassic World, but each subsequent instalment since the first movie has felt like diminishing returns as various directors have tried to recapture the magic of the original. I actually enjoyed Jurassic World Dominion, which many disliked, so I was someone especially miffed by the idea of them attempting to reboot the series yet again.

Anyway, let's cut to the chase. You don't need too many plot details. A group of people head to an island full of dinosaurs to collect some stuff. Things don't go well. There's also a family caught up in the dino crisis, and viewers will know that everything will lead to a finale that makes use of the biggest and baddest beasties around. All accompanied by a score from Alexandre Desplat that knows it needs to work with the familiar motif established by John Williams.

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Jurassic World: Rebirth is a strange mess of a film, unable to give us anyone to truly root for while also under-delivering on the expected dinosaur spectacle. Director Gareth Edwards does well behind the camera, quite rightly avoiding the coy approach to big monsters that he has used in previous movies, but he's saddled with a David Koepp script that doesn't quite do enough to fill out the 133-minute runtime. It doesn't help that the plot is perfunctory videogame stuff, with people having to collect samples of creatures from land, sea, and air, and one big set-piece completely works as well as intended . . . thanks to our old friend, the tyrannosaurus rex. 

Johansson seems to go through the motions with minimal effort, Friend is quite shiny and smug, and Bailey tries to exude charm throughout, but it's only Ali who feels like an actual star happy to have fun in a silly blockbuster. Which makes it a great shame that he feels relatively underused. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is locked in to his "concerned father" role, with nothing else to define him, and Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Audrina Miranda do okay with what they're given, even if they're not given the greatest material to work with.

I guess it's difficult, at this stage, to deliver something truly unique and fresh in the Jurassic movies. So maybe they should stop making them.  If I'm feeling generous, I'll give credit to two exciting sequences here, both set on water. Again, as mentioned earlier, that's not enough for something with this runtime. Maybe newcomers will get more from it, but they would still get even more from first checking out the earlier films in the franchise. 

5/10

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