masonsaul's Reviews

Juré n°2 (2024)

8/10

Would be a worthy final film for Clint Eastwood

16 February 2025

Juror #2 is a great courtroom drama seeking to expose the flaws present in the American justice system by showing a tricky situation and how people are too quick to make a decision, motivated by their own emotional reasons opposed to the facts of the case itself. It's gripping and tense from beginning to end with a satisfyingly ambiguous ending, so it would be a fitting final film for director Clint Eastwood if that is the case.

Nicholas Hoult gives a superb leading performance where panicked expressions are prioritised early on as he stays silent during the trial whilst trying to hide his growing turmoil. It becomes more of an ensemble afterwards where Hoult tries to change the narrative without drawing too much attention to himself. No one in this gives a bad performance and surprisingly most of the cast get subtle moments to shine.

Clint Eastwood's direction is very workmanlike thanks to a reliably sturdy construction that gets the job done in an effortless fashion. The fact that he's 94 years old and still able to make films at this level of quality is such an impressive feat, making its small release all the more frustrating. The editing by Joel Cox and David S. Cox is the film's secret weapon, especially in the courtroom where it constantly crosscuts between the opposing arguments.

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Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

6/10

Disappointingly disposable

15 February 2025

Unfortunately, there really isn't anything brave or new in Captain America: Brave New World, an inert political thriller that represents another failed attempt to recreate the highs of Winter Soldier and definitely isn't at the level of quality that Anthony Mackie deserves for his first film as Captain America. As an unexpected sequel to The Incredible Hulk it finally acknowledges some of the longest running unanswered questions in the MCU and is still a generally entertaining watch in disposable fashion.

Anthony Mackie is giving it his all by being reliably charming, headstrong and making the dramatic moments work by showing the mantle he carries comes with a lot of responsibilities that he's doing his best to manage. This film has loads of issues but he's never one of them and the handful of self-deprecating moments when he's going up against Red Hulk ensure he is super likeable. Plus, he has a solid chemistry with Danny Ramirez whose constant quips never become too annoying.

Harrison Ford clearly isn't phoning it in and brings a fair amount of empathy to Ross even as his actions make it harder to do. The character has never had this much depth on screen so it's great to see Ford be given something worthwhile in his MCU debut. Tim Blake Nelson is a solid villain who exudes menace comfortably and Giancarlo Esposito does a lot with a little whilst still feeling massively underutilised which is common practice for villains in this cinematic universe.

Julius Onah's direction feels like the well documented reshoots and standard issue lazy construction of these films has removed any potential vision or craft. This looks ugly and overlit most of the time with some trademark truly dodgy CGI throughout. The hand to hand combat is weirdly stilted and almost every single throw of the shield is either too slow or weightless so the big CGI action ends up offering the best set pieces despite their shoddy assembly.

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Flamin' Hot (2023)

7/10

The warmth makes up for the inaccuracy

13 February 2025

Flamin' Hot is a quintessential underdog story reaffirming the American dream to an almost cynical degree, undermined by the sheer amount of liberties taken with the true story it's loosely based on and counterbalanced by a winning charm that's hard to resist. Like most buyopics it essentially acts as a commercial for the product it's about but it cares more about one person's story which is why it works as well as it does.

Jesse Garcia gives a great lead performance with a boundless enthusiasm making him endlessly likeable and someone who's easy to root for. He's a consistent presence since he's narrating the film as well as being in almost every scene and it's a testament to his performance that he is always loveable. It's definitely his film however, there are still a couple of nice supporting turns from Annie Gonzalez and Dennis Haysbert.

Eva Longoria's direction is really impressive because there's so much energy that she's able to sustain for the entirety of the film with inventive montages and an ability to cover a lot of time in a speedy yet breezy fashion. It feels like its going to run out of steam eventually and it never does, only toning it down when needed for a more emotional scene. Marcelo Zarvos' score is very schmaltzy which works thanks to the overall warmth.

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Cellular (2004)

7/10

Really fun dumb thriller

12 February 2025

Cellular is a tightly paced thriller rife with a lot of dumb conveniences that just work in the execution of it all, making it very easy to get invested in. It's 94 minutes of escalating problems that keeps everything on its toes and has the right amount of characters in the mix so it can juggle a lot of different elements to maintain a high energy. It's a testament to screenwriter Chris Morgan's talents for writing satisfyingly dumb movies.

Chris Evans comfortably rises to the task and remains likeable throughout as he tries his best to save the day, eschewing the early cynicism quickly. Kim Basinger gives the best performance by spending a lot of time in a panicked state without losing her urgency and William H. Macy is the unexpected MVP. Jason Statham gets to play the villain in a nice change of pace even if the role is so generic it could literally be anyone else.

David R. Ellis' direction has plenty of early 2000s stylings and brings a lot of dynamism to proceedings in a way that stands out more now. There's a couple of intense car chases, clever switch ups and tense shootouts that ensure this is always a blast. The humour is less successful but it's still mostly well implemented and the score by John Ottman has all the required bombast to really sell the high stakes.

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The Order (I) (2024)

8/10

Great old school thriller

11 February 2025

The Order is a damning indictment of the racism and extreme fundamentalism that continues to fester in America and makes the parallels between the actions of its antagonists and recent world events abundantly clear. It's a thoroughly old school thriller that feels like a proper throwback to a bygone era of successful mid budget filmmaking and it depressingly doesn't have to do much to draw those timely parables.

Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult are both excellent as opposing forces with equally faultless accents. Law's determination is unwavering and the burden is clear when things don't go his way whereas Hoult is intense because he always remains calm. In classic Heat fashion, they only get one scene to exchange dialogue which is enhanced by the fact that one of them doesn't realise who he's talking to.

Director Justin Kurzel continues to excel when handling the darkest material by telling these fact based stories in a suitably heavy fashion without pushing it too far. The film looks fantastic as well thanks to Adam Arkapaw's smart cinematography filming scenes from striking positions. Jed Kurzel's effectively sparse score subtly makes its presence known, becoming more noticeable as the film reaches the climax.

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5 septembre (2024)

8/10

Thoroughly gripping

9 February 2025

September 5 is a gripping retelling of fact based events that doesn't let up on the tension from the moment it begins to really escalate. It offers an in depth look at the commitment of the newsroom broadcasting the events and all of their decisions with the sometimes destructive consequences of them as they choose the wrong wording and prioritise being the first to get the story out over getting it right, minus the consequences.

The whole cast does a great job of saying all the news jargon with a high intensity but the main 3 stand out further. John Magaro rises to the challenge of covering something he never thought he'd have to whilst feeling the most guilty about what transpires, Peter Sarsgaard is commanding and clearly just as interested in personal gain as he is in documenting the events and Ben Chaplin is the most cautious yet still waves away some errors.

Tim Fehlbaum's direction mostly keeps everything contained in the studio to increase the chaos since all the information comes from outside and adds a layer of disconnection. Markus Förderer's tight and mobile cinematography is unwavering which is then combined with Hansjörg Weißbrich's meticulous editing to move at a high speed throughout and ensures the pacing is as airtight as humanly possible.

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Back to business (2025)

6/10

Good enough but rushed

8 February 2025

Love Hurts is an action comedy with a selection of jokes that mostly fall flat, mainly saved by its cast. The incredibly short run time hurts as much as it helps by ensuring it's a speedy viewing but also results in a plot that feels rushed from the moment it begins and states some of the biggest plot points rather than actually showing them. Luckily, the action is good enough and it is fully committed to the valentines day premise.

It's great to see Ke Huy Quan getting the leading role he deserves and the film is so lucky to have him elevating the sub par material whilst being a highly capable action star with a very endearing enthusiasm. Ariana DeBose continues to be massively underserved and unfortunately the central romance between her and Quan is hard to buy. Marshawn Lynch builds on his scene stealing turn from Bottoms and just needed even more screen time.

Since he's another stuntman turned director, Jonathan Eusebio's direction is clearly competent in the action scenes despite the overly choreographed nature of these ones standing out more than usual when compared to other 87 North productions. The best one arrives pretty early on when Ke fends off some intruders since it's easily the most inventive and brutal. The score by Dominic Lewis only stands out when it really comes to life for the final fight.

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The G (2023)

7/10

Miserable revenge

8 February 2025

The G is an intentionally miserable revenge film that showcases some of the most despicable villains of recent memory because of how they manipulate the legal system to take everything from the elderly. When the revenge finally comes it's very satisfying and suitably unflinching but the film saves it for the very end making it a bit of a slog even at a relatively short 106 minutes. Luckily, it has the right actress to keep it going until then.

Dale Dickey is great in a central performance holding everything together. She shows hints of a darker past early on and seeing her husband get mistreated is painful to watch, making her eventual revenge all the more satisfying when she shows no mercy. Bruce Ramsay as the main villain and his generically evil henchmen are the kind of bad guys who are very easy to hate thanks to how irredeemable their scheme makes them.

Karl R. Hearne's direction is very conventional in a way that rarely draws attention to itself. It looks suitably bleak, creating a strong sense of unease and confusion at the beginning when the house eviction happens with no warning. It only escalates further when they're in the care home since there's minimal contact with the outside world and the information that's slowly revealed makes their situation more horrifying.

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Zola (2020)

8/10

Unreal true story adaptation

6 February 2025

As a film inspired by a true story, Zola has to be seen to be believed because of how it escalates to unexpected heights and gets seriously tense. It's weird that the film states it's "kinda long" when it's actually less than 90 minutes without a minute wasted however, there's definitely plenty of suspense as it goes along with the uncomfortable set of events unfolding moving between being funny, dark and disturbing.

Taylour Paige is excellent as the only sane character on this wild journey and she's able to convey an incredibly palpable sense of fear when things get worse balanced by her ability to stand her ground when she can. Riley Keough is as funny as she is duplicitous, seemingly caring yet also very cold. Colman Domingo brings a terrifying presence whilst effortlessly switching between accents to make his character hard to pin down.

Janicza Bravo's direction is simultaneously old fashioned and modern which is very fitting for a film based on a twitter thread. It's got a gorgeous glistening quality in the grainy images and some scenes wouldn't feel out of place in a classic musical but there's also the constant inclusion of the tweet sound and the time being displayed on screen in the same position as a phone's lock screen. Even the title card has the old school roman numeral copyright and an @ sign sharing the screen.

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The Killer's Game (2024)

6/10

Cheap fun

4 February 2025

The Killer's Game is built on the foundations of a fair few films which have done everything this is doing better but it remains a fun watch as it retains the humour and blood lust that keeps this type of film entertaining. There's plenty of solid kills once it actually gets going and the main premise works because it's so simple. It's a cheap looking film though and it definitely requires a high tolerance for CG blood squirts.

It's always nice to see Dave Bautista getting the lead roles he deserves and he is a convincing action star who also gets to show an affectionate side. Sofia Boutella does a good job with a thankless role considering she could have kicked a lot more ass if given the opportunity. There's loads of quirky mercenary characters rounding out the cast and Scott Adkins & Andrew Galloway are easily the best thanks to their awful accents.

As a stuntman turned director, J. J. Perry's direction excels in the action and generally imbues the film with plenty of energy. The inspirations are clear through the inventive titles used to introduce its colourful cast of characters and the various needle drops. All the fights are the main attraction and thankfully they're very clean in their composition so nothing feels like it gets lost whenever it cuts or moves.

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Vous êtes cordialement invités (2025)

6/10

Not bad but could've been a lot better

3 February 2025

For a straight to streaming comedy released in January, You're Cordially Invited could've been a lot worse. It's ideal second screen entertainment that barely has enough laughs to keep it going but ends up being sustained by the emotional moments since they're noticeably stronger, which helps to keep it entertaining throughout the slightly overly long run time. The main idea is fun, it just needed stronger humour to really work.

Will Ferrell offers even more proof he's pretty much up for anything that gives him the opportunity to be hysterical and his believable bond with Geraldine Viswanathan as his daughter is as cute and weird as it needs to be. Reese Witherspoon is naturally good at these kinds of roles and her bickering with Ferrell always works, however the feelings they supposedly develop for each other at the very end really doesn't.

Since he's the sole writer & director here, it's surprising to see Nicholas Stoller's work feel so low energy, especially considering his previous experience in the genre. There's a few bigger laughs towards the end and it has fun during the credits but nothing else stands out. The score by Michael Andrews has an older feel that has the cordial and peaceful nature expected of a wedding and then it devolves into something more chaotic.

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Presence (I) (2024)

7/10

Ambitious and clunky

2 February 2025

Presence offers a family drama from a voyeuristic, supernatural perspective. It can be too slow and it doesn't completely trust the audience to understand everything, which is almost entirely counterbalanced by the film's big twist allowing the supernatural premise and the everyday drama at the centre to come together at the exact same moment whilst also making everything beforehand work more.

The core family of four spits in two since Callina Liang & Chris Sullivan are a lot more empathetic whereas Lucy Liu & Eddy Maday are deliberately more self-obsessed to an almost irredeemable extent. The best dramatic moments come from Chris Sullivan trying to do his best whilst becoming increasingly defeated and it's definitely appreciated seeing the whole family accept the presence of a presence fairly quickly.

Simply by being able to shoot this on a low budget of $2 million in an incredibly short span of 11 days, Steven Soderbergh's direction impresses. This is essentially a collection of long takes and he makes the wise decision to cut to black between them opposed to trying to join them all together. It proves that Soderbergh only continues to experiment in exciting and ambitious ways.

David Koepp's screenplay can be clunky and cringey, especially when it comes to the teenagers; however, it all coalesces at the very end in a way that can excuse some of it. Soderbergh's own cinematography prevents the central conceit from feeling like a gimmick by bringing an ethereal nature because of the unnatural way it's always moving around the house. It really succeeds in feeling like another character.

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Companion (2025)

8/10

Twisty, bloody fun

1 February 2025

The marketing shouldn't have revealed the big first act twist however, Companion is still twisty enough to not be derailed by that and it's unpredictable nature also makes it worthy of Barbarian director Zach Cregger's heavily marketed producing credit. It's a great thriller about the worst tendencies of the worst kinds of men and their ideal controlling relationship, eschewing subtlety to bluntly state and show its themes for a bloody good time.

Sophie Thatcher is fantastic in what should be a star making performance. She's done strong work in a couple of horror films recently but this is on a whole other level since so much more is required of her and she does it all flawlessly. Jack Quaid cements that he's as good at playing nice guys who really aren't as he is playing loveable characters like Hughie from The Boys. Just like his performance in Scream, he knows exactly how to portray a pathetic character effectively.

In an impressive debut, writer & director Drew Hancock keeps the film on its toes without breaking the momentum it gains very quickly with perfectly timed humour whilst drip feeding information about the larger world at play. Eli Born's cinematography stands out by drawing attention to the most important items that end up being used in highly satisfying ways and the soundtrack utilises very knowing song choices throughout.

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Quiz Lady (2023)

7/10

Full of warmth

31 January 2025

Quiz Lady is a lovely comedy that overcomes its issues with the noticeable gaps between laughs thanks to how warm it feels from the beginning. It celebrates the thankless acts siblings will do for each other as well as how vital it is to have one consistently reliable form of joy when everything else kinda sucks, regardless of it being a game show in this case. Plus the spread out collection of successful jokes are pretty memorable.

Awkwafina does a great job playing the straight man for the most part whilst still finding some time to let loose occasionally and Sandra Oh is having a lot of fun being the more unhinged one out of the two of them with the emotional moments to balance it all out. Will Ferrell is very genial in his small role as the game show host and Jason Schwartzman hides his villainy under a thin veil of kindness really well.

Jessica Yu's direction is always more than competent enough to get the job done but the best creative flourishes arrive in the middle section of the film with a standout sequence involving conflicting hallucinations during a high stakes audition. The comedic timing is generally strong when it's actually utilised because those bits don't overstay their welcome and there are a couple of seriously snappy one liners.

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The Double (2013)

8/10

Deliberately unnerving

31 January 2025

The Double is a constant nightmare that feels like an anxiety attack in cinematic form. It's a steady stream of intrusive thoughts taking control and being confirmed to be true so it's the ideal run time in this shorter form since any longer would be too overwhelming. It makes for a compelling follow-up to Submarine for co-writer and director Richard Ayoade by getting as far away from that as possible.

Jesse Eisenberg brings his trademark awkwardness in a performance that never gives him the opportunity to unwind but thanks to the doppelganger premise he also embraces a rarely seen level of confidence. Outside of Eisenberg's double performance, there's some fun to be had in recognising all the celebrated British actors in small roles, especially those who've already worked with Ayoade.

Richard Ayoade's direction is immensely stylish from the very start whilst working with the low budget rather than against it. The world crafted here is oppressively bleak to the extent even the most open spaces still feel uncomfortably enclosed, helped by Erik Wilson's meticulous cinematography. Andrew Hewitt's suitably ominous score is a consistent presence that only adds to the overall eeriness.

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Tombstone (1993)

9/10

Peak Western

28 January 2025

Tombstone is an all time great western that tells the familiar story of a town besieged by cowboys with few morals and those who are brave enough to stand up to them. What makes this rendition feel distinct is the nastier edge in which the story is told as the shootouts that break up the warmer moments of bonding are noticeably bloodied than usual. It's masculine melodrama with most of cinema's best moustaches on full display.

From his very first scene Kurt Russell is so likeable and cool. He's given plenty of badass lines that he's able to deliver effortlessly and he imbues his version of Wyatt Earp with loads of humanity to balance it out. Sam Elliott being in this is just perfect casting because few actors feel as at home in this genre as he does and Bill Paxton playing the most innocent of three brothers works wonderfully since he brings so much empathy.

Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday is a serious contender for the coolest character in all of cinema. His badassery is unmatched even in this film, enhanced by a genuine affection for Wyatt allowing him to be vulnerable. Powers Boothe and Michael Biehn excel as the main villains. They're so easy to hate because they always find a way to sink lower and the same applies to most of their henchmen, especially a very cowardly Stephen Lang.

Whether it's Kurt Russell's or George P. Cosmatos' direction, it fully embraces the melodrama of it all by doing the biggest scenes with minimal subtlety and maximum emotion and there are some great montages. Tombstone itself really feels alive as well thanks to the extras and generally faultless production values. Composer Bruce Broughton brings a classically sweeping score that gets deservedly triumphant towards the end.

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Compétition officielle (2021)

8/10

Wonderful satire

28 January 2025

Official Competition is a great satire that has a lot of fun with the stereotypical archetype of self-obsessed artists who love the sound of their own voice. It escalates in an unexpectedly dark fashion whilst laying the hints throughout so the ending comes naturally and definitely feels earned. Everything from the awards/festival circuit to the difference between acting for the stage and screen is lambasted with a blasé attitude.

Penélope Cruz is eternally stylish as she grills her two main actors and is clearly enjoying it. Oscar Martínez and Antonio Banderas spend the whole film at odds which is where the biggest laughs come from. Their characters have completely different acting styles with Martínez always acting morally superior to everyone else despite being the very thing he criticises whereas Banderas is more open and comfortable in his vanity.

Directors Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn eschew non-diegetic audio for the most part so the natural sounds and witty dialogue take centre stage with both of them being strong enough to draw attention to this in a way that makes it noticeable but never distracting. Arnau Valls Colomer's cinematography uses reflections to create interesting frames without losing any of the smaller nuances of the three big performances.

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Vol à haut risque (2025)

6/10

Solid January fodder

26 January 2025

Even though it was delayed into January opposed to always being intended for a release then, Flight Risk really feels at home here as schlocky junk food with the perfect 90 minute run time so it moves through all the motions at exactly the right time and completely avoids overstaying its welcome. It's a tightly contained thriller that benefits from a game cast and simple plotting to prevent it from getting too ambitious.

Michelle Dockery is stern with a desire to rectify her past mistakes and Topher Grace is a nervous chatterbox so they make a solid central pairing. This is the best Mark Wahlberg has been in quite a while, which is also a sad testament to how low effort some of his performances have been recently. He's equal parts funny and threatening with the distracting bald patch actually working to make him more sinister.

Compared to his previous efforts behind the camera, this definitely feels like a step down for director Mel Gibson but he still does a mostly competent job. It takes mere seconds for the awful CGI to kick thanks to a badly rendered motel and moose. It never gets better however, it is thankfully a little less frequent once they're up in the air and it uses the cofinded location as well as everything in it pretty effectively.

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The Brutalist (2024)

9/10

Monumental

26 January 2025

The Brutalist is a gargantuan achievement that's simultaneously old fashioned and modern in its construction whilst being a testament to an unwavering artistic vision even as people are trying to cut corners. It's an honest look at the immigrant experience and a story about the American dream, starting with the promise of making a better life and then the depressingly harsh reality sets in. The epilogue is vital to make it worth enduring but undoubtedly feels pretty jarring.

Adrien Brody has a faultless accent and gives a phenomenal lead performance. His early moments of joy are overwhelmingly emotional and everything after them begins to take a real toll that eventually leads to him reaching his breaking point. The odd bit of humour comes from seeing him fight for his vision as he remains very blunt about how he feels. Felicity Jones properly comes into the film surprisingly late and gets one standout scene to take control.

Guy Pearce is thoroughly duplicitous, made clear in the contrast created by how different he acts in his first two scenes. It may seem like he really cares about László's vision initially, however his true self becomes evident when things go wrong as he puts himself above all else. Joe Alwyn is almost equally as despicable with a character clearly learning all the wrong lessons from his father's ways and does some monstrous things in an attempt to earn his father's approval.

Brady Corbet's direction has loads of interesting choices and divides the film in two structurally thanks to a welcome intermission so the cynicism present in the first half can be honed in throughout the second half to fully deconstruct the false promise of America. Lol Crawley's cinematography is beautifully chaotic, especially in the early moments and Daniel Blumberg's grandiose score peaks in the exact same scene for a show-stopping opening.

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Back in Action (2025)

6/10

More fun than one of these usually is

25 January 2025

Back in Action crosses the extremely low bar of being better than most of these low effort Netflix action movies that are so desperate to get a franchise going. Its factory assembled all the way down to pulling the exact same twist used by The Union less than half a year ago but the saving grace of this one compared to the rest is how it has more fun with it and the meta text of its two leads making their big comeback.

Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz are an effective team who are essentially carrying this. Their massive amounts of movie star charm are working overtime and it keeps the film entertaining despite it being a little too long. After a decade-long hiatus, it's so nice to have Cameron Diaz in back particular and her work here reminds you what's been missing from the past decade. Glenn Close on the other hand, proves losing the Oscar back in 2018 truly broke her.

Seth Gordon's direction is a pretty consistent mixed bag. Some of the action is surprisingly strong when it comes to the hand to hand choreography for one of these and the car chases are clearly practical sometimes, making those bits infinitely better. However, there's an almost equal amount of very shoddy CGI used for the biggest set pieces and occasionally it switches between the two extremes in the same set piece which is incredibly obvious.

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Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

10/10

Best legacy sequel

24 January 2025

Warning: Spoilers

On the surface level, it's just great to see an R rated $150 million blockbuster be this mature and demanding even when it doesn't go to plan at the box office but Blade Runner 2049 is also the best legacy sequel ever made and possibly even better than the original. In so many ways it's both grand and intimate as it grapples with lofty themes surrounding systemic oppression and how those in power never have enough of it.

Ryan Gosling is phenomenal. He generally has two vastly different modes he's equally gifted at and here he employs the strong silent type wonderfully. There's a real yearning to be someone special and have real connections that he can always prevent from wading into any unwanted territory combined with an ability to contain all of his emotions in stoic expressions without losing any of the inner turmoil clearly struggling to be held back.

Harrison Ford is characteristically gruff and somehow this small role gives him the best ending for any of his returning characters. Sylvia Hoeks appears very sophisticated which makes all of her disturbingly violent actions feel even colder and Jared Leto gives one of his best ever overly committed performances, undoubtedly helped by the minimal screen time and the level of vanity that comes naturally to this character.

Dennis Villeneuve's direction is masterful as he's so comfortable with silence in between dialogue and revealing information gradually. It allows the film to really take its time to unfold and create one of the most satisfying slow burning blockbusters. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is breathtakingly beautiful as it creates a huge contrast between its epic scale and the smallest details it hones in on by getting extremely close to them.

Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch craft a transcendent, ambient score. Every time it's employed it's just pure euphoria and fits perfectly with a film that has such a confident slow moving nature. The visual effects are pretty much faultless even when they're really pushed. From beginning to end this is as gorgeous as it is ambitious, showcased in the effects through the magnificent cityscapes and how Ana De Armas' Joi is simultaneously present and transparent among other things.

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Le Voyage d'Arlo (2015)

7/10

Lesser Pixar whilst still being really good

24 January 2025

Warning: Spoilers

The Good Dinosaur is one of Pixar's weakest films since the concept isn't as airtight as usual and it's main messages surrounding overcoming fear without forgetting it is rather standard issue but it's still a cute boy and his dog adventure that goes on some really wild tangents. It's willing to acknowledge the darker side of nature and has a strong enough bond between its leads to keep it entertaining even when it's a little too slow.

Raymond Ochoa gives a very empathetic performance thanks to the fear, pain and joy he imbues within his character. The journey he goes on is nothing new, so he becomes all the more vital to help this overcome that issue and he really succeeds in counterbalancing it. Jeffrey Wright's voicework as a stern yet loving father ensures Pixar's ongoing ability to deliver heartbreaking moments fairly early on lands the way it should.

Peter Sohn's direction handles the biggest emotional moments in a suitably sensitive fashion as mourning loved ones is a recurring motif, shown visually in an impactful way. The animation is the best it's ever looked for Pixar when it comes to the insanely impressive level of photo realistic detail in all the gorgeous locations. The score by Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna is a constant highlight by responding to everything that happens beautifully.

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Les Simpson: Le film (2007)

8/10

Endlessly watchable

22 January 2025

The Simpsons Movie finds one of the quintessential American satires mostly operating on peak form whilst making the transition to big screen look effortless. It's a laugh a minute experience for the first half and the second half still has plenty of great moments so its slightly weaker nature doesn't derail it. Like all the strongest films that come from TV shows, it makes sure to give its main characters an arc the show can't.

Few actors have been voicing their characters for as long as the core cast have here, which enables them to pick it up effortlessly and most of the best characters get something worthwhile. Dan Castellaneta remains endearingly stupid as Homer and that stupidity gives him a lot of laughs as he takes most of the film to realise the error of his ways. Albert Brooks is a really good villain whose voice naturally fits his character.

David Silverman's direction never wastes a second as there are loads of visual gags that it trusts you to understand and it's really impressive how it's able to get away with some of them in a PG rating plus the dialogue is almost as witty. The instantly recognizable animation gets a real upgrade that has never been surpassed, even in later seasons. Also, the end credits get to properly showcase how multi-talented the cast are by showing how many characters most of them do.

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Combat de profs (2017)

6/10

Funny enough (just about)

22 January 2025

Fist Fight has the ideal 90 minute runtime and a fun enough concept but it's massively hindered by how laugh free it is early on which makes the first half pretty dull. Thankfully, once things start to move forward in the second half and it gets closer to the titular fight it improves quite a bit with the gap between laughs significantly decreasing to make it a worthwhile one time watch for a comedy, just about.

Charlie Day is this film's saving grace. He has some of that Always Sunny energy and its presence only grows as he gradually loses his mind whilst getting more deranged to keep it entertaining. Ice Cube puts that trademark rage to good use, which is all he's got to work with. In the supporting cast are a fair few actors who are naturals at comedy, so seeing them get so few laughs thanks to weak material is the most frustrating aspect.

Richie Keen's direction pulls off a few pretty impressive stunts because of the prank based premise, which generally adds more to it. Intentional or not, front-loading all the worst bits and ending on all the best ones ensures it leaves a much better impression than the one it starts on. Putting the outtakes in the credits helps to make up for the lack of laughs beforehand and the fight itself has a solid amount of weight to it.

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Un parfait inconnu (2024)

8/10

James Mangold is back

20 January 2025

A Complete Unknown is a great biopic that wisely chooses to cover a small but vital part of Bob Dylan's life opposed to a standard issue filmed Wikipedia page. It's a little too long without that actually becoming a major issue because it's a consistently engaging look at an artist's process, flaws and all, and depicts the struggles of fame with Dylan wanting to evolve as an artist when most people just want him to become a walking greatest hits collection.

Timothée Chalamet gives an enigmatic lead performance that shows Dylan's commitment to his songwriting above all else through an abrasive nature. His frustration at how people see him and what they want from him is very clear as he rarely seems happy unless performing and Chalamet sings all those songs beautifully. You learn very little about his past and his fully committed performance ensures it never becomes a problem.

Monica Barbaro is great by remaining confident even when she's won over by Dylan and there's some fun to be had in seeing how she grills him when performing with him after things have fallen apart between them. Edward Norton is kindness incarnate for the most part and it's nice to see Boyd Holbrook continue his creative partnership with James Mangold and he makes his version of Johnny Cash charming and distinct compared to his predecessor.

James Mangold returns to the genre he helped mould and avoids retreading old ground. His direction here is easygoing by being content in letting the film move at a steady pace and showing all the musical performances in a mostly unabridged fashion which is a huge help in sustaining this at nearly 2 and a half hours long. The film generally looks really good too thanks to an authentic 1960s look that feels suitably rugged and lived in.

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