The Secret Life Of Chuck: A Surprising Amount Of Dancing

A man, Tom Hiddleston, learns to seize the day.

This may be one of the best releases of this summer. Not only is it an effective story in the sense that it is both emotionally uplifting but it also manages to disconcert and have just enough under the skin to give you a chill on the way out.

I was not prepared for the number of dance sequences that were going to be in this film, surprisingly there were several long sequences, however, don’t let that put you off the science fiction mystery of what is going on and what is real and what isn’t is more than enough to give film life. In a sense this film reminded me a lot of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, and I do mean that to be a positive comparison.

Overall this is a weird and strange film, it is not a comedy, nor is it a horror film, it has science fiction elements but also long dance sequences it is an eclectic film and one that will no doubt have a Marmite like appeal, for our US friends that means you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it.

4/5

Pros.

The mystery

It is fun

You care about the characters

The world is fantastic and dense

Cons.

It makes things too blunt a little more ambiguity would have been better

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Together: Dave Franco And Alison Brie Should Probably Break Up

Summary

A couple learn very obvious lessons about co-dependence. The irony being that both of these lead actors are actually in a relationship in real life and are now playing a couple on screen and well its ironic.

So I will give this film one thing it does have one particularly effective moment, and it takes place in a children’s school toilet cubicle, once you have seen it and thought through the implications of it then you will be scarred for life. However, that is really the only thing I can praise the film for.

The commentary on co-dependent couples which it ends up justifying at the end, is nothing new. In many sense this film reminds me a lot of Night Bitch the Amy Adam’s film from the end of last year, it has an interesting premise but uses it to deliver fairly boilerplate commentary that feels incredibly obvious.

Franco and Brie as a couple in this film really seem ill suited and unlike in other similar films where you are rooting for them to stay together through it all here you desperately think they should be apart.

Overall, not as smart or inventive as it thinks it is.

1.5/5

Pros.

An interesting idea

One harrowing moment

Cons.

Brie and Franco have no chemistry

The commentary is pedestrian

It is boring

The ending feels contrived

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Bring Her Back: Using Pee For Gaslighting

Summary

A woman, Sally Hawkins, goes to extreme lengths to bring back her dead daughter.

So I enjoyed this film for the fairly basic thriller that it is, there are so good twists and turns and it does not go the way you necessarily think it would. However, the issue for me from this perspective is the fact that the writing is quite weak in terms of justifications. Why did Hawkin’s character pick the central duo out of all the children in care, why did the demon knowingly kill itself at the end? These are questions that the film does not give us answers for.

The film sets up this demonic cult through a video tape that Hawkin’s character watches and as the film goes along and you see more of the tape and you think it would be interesting to explore this idea a bit more, the film immediately stops mentioning them. When Hawkin’s character goes to do the ritual are the cult present as clearly based on the video you need a number of people to carry it out? Nope. She does it on her own. One cannot help but feel like the cult was an undelivered promise.

Whilst I find the demon stuff interesting I do wish they would have shown us more of the little boy doing these creepy and extreme things, as the film itself shows some of this but stops itself from going further, which I feel like it needed to.

Overall, an interesting premise and a few good scares don’t come together to be anything special in a disappointing follow up to Talk To Me.

2.5/5

Pros.

Some good gore

A few scares

Sally Hawkins is always fantastic

Cons.

The cult stuff is not properly used

The writing is weak

The ending is very meh

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The Naked Gun: OJ Simpson Has Not Been This Relevant In Years

Summary

Liam Neeson proves once and for all that he can do comedy.

When I saw the trailers for this film I was doubtful, comedy doesn’t seem to work in 2025 especially not spoof films. Couple that with the fact that I’m a big fan of the original Naked Gun films, and you can see why I went into this film with incredibly low expectations.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is this film funny, but it also manages to keep alive a lot of the humour of the original trilogy. Now, I am not going to say that this film is in the same league as those films, but I will say that it had me laughing quite a bit, and I thought the chemistry between Neeson and Pamela Anderson was charming. I think the film really shines when they are on screen together.

I would say that the wider supporting cast is mostly wasted, but then again the Naked Gun films were always mainly focused on the male and female leads and their interactions, with the wider supporting police team being used sparingly.

Overall, the OJ Simpson gag was probably the best in the film.

3.5/5

Pros.

It is funny

Anderson and Neeson have great chemistry

It maintains the comedic styling of the earlier films

The OJ gag is fantastic

Cons.

The supporting cast are wasted

The plot is a little weak

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The Legend Of Ochi: Where The Gremlins Train Your Dragons

Summary

A young woman, Helena Zengel, must return a fearsome creature to it’s lair. However, along the way she realises her whole perception of the world is a lie.

Lets get this right out of the way, the premise of this film is How To Train Your Dragon mixed with Gremlins. There is little new about a child’s innocent love for a creature defying the broader societies view of it.

However, where this film soars, to use the film word of the summer, is in the world around this plot. There is something strange and interesting about it, time period wise it is liminal, it could be present day it could be forty years ago, location wise it could be Eastern Europe, a fantastical reinterpretation of Eastern Europe or somewhere all together different. The oddness of the world these characters inhabit and the flourishes that make it feel truly different to anything else that you will see this year.

Willem Dafoe is of course excellent as he often is though I would say that Emily Watson is the real star of the show, her haunting turn of a woman who gave up her child and then realises her want and need to be a mother again is quite captivating.

Overall, an interesting and rich world with some great performances.

3.5/5

Pro

The world

Watson

Dafeo

The creature

Cons.

The story

The ending is a bit too convientent

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Weapons: Putting Naruto Running To Shame

Summary

A group of school children go missing and a concerned and blamed teacher, Julia Garner, sets out to find the answers.

I would advise you to go in blind to this, the less you know the better. This review will spoil things, I’ll keep the reveal near the bottom of the page so it is unlikely you will immediately see it, and I am letting you know so you can look away and come back later.

I think stylistically this is a strong film and in terms of originality this is one of the few films this year that does feel like something new. However, there are tonal problems, perhaps this was by design, or perhaps not. There are moments of the film where things are very clearly scary and supposed to be, and then there are other moments where things almost become a comedy and these two states of being do clash.

I enjoyed the cross over story path and how the film is subdivided into different sections based on different characters with each providing context to what you had seen before or would soon see. There was one key character that did not get a chapter even though I think she really should have, and I think this lack of backstory made the film have a few plot holes as a result.

The reveal of the witch at the end of the film and her magical powers came out of nowhere, the film does not present for the most part as a supernatural film and when it does go in that direction it works and makes sense. It also provides some good scares, however, the ending wherein she is entirely removed from being this fearsome villain and is chased through houses by a pack of feral kids is definitely not the right note to end on as it reduces her into being almost a comedy villain.

Overall, a good if imperfect film, the tonal issues and plot holes stop it from being the film of the summer.

4/5

Pros.

It is scary

It has a great sense of style

It feels original

It is inventive

Cons.

The ending breaks the tone of the film

There are too many loose ends and plot holes

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28 Years Later: Running Across Causeways

Summary

I had been looking forward to this film for a long time.

I have to say straight off the bat that I am a little disappointed, however, I will say that this is the first of a new trilogy and there is every chance that the next two films can fix some of the issues I had with this film.

Despite feeling disappointed with this film broadly, there are a lot of interesting new characters and the performances are all top notch, I don’t think there is one bad performance amongst the cast. Moreover, the world is vast and incredibly interesting to explore, from the beginning in the remote Scottish Highlands to the Holy Island community there is a lot there to work with.

I also thought the initial action sequences and the hunting section of the film landed perfectly and felt like edge of your seat fare. There is some odd cinematography and editing that feels a little more like an art film, you can see Garland’s instincts in that, but I thought this worked well and helped to give it almost a disorienting feel to it that added to the threat. However, within the hunting sequences we are introduced to the alphas and the evolution of the virus. These alpha infected can think and are harder to kill than other infected, very little is given into why they are this way I imagine that will be got to later in the trilogy, but they are kind of lame. The main reason why I say this is because they just have one move and that is to rip people’s head’s off, I would have liked more out of them than that, such as more examples of their education and ability to outwit people possibly.

In addition you also had the infected that gave birth to a none infected, which feels like we are heading into an art house direction of oh the infected are not so different to us and maybe we can find a way to co-exist, maybe at a later date an alpha might join the heroes side. This would be a terrible direction to head into. That scene in which the pregnant infected would not kill Jodie Cormer’s character despite her being right there breaks the lore and makes little sense. Just because they are both mothers does not mean she would not rip her head off.

The ending with the Jimmy Saville esque gang is a hell of a controversial way to end on.

Overall, a good film if a little disappointing.

4/5

Pros.

It has some good horror

The world feels dense and real

It sets things up nicely for the sequels

The performances

Cons.

The style at times

The art house elements

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Jurassic World Rebirth: Anti-Capitalistic Dinosaurs

Summary

Universal just can’t let any of their franchises end.

So we are back with another group of people going to an island to see Dinosaurs but guess what things get out of hand. You haven’t seen anything like that before right?

Honestly it is just a little sad now that things have gotten so bad for the Jurassic franchise that they can’t even make real dinosaurs like the T-Rex interesting anymore and have to use mutants. This started under Pratt but continues here and is arguably played up even more.

The plot idea of needing samples for a cure for heart disease which the gang then decide to sell without a patent because capitalism is bad, is not just nonsensical and dumb but it is the sort of thing in the future that scientists will look back on and go this was why the kids were so dumb. It is probably literal brain rot.

Overall, it is not just slop, it is depressing slop.

1.5/5

Pros.

It has some good kills

You cheer when the humans get eaten

Cons.

It is brain rot

It shows that people don’t love dinosaurs anymore just big kaiju esque monsters

It is depressing

Scarlett Johansson is clearly there for the money

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Dora And The Search For Sol Dorado: Boots Finally Talks

Summary

Dora, Samantha Lorraine, is back.

So this is not as good as the previous Dora The Explorer live action film from a few years ago, but that is not to say it is without charm. Whilst yes this one aims younger than the previous film and has a less well known cast, there is still a lot of things to enjoy. For example both Boots and Swiper get more expanded roles and Boots talks, being voiced by Gabriel Iglesias, which is a nice change up. This film does also draw far more heavily on the TV show than the previous film with one key exception, they don’t play the Dora Theme Music, I was waiting for it for the whole film and thought they might play it over the end credits but instead we got Camilla Cabello.

The dialogue and acting in this film are not very good with it sometimes getting pretty stupid for the dialogue and cringe for the acting. However, this is a straight to streaming Dora movie what did you expect? For me these two things add a so bad it is good kind of feel to the film, which I enjoyed.

Overall, a fun addition to the franchise.

3.5/5

Pros.

It is funny

Boots and Swiper

It feels truer to the cartoon

The so bad it is good factor

Cons.

It does assume the audience is braindead at times

They left out the Dora theme music

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The Last Of Us Season Two Overview: The Flaws Of Bella Ramsey

Summary

We return to the fungal zombie apocalypse.

So as someone who has played the games I knew what was coming and I will give the show props from not shying away from it. The death of Joel, Pedro Pascal, was controversial when the games came out and I knew it would be just the same here. Looking at the shows plunging ratings it is pretty clear that a number of people have checked out but I think if the show had saved it for the end of the season it would only have been worse.

I think the thing that has become glaringly clear in this second season is that Bella Ramsey is not a very strong actress and is struggling to carry the show on her own. They are becoming more and more reliant on Joel flashbacks and will no doubt have him appear as sort of grief induced visions over the third season to keep Pedro around. I think last season Ramsey’s inabilities were not so on view as they are here, but it is becoming ever more clear she was the wrong choice to play the character.

Moreover, I feel the pacing this time around feels slow, in many senses it feels like they are trying to stretch out the second game into three seasons to try and take it for all it is worth. I understand the idea to have one season from each of the girl’s points of view, but it does reek of filler. I wonder what the ratings will be like when it does come back.

Overall, very much like the game it started off well and then fell off a cliff.

2/5

Pros.

A few good scenes

It is interesting to learn more about the world

Cons.

Ramsey

It is using Joel too much as a crutch

The pacing

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