Fun Moms Dinner: The Fun Part Is Dead On Arrival

Reviewed by Luke Barnes

Fun Moms Dinner is a comedy film directed by Alethea Jones; the plot sees a group of pre-school mums go on a night out together that quickly gets out of hand.

You have seen this film before, let’s get that out of the way now- there is nothing new or fresh with this film at all. It feels like a retread of a lot of the jokes and ideas from the Bad Moms films, though those films were better in almost every way.

I am not saying this film is bad, not quite, it is watchable but not much more than that. Adam Scott shines as an out of his depth dad and has some nice scenes that are very cutesy. Out of the four titular mums, none really shine. If I was forced to pick one to single out for praise it would probably be Toni Collette who even still is not at her best here.

This feels very much like a for the paycheck kind of film.

The humour, rather unsurprisingly didn’t work for me, again comedy is subjective, but personally I didn’t find a single joke funny, at best the ‘jokes’ are unfunny and at worst they are incredibly cringey and just awful

Overall, a very middling film, watchable, but not funny

Pros

Adam Scott

It is watchable

Cons.

It feels like it was done for the money by a lot of the cast

It is not funny

The jokes are bad cringe

1/5

Football Factory: Hooligans In The UK

Football Factory is a British sports drama film directed by Nick Love. The plot examines the rise in football hooliganism, examining the lives of those who live to fight. We follow Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer), one such hooligan as he gets caught up in a feud between two sects of fans and is forced to revaluate his life.

I don’t know if I have mentioned this in my reviews before, but I am a huge Danny Dyer fan and have been for a while: Dog House, The Business, Severance, Human Traffic all classic Dyer fare, and this fits in amongst that pantheon, though it doesn’t have as much charm as some of the others and is definitely rougher around the edges.

It is kind of crazy how badly this film wants to be Trainspotting, there are multiple moments in this film that feel almost shot for shot the same, with slight tweaks to avoid being called out. The difference of course is one is a British classic and the other is a blatant rip-off; I’ll let you figure out which is which.

Danny Dyer has his usual laddish charm and is okay here, though this does feel very safe for him. I would dare say that Dyer is upstaged by Neil Maskell, who plays his on-screen best friend and who also has some of the best scenes in the film, managing to inject a bit more soul into the film than Dyer seems capable off.

There are several moments in this film that are clearly supposed to be funny or sad, but in both cases the film struggles to achieve either. The first death doesn’t feel hugely impactful as we don’t really know the character, and the final death doesn’t bare weight as the film has done little to make us care about the character. The humour is far weaker, and the film tries less hard at this aim; those who the film is based on might find it funny, but anyone outside of that small group would probably be hard pushed to find a laugh here.

Overall, it is passable Dyer content, no The Business, in fact don’t watch this film at and just check out The Business it is a much better.

Pros.

Dyer and his roughish ways

Neil Maskell is trying

Cons.

The characters aren’t likeable and that limits the films emotional impact

The humour doesn’t work

It drags in parts

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Sacrifice: The Truth About The American Tourist

Sacrifice is a horror film directed by Andy Collier and Toor Mian. The plot sees Issac (Ludovic Hughes), and his pregnant girlfriend Emma (Sophie Stevens), venture to a remote Norwegian island to collect an inheritance after Issacs’s Mum dies. However, once they get there they start to realise that there is something sinister afoot.

I will give this film props for two things. Firstly, it perfectly captures everything wrong with the American tourist, assuming everyone who is not from the USA doesn’t speak English and then talking slower and louder to them, whilst also thinking that non-American customs are freaky and are something to be feared. It is funny to see an American film tell it like it is, in some cases, rather than try and pretend they aren’t like that.

The second thing I will commend this film for is Barbara Crampton. She is the standout performer here, though that isn’t hard, and completely excels as the town sheriff/ cult leader. She has moments of threat and menace and also moments when you warm to her slightly.

However, other than Crampton and honesty, this film has little else going for it and is bad. The film is painfully dull, and a lot of the runtime is devoted to just watching the main couple argue, and it goes on and on. When we aren’t being subjected to needlessly petty domestic squabbles, we are treated to a forced elder gods Lovecraft rip off storyline that feels like it comes out of nowhere and then ends abruptly.

Overall, don’t waste your time, let me waste my time for you. This film is poor, the same exact idea has been done before and has been done far, far better.

Pros.

The truth about the American tourist

Barbara Crampton

Cons.

It is dull

It is just a couple arguing for most of the runtime

The elder gods/ monster stuff just comes out of nowhere and is no way developed

It is not scary in anyway

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Noah: Riding The Wave

Noah is an epic biblical drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The plot serves as a retelling of the Bible story of Noah, but this time there are Earth Elementals and Noah (Russell Crowe), is kind of a dick.

This was a pleasant surprise, when I put this on I was expecting it to be a stuffy bible epic; Aronofsky’s name being attached was the only thing that got me to check it out. However, it is actually the furtherst thing from a stuffy bible film and goes out of its way to deviate itself from previous versions of the Noah story.

I enjoyed the harsh world of this film, the crime, the clans, the random miracles and what can only be described as magic. Honestly I would love to see a prequel centring around Anthony Hopkins Methuselah and his fire sword and the wars he fought to protect then Angles/ Elementals.

I think the performances were all strong, though some were stronger than others. Russell Crowe, the previously mentioned Hopkins, and Ray Winstone were all top tier, and each had multiple moments to standout. The rest of the cast were fine, but they were out-shined.

I also enjoyed the horror elements in this film, I think that the visions of water and fire and the one where Noah sees that demon are all very well shot, and although they are compact they leave quite an impact and actually feel scary and tense.

Overall, one of the best Bible epics I have ever seen by virtue of it really not being one.

Pros.

Deviating from all other Noah Stories

Hopkins, Crowe and Winstone

The horror

The family tension on the ark

Cons.

It is a bit too long; it could have been better paced

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Intern: Recasting Mary Poppins As Robert De Niro

The Intern is a buddy comedy film directed by Nancy Myers. The film sees widower Ben (Robert De Niro), decide to take up an internship for an online retailor after growing bored with his retirement. The rather obvious joke being, he’s an old man intern.

Believe me, I am thinking the same thing as you, I went into this one with incredibly low expectations; to be blunt I just wanted something mindless that I could passively watch whilst doing other things. However, this film soon captured my attention and was genuinely, surprisingly good.

I enjoyed how basically this film takes the idea of Mary Poppins and is like you know what I’d rather see that role played by Robert De Niro, and by God it works. This film is basically Nanny McPhee or Mary Poppins, De Niro’s character fixes the lives of everyone around him, sometimes in laughably implausible ways, whilst also being a font for sagely wisdom.

This film actually made me laugh out loud quite a few times, I really needed it so it was much appreciated, as I often say comedy is subjective so what worked for me might not work for you, but the sheer wholesome appeal of this film is tough to rival. De Niro and Anne Hathaway (who plays the co-lead), are both excellent and bounce off each other with fantastic vigour and chemistry.

Overall, a surprisingly great film.

Pros.

The jokes

The wholesomeness

De Niro

Hathaway

The idea of replacing Mary Poppins with an old man

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Death Trip: Why Can’t We All Just Love Our Neighbor

Death Trip is a horror film directed by James Watts. The plot sees a group of friends go and stay at their parents cottage, whilst staying there they start to learn troubling secrets about the neighbours, and after a while one of the number is found mutilated. The friends now find themselves trapped in a hostile environment.

The mystery of what is going on here, which I won’t ruin as this is fairly new, is one of the best I have seen in years: it really had me going, I thought I figured out what was going on early into the film, but boy was I wrong.

I found this film quite scary, which is surprising considering that the home invasion/ evil neighbours sub-genre has been done to death several times over at this point. I ended up liking and becoming attached to the characters, so when they faced annihilation it felt all the more weighty and made me very tense. The threat is very real and present throughout, even in scenes that seem happy and light there is always a little bit there.

My one issue with this film, only a slight one, is that there are a few pacing issues mainly in the beginning of the film that make it a bit of a slog, luckily the film picks up after the first twenty minutes, so it isn’t that bad.

Overall, an interesting take on the sub-genre.

Pros.

The story doesn’t go where you are expecting it to

The characters are feel real and relatable

A palpable sense of threat

Doing interesting things with the genre

Cons.

Pacing issues mainly in the first twenty minutes.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Flora and Ulysses: Saving The World One Donut At A Time

Flora and Ulysses is a family comedy film directed by Lena Khan. The plot focuses on young comic book fan and life cynic Flora (Matilda Lawler), who one day saves the life of a squirrel after it has an unfortunate accident with a robot hoover. Said squirrel (later called Ulysses), and Flora form a tight bond and, oh yeah and since its rebirth the squirrel now has super powers- that’s kind of important.

In describing this film on twitter the other day, I called it “the Paddington of 2021”, or something to that extent, and truly that is the biggest compliment I can bestow on this film. It is such a happy, enjoyable good time that you can’t help but fall in love with it.

Firstly, the narration and the dialogue are fantastic, not only are they often punchy they also make a few salient points about society- it is surprisingly sharp. Moreover, if you’re a comic book fan, such as I, then you will get extra enjoyment from this film and there are so many references and shout outs to very comics specific things that serve as loving easter eggs for long time fans of the medium.

As far as child actors go Lawler is actually terrific, she sells everything just as she should and does not overact/ or as child actors often do, underact. She fits the role perfectly. Moreover, her friendship with Ulysses might be one of the cutest things you have ever seen, it is so adorable and heart warningly wholesome that it made me want to own a pet squirrel.

Ben Schwartz play’s Floras dad and carries on this recent strong streak of films, seriously check out some of his recent offerings outside of this and Sonic he is really proving himself to be a talent to watch out for.

Overall, maybe the best Disney + original outside of Marvel and Star Wars- yes, even better than Soul.

Pros.

Flora and Ulysses

Ben Schwartz

The script

The comic book references

The ending

Cons.

None

5/5

It is pure wholesome goodness

Reviewed by Luke

Son Of The South: Anyone Can Be A Hero

Son Of The South is a biographical drama film directed by Barry Alexander Brown. The plot retells the early life of civil rights activists Bob Zellner (here played by Lucas Till), showing his early struggles and triumphs.

There have been many films where Till has been good, but he never stood out enough with a film to deserve awards and to break through into wider Hollywood, this however is that film. Till deserves awards for this one, this is his breakout film or should be at least.

This film was near perfect in every way, there was only one slight issues with it, can you guess what it is? Anyone who has been following my reviews for a while know damn well how I feel about Lucy Hale, (she can’t act and ruins any film that features her prominently, with Fantasy Island being the one film that made me question that statement), and the same could have been true here: thankfully after the first half an hour this film ditches here. Her half an hour performance isn’t good, but that almost goes without saying.

This film is important as it shows that no matter where you come from in life, you can help to better the world. Zellner’s own grandfather was in the Klan and threatened to kill him for helping the civil rights struggle, but despite his family Zellner went on to help change history. We truly can all be heroes.

There were a number of powerful scenes here, including the lynching scene and the riot at the bus station, that hit hard and leave an impact; this was not long ago in our history and have we come all that much further since? Really? So a mixture of despair for the monster that is the human race, but also a hope that the good can beat the bad in our world to a point where words like the Klan and White Supremacy lose their meaning and can be forgotten about permanently.

Overall, I can’t recommend this film enough, please watch it.

Pros

Lucas Till

The powerful message

The emotional impact

It leaves you thinking after watching

Cons.

Lucy Hale

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Reckoning: A New Action Hero Is Born

The Reckoning is a adventure horror film directed by Neil Marshall. The plot sees Grace (Charlotte Kirk) be accused of witchcraft after she turns down the sexual advances of her landlord, following her husband’s death. Needless to say she is horribly and violently tortured by the local Witch Finder General (Sean Pertwee), but Grace stays strong and refuses to confess.

I think the story is well done and fits nicely into the genre. It won’t win any prizes for writing though, as the Me Too metaphor is a little too on the nose and has about as much subtly as a Michael Bay explosion. I understand that Marshall and Kirk wanted to use this film to take aim at some of their Hollywood enemies, and that is far enough, but don’t claim that is has nothing to do with that when it very clearly does.

The costume design is strongly done and the scenes with the Devil in them, yes that’s right whilst on the inside Grace is tormented every night by the Devil demanding her soul, are easily the strongest from a design perspective of the film. Looking at the Devil character here reminds me that Marshal has always handled creature design well: with some of the best examples of my point being Baba Yaga (Hellboy), and the werewolves in Dog Soldiers.

Kirk is a strong lead, and a believable ass kicker. I thought from an empowerment perspective, that she was yet another sorely needed female action hero, with the final scene of this film begging for the sequel treatment. We need to see Grace reunited with her kid after all, or maybe just hunting down some more evil doers- I’d happily watch either.

Overall, top tier Marshal even if the metaphor is a little too on the nose. Marshal really is one of the most underrated directors working today.

Pros.

Kirk

The creature design

The ending and the sequel set up

Sean Pertwee

It is more of Marshal doing what he does best

Cons.

The Me-Too Stuff is way too on the nose, and obviously inspired.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

A Glitch In The Matrix: You Will Never See The Matrix The Same Way Again

A Glitch In The Matrix is a documentary film directed by Rodney Ascher. The film servers to analysis the simulation debate, looking at first hand accounts as well as ‘scientific evidence’ for whether we are indeed living in a simulation.

There is no way to watch this without getting a strong feeling of existential dread, the very idea makes a chill creep up the spin. Much like Bliss the Owen Wilson film that I watched recently, which shares a very similar topic of analysis, there is something about simulation theory that sticks in the mind long after being exposed to it.

It has to be said that this documentary is in no way scientific, they don’t really have evidence more first-hand observed experiences and unproven ideas, more over they don’t have any one voicing opposition to the ideas laid out, so can be seen as leading.

I enjoyed watching it though and I found the topic fascinating, there is a lot of things to ponder once the film ends that’s for sure, and it made me second guess a few things, but mainly it made me want to read a Phillip K. Dick novel.

Overall, an interesting watch even if it did not mange to change my mind.

Pros.

An interesting subject

A lot to think about

It has given my a renewed interested in Phillip K. Dick

Cons.

It is not scientific

It is depressing

3/5

Reviewed by Luke