The Final Girls: Your New Favourite Summer Movie!

Final Girls is a comedy slasher film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson. The plot involves a group of friends who get sucked into a summer slasher film and have to survive until the end. Along with this there is a subplot about the main girl Max (Taissa Farmiga), getting to meet a younger version of her mother, who appears as an actress in the in-film film, which is important as she has recently lost her, so there is an element of personal journey their as well.

I think the best praise I can give this film is that it is effortlessly charming, to describe it in as few words as possible it is the best kind of 80’s inspired B movie. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for parody film, Scary Movie, Cabin In The Woods, The Cornetto Trilogy and it carries on here, I think the reason I enjoy this film so much is because it is such a good take on the slasher genre, the mockery is so spot on, but also done with a heaping table spoon of love.

Another thing I commend this film for is using TV actors who don’t/ or at least haven’t yet had the chance to do a lot of film work. This is mainly true of Taissa Farmiga, who unlike her sister hasn’t really translated to film, she has been in a few minor roles here and there and there was of course The Nun, but overall she has been underutilised, she has proven time and again with American Horror Story that she is a fantastic young actor. This film also features Alexander Ludwig, of Vikings fame, who again shines when given the opportunity to be on the big screen. I think both of the young stars prove they have potential and talent in spades with the performances they give in this film.

What’s more I liked the mother daughter dynamic the film has going, I think it nicely adds emotional stakes to the film, without being too melodramatic. The same can be said of the film’s comedy it is a nice compliment to the film rather than being fully focused on, thereby taking away from the excellent slasher horror.

Overall, if you like Slasher films or just Horror in general then you will like this film, it is smart and an excellent parody, boosted by some genuinely fantastic performances; don’t let this one slip under your radar, check it out!

Pros.

It is smart.

It is an excellent parody.

It takes chances on unproven actors.

They pay off, by giving great performances.

The ending is a thing of beauty.

Cons.

Non.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Emma: Jane Austen In 2020

Emma. Is a comedy drama film directed by Autumn De Wilde, based on the book of the same name by Jane Austen. The plot follows Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy), a young woman who by her own admission is “handsome, clever and rich”, as she messes with the lives and romances of those around her; whilst also going on a journey of self-discovery, learning things about herself and love.

Austen period dramas aren’t really something that appeal to me greatly, but this one I thought looked promising. From the trailers I was hoping it might turn out to be something like The Favourite a period drama that had an edgy twist and something new to say about the genre; I was badly wrong. This film is by all means just a modern retelling of the same old story, just with a fresh coat of paint and a quirkier sense of humour.

Said quirky sense of humour was for me incredibly hit or miss, some of the jokes in the film had me smiling and chuckling whereas other fell flat; truth be told I found myself laughing quite a few times at things that upon later reflection I’m pretty sure weren’t meant to be funny.

Without that more modern sense of humour, you are just left we a Jane Austen adaptation, which is fine if that is your thing, you will probably love this, but for me I thought it was boring and dull; this is only made worse by the fact that the film goes on for what feels like an eternity, dragging further and further out.

On a more positive note I think Anya Taylor Joy was delightful and did really well in the role, her performance brought something new to the standard leading woman in these kinds of films. Likewise, Bill Nighy as Mr Woodhouse had some great comedic moments and was the standout of any scene, he was in.

Overall, I think I greatly misjudged the tone of this film from the trailers, had I known that it was just yet another modern adaptation of Jane Austen then I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it. Taylor-Joy and Nighy do their best and there are a few laughs to be had throughout, but unless you’re really into Austen I would probably stay well clear of this one.

Pros.

The jokes that do land.

Anya Taylor-Joy is fantastic.

Cons.

It is boring.

It is too long.

The humour doesn’t always land.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Happy Death Day 2U: No One Remembers Their Second Birthday

Happy Death Day 2 is a science fiction slasher film directed by Christopher Landon. This film again follows Tree (Jessica Rothe), as she becomes stuck in parallel dimensions, which all feature the time-loop from the first film and to escape she must discover who the new evil killer is and stop the loop.

I was a huge fan of the first film, It is one of my favourite films of all time and I went into this really excited to see how they were going to carry on this story, but sadly I was pretty badly disappointed with this film; it is however, still a good film, just not what I wanted.

Once again Rothe steals the show, she is fantastic as Tree and the fact that she isn’t a bigger star is nothing short of a cosmic crime. Her chemistry with Carter (Israel Broussard), is still fantastic and they are still the cutest couple in the horror genre; my romantic heart is still warmed by them.

The multi-dimensional storyline allows for some neat alternative situations which are fun to watch, albeit they do get a little stale after a while, but for the most part they’re entertaining. This ties into my main issue with this film, the director Christopher Landon has said that he wants to make every Happy Death Day film in a different genre: hence why this one focuses so heavily on science fiction. Therein lies the problem for me, I fell in love with this property as a horror slasher franchise I thought it did slasher in a smart and novel way, however, as a science fiction film that doesn’t really have any horror elements it doesn’t really work for me and comes off as boring; to many genre diehards this would be seen as a very weak and a very bad science fiction.

Overall, I admire the director for what he was trying to do, the different genre idea could have been cool, but how it is used here leads to a very generic, very bland science fiction film that leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe if you went into this with lower expectations than I did you would like it more, as there are still things to like such as the characters, but for me this film was deeply lacking.

Pros.

The Characters.

The Humour.

Jessica Rothe’s Performance.

The concept.

Cons.

The concept is poorly executed which leads to a boring and bland final product.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Happy Death Day: The Best Kind Of Birthday!

Happy Death Day is a black comedy slasher film directed by Christopher Landon. The plot revolves around meangirl Tree (Jessica Rothe), who finds herself trapped in a time-loop in which she is fated to die at the end; on her birthday no less. Tree then decides she is going to find out who her killer is and stop them, thereby freeing herself from the time-loop; growing as a person along the way.

I genuinely believe that this film is Blumhouse’s best! This is not only my personal favourite slasher film ever, even topping John Carpenter’s original Halloween, but also it is in my top ten films of the last decade; I will now try and highlight why I think it is so good.

Ultimately, I will boil it down to one performance Jessica Rothe. Rothe is the perfect final girl as well as one of the easiest characters to root for ever put to screen, Rothe plays the character with so much easy confidence and charm that it is virtually impossible to not like her. What’s more the writing for her character is equally fantastic, she is layered, on the surface she appears as the typical mean girl stereotype, but underneath she has so much personal trauma, which the film deals with in such a sweet way; take note god awful 2019 Black Christmas.

Moreover, the romance of the film between Tree and Carter (Israel Broussard), is so well done that they have quickly become by favourite on-screen couple, the chemistry between the two is pitch perfect and I love every second they are on-screen together, it warms my romantic heart.

The fantastic characters aside, this film also works really well as a slasher film, as it is both smart and scary. Happy Death Day is very aware of what it is and as such it is very tongue in cheek about being a slasher film, not to the point of parody however; very much in a similar vein to something like the original Scream in that regard. Furthermore, there is also a great sense of tension throughout and the mystery of the film, as in who the killer is, is a perfect encapsulation of it, as it keeps you guessing right up until the last minute.

Overall, this is one of my favourite horror films of all time and I think if you haven’t seen it you should, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Pros.

The tension.

The mystery.

Blumhouse at its finest.

Great on-screen chemistry.

Jessica Rothe.

Cons.

None.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Mamma Mia: Couldn’t Escape If I Wanted To.

Mamma Mia: The Movie is a jukebox musical romantic comedy film directed by Phyllida Lloyd. The plot revolves around Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), who, a few days before her wedding, wants to find out who her dad is, so she invites 3 men to her wedding who could all be her potential father, so she can in her own words, “get married knowing who she is”.

On watching this I found it to not be as good as the sequel, Here We Go Again, a lot of the drama in this film I found annoying, Sophie’s character is stressed as she doesn’t know what she is going to do about the 3 men she invited to the wedding, one of whom is her father, here’s an idea why don’t you sit down and have a conversation with them, no that would be too simple. However, that said no one is really watching these films for the intricate details of the plot, they’re watching them to listen to the Abba soundtrack.

Most of the Abba songs you know and love are in this film, Super Trooper, Waterloo, Dancing Queen are all there, one of my personal favourites Fernando, yes I like it because of that scene in Malcolm In The Middle, isn’t in it, which I found personally disappointing, but that’s all just a matter of personal taste. The film is still incredibly fun and entertaining to not only watch, but also sing and dance along with. All of the cast give good performances: Meryl Streep (Donna) as well as the 3 dads Colin Firth (Harry), Stellan Skarsgard (Bill) and Pierce Borsnan (Sam), are all the standouts, they each have a lot of fantastic moments that make you laugh and smile, Firth especially.

The dance choreography is all done quite well and there are many lavish numbers where it can be seen and appreciated; this is especially true of the beach scene; you will know which one I mean if you have seen the film.

Overall, this is an incredibly fun film that will make you laugh, cry and want to dance. Abba’s songs are timeless and never seem to go out of style, you will find them stuck inside your head days after you have seen this film, so be prepared for that. The only thing that stops me from giving it full honours is that I believe it was upstaged by its sequel in a few ways, as a result I have more fondness towards that film.

Pros.

The songs.

The dance.

The laughs.

The love.

Cons.

It is not as good as its sequel.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke.

Dumplin’: And The Winner Is

Dumplin’ is a coming of age comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher. The film sees Dolly Parton obsessed teen Willowdean (Danielle Macdonald), compete in a beauty pageant despite her mother’s strong disapproval. The film tackles a lot of issues surrounding the idea of what makes a person beautiful and self-worth.

I think in regard to how this film portrays weight issues it is a triumph. Dumplin’ is proud of how she is and wishes people would see her for her rather than how she looks, there is an important message of not judging a book by its cover and self-love that is at the core of this film and I think it is one we should all heed.

A lot of things about this film are quite stereotypical, they go the way many other romantic themed coming of age films go, Willowdean doesn’t win the pageant in the end, but it doesn’t matter as she has proven something to herself and her mother Rosie (Jennifer Aniston), thereby earning her approval. However, despite the lack of originality, these plot points still hit home they still feel impactful. As anyone who has ever tried to seek approval from their parents would tell you that moment when you get it, if you get it, is incredibly rewarding and you can feel that here.

The romantic sub-plot between Willowdean and some boy, I can’t remember his name, I could take or leave: it did very little for me and also drew attention away from the inner journey that Willowdean was on as well as the relationship between her and her mum, both of which I think were better done. I enjoyed the relationship between Willowdean, and her mum and I think Aniston did a really good job showing us this character whose whole world is conventional beauty and these pageants, coming to terms with a new way of thinking and being happy for her daughter rather than trying to change her.

Overall, despite being weak in some areas and contrived in others, this film still has an important message and one that I think will resonate with a lot of people. Both Macdonald and Aniston give good performance and I think it is worth watching for their relationship alone, fascinating.

Pros.

A good message.

The relationship between Mother and Daughter.

Aniston is terrific.

Cons.

Contrived sub-plots.

The story could have been tighter, did we really need the romance storyline?

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Wedding Singer: Let Adam Sandler Into Your Heart

The Wedding Singer is a romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. The plot follows Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler), a wedding singer, who gets left at the alter when his fiancé doesn’t attend their wedding: he then gives up on love and falls into a spiral, that is until he meets Julia (Drew Barrymore).

This film is widely regarded as one of Sandler’s best, certain this is true of the films he made during his romantic era and I have to admit when I rewatched it recently it holds up to how good I remember it being from when I was a kid.

Sandler’s character is sweet, and you root for him in the same way you did in Mr Deeds or Big Daddy, none of that loathsome hate ability, whereby he could easily be the villain of the film, that infects a lot of his later works is present here. You want to see Robbie and Julia get together, in that regard this film functions very well as a romantic comedy as it achieves it base purpose. The chemistry between Barrymore and Sandler is arguably the best of his career, though in recent years he has been pairing himself with Jennifer Aniston in terms of romantic interest, Sandler has far more on-screen chemistry with Barrymore and it is plain to see.

My issues with this film are only very minor, but they are the same issues that effect a lot of Sandler’s films. A lot of the comedy relies on stereotypes and questionable humour, which yes you can say is a product of its time, but it stands out when viewing it today. Furthermore, the villain Julia’s cheating fiancé Glenn (Matthew Glave), is almost cartoonish. By that I mean there is no nuance to his character at all beyond the fact that he is a dick, he cheats, he is a misogynist, he treats Julia like dirt and for good measure he hits Robbie in the face; we get it film he is a bad guy.

Overall, this is certainly one of Sandler’s more charming films, there is a genuine warmth and heart to it that reminds everyone how good an Adam Sandler film can be if he isn’t just phoning it in. The issues are only minor and for the most part his is a very enjoyable film to watch.

Pros.

Good chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore.

Sandler is sweet and endearing.

The music is fantastic.

Cons.

The villain is cartoonish.

Stereotypes for humour.

3.5/5

Mandy: Hype Builds To A Letdown

Mandy is a horror thriller film directed by Panos Cosmatos. The plot follows Red (Nicolas Cage), a man who watches his girlfriend be murdered by a satanic cult, he then hunts down the cult members to extract revenge. This film is noted the as the film that started Nicolas Cage’s comeback and the film that ended his series of straight to DVD crap.

As someone who is a huge fan of Mr Cage I have been meaning to watch this film for a while, everyone I have heard talk about it seems to think it is some sort of transcendent experience, but I have to say I was deeply disappointed and utterly unsatisfied with it. I really feel like this is one of those sorts of films where it is down to personal taste, very much like Marmite some will love it others will hate it.

For me I disliked the fact that a lot of the film feels dragged out, we have a lot of scenes where no one does or says anything important and we just sit and listen to the techno synth soundtrack and I found that these scenes made this film boring to the point of being unwatchable. There were also a lot of scene where it is hard to make out quite what is going on, this isn’t helped by the fact that the film seems to be adverse to dialogue of any kind so there is little exposition to let you know what is happening.

As someone said to me recently this is the sort of film that is 100% better if you are not sober. It is so abstract and artsy that it borders the line of pretension, Mandy seems to think it is a much more intelligent film that it actually is; it is really not all that deep and the main reason people like it is because it is a horror film with Nicolas Cage being his usual menacing and manic self, not because it is a good film.

Overall, I think the concept is good and it is always a treat to see Cage on screen, but this film is unwatchable at times, it is so boring and dull and the abstract nature of a lot of the film only adds to this, making it infinity worse. Even as a diehard Nicolas Cage fan I didn’t like this!

Pros.

Good concept.

Nicolas Cage.

Cons.

It’s boring.

It thinks it is deeper than it actually is.

It is hard to finish.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

When The Wind Blows: The End Of The World

When The Wind Blows is a British animated disaster film directed by Jimmy Murakami. The plot of the film revolves around an old married couple James and Hilda (John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft), who are trying to survive a nuclear war by building a bomb shelter in their front room. The film is incredibly dark and has themes of death, disease and hopelessness.

I had to watch this film for one of my University classes, so I didn’t really go in with much expectation, but I have to say this is a hauntingly beautiful film in many ways and it far exceeded my expectations.

The art design for this film is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It switches between different styles of animation quite often with each bringing a significantly different feel. From an artistic viewpoint, colour is used very specifically in this film for a variety of reasons, to show loss and devastation as well as to show hope. This colour symbolism is very on the nose, but it is that way by design, this film knows what it is and knows what its message is, and it wants to be very clear about it. When The Wind Blow is an anti-war film through and through.

This film is from the director of beloved Christmas hit The Snowman, but this is very unlike his previous work. Despite having a low age rating, this film is definitely not suited for kids to watch, it is disturbing and traumatic, but in reality, that is how nuclear war would be. The film ends and if you don’t want spoilers skip ahead, with both of the main characters dying of radiation poisoning, this is incredibly sad, but realistic. This film is almost educational as it shows the effects a nuclear war would have on people as both character get sicker and sicker across the film, it also encourages people to be critical free thinkers and question what they are told: because ultimately a big part of the film is that James believed every word the government said to him and that is what killed him.

Overall, this film won’t be for everyone, it is upsetting and depressing, but it is also important to see because it has a lot to say about war, about society and for that I will say it is a must see!

Pros.

The message.

The music.

The animation.

The ending.

Cons

It is incredibly bleak.

4/5

Fisherman’s Friends: What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor

Fisherman’s Friends is a biographical comedy drama film directed by Chris Foggin. The film is based on the true story of Port Issacs’s Fisherman’s Friends a group of Cornish fishermen who signed a £1 million-pound deal with Universal Records and had their first album be a top 10 hit.

This film is from the creative team behind the romantic comedy hit Finding Your Feet, so that should give you a good idea as to what sort of film this is going to be: a feel-good romantic comedy, with an added musical competent. The music of this film is easily one of the best things about it, there is such an interesting and unique quality to sea shanties that I hadn’t realised until now, but I really dug it when I heard it.

James Purefoy plays one of the main fishermen, the unofficial leader, and the father of Danny’s (Daniel Mays) love interest Alwyn (Tuppence Middleton). Purefoy is as always, a joy to see on screen, he effortlessly gives the best performance in this film and for an adding bonus he can sing as well. Purefoy really is one of Britain’s best and most underrated performers and to me he is a national treasure right alongside people like Idris Elba, Judy Dench, Keira Knightly and Daniel Craig.

The main issue with this film is that it ends midway through, by that I mean the main story, the bands rise to fame and fortune ends at the hour and 15 minute mark, I thought this was the end of the film; imagine my surprise when it kept on going for another 45 minutes. Everything after this point is filler, that’s the truth, it revolves around a pub being sold, said pub is the heart of the town so everyone is very upset; why they chose to keep this very random plot thread in the final cut is anyone’s guess, but it certainly doesn’t add anything. To me the film ends when the band become famous, I just don’t care about the pub drama.

Overall, this is a light-hearted, wholesome sort of film, the sort of film that would pep you up after a bad day, it isn’t the best film you will ever see nor is it the worst. It is a shame they add all that extra baggage about the pub into the narrative and it could have been better structured, but it is still fun.

3/5

Pros.

The Music.

The Romance.

James Purefoy the only thing that pulls this film out of mediocrity.

Cons.

It ends midway though.

Terrible pacing.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke