It feels like forever ago and it feels like yesterday that we last did this, but what else is new?
I happened to be overseas at a pretty bad time for some of the big Northern Hemisphere summer movie releases this year, and so completely missed the likes of Supergirl, Masters of the Universe, Disclosure Day, and Toy Story 5. Had I caught them all, this post would’ve been out even faster, but as it stands it still feels like I’ve seen a deluge of interesting premises unfold on big, very big, small, and very small screens alike these last few months.
Whether those premises result in compelling cinema has been another story: this particular batch of ten films lacks an outright dud, but still feels like a roughly even split between “eh, maybe” to “absolutely, 100%, see you at the end of the year for the awards”.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How to Make a Killing
“Weird that Glenn Powell has done two passionless murder comedies.”
The Mandalorian and Grogu
“Like four combined Mandalorian episodes; the first and third work.”
Fackham Hall
“Classic British humiliation humour meets classic American shotgun–joke pacing.”
Obsession
“Fresh perspectives on classic horror tropes craft long–fuse dynamite.”
Backrooms
“One hauntingly intimate story inside a cavernously atmospheric lore hook.”
The Odyssey
“Harder to find major flaws than to find IMAX tickets.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
“Tom Holland finally feels like Spider-Man for an entire movie.”
The Invite
“Absolute theatre! As tense as Black Bag, except also hilarious.”
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender
“Infuriatingly gorgeous animation feast; Paramount really dropped the ball here.”
The End of Oak Street
Vagrant Rant 