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Spooky Tresspaser

  The Women In The Yard marks the return of director Jaume Collet-Serra to his horror roots after years in the big budget action space. He puts some scary images together and gives a good cast a chance to shine but is let down by a fairly weak script. The film begins with struggling mum Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) watching a video of her deceased husband. Struggling may be a bit of an understatement, the crash that took her husband also left her with a badly broken leg and she is stuck in a pit of despair so deep it has rendered her almost non-existent as a parent. Her son Taylor has essentially taken over looking after his little sister Annie, the food is running out and when the electricity goes off they have no means of contacting anyone. With tensions already frayed, things take a sinister turn as a mysterious and threatening figure in black appears in the garden, creeping slowly closer as the day drags on.  The titular woman in the yard is played with equal grace and mena...
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Am I Talking to Me?

  The Alto Knights is everything you would expect from the teaming of respected veteran director Barry Levinson, the writer of classics like Goodfellas and Casino (Nicholas Pileggi) and screen icon Robert De Niro, a beautifully shot and supremely well acted gangster movie with a script that brings the characters to life via razor sharp dialogue. It is precisely that and absolutely nothing more, meaning your milage with it will depend on how much you enjoy watching snazzily dressed, older Italian-Americans sitting around clubs and mansions while the sword of Damocles hangs over their head.  That isn't to say the film doesn't have a stab at trying to forge its own identity, the USP being that De Nero plays both lead roles. This isn't a "Legend" situation where the characters are brothers, he plays real life mafia friends turned rivals Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Costello is more recognisably De Nero, the suave and composed man about town with only minor chang...
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Papa's Got a Brand New Black Bag

  Black Bag lays its cards on the table early on. A sumptuous follow shot tracks Micheal Fassbender from the street, down to the depths of a trendy London club and back out again where his colleague informs him a nasty mcguffin has been stolen from the intelligence agency they work at and there are five possible suspects, including Fassbender's wife. He has one week to find the traitor or lives will be lost, setting the scene for cat and mouse spy antics. Don't be holding out for some James Bond style action though (even if Pierce Brosnan is present as the man in charge), director Steven Soderbergh is here to deliver a talky espionage thriller based around beautiful and very intelligent people looking cool and acting smart. An "Ocean's 11" set in the world of British spies. If you think that sounds pretty great, then you are correct. The film is an ensemble piece but Fassbender is more or less the lead as spy catcher George, known for being ice cold even amongst h...
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The Greatest Songman

 Given the current climate it's no surprise that cult of personality movies are coming thick and fast. Opus isn't one of the best but there is enough of interest to worth a glance if black comedy and celebrity parody are your bag.  Ayo Edebiri plays young music journalist Ariel, desperate to write something meaningful which seams a long way away thanks to her "old fashioned" editor (Murray Bartlett), who treats her as a glorified note taker while giving all the juicy assignments to the lads. An opportunity presents itself when reclusive music genius Alfred Morreti (John Malkovich) surfaces after thirty years and she is one of the select few people invited to his compound for a weekend celebration and exclusive first listen. On the downside, her editor is also invited ("obviously I'll write the piece") and on arrival there is the small matter of Morreti clearly being involved in a cult. There are some other guests; a radio DJ, a paparazzi and Juliet Lew...
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Its Guys Like You Mickey

The title character of Mickey 17 is the 17th iteration of Mickey Barnes, a failed entrepreneur played by Robert Pattinson who has fled Earth (and a particularly unpleasant loan shark) by signing up to be an "expendable" on a voyage to colonise a new planet. This means he takes on all the most dangerous jobs and simply has his personality and memories uploaded to a newly printed body upon his inevitable death. By the time we meet him, lying at the bottom of a frozen ravine waiting to die, the four year space journey is over and and the ship's inhabitance are trying to get a foothold on the frozen hellscape of planet Niflheim. The first portion of the film sees Mickey recount the events that led to him being in such a situation, fleeing Earth after the collapse of his and dubious best friend Steven Yuen's macaron business, beeing manipulated into becoming an expendable, his relationship with security officer Nasha (Naomi Ackie) and the deaths of many of the proceeding ...
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The Show Won't Go On

The Last Showgirl opens with Pamela Anderson's Shelly Gardner standing awkward and alone on stage, lying about her age as she attempts a dance audition for the first time in decades. We then cut to the hustle and bustle of the dressing room of "The Razzle Dazzle", the Vegas show Shelly has been a part of for thirty years. Full of warmth and camaraderie, the life she is used to presents a stark contrast to the future she is facing. Outdated and playing to empty seats, the Razzle Dazzle is set to close in two weeks, prompting Shelly to contemplate life without the thing she has based her entire existence around. This is an understated and sombre character study, presenting a far less glamorous view of Sin City than we are used to seeing. The glory days of the Vegas showgirl have long passed and despite her being one of the scenes biggest stars, have left Shelly with precious little to show for her life beyond glorious memories. Here home is modest to say the least and estr...
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Same Old World?

  By the time the credits roll you might be wondering if the title Captain America : Brave New World is ironic. This may be the MCU's big return after over a year on hiatus (I don't care about technicalities, Deadpool and Wolverine is a Fox movie through and through) but there is precious little new on display here and it would be a Reed Richards level stretch to describe a would be political thriller that is so afraid of politics as brave. On the one hand, Marvel are in a bit of a bind. Pillared for continuously dishing up more of the same but when they do try something a little fresh, a la The Eternals, long time fans shy away from it. Still, even in creative paralysis, such an experienced studio should be able to produce a higher quality product than this.  The Captain America of the title is of course no longer Steve Rogers. The shield has passed to his wingman Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly know as Falcon. He has not been dosed with the "Super Serum" of h...
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