Review: The Last Days of American Crime (2020) – The Last Gasp of the Rational

Edgar Ramirez in The Last Days of American Crime It's the near future, crime is running rampant but a free will stripping new technology has emerged intent on perfecting humanity, a signal that makes it impossible to commit even the simplest of crime. Gone will be the days of murder, arson or even video piracy. …

Review: Da 5 Bloods (2020) – A Real Journey

Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods Around the halfway point of Da 5 Bloods, as the titular Bloods, a group of veterans returning to Vietnam years after the war to collect on a reward and repay a debt to fallen comrade Norman (Chadwick Boseman), there is a shift from interesting but uncomplicated …

Review: Astronaut (2020) – On My Terms

Richard Dreyfuss in Astronaut Although it isn't a new sub-genre, the movie about an elderly person getting one last chance at life in their twilight years is a hit and miss proposition. Last year Richard Dreyfuss starred in one such film, the offensive picture The Last Laugh. This year comes his latest, the low budget …

Review: The Old Guard (2020) – Eternally Dull

Charlize Theron in The Old Guard While Charlize Theron is well versed in adapting graphic novels for the big screen with her work of David Leitch's Atomic Blonde, which has a rumoured sequel in early development, The Old Guard feels vastly different, an action film with fantasy elements that wants to feel timeless despite a …

Review: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) – A Pointless Competition?

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga It is hard to discern who the audience for Will Ferrell's latest comedy outing is. While it could easily be for fans of Eurovision for all its unbridled frivolity and unapologetic stupidity, its release under the Netflix banner seems to suggest …

Review: The Public (2020) – Left Out In The Cold

Michael K Williams and Emilio Estevez in The Public While people might point to more controversial directors when they think about which filmmakers you either love or hate, personally there isn't a director quite like Emilio Estevez in completely avoiding the middle ground. His unique blend of factual and overtly sentimental direction often rubs people …

Review: Nobody Knows I’m Here (2020) – Singing In Isolation

Jorge Garcia in Nobody Knows I'm Here Nobody Knows I'm Here is, a quiet, tranquilly shot picture all about self-worth and the concept of being enough for not just the world around you and the people you encounter but yourself and while its simple story and setting gives way to such contemplation, its dual narrative …

Review: Artemis Fowl (2020) – Truly Foul

Ferdia Shaw in Artemis Fowl I read Artemis Fowl when I was 12 years old. I don't remember much of it, it was almost two decades ago at this point but what I do remember is an enjoyable, fast paced fantasy novel with a precocious but likeable lead character who happily embraced his criminal antics. …

Review: Spenser Confidential (2020) – Morals Absent Intelligence.

Winston Duke, Alan Arkin and Mark Wahlberg in Spenser Confidential Marking the fifth collaboration between director Peter Berg and Wahlberg, Spenser Confidential steps away from the real world stories of Lone Survivor, Patriot's Day and Deepwater Horizon, instead adapting one of Robert B. Parker's revered Spenser novels, a series about a hardened Boston private eye …

Review: The Vast Of Night (2020) – Something On The Air

Sierra McCormick in The Vast of Night The influences behind first time director Andrew Patterson's The Vast of Night are too various to name, from an opening that makes out that this sci-fi horror mesh is an episode of the original Twilight Zone to a series of monologues reminiscent of old 1950s radio plays, Patterson …