Gran Turismo is a mostly entertaining wish-fulfilment sports movie that doesn’t attempt to hide its blatant commercialism nor its various storytelling tropes, but is well-executed enough to serve as a wholly decent crowd-pleaser.
Meg 2: The Trench is a gloriously dumb B-movie monster sequel that, critically speaking, is perhaps too stupid to fathom, but thanks to some playful filmmaking by Ben Wheatley and a cast led by Jason Statham who are similarly refusing to take this material seriously, it’s a brainless blast that’s best experienced with a bit of booze in your system.
Joy Ride is a largely amusing raunchy comedy that, in addition to some very funny set-pieces and gags, offers a liberating perspective on female sexuality as well as intriguing commentary on racial identity, and is held together by four dedicated lead turns, even when the film starts to fall apart in the third act.
Certificate: PG Running Time: 100 mins UK Distributor: Paramount Pictures WHO’S IN TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM? Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Shamon Brown Jr., Micah Abbey, Jackie Chan, Ayo Edebiri, Ice Cube, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Giancarlo Esposito,...
The Beanie Bubble is a lively and competently made account of the meteoritic popularity of Beanie Babies that features some strong central performances, but much like the toys themselves it is slightly under-stuffed, thanks to conventional storytelling and bland cinematography.
They Cloned Tyrone has a fun retro Blaxploitation style, and some lively central performances, but it disappointingly comes up short on its ability to provide fresh and entertaining commentary.
Barbie is a highly intelligent and often very funny dissection of the iconic doll and her contribution to both popular culture and general society, which Greta Gerwig handles with such care and joy that makes it hard to resist playing with.
Oppenheimer is a remarkable horror film by Christopher Nolan that creates an unnerving and suspenseful atmosphere throughout, which some astonishing filmmaking and excellent performances help to inspire even deeper feelings of terror about the past, present, and future state of the world.
Certificate: 18 Running Time: 92 mins UK Distributor: MUBI REVIEWED DURING SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: LONDON WHO’S IN PASSAGES? Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Erwan Kepoa Falé, Olivier Rabourdin, Caroline Chaniolleau WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA? Ira Sachs...
Certificate: 12A Running Time: 106 mins UK Distributor: StudioCanal REVIEWED DURING SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: LONDON WHO’S IN PAST LIVES? Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Yoon Ji-hye, Choi Won-young, Ahn Min-young, Jonica T. Gibbs, Emily Cass McDonnell, Federico...