We Have a Ghost
In We Have a Ghost, Kevin (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) discovers that his new home is haunted by a ghost, Ernest (David Harbour). Kevin and his Dad (Anthony Mackie) create a YouTube channel and the ghost and their family become famous as a result.

However, they also become a target of the CIA who want to control Ernest. Director Christopher Landon has been on a great run prior this film. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Happy Death Day, its sequel and Freaky all combined laughs and horror really effectively.

That successful sequence ends here with this attempt at something more family friendly. There are no scares at all, and the comedy is intermittent. It is not a total disaster though. The first act is OK and a road trip taken by Kevin, Ernest and Kevin’s friend Joy, played by the impressively natural Isabella Russo, livens things up later in the film. However, the schmaltzy resolution of Ernest’s story undoes that good work.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Luther: The Fallen Sun
Idris Elba returns as John Luther in this transfer from the TV to the big screen, although the majority of people will undoubtedly see this on Netflix rather than at the cinema. The detective is imprisoned for being corrupt but breaks out to go on the hunt for a serial killer in London.

I have never seen an episode of the show, so I came into this cold and I was deeply unimpressed. How Luther is convicted and then escapes is very far fetched, the story involving snuff videos is really hackneyed and the cartoonish villain, played by Andy Serkis, seems to have appeared from a bad Batman movie.

With English characters referring to “cell phones” and saying they have “conniptions”, as well as glaring geographical errors that include Luther passing the white cliffs of Dover on his way to Norway, this is clearly aimed at an American audience but I am not convinced it will be a success there. Dermot Crowley as Luther’s old colleague takes the acting honours but there is little else to recommend in this ridiculous and nasty thriller.
Rating: 3 out of 10

10 Days of a Good Man
With Marlowe starring Liam Neeson just released, Netflix have made 10 Days a Good Man available at an opportune time. Nejat Isler stars as Sadiq, a Philip Marlowe obsessed investigator in Turkey, who repeatedly watches Robert Altman’s masterwork The Long Goodbye. He is hired by a wealthy old friend to investigate the disappearance of her cleaner’s son, Tefvik (Ata Artman). Down on his luck after wrongly being sent to prison, he accepts the job and becomes involved in a labyrinthine plot.

In some ways, this feels like an old-fashioned private eye movie, with Sadiq encountering dangerous men and beautiful and/or dangerous women at every turn, and it is risky drawing comparisons to classic Marlowe movies of the past. But, thanks to a layered performance by Isler, a clever script from Damla Serim and Mehmet Eroglu and assured direction by Uluc Bayraktar, this film feels fresh and totally absorbing. There is also great supporting turns by Ilayda Alisan as the woman who falls for Sadiq and especially Ilayda Akdogan as Tefvik’s sister.
Rating 8 out of 10

Also this month…

In Tonight You’re Sleeping with Me, mother and journalist Nina Szklarska (Roma Gasiorowska) is in a loveless marriage. She starts a relationship with a younger man and has to decide whether to leave her old life for a new one. It would be easy not to care one way or the other, but Gasiorowska makes a pretty unlikeable character empathetic enough.

Love at First Kiss is a pretty tedious romantic drama about a man who can see the future of a relationship from the first kiss. Plodding and poorly acted.

Much better is the Shirley Valentine like Faraway. The excellent Naomi Krauss stars as Zeynep, a middle aged Turkish woman who inherits her mother’s house in Croatia. Once she travels there she meets Josip (Goran Bogdan) and realises how unhappy she is with her inattentive husband and sexist father. Not exactly ground breaking but the characters are believable and Jane Ainscough’s script keeps things light. The only real mis-step is the discovery of her mother’s diary that brings an unnecessary level of sentimentality.

The opening few minutes suggests that Do Your Worst will be a hectic foul mouthed comedy. After that, though, it becomes a plodding drama that attempts, but fails, to add some laughs.

In the pleasant but unremarkable Have a Nice Day!, a retired radio host bags groceries to earn money to attend a party, where he hopes to reunite with the love of his life. Watchable but it takes a long time to get where it is going.

In previous months, I have had my issues with Italian comedies and whilst Still Time is a lot less annoying frantic than many, it also is not funny.

However, it is not as dreary as the supposed thriller In His Shadow about the clash of two half brothers in France.

One of the most depressing titles I have seen in a while is the documentary Money Shot: The Pornhub Story. It does eventually address some controversial issues, but only after what feels like a long advert for the site.

The Dutch thriller Noise is not to be confused with the far superior Mexican drama from earlier this year. The central plot of a man’s investigation into a factory accident descends into silliness with needless sub plots.

Johnny is a schmaltzy true story about a priest with a terminal illness and the ex-convict he befriends. Strong stomach required.

The cartoon The Magician’s Elephant has a simple plot that might please younger viewers but the digital animation is awful.

Vietnamese action movie Furies is energetic enough with some reasonable fight scenes, though it feels very generic.

    Ratings out of 10

Tonight You’re Sleeping with Me: 5
Love at First Kiss: 2.5
Faraway: 6
Do Your Worst: 2
Have a Nice Day!: 4.5
Still Time: 2.5
Money Shot: The Pornhub Story: 3
In His Shadow: 2.5
Noise: 4
Johnny: 2
The Magician’s Elephant: 3
Furies: 4.5