It is time for a round up of new films seen on streaming services other than Netflix, this month.
Starting with Amazon Prime:
My Spy: the Eternal City
This sequel to 2020’s My Spy has Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Kristen Schaal, and Ken Jeong reprising their roles. JJ (Bautista) is convinced to accompany Sophie (Coleman) on her school trip to Italy, where they become involved in a terrorist plot. This lacks the simplicity of the first film but Bautista and Coleman continue to work well together.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Sleeping Dogs
Russell Crowe stars as an ex-homicide detective with alzheimers who is forced to solve a brutal murder he can’t recall. Despite it being heavily indebted to Christopher Nolan’s Memento, this is an impressively moody noir from director Adam Cooper. Crowe continues to enjoy a career renaisance and Karen Gillan is terrific ad the femme fatale. The final twist is a little too obvious though.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Jackpot!
One of the best directors of comedies, Paul Feig, returns with with a new film written by Rob Yescombe. Akwafina stars as a wannabe movie star who wins the LA lottery. Her joy at that is tempered by the fact that anyone who kills the winner before sundown can claim the prize.
Rating: out of 10
Arthur the King
Mark Wahlberg stars as Michael Light, an adventure racer who has always missed out on the big prize. He scrapes the money together to create a four person team in what he says will be his last race, 435 miles through the jungles of the Dominican Republic. On the way, they pick up a stray dog they name Arthur who accompanies them on the remainder of their journey. Loosely based on a true story, you would have to have a heart of stone not to find Michael and Arthur’s bonding affecting. Simon Cellan Jones directed Wahlberg in the underrated The Family Plan last year and he does another good job here.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Model House
Five swimsuit models staying together in a secluded house, fight to stay alive when intruders break in and hold them captive to extort money. The actresses playing the models were not cast for their acting ability which makes the earlier scenes where their characters were introduced a bit painful to watch. After that it becomes a decent home invasion thriller before it falls apart at the end.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Baltimore
Directed by Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy, Baltimore is based on the real life of Rose Dugdale, a British heiress-turned-IRA member, played by Imogen Poots. Poots is excellent and her performance is really the only thing I can recommend. Ths could have been an interesting character study or a nail biting thriller but it is neither. The confusing structure, constantly moving back and forward sucks all of the life out of the film.
Rating: 5 out of 10
The Bench
Written and directed by Sean Wilkie, Scottish horror The Bench has been released 17 years after filming first took place. Beset by weather related issues, Wilkie ran out of cash and was not able to complete shooting until 2011 and finish post production in 2016. Even then, it did not find a distribution until this year. The premise is pretty simple. A group of friends take a trip to a remote cabin in Renfrewshire, only to disappear one by one. I wish I could say that you cannot see the budget issues or troubled production on screen, but you can. The acting is variable and the editing amateurish. However, there is a creepy atmosphere and a few decent twists.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Firecracker
When a heist goes dramatically wrong on bonfire night, a criminal couple and their hostage have to survive the night in an empty house. After A terrible and derivative opening scene and with a cast that includes Nick Moran and Jason Flemyng. I thought that this might be an identikit British geezer-gangster movie. It is not that, and those two only have small parts. However, it is still not very thrilling and totally implausible.
Rating: 5 out of 10
One Fast Move
A young man down on his luck who seeks out his estranged father to help him pursue his dream of becoming a professional motorcycle racer. Despite the high speed racing this feels very pedestrian with a very predictable storyline. with only Eric Dane, who is very good as the father. giving a reason to watch.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Over on Sky Movies, subscribers can see:
Jericho Ridge
Trapped and without backup, Deputy Tabby Temple fights for her life when her remote Sheriff’s Office is targeted by murderous attackers. Heavily indebted to Assault on Precinct 13, this is a pared down, extremely effective thriller. It feels authentically set in an American small town when it was actually shot in Kosovo and features a mostly British cast, including Nikki Amuka-Bird as Tabby and Slow Horse’s Chris Reilly as a fellow deputy.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Parallel
Vanessa (Danielle Deadwyler) takes refuge at her family’s lake house to grieve after suffering the loss of her child. Accompanied by her husband, Alex (Aldis Hodge), and his brother, Martel (Edwin Hodge), Vanessa attempts to regain her sense of normality after the tragedy. But soon after their arrival, she experiences an aberration when she is attacked by a parallel universe’s version of herself. I was not interested in either of Vanessa’s parallel lives in this deathly dull sci fi movie.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Daddio
After landing at JFK International Airport, Girlie (Dakota Johnson), takes a cab back to Manhattan. During the ride, she and the cab driver, Clark (Sean Penn), have unexpectedly honest conversations about numerous topics, including their past and present relationships. This is a neat set up and the film largely succeeds thanks to the excellence of the two performances. I found, though, that the way the conversation kept coming round to sex showed a lack of imagination by the screenwriter Christy Hall, who also directs stylishly.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
The following can be rented on the usual services:
This Time Next Year
Quinn (Lucien Laviscount) and Minnie (Sophie Cookson) meet by chance at a New Year’s Eve party in London. They realise that they were born in the same hospital on the same day, New Year’s Day, a minute apart, but their lives have gone in different directions since that day. The premise did not promise much but the film exceeded expectations. Quinn and Minnie are flawed but very relatable and unexpected depth is provided by the relationship Quinn has with his troubled mother. The main issue I had was with the extremely generic score and, as Minnie dashes across London, one of the most annoying songs I have ever heard.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
On My 5:
Did I Kill My Son?
A mother is convicted of a serious crime and sent to prison. When she is released she has little to no knowledge of her son’s whereabouts. Determined to find her child, she embarks on a dangerous journey that puts her life at risk. A decent set up and a reasonably twisty plot is ruined by awful dialogue.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Doing the rounds on Movies 24
Junebug
A book editor meets an eight year old version of herself who helps her pursue her dreams. This is insufferably twee stuff.
Rating: 2.5 out of 10
My Dreams of You
After having recurring dreams about a handsome stranger named Michael (Kapil Talwalkar), Grace (Skyler Samuels) is shocked when she bumps into him in real life. Samuels is always good and credit to Hallmark for trying something different, but it does not work.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10