It is time for a round up of new films seen on streaming services other than Netflix this month.
We start this month with Amazon Prime:
The Underdoggs
Snoop Dogg stars Jaycen ‘Two-J’s’ Jennings, an arrogant washed up former football superstar. After a major car accident, Jaycen is ordered to perform community service in his old neighbourhood, coaching a struggling youth American Football team. Snoop Dogg is not exactly a great actor but in the part of a foul mouthed, past his best, celebrity he does not have to do much acting! But this is the same old underdog sports drama we have seen so many times before. It has a few chuckles but seems quite stale.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Black Bags
Sara (Laura Vandervoort) and Tess (Olesya Rulin) are strangers who get on the same Greyhound bus. They have identical black travel bags that get swapped with potentially deadly consequences. I was hoping that more of this film would be confined to the bus to up the claustrophobia, but they soon depart that and the bulk of the story unfolds and Tess’s remote house. It struggles to maintain the story to feature length but both actresses are good and the twist near the end is nicely handled.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Trunk – Locked In
In this thriller written and directed by Marc Schießer, Malina (Sina Martens) wakes up disorientated in the trunk of a speeding car. With her mobile phone as the only link to the outside world, she wages a desperate battle for survival. This has obvious similarities with the 2010 Ryan Reynolds’ suspenser Buried but it never matches it for its claustrophobic effect. The plot becomes overly complicated, though Martens does what she can with her role.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
The Letter Writer
This new take on the familiar Cyrano de Bergerac story is set in Dubai in 1965. Eslam Al Kawarit stars as Khalifa, a letter writer who falls in love with Elli (Rosy McEwen). This film sat on the shelf for 6 years before it was released, and it is easy to see why. Khalifa is quite an unpleasant character and the British characters are mostly lazy stereotypes.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
This is Me Now – A Love Story
In what may be a first, this film exists to promote Jennifer Lopez’s new album. The singer plays a fictionalised version of herself as she looks for love. I am fairly agnostic about Lopez’s music. It is not terrible but it seems pretty bland, so what are effectively movie videos that pepper this movie are fine if you are a fan. What is definitely not are the excruciatingly bad scenes between the music that involve a lot of well known actors spouting some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard. An embarrassment.
Rating: 1 out of 10
Puppy Love
After a disastrous first date, Nicole (Lucy Hale) and Max (Grant Gustin) vow to lose each other’s numbers until her dog makes his dog pregnant and Nicole and Max are forced to become responsible co-parents. This is way better than you could reasonably expect from a plot like that. Both Nicole and Max are deeply flawed but ultimately likable, the script is pretty good and Hale and Gustin have good chemistry.
Rating: 6 out of 10
To England, with Love
When LA-based Ali inherits her great aunt’s estate in England, she finds herself on a treasure hunt that takes her on a journey into a mysterious past and onto a path towards new love. This starts out in quite a diverting way but soon succumbs to every English cliché that Americans seem to love and believe.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Over on Sky Movies:
The Bricklayer
Renny Harlin was one of the biggest action directors of the 1990’s, starting with the underrated Die Hard 2 and ending the decade with the silly but entertaining Deep Blue Sea. He has done little of note since and his latest, The Bricklayer has not made much of an impression. Aaron Eckhart stars as a retired CIA operative who is brought out of retirement to find someone targeting journalists. This was originally designed as a Gerard Butler vehicle, and whilst it is completely derivative of so many spy movies, it is as entertaining as most of his recent output. Harlin knows how to stage an action scene and there are plenty of shoot outs, chases and fist fights that help speed things along. Eckhart gruffs his way through the mayhem and Nina Dobrev is good as his green partner.
Rating: 7 out of 10
On My 5:
A Deadly Influence
Dylan Raine stars as a reporter who investigates the murder of an influencer. If you can get past the vacuous influencer character and the devious reporter being so unlikable, this is a servicable mystery.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Finally, films that can be rented on the usual services
Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia
Hot on the heels of Ferrari, and following Ford vs Ferrari a few years ago, comes the similarly titled Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia from director Stefano Mordini, based on the screenplay written by Filippo Bologna, Mordini, and Riccardo Scamarcio. It depicts the rivalry between Audi Quattro team the Lancia 037 team at the 1983 World Rally Championship. Bearing in mind how thrilling motor racing can be when depicted in films, and how that season is regarded as one of the most exciting, this is a serious disappointment. Large parts of the story have been removed and very little of the driving footage is exciting. It also seems odd to cast the estimable Daniel Bruhl and Haley Bennett but give them so little to do. Riccardo Scamarcio is good though as the Lancia team boss and the sound is impressive.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Cold Copy
Bel Powley plays Mia Scott, an aspiring journalist who is desperate to impress her teacher and famous, though unscrupulous, TV reporter, Diane Heger (Tracee Ellis Ross). Bel embellishes a story to make it more sensational, and Diane decides to run it. Roxine Helberg film has a bit of a muddled message. The thriller style ending is designed to have the audience cheering for Mia, though she lies and betrays friends in order to get to that point. Powley and Ross both give committed performances, though.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Slotherhouse
Student Emily Young (Lisa Ambalavanar) adopts a pet three-toed sloth named Alpha with the goal of using it to gain votes to become head of the her sorority. The pet is loved by all apart from the bitchy current president, Brianna (Sydney Craven), until it begins to kill the sorority girls one by one. I was hoping that this would be more campy fun than it is. Admittedly, some of the kills are good, but the shoddy animatronic sloth is hard to watch, and spoilt rich girl Emily is pretty unlikable, so I was not rooting for her!
Rating: 4.5 out of 10