It is time for a round up of new films seen on streaming services other than Netflix, this month.
Starting with Amazon Prime:
Midas Man
Jacob Fortune-Lloyd stars as The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein in this music biopic. It charts his rise from humble beginnings to looking after the biggest band in the world but also his personal struggles. This is solid enough, and it benefits from having Emily Watson and Eddie Marsan play Brian’s parents. But it is noticeable how much more interesting the film is when The Beatles are on screen.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Bleeding Love
Emma Westenberg’s directs this drama starring real life father and daughter Ewan and Clara McGregor who are also playing those same roles on screen. Although their relationship is strained, he agrees to drive her cross country to rehab after she overdoses. Road trip movies are quite common and I cannot claim that any new ground is covered. However, the harsh realities of addiction are not shirked and Ewan McGregor is particularly impressive.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Brothers
Reformed criminal, Moke Munger, (Josh Brolin) attempt at going straight is derailed when he reunites with his irritating twin brother, Jady, (Peter Dinklage) on a cross-country road trip for the score of a lifetime. So, yet another road trip movie, and they can still be enjoyable but this just felt like everyone was trying to be hard to be zany but instead the film just grates.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Control
Despite twice being acquitted of sexual assault allegations, Kevin Spacey still seems like a disgraced figure who will not get any more high profile work. He appears in voice only in this low budget British movie that has not even an entry on IMDB. . He remotely hijacks the car of the British Home Secretary Stella Simmons (Lauren Metcalfe) when she drives home one night. Stella is having an affair with the Prime Minister David Addams (Mark Hampton) and her indiscretion is about to cost her dearly. Metcalfe is pretty convincing and, despite most of the action taking place in her car, it is compelling enough. Nowhere near as well written as the similarly staged Locke though.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Breathe
After a global catastrophe, Earth is devoid of plants and global oxygen levels have dropped to 5%. Instead of communicating properly and working together, the survivors create artificial conflict and fight for an “oxygen generator”, killing each other and destroying the machine. There is quite a high level cast, including Jennifer Hudson, Milla Jovovich, Quvenzhané Wallis, Common, and Sam Worthington but none of them impress particularly and the story drags.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Killer Heat
Philippe Lacôte directs this adaptation, by Roberto Bentivegna and Matt Charman, of a Jo Nesbø’s short story. It has a cracking cast, most notably Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden. On a remote Greek island, twin brothers (both Madden) are caught in a violent love triangle. A troubled detective, Nick Bali (Gordon-Levitt), is brought in to investigate the case. This is a moody, twisty, noir in the Greek sunshine with Gordon-Levitt well cast as the damaged investigator and the brilliant Woodley excelling in what initially seems to be a thin role. A slow burn but worth it.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
House of Spoils
A chef (Ariana DeBose) opens her first restaurant where she battles kitchen chaos, a dubious investor, crushing self-doubts and the powerful spirit of the estate’s previous owner who threatens to sabotage her at every turn. I feel that there have been too many films about chefs in recent years, though this slow building horror certainly takes a different tack. DeBose is good but it falls apart towards the end.
Rating: 5 out of 10
A Killer’s Memory
Michael Keaton directs and stars in this neo-noir about a hit man suffering from dementia who has to clear up a mess created by his son (James Marsden). I was immediately reminded of the Russell Crowe vehicle, Sleeping Dogs from earlier this year but this is nowhere near as good as the pace is very slow.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Over on Sky Movies, subscribers can see:
Hounds of War
Frank Grillo, Robert Patrick and Rhona Mitra star as elite mercenaries known as ‘The Hounds’. They are sent on a final mission by their creator: a carefully planned trap set up to destroy them. Grillo seems to star in endless straight to streaming action flicks, and whilst he is a dependable presence, the films are rarely memorable. This is purely by the numbers stuff.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Swede Caroline
In this British mockumentary, the giant vegetable growing community is scandalised when a competitor’s marrows are stolen. Despite a lot of talent in front of the camera, I think I am done with this tired genre. Painful and quite boring.
Rating: 3 out of 10
The Radleys
Peter and Helen Radley (Damian Lewis and Kelly Macdonald) are a seemingly normal suburban couple. They have concealed from their two kids that they are vampires in recovery, but a shocking event is about to result in their secret being becoming known. This is nowhere near as much fun as it could have been, raising only a few sniggers and is not scary at all. It felt confused about which parts of vampiric lore it was using and, despite good work from Lewis – who also plays his twin brother – and Macdonald, it is very humdrum.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Black Dog
Two teenage boys from very different London backgrounds embark on a road trip North together. As they start to open up about their pasts, the boys learn they have far more in common than they first thought. Amongst a glut of road trip movies, this struggles for originality but it stands out thanks for the fresh lead performances from Keenan Munn-Francis and Jamie Flatters, who co wrote the story. Ruby Stokes, who was so good in Rocks a few years ago, has a small part in an impressive supporting cast.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Caddo Lake
When an 8-year-old girl mysteriously vanishes, a series of past deaths and disappearances start to link together, forever altering a broken family’s history. This is a genre bending story that starts out as a straight drama, appears that it may stray into horror but ends up a science fiction. Watchable and ambitious but it does not really hold up.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Don’t Tell Mum, the Babysitter’s Dead
In this remake of the enjoyable 1991 comedy of the same name, Simone Joy Jones stars as Tanya, a teenage girl who takes care of her siblings after their strict babysitter dies in her sleep while their mother is away. To do that she gets a job at a fashion company. Whilst not terrible, there are precious few laughs and Jones is no Christina Applegate.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
The following can be rented on the usual services:
The Nature of Love
University professor Sophia (Magalie Lépine-Blondeau) has a comfortable life and a stable but unexciting marriage to Xavier (Francis-William Rhéaume). That is upended when she meets and is attracted to Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), a construction contractor whom the couple hires to renovate their summer home. This was released to pretty great acclaim earlier this year, but I found Sophia to be annoying and the fussy direction by Monia Chokri very off-putting.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Vindication Swim
In 1927 Mercedes Gleitze (Kirsten Callaghan) had a goal of becoming the first British woman to swim the English Channel. As well as the cold waters of the sea, she has to overcome the patriarchal attitudes of 1920s England and an unprincipled rival swimmer. A year ago, I don’t think I had seen a film about a long distance swimmer but in the last 12 months, we have had Nyad, The Young Woman and the Sea and now this, which works as a nice sequel to the latter as it starts from when Gertrude Ederle completes her crossing. It lacks the polish of that American movie, with its low budget all to evident at times. The swimming sequences are well shot though and Callaghan, in her debut role that involved months of training, is impressive both out of and in the water.
Rating: 6 out of 10
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Instead of a complete re-tread of the Dracula story, writers Bragi F. Schut Jr. and Zak Olkewicz have adapted ‘The Captain’s Log’, a chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. It follows the doomed crew of the merchant ship Demeter who attempt to survive the treacherous ocean voyage from Transylvania to London while being stalked by the legendary vampire Dracula (Javier Botet).
This was a huge flop on release in America so it bypassed the cinemas here. That is a shame as the claustrophobic atmosphere would work best in that environment. Also, as so much of the action inevitably takes place at night on a dimly lit boat, it would also be a better viewing experience in a darkened auditorium. Having said that, this is still a cut above most horror films released this year, with its excellent production design, decent script and a different take on a familiar story.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Evil Does Not Exist
Ryusuke Hamaguchi who was Oscar nominated for both writing and directing Drive My Car, returns with this new drama. Widower Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) lives with his young daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa) in the peaceful village of Mizubiki, where they and the other residents are confronted with greedy developers who want to build a glamping site. This is an intriguing film that will probably improve the more I think about it. We never fully get to know Takumi or his motivations, which adds to the air of mystery, as does Eiko Ishibashi’s haunting score and Yoshio Kitagawa’s lensing of the mist shrouded forest scenes. A scene depicting a town meeting is superb. The ending will be divisive but I liked how it provided more questions than answers.
Rating: 8 out of 10
I.S.S.
Three NASA astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts work together harmoniously on the International Space Station, until they receive news that their two countries are at war, with nuclear missiles launched. Both sets of astronauts receive orders to take the ship using any means necessary. This is a great idea for a film and it unfolds in an unexpected way. I could have done with more backstory to flesh out the characters though.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Tuesday
In Daina O. Pusić’s directorial debut, people about to die are visited by a sinister parrot who takes them through their last moments. When terminally ill 15 year old Tuesday (Lola Petticrew) meets the bird, her mother, Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to prevent it completing its task. I was drawn to the film by the two leads, both of whom are excellent, and I also found the first half novel and amusing. But it falls apart somewhat in the messy second half that feels too drawn out.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
On Paramount Plus:
Apartment 7a
Directed by Natalie Erika James from a screenplay she co-wrote with Christian White and Skylar James, Apartment 7a is a prequel to the 1968 classic Rosemary’s Baby. It is set in New York in 1965 where ambitious but broke dancer Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner) is taken in by Mr and Mrs Castevets (Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally). Her luck seems to changing but the couple have a nefarious agenda. I have not seen Rosemary’s Baby in ages, so I cannot comment on the complaints about the inconsistencies between the two films, but even as a standalone effort, this is a mess. Garner has proved to be a fine performer in the past but she struggles here, especially with the musical numbers that bring an already ponderous film to a halt. Nice period detail but no scares.
Rating: 4 out of 10
On My 5:
Behind Her Smile
Morgan Bradley stars as a woman who hires a life coach because she is struggling to cope with life’s demands. Little does she know that the coach is not what she seems. This takes quite a while to get going and Bradley’s denseness is very frustrating.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Our Mother’s Secret Affair
Diana Parker (Ashley Leggat) learns that a home intruder is her biological daughter, given up for adoption years ago. However, they soon discover that someone will do anything to stop the family reunion, including murder. This has one of the weakest casts I have seen in a while playing far too many characters and I soon totally lost interest.
Rating: 2.5 of 10
Finally, these are doing the rounds on Movies 24:
Falling Together
Natalie (Ashley Williams) tries to bring feuding neighbour’s together in her new condo building. Her unexpected ally is the building’s caretaker (Paul Campbell) who prefers to avoid getting involved. For a Hallmark movie, this has an novel plot and Williams and Campbell make a winning couple. But it is hard to understand why a grown woman would be so needy and the ending is overly sentimental.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
The Real West
A family vacation to a working ranch enables Rebecca (Kimberley Sustad) to meet a handsome single cowboy Jake (Lucas Bryant). Unlike Falling Together, this sticks resolutely to a formula with no cliché spared.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10