Jeff Baena directs Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza and John C. Reilly in this anachronistic farce involving medieval nuns behaving badly – based in part on The Decameron.

I had high expectations for this. A great cast getting up to surreal, goofy shit in vestments and wimples. Yet the film has one joke – classical plot played out with modern voices and self awareness. The end result is fine to look at but tiring… imagine a 90 minutes long SNL sketch. You can’t, you wouldn’t, no one could. The quality of the comedy actors keeps this from being a collosal waste of an afternoon.

4

Mimi Leder directs Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer and Cailee Spaeny in this biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg – future Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Slick, rote and with any quirk or grit smoothed off to a sheeny polish. Only the very likeable leads and timely subject matter stop this from being utterly forgettable. Shame as Felicity Jones AND Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserve better.

5

Érick Zonca directs Vincent Cassell, Romain Duris and Sandrine Kiberlain in this cop thriller where an alcoholic detective tries to solve the case of a missing teen with blundering aggression.

The clever mystery plot could be from an Ian Rankin or Colin Dexter novel. Cassell engages in some Bad Lieutenant style naughtiness while trying to solve it… getting drunk on duty, fucking suspects, stalking others. Duris keeps you guessing with a creepy flat performance as the neighbour with a suspicious secret. It just never catches fire, while a subplot involving Cassell’s wayward son feels incompetently abandoned.

5

Christopher Landon directs Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard and Phi Vu in this sequel to Happy Death Day where Tree finds herself choosing to reloop to stop a reality altering machine from trapping her in a new existence.

OK… not that the first one was the pinnacle of entertainment but a little bit of the charm is lost here. The horror elements get shunted back into the background, the plot gets lost up its own bum and Rothe is relegated to a mawkish subplot that occupies her screentime while others have fun. It still all is brightly watchable but when you have such a strong comedy lead to play with it seems a shame to shackle her with a whole lotta dead mom moping about.

5

Reginald Hudlin directs Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad and Kate Hudson in this true story where the legendary civil rights lawyer takes on a complex rape / attempted murder case.

A dreary attempt to lionise a historical figure whose successes and victories need no imbellishments. Why this particular court case was chosen is baffling? Thurgood Marshall is relegated to mere supporting character in his own story due to a legal loophole. From the sidelines of the action Boseman is too calm a performer to distract from the other actors around him. And what it all boils down to is another Hollywood film about a woman lying about being raped. And there, gallingly, seems to be far more of those produced than ones where a sexually assaulted woman is believed. A biopic of little merit beyond its solid production values.

3

Dan Gilroy directs Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell and Carmen Ejogo in this legal drama about a Civil Rights backroom lawyer who finds himself thrust into the dog-eat-dog world of coporate legal work.

Acting wise, this is a career high for Denzel. The plot is a little unfocused – it is film more interested in exploring a fascinating central protagonist… his corruption, his ungainlyness in the modern world. If you come with an open mind then the random thriller elements prove a nice if jarring aside in an ambitious, intelligent, adult piece of old school Hollywood moviemaking.

7

Lucia Aniello directs  Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell in this black comedy about a hen party that is ruined by manslaughter.

Not a Rough Night, more like a rough an hour and a half… it just all feels far, far longer. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what went so disastrously wrong here. Weekend at Bernies (of which this owes a massive debt) was just as crass and unsophisticated but kinda got away with it. Very Bad Things, a film that this essentially is a remake of, had even more detestable, unsympathetic characters yet was darkly transgressive in its trampling vindictiveness. The support cast have been great before in similar roles and I would watch Scarlett Johansson changing duvets for two hours if such footage existed. Yet this proves a really grim and grating, unloveable and sloppy farce. One with barely any redeemable features except Kate McKinnon’s unwavering commitment to lean into a rubbish screenplay long after the others around her have given up.

2

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein direct Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams and Jesse Plemmons in this crime comedy where competitive couples find their evening of mystery roleplay unwittingly taken over by a real kidnapping.

A really tight comedy… better than expected. Like the not massively dissimilar Tag, this suffers slightly from the writers caring about the characters “growing” but less time is wasted on such arcs here. More larks than arcs… yay. Bateman and McAdams aren’t the most easily likeable leads (one is a Mean Girl and always will be) but both work to their strengths. Their smugness and self involvement is contrasted nicely with Jesse Plemmons creepily dead eyed neighbour. He, some good cameos and the recklessly sharp dialogue meant that even though I watched this with my earphones on and my wife asleep next to me, I had to suppress a fair few audible laughs.

6

Barry Jenkins directs KiKi Layne, Stephan James and Regina King in the adaptation of James Baldwin’s classic work of literature about young lovers struggling in Harlem.

I read the book as a teenager and although my memories of the plot were vague I do still remember the beauty of the writing and the anger that bubbled furiously within Baldwin’s words. Jenkins does a serviceable if somber job of recreating that mood, aided by James Laxton’s rich cinematography and yearning urgent score by Nicholas Britell. The young leads don’t fully hold our attention in the slower sequences (of which there are many) but an excellent support cast impresses with pitch perfect performances.

7

1. The Shining (1980)

2. Raging Bull (1980)

3. The Elephant Man (1980)

4. Flash Gordon (1980)

5. Breaker Morant (1980)

6. The Fog (1980)

7. Bad Timing (1980)

8. Shogun Assassin (1980)

9. The Big Red One (1980)

10. Stardust Memories (1980)

11. Empire Strikes Back (1980)

12. Alligator (1980)

13. Atlantic City (1980)

14. Babylon (1980)

15. Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

16. My American Uncle (1980)

17. Melvin and Howard (1980)

18. Dressed to Kill (1980)

19. Superman II (1980)

20. The Long Good Friday (1980)