Film Fight 2021: May

#FF21 Nomadland is a masterpiece of a film.

The quiet, determined acceptance of a new life in McDormand's performance, the (real) people she meets stories interwoven into the narrative, stunning shot after stunning shot. It's a slice of reality and a slice of art.

Excellent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 12, 2021

#FF21 Stowaway is fine space fodder.

The central performances are all good, and the visuals match expectations. It doesn't do much that's new: if you've seen a space disaster film, you've seen much of this.

Enjoyable, but not novel.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 12, 2021

#FF21 The Mauritanian sees a legal battle around the first trials at Guantanamo.

Cumberbatch and Foster aptly play the rival lawyers in a "Did he do it case?" that devolves into legal principle.

A little dry in places, but decent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 12, 2021

#FF21 Cherry is a story that could apply to many with few prospects: from the army into medication into drug abuse.

Stylish but humanising, with flurries of flights of fancy grounded by deeds. Lots of neat shots keep the visual interest up, but distract a little.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 12, 2021

#FF21 Mortal Kombat is a mess of a film.

Outside of a few comically gruesome moments, nothing works. It's poorly acted and expositional. Most of the fights don't work, and many of the effects are laughably bad.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 12, 2021

#FF21 Sound of Metal is a difficult film about getting to be comfortable with yourself.

The sound design and subtitles work well: excluding you when the lead is, and pulling you in later.

Riz Ahmed is fantastic, playing the part with justified anger, and self pity.

Must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 12, 2021

#FF21 Boss Level is a silly, time-loop-set action movie. It's over the top, not particularly clever, but quite fun in places.

Some of the set-pieces work quite nicely, but the cast is a bit overstuffed. Fewer characters would have been better.

Not great but it is entertaining.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 15, 2021

#FF21 Without Remorse is what you'd expect from a Clancy action film: vague politics, a wronged hero, and a bad guy with a motive that doesn't really make sense.

The action sequences, particularly the apartment building shoot-out, are very well done but that's about it.

Meh.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 15, 2021

#FF21 The Woman In The Window isn't a subtle film: from the plot to the edits to the camera angles, this is pure Hitchcock.

A melodrama about isolation, mental health, and murder, it's both brilliant and ridiculous. Adams and Oldman take some big swings; fun to watch.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 15, 2021

#FF21 Shirley is a fairly slow burn drama, with some great moments.

Elisabeth Moss is excellent, as always, and the rest of the cast do well to keep up. Everything behind the camera is fine too. It flounders with pacing: a bit languid, with few surprises in the plot.

Solid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 6, 2021

#FF21 Oxygen is a good sci-fi thriller. A woman wakes in a medical pod that is losing air, with only an AI to help her try to figure out how to survive.

Great lead performance. You'll see much of what happens coming, but there's always something else right behind it.

Worth it.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 6, 2021

#FF21 Army Of The Dead is pretty bad.

I'll happily suspend much disbelief for action films, but basically nothing in this film is coherent. A mess of bad dialogue, terrible plot, muddled visuals, bad music cues, and poorly done action.

A failure on every level.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 6, 2021