I’m very behind on film reviews. Between some challenges in my personal life, a busy work year, and largely exiting social media, I’ve not felt very motivated to write - and I’ve seen fewer films.
That last reason, leaving social media, is an important, practical concern here. For a long time, I’ve posted my reviews on Twitter (and then Mastodon) and used a plugin to pull them into these reviews. I’ve barely used social media for quite some time now, and the few interactions were to push film reviews through what has become and increasingly circuitous route.
No more. I’ve decided that, for now, I’m just putting the reviews directly here, while maintaining the size constraints I originally found appealing. I’ll likely post the blog post links onto social media.
Because I’ve got April 2025 onwards to do, and I don’t want to see this as something I do grudgingly, I’m not going to rush getting caught up. I’m aiming to clear the 2025 reviews by the end of January 2026. We’ll see how much life gets in the way of that.
For April, there are 6 films in the fight.
Black Bag
Black Bag is Steven Soderbergh at his most confident - a spy thriller with an excellent cast, and the requisite twists and turns.
Fassbender and Blanchett lead a cast trying desperately to get one over on each other, or attept to get away with something devious.
Well-paced and fun.
The Brutalist
The Brutalist is an unevenly paced film about an uneven man, who finds himself in oscillating circumstance.
Brody puts in a powerful performance as the architect at the centre of the film, going between quiet and tired, and outright rage in a moment. The runtime isn’t quite warranted, but it’s a good watch nevertheless.
Good.
G20
G20 is more streaming slop from Prime: a high-stakes plot that makes little sense on its face.
Viola Davis does what she can with what she has to work with, but that’s not a lot. The action is weak, the story is silly, and nothing really matters.
Skip.
Death Of A Unicorn
Death Of A Unicorn is a mixed bag. At times funny, nudging towards farce, but at others trying to take itself too seriously; a mistake given how badly it affects the lighter moments and pacing.
The cast are all pretty good, and it’s fairly well stacked, but this is not a movie you’re going to watch again and again. Okay for what it is.
Fine.
Novocaine
Novocaine is at the lighter end of the Taken-inspired, man-with-a-mission action genre that has appeared in recent years.
Quaid plays a man who cannot feel pain, but can be badly hurt, who gets involved in the aftermath of a bank robbery. The action itself is perfectly fine - not many big moments, but what is there works well.
Decent.
Alto Knights
Alto Knights is a meandering gangster film that, perhaps unwisely, puts De Niro in as both leads.
Each of this characters have plot threads that don’t really go anywhere, and sequences that take far too long. Flabby, dull, and disappointing.
Skip.
The April Winner
I’m surprised to say the winner is Black Bag. The Brutalist had a lot going for it, but I can’t imagine watching it again any time soon.