Turns out life got in the way and I’m now almost a year behind in Film Fights. Oh well. June 2025 has 9 films.
Mountainhead
Mountainhead is a well-pitched, barely satirical look at a group of narcissistic tech bros taking over the world. While the characters are a little shallow, given both their nature and the runtime, they serve the story well - as they blunder through geopolitics.
The cast is strong, with Steve Carell a slight standout. Funny, worryingly prescient, and terrifying. Worth seeing.
Sinners
The world of Sinners is bathed in music and blood, an affecting horror story about family and ties to tradition.
Twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) open a backwater bar in deep South, and are soon visited by multiple unwanted guests. The film revels in its soundtrack as much as it does gore, with extended musical sequences a welcome distraction from the brewing horror.
Very good.
The Amateur
In The Amateur Rami Malek plays an analyst turned agent after something unfortunate happens to his wife. The film doesn’t quite live up to the threat it tries to portray. Malek, even after training, isn’t credible as a vengeful agent, and the movie fails to reflect his words in his actions.
Fine, but forgettable (in that I have now forgotten significant portions).
Ballerina
Or to use it’s full name From The World of John Wick: Ballerina.
Ana de Armas is sufficiently engaging as the titular ballerina, from one of the Wick franchise’s crime families. The plot itself is nonsense, leaning heavily on the Wick name to keep it propped up, and at a little over 2 hours feels very long.
The action, however, is very good. The flamethrower battle in the last act is pretty incredible by itself.
Worth seeing.
The Accountant 2
I don’t think we needed a sequel, but The Accountant 2 turned up anyway.
Given I was between indifferent and bored by the original on first viewing, I wasn’t expecting much here, but I was entertained. There are day’s I’d roll my eyes at how utterly stupid this film is, but it hit the spot on the night I watched it.
Some good action, nonsense plot, but fun.
(I also rewatched the original shortly after and found it a bit more enjoyable second time.)
Good Night And Good Luck
Clooney’s live version of Good Night, and Good Luck is something of a marvel. It adapts the source material for the stage, pinging between scenes and locations at breakneck speed, and captures it as a movie.
It does have the feel of being compressed for the medium: characters and moments don’t get time to breathe.
Okay.
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Silly, bloody, messy: Final Destination: Bloodlines takes a revival tour around the franchise and does something big. It has spectacular set pieces, over the top gore, and stays just on the right side of ridiculous.
This was a lot of fun, even if the final scenes did feel forced.
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson isn’t for everyone, but I’m not convinced that even the most arden fans will love The Phoenician Scheme. Sure, I laughed at certain moments, but the whole thing felt tired. No real driving forced, nothing new. We’ve seen this movie several times before, and far better.
Meh.
28 Years Later
A return to the fast zombie franchise, 28 Years Later moves us forward to a Britain that has been isolated by the world, as the Rage virus continues to mutate. The world building works well: isolation, corruption, madness, but with a thematic theme of kindness.
At it’s heart, this is about a son’s love for his mother, and his inability to accept losing her (and not in the way you might think).
Good.
The June Winner
Some very strong contenders this month, but I think Sinners wins for building such a vibrant world