#FF21 Walk Away Joe is about a kid who wants to follow in his dad's footsteps as a pool hustler.

It's pretty forgettable. The story is full of beats we've seen before, none of it quite fitting together; with a fairly slow pace.

Fine visually, just not interesting.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 The Best Of Enemies is the fascinating story of bringing together a Black community with white supremacists to figure out a way forward.

Rockwell and Henson are both great, always bringing humanity to their roles.

Good subject, well told.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 Black Bear sees Aubrey Plaza at her very best.

A stunning, dizzying film of two halves, full of bubbling arguments, dark humour, and an interesting conceit. Absolutely masterful camera work too.

I don't want to say too much but this is a must see film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 Money Plane is as terrible as the concept: a bet-on-anything casino plane being robbed.

The plot is stupid, the dialogue is bad, the execution poor, and the action as flat as it gets.

Nothing here works. Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 The Courier is an intriguing spy thriller, with Benedict Cumberbatch as a business pulled into the cold war.

A solid cast take us through a world of slow tradecraft, that ends with the Bay of Pigs.

The ending drags a little, but worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 New Order is a stark warning against increasing class/wealth inequality and abuses of authoritarian violence.

Every shot is beautiful or gripping, layering unease and trauma onto a turbulent situation. The film forces us to keep watching as the horror unfolds.

Excellent

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 Free Guy is as tiresome as it is poorly written. A bunch of handwavey tech words to motivate the plot and cover holes doesn't make for a satisfying story.

The action feels empty, the story is boring, it's a bit too long, and it's not particularly funny.

Disappointing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 I Used To Go Here is a fine light comedy about a writer going back to college for a reading, inevitably getting caught up in some hijinks.

It's never laugh-out-loud funny, but there's enough here to keep watching.

Decent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 16, 2021

#FF21 Beckett is a slow-burn thriller. John David Washington is good as the lead, stumbling into a mystery/conspiracy far bigger than he can imagine.

Well-paced and shot, it pulls us through his understanding of events well.

Solid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 29, 2021

#FF21 The Green Knight is an Arthurian tale, told in a dream-like way.

Dev Patel is excellent as the lead, a would-be Knight whose brashness costs him everything. Mythic imagery and storytelling combine for a stunning set of encounters on his quest.

Excellent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 29, 2021

#FF21 Another Round is about losing confidence and trying to regain who you were in youth, through the story of teachers maintaining a low-level of blood alcohol.

Joyful and sad, tragic and triumphant, an interesting take on the story of middle-age.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 29, 2021

#FF21 The Vault is a silly action/heist film that draws comparisons with the better (and trashier) Money Heist.

It's competent enough, but there's nothing here that isn't predictable, from the sudden moments of inspiration to the inevitable betrayals.

Fine but forgettable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 29, 2021

#FF21 The Nest is a claustrophobic drama, shot as horror.

Law is excellent as the self-aggrandising narcissist, but it's Carrie Coon who steals the show with a mixture of big and very small performances, as the uprooted family fall apart.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 29, 2021

#FF21 Freaky is an okay body-switch horror/comedy.

Vince Vaughn absolutely nails his performance, as a teenage girl stuck in a serial killer body.

Everything else feels a bit by-numbers, and looks a little cheap.

Easy watching, but not great.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#FF21 Minari is an excellent film, about struggling to better your life, and failing to communicate with your partner.

Stuffed with so many good performances, Yuen stepping out is even more of an achievement.

Beautiful, thoughtful, sad, desperate, and joyful.

A masterpiece.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#FF21 The Tomorrow War is terrible.

Poor effects, generic art direction, tealy-orange grading, bad acting (except Strahovski and Simmons), muddled action sequences, no narrative coherence, cliched motivations. I could go on.

There is little redeemable here. Avoid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#FF21 Body Brokers is a decent story about the business of addiction treatment in the US; and how its not always set-up to help.

Overbearing narration aside, the film works well: good performances, clear plot, maybe a little obvious.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 11, 2021

#FF21 Honest Thief is yet another entirely forgettable bit of Liam Neeson fodder.

Clearly made on a budget, with bland action, a nonsense plot, and the constant reminder that character quirks are not characterisation.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 11, 2021

#FF21 Black Widow is pretty uneven.

For every decent action sequence there’s one with janky editing or CG, for every good performance there’s a bad accent, funny moments meet tonal mismatches.

Plot is a mess. A mid-lower tier Marvel, for sure.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 11, 2021

#FF21 Clemency is a powerful look at the death penalty and the toll it takes on the humanity of all involved parties.

The lead performances from Woodard and Hodge are stunning. Direction and pacing pull you through a difficult situation.

Affecting, powerful, tragic. Must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 1, 2021

#FF21 First Cow is a fairly unique film.

Slow, and gentle; initially about friendship in a fairly uncaring frontier. It shifts slowly into something else, where risks are taken because it's the only way out.

Restrained, quiet, and intriguing. Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 1, 2021

#FF21 Gunpowder Milkshake does better than most knock-offs at capturing the essence of John Wick.

The action is decent and clearly shot, though not as polished. It's in the world building it does best, with clear stakes; all shot through with saturated neon colours.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 1, 2021

#FF21 The Suicide Squad is certainly an improvement on Suicide Squad.

Less dour, with some of DCs weirder characters left to be unashamedly different. Fairly funny for the most part. Some of the action works, some doesn't, and the pacing struggles towards the end.

Fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 1, 2021

#FF21 The Father is an excellent film.

The performances are all great, but Hopkins going between charming, and confused, and angry in a moment is something to behold.

The narrative arc holds together, the set design is fantastic, and the cinematogrpahy is beautiful.

Must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 20, 2021

#FF21 Shiva Baby is a dark, personal comedy, focussing on an uncomfortable situation at a shiva.

What could descend into farce is carefully managed, drawing humour from the awkward rather than the ridiculous.

Well shot and performed, a solid directorial debut.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 20, 2021

#FF21 Awake is about a collapsing society due to people not being able to sleep.

It rushes the start of the strange behaviour, but long takes in clearly controlled spaces make for well done action sequences.w

Predictable but fun. Solid late-night fodder.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 20, 2021

#FF21 Mogul Mowgli sees Riz Ahmed as a rapper, who becomes increasingly ill on the verge of his break.

The tone and visuals shift from grounded to surreal to poetic; through an exploration of identity, memory, and family.

Strong lead performance, and direction.

Must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#FF21 Little Joe is the quiet, calm, horror of slowly losing your identity and reality to something else.

Striking use of colour and framing play against very understated performances, and cold characters.

A little slow but worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#FF21 A Quiet Place Part 2 is... fine.

It doesn't add anything new to the world of the first film. It's a bunch of set pieces tied together in a reasonable enough way; and some of those work better than others.

An okay, brief, popcorn movie.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#FF21 Parallel is pretty standard time-travel/multiverse fare. The characters set out to exploit their new ability, learning that their actions have serious consequences.

While some of the effects are janky, the film is competent but not exceptional.

Worth a late night view.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 4, 2021

#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

#FF21 Concrete Cowboy makes a decent job of well-worn material (troubled teen sent to live in fish out of water place).

There are some threads that are very underdeveloped that should've been excised, but the main thrust is fine.

An okay film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 4, 2021

#FF21 Chaos Walking is a bit of a mess. There really isn't any character development, the action is boring, and the main theme doesn't work particularly well.

There are moments where it looks like they'll do something interesting with the Noise conceit, but nope.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 4, 2021

#FF21 News Of The World is... fine. Hanks is as reliable as always, and the Helena Zengel puts in an excellent performance.

It looks decent enough, it's got some moments, but is entirely predictable. There's absolutely nothing new being offered here.

Okay.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 11, 2021

#FF21 The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things is a fun teen romance about two kids caught in a time loop in their small town.

The leads are charming, the loops work well, and it all builds up to a schmaltzy, predictable, but pleasant ending.

Solid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 11, 2021

#FF21 Run is an okay, if silly and cliched horror.

It's got moments of tension, despite the predictability, and both leads turn in good performances.

Nothing special but not bad. Pretty average.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 18, 2021

#FF21 Promising Young Woman is excellent; snapping between revenge horror and sweet romance.

The music and visuals are great together; sharp, saturated, tightly edited.

But it's the lead performance that sells it.

The very end is too neat, but it doesn't matter. Must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 18, 2021

#FF21 Nobody is an okay, cut-rate John Wick knock-off.

Odenkirk is good, but doesn't get enough to work with. Most of the action isn't on-par with what it's trying to copy, but the pacing keeps thinks moving forward anyway.

Fine but forgettable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 18, 2021

#FF21 Proxima is a slow, deliberate take on motherhood, from the perspective of an astronaut preparing for a year away.

Eva Green handles the mixture of physical and emotional challenge with the evenness expected of her exceptionally well.

A little thin in places, but worth it.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 18, 2021

#FF21 Thunder Force is dull almost from start to finish, which ain't great for a comedy.

It wastes Octavia Spencer throughout, with McCarthy going through twice reheated schtick. Scenes with Bateman as a crab-man are the only ones with laughs.

Avoid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 18, 2021