#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

#FF21 Coming 2 America is... fine. It does nothing new or interesting, spending too long falling into the revisiting all of the same characters rather than establish much that is new.

The dated elements are, thankfully, updated here.

A few nice moments, but nothing spectacular.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 7, 2021

#FF21 Moxie is a nice mix of rebelling, getting things a bit wrong, and trying harder. There are moments that are a bit earnest and obvious, and others that hit pretty hard.

It's wrapped in a great soundtrack, is directed with a solid pace, and sets a decent tone.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 21, 2021

#FF21 Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar is surprisingly excellent.

It's tone veers from a little odd to very weird; it reminds me a lot of Anchorman, in the best way.

The cast are excellent, the plot is fine but doesn't matter, and I laughed a lot.

Watch this film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 21, 2021

#FF21 Kajillionaire is an offbeat film about a grifter family, and what they put their daughter through.

Evan Rachel Woods is like you've never seen here before, nailing the socially awkward and downtrodden lead who begins to glimpse a better life.

A little slow, but solid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 21, 2021

#FF21 Dead Pigs appears at first to be a series of vignettes about commercialism in China, but it's not long before the pieces start to interlock.

The direction here is incredible: clear, dynamic, beautifully light, frequently picking slightly longer shots.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 21, 2021

#FF21 Judas And The Black Messiah tells the story of Fred Hampton and Bill O'Neal incredibly.

The lead performances are great; empathetic and tragic at the same time. Looks great too; the opening section had me grinning with some subtle choices.

A must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 21, 2021

#FF21 Fire Will Come is the story of a released arsonist in rural Spain.

It's beautiful, in colour and composition, but also incredibly slow. We don't see his character develop or learn much about him.

I'm fine with an ambiguous ending, but make me care before we get there. Meh

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 28, 2021

#FF21 Bad Trip takes the prank-reality-meets-story concept from Bad Grandpa and applies it to a road trip/romantic comedy.

It's not amazing. There are funny moments, but the reliance on shock and gross-out humour pulls this film down. It's all been done before.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 28, 2021

#FF21 Bacurau is about colonialism and culture, through the lens of The Most Dangerous Game.

Strange, dark, bloody, funny; it shows people trying to live their very different lives, and the encroaching outsiders. Some stunning imagery.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 4, 2021

#FF21 Possessor is an uncomfortable by fantastic film about an assassin who takes over people's bodies.

Body horror is at the core, as the lead starts to lose her mind. It'll make your skin crawl in places, with some sharp twists and deep discomfort.

An excellent watch.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 7, 2021

#FF21 Bliss sees Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek confront the reality of their world, believing it to be a simulation.

Is it? Isn't it? You won't care at all by the end. Poor performances and clanky philosophising don't help an already dull script.

Avoid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 7, 2021

#FF21 Greenland is better than most low-mid budget, VOD fodder. That's not to say it's great.

The middle chunk ("separation") is turgid and predictable, for example.

That said, it's a decent disaster flick: easy, entertaining, silly. Watchable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 15, 2021

#FF21 Malcolm & Marie is what I like in a good performance piece: two very skilled actors chewing the scenery, as characters who you both love and hate.

The stagey monologues are mostly gripping; the presentation clear & crisp; and the flow works well.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 15, 2021

#FF21 The White Tiger sees the rise of a poor man in India to be the driver of a rich family and beyond; showing the abuses inherent in a class system.

The pacing is a little off towards the end, but for the most part the film is darkly funny, a little heartbreaking, and decent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 6, 2021

#FF21 Portrait Of A Lady On Fire was a little disappointing, but not bad, largely due to hype.

It's a gorgeous film throughout, in framing and colour choices. The final scene has an incredible performance, that outshines the rest of the movie.

Slow, a little dull, not for me.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 6, 2021

#FF21 I Care A Lot sees Rosamund Pike but in an incredible performance as the uncaring guardian of vulnerable elderly people she exploits.

While the film is entertaining, I think we're supposed to eventually get on side with her as she stands up to a mob boss. It fails.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 6, 2021

#FF21 Escape From Pretoria is a surprisingly entertaining story about activists attempting a prison escape during apartheid.

It does a great job of pacing, tension, and spatial awareness. You're rarely in doubt as to what is happening and why.

Very watchable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 6, 2021

#FF21 Saint Frances is a film dealing with issues that we don't talk about enough, while deftly not making a big deal about them unless it matters.

It's at times funny, heartbreaking, sombre and joyous.

I don't think there was a single scene that didn't work.

Very good!

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 4, 2021

#FF21 Babyteeth is an incredible yet difficult film about a dying teen and her longing for a relationship with a man whose life is in ruins; captured in moments that are both sad and relatable.

It explores different kinds of vulnerability perfectly.

An excellent but uneasy film

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 4, 2021

#FF21 Rogue City spends its first half as a dull, overwrought action film about corrupt cops and double crosses.

It gets better towards the end, with some decent sequences, but not enough to wade through that terrible first half.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 10, 2021

#FF21 Pieces Of A Woman opens with a stunning, devastating, tearjerking, masterclass of a one-shot, showing a home birth.

It falters after that. Great performances start to serve an uninteresting family drama, rather than the intimate portrait this should have been.

Has moments

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 10, 2021

#FF21 Superintelligence is an entirely forgettable, and laugh-free, comedy about an AI who needs to be convinced to not kill humanity.

The cast are solid, but given absolutely nothing to work with; with several plot points that seem at odds with everything else.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 10, 2021

#FF21 Outside The Wire is a pretty middling action film. The two leads turn in decent performances, but the plot is muddled and the action badly shot; far too cut up to be exciting.

The anti-war message is interesting, but heavy handed.

Forgettable but fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 17, 2021

#FF21 Soul is as incredibly designed and animated as you expect from a top-tier Pixar movie.

The cast, the music, the mood; all great. A fairly minor criticism would be that it feels like the Pixar formula: fantastically executed, great message, but nothing new.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 17, 2021

#FF21 Ham On Rye matches the loose feeling, end-of-school indie (Dazed And Confused) with something quite different.

Playing expectations and anxieties around the importance of these days vs the reality, we see a second half that deftly turns a little dark.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 24, 2021

#FF21 Arkansas wraps its plots up a little too neatly, but is a surprisingly enjoyable, slice-of-life tale of two drug dealers, their mentors, and more.

The tone is a little tongue-in-cheek, some charm, with a more brutal streak mixed in.

Worth your time.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 24, 2021

#FF21 One Night In Miami is a good feature debut: looking at a shared night between Mohammed Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown.

It's stage origins are clear: this is performance-forward, and location-limited. This mostly works, but at times the energy dips.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 31, 2021

#FF21 Synchronic sees Benson/Moorhead work through the daily drudge of life as a paramedic, brotherly friendship, and living with your choices; with a strange twist.

A little dreary, but that's kinda the point. The two leads are solid.

Go in as cold as you can, to enjoy it most

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 31, 2021