#FF18 Sicario 2: Soldado is a solid, if predictable, action thriller. Where the original was brutal and disorientating, this is fairly straightforward and generic, but moderately well executed.

There’s nothing new here, but it’s decidedly watchable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 3, 2018

#FF18 Tau is a solid b-movie. It looks decent, has a dependable
cast, and only really falls down when it tries to hand wave crucial technological descriptions.

Worth seeing as a decent 90 minute sci-fi horror film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 7, 2018

#FF18 Tag is a light but fun story about a (somewhat) true story.

It’s not going to be a classic but there are enough laughs and the cast are endearing enough as an ensemble, that it’s a solid watch. Enjoy.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 14, 2018

#FF18 How It Ends is a decent enough apocalyptic film. The acting is, at times, a little weak, and one character in particular is terribly written.

That said, the main thrust of the story works well enough to be entertaining. Okay.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 22, 2018

#FF18 Hotel Artemis is a solid, stylised action film. The dialogue is sometimes expositional, but the world-building is interesting enough.

The cold open, in particular, is pretty effective at getting the film going, and there’s little fat in the runtime. Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 22, 2018

#FF18 The First Purge delves into the series past to show how the whole mess came about.

It’s messy, a bit incoherent, with some awful lines and some poor acting. Decent enough action and some heavy-handed political commentary. If you’ve seen the others, you know what to expect.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 26, 2018

#FF18 The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter is about a somewhat famed hunter passing on his legacy to his uninterested kid. The premise is reasonable, but the execution is crude and one-note.

Despite a decent cast, it never really manages any big laughs. Meh.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 29, 2018

#FF18 Mission Impossible: Fallout continues the (recent) franchise’s impeccable stunt record, with some excellent set pieces and decent fight choreography.

You’ll see the twists coming, and be a little bored between the action, but it’s another solid film in the series. Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 29, 2018

#FF18 Calibre is a good psychological horror. Through each turn, the tension ratchets up a little more. Well-shot, decent performances, and a good story. Definitely worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 30, 2018

#FF18 Extinction tries to hit above its weight and fails. Michael Pena does a decent job, but isn’t given a lot to work with. The twists fail to connect because we don’t care about the characters. The action is lacklustre, at best.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Missable

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 30, 2018

#FF18 Life of the Party is a dull slog. Melissa McCarthy doesn’t manage to make many of the jokes work, the editing is a mess, the music choices are poor, none of the characters are developed (even using a low bar for comedies).

It’s not one of her best. Avoid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 10, 2018

#FF18 Cargo is an at times difficult to watch movie in the zombie genre. There are some unique ideas here that make it feel fresh, not focussing on jump scares. It rarely feels constrained by budget, it has clear stakes, and it looks great.

A genuinely worthwhile watch.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 10, 2018

#FF18 Super Troopers 2 is a disappointment. The premise doesn’t work, the jokes don’t land (especially the retreads from the original), and it relies heavily on a handful of yawn-worthy cliches.

I don’t know if it was rushed or underfunded, but it doesn’t work. Shame.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 17, 2018

#FF18 Kodachrome has a solid cast in Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olson, and Ed Harris; delivering good performances.

The pacing works well, even when the emotional turns are a little predictable. An enjoyable, pleasant movie for some easy viewing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 1, 2018

#FF18 Avengers: Infinity War is the densely packed movie we’ve come to expect.

The middle drags a little but given the number of characters and plot strands, it does pretty well keeping things interesting. Satisfying action, decent humour, fun and weighty moments. Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 6, 2018

#FF18 Pickpockets is a fun mix of crime and action. The plot feels a little convoluted in places but is, on the whole, interesting enough. Watchable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 14, 2018

#FF18 Axis packs a lot of good, dramatic dialogue into a fairly short ride. It looks the part, given the constrained context, but does start to feel a little contrived that so much happens together. The final scene, especially, is dumb.

That said, I enjoyed most of it.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 28, 2018

#FF18 Deadpool 2 is a pretty decent sequel. It retreads a few too many jokes, but also does a bunch of new stuff. The premise is less fresh, but has a better story. The wider cast allows a few biggers bits.

Pretty good for the premise.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 28, 2018

#FF18 Solo: A Star Wars Story is a bit odd. It’s definitely too long, with too many dull “twists”. The pacing is way off, and there’s a tonne of fan-baiting (that doesn’t work).

Some of the characters are interesting and the action sequences are fine. It’s all a bit okay. Meh.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 28, 2018

#FF18 Proud Mary is fine. Yes, the plot is cliched and the dialogue gets a bit cheesy towards the end. There’s not much here you haven’t seen before, and the budget is showing.

But, it’s still fine. Some of the action works well. The acting is decent. It’s okay.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 3, 2018

#FF18 A Quiet Place is an exceptional horror film, that builds its world with little exposition. As the scenario unfolds and tension builds, we are always painfully aware of the stakes, all done in near silence.

The sound design is subtle. The camera work is clear. Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 5, 2018

#FF18 Do You Trust This Computer? poses some big questions but is too shallow to really tackle them.

Documentaries of this style (fast-cut talking heads that never dig deep into an issue) are not my thing. I’d prefer my focus and depth. Fine starter, but not much more.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 8, 2018

#FF18 Ghost Stories does an excellent job of building up some tense horror, full of good jump scares. Of the three main stories, Paul Whitehouse’s section is a stand-out.

That said, the framing device fails to deliver more than a cliched ending. Good, but slips in the last act.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 12, 2018

#FF18 6 Balloons is a good movie about dealing with someone you love who has an addiction.

Difficult to watch at times, but compelling. Great acting and dialogue. The final moments are a little much, but that’s a relatively small nit to pick. Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 12, 2018

#FF18 Roxanne Roxanne is a dramatised biopic about the life of Roxanne Shante. It’s a difficult watch due to some of the content, but the performances and direction are excellent.

I don’t want to say much more about it. Just see it. Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 15, 2018

#FF18 Isle of Dogs is everything you’d expect from a Wes Anderson animated film: quirky but deadpan characters, in a weird situation, with his sense of humour shining through the myriad of geometrically arranged shots.

I enjoyed this (less than Fantastic Mr. Fox). Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 15, 2018

#FF18 Thoroughbreds has something going on. It’s hard to describe why it’s so fascinating. The performances and writing are solid. Some of the longer shots are really well done. Weirdly, though, there are a few bits where the focus is off.

A little slow at the end, but good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 17, 2018

#FF18 Sun Dogs doesn’t land it. The characters, setting, and tone don’t cohere into something worthwhile. It looks and feels cheap, with barely fleshed out characters acting to the script, rather than any kind of inner agency.

It’s not awful, but it’s not very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 17, 2018

#FF18 Come Sunday has strong performances, as the leads have various crises of faith. Chiwetel Ejiofor is particularly great as the conflicted pastor at the heart of the story.

It looks interesting enough, and works reasonably as a story. Okay.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 28, 2018

#FF18 I, Tonya is an interesting biopic: the conflicting stories of the involved parties are used to frame the story in a way that works. The main performances are all very good, but the direction really stood out to me: kinetic, assured, full of subtle hooks. Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 4, 2018

#FF18 Ravenous is a French-Canadian zombie film that builds up some tense and brutal moments, littered with some lighter touches.

It’s gorey in places, but also a bit weird. The zombies here are… different. One of the best in the genre in a while. Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 4, 2018

#FF18 Red Sparrow is a surprisingly decent spy thriller. It’s got some creepy characters and brutal moments, but shows the remarkably unsexy side of this kind of espionage.

Slow, measured, and assured, the plot plays out in a satisfying way, but doesn’t quite surprise. Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 4, 2018

#FF18 Game Night is a decent enough comedy, with enough big laughs to hold it after a somewhat quite start.

The cast is solid, but Jesse Plemons steals the show. Worth mentioning the neat (faked) one-shot in the middle too. Watchable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 8, 2018

#FF18 You Were Never Really Here is simultaneously repulsive and compelling; drawing us in with this story about trauma, whilst pushing us away with the results.

The score and audio mix is as disorientating as the choppy editing, reflecting the lead performance. Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 12, 2018

#FF18 The Outsider is cold, beautiful, but brutal.

Leto’s performance is too reserved to be affecting. There’s really nothing new here, plot-wise, but what we get is affecting through it’s precise cutting (not just a metaphor).

Okay, but not outstanding.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 13, 2018

#FF18 Mom and Dad was remarkably dull given the absurd and extreme premise. It doesn’t seem interesting in following through.

There are moments of over-the-top silliness, but these are mired too many badly acted flashbacks. Avoid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 17, 2018

#FF18 Annilhilation has mysteries at its core but its the exploration thereof, rather than the answers, that provide the enjoyment.

It’s a little weird, very pretty, and well put together. Less accessible than Garland’s last film, but enjoyable nevertheless. Watch.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 17, 2018

#FF18 Pacific Rim: Uprising, Boyega aside, has some one-note performances, expositional dialogue, and plot holes aplenty.

The fights are still fun, and there was one bit I didn’t see coming (rare for me, these days). It’s dumb. Not as good as the original. Passable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 24, 2018

#FF18 Ready Player One tries to use nostalgia and frantic things happening, instead of any real plot or character development.

An awful opening hour due to lengthy exposition, a flabby runtime, and one-note villains. It has fun moments but is mostly empty. Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 29, 2018

#FF18 Game Over, Man! is part gross-out comedy, part dumb action comedy. It takes too long to get passed some tiresome stoner-humour, but once it does the blend of action and comedy works surprisingly well.

Far from a classic, decent entertainment when you want something light.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 31, 2018

#FF18 First Match is the story of a girl who decides to take up wrestling to try and reconnect with her father.

It’s a masterclass in telling a story without exposition. Relationships are often conveyed in glances and camera moves.

Subtle, sad, powerful, hard. Very good film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 31, 2018

#FF18 Blockers is, at best, a so-so comedy. The premise and continuation thereof is not so much farcical as flimsy. The kids do a decent job but the adults, who have all done much better, fail to deliver pretty much any laughs here.

Hollow, dull, and done before. Skip this.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 31, 2018

#FF18 Happy Anniversary is a pretty decent indie romcom. There are moments where the perceived slights are a little cliche but, on the whole, it works as a light-hearted relationship critique; with just enough chemistry to work.

Not perfect, but works well in the short runtime.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 31, 2018