Four films this month in the fight…

First up, Born to be Blue is a moving look at being a life-long addict, when opportunity to break from your recovery presents itself constantly. Ethan Hawke is excellent as Chet Baker, in this biographical look at the jazz musician’s struggles. He disappears into the role more than in any other that I can recall. Sad, beautiful, and striking, this is a must-see movie. Great. (See my Born to be Blue Twitter review)

Star Trek: Beyond is an odd but engaging entry in the new Trek canon. It feels more like a double episode of the show than a big budget blockbuster, but is all the better for it. It feels tight and coherent, rather than full of empty spectacle. The characters are fun without being stupid. While it never astounds, it doesn’t really disappoint either. A resoundingly decent movie. (See my Star Trek Beyond Twitter review)

Rebirth is a dark satire with a dose of paranoid horror, that shades a little light on the self-help movement. While it’s certainly not a masterpiece, Fran Kranz engages as the hapless lead. It never drags or outstays its welcome, and has something to say, even if it’s not yelling. A decent watch. (See my Rebirth Twitter review)

Finally, Ghostbusters is an odd reboot: it wants to be separate from the franchise’s past but takes every opportunity it can to make big pointed references to things it’d be better served forgetting, falling flat on each cameo. Kate McKinnon is excellent as Holtzmann, lighting up the screen every time she appears, and Leslie Jones does well with the material she gets, but McCarthy and Wiig seem fairly rote. An unnecessary film, but entertaining enough. Worth seeing once. (See my Ghostbusters Twitter review)

The winner is Born To Be Blue for Hawke’s absolutely top notch performance, in a touching movie.

A brief month, with only three films in the fight…

First up, The Nice Guys sees Shane Black return to the director’s chair for an offbeat detective, buddy comedy. Russell Crowe’s tough enforcer plays well against Ryan Gosling’s private investigator, who both get a little out of their depth on a missing girl case. There are moments of cliche, but most are confounded by sharp left turns into the unexpected. Fun, light, and entertaining, this is breezy enough to look passed the faults. Worth watching. (See my The Nice Guys Twitter review)

Independence Day: Resurgence is that worst of sequels: one that tries to make connections to a film from 20 years ago, and fails to do anything meaningful beyond making us pine for the days that the original was a blockbuster. The writing is expositional and dull, the characters are flat, and the action is entirely forgettable. There is absolutely no level on which this movie works. Lazy, and best avoided. (See my Independence Day: Resurgence Twitter review)

Finally, The Secret Life of Pets is an animated movie about what pets get up to when their owners are away. The beats of the story (main character is jealous of new character, both get themselves lost, but come together to be friends on the trip home) is straight out of the Pixar book – specifically Toy Story. That said, it’s got enough funny moments to keep the momentum up. Fine. (See my The Secret Life of Pets Twitter review)

As should be obvious, the winner for June is The Nice Guys; decent comedy/drama, challenging detective noir tropes.

Yes, I’ve let Film Fight slide extremely late this year, but I’m aiming to get caught up soon. May has six films in the fight…

First up, Captain America: Civil War is a middle-tier Marvel movie: it’s well-paced, funny, entertaining, dumb action. The set pieces work reasonably well, the writing is snappy, and the new additions show promise. Tom Holland, as Spider-Man, is especially fun to watch. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but that’s not really the point. Worth seeing. (See my Captain America: Civil War Twitter review)

After the surprisingly decent original, Bad Neighbours 2 is a fairly unnecessary sequel. It doesn’t retread too much and does have something to say, but it takes a long time to get going. Go in expecting a passable comedy, and you might enjoy it but it is not exactly a classic. (See my Bad Neighbours 2 Twitter review)

Jeremy Saulnier set a high bar with his previous film, Blue Ruin, so it’s fantastic to see him out do it with the suspenseful Green Room. Punk kids get caught in a bad situation, as they engage in a battle of wits with a neo-nazi leader, played impeccably against type by Patrick Stewart. The writing is measured, clear, and exciting, but this film is not for the feint of heart. Expect to see a fair bit of gore. Excellent. (See my Green Room Twitter review)

Everybody Wants Some sees Richard Linklater return to Dazed & Confused territory, with a light-hearted but not light-weight, coming of age piece. Our protagonist joins a new university on a baseball scholarship, and we see how he tries to fit into a group of big personalities, realising he’s no longer the biggest fish in the pond. Fun, but not silly, with a rare tone. Very good. (See my Everybody Wants Some Twitter review)

Money Monster sees George Clooney cast as a TV financial pundit who gets taken hostage, live on air, after some bad advice. After that we get a fairly shallow but entertaining look at the financial crisis. It’s heavy-handed and obvious, but with enough fun moments to make the time pass. Okay. (See my Money Monster Twitter review)

Finally, Special Correspondents sees Ricky Gervais and Eric Bana as a reporting team sending back sensational reports from a warzone, the problem being that they never actually made it there. It’s a decent premise, but the execution is flat and dull, despite an excellent cast. It feels cheap and amateurish on all levels, from the editing, to the music, and even the look. There are a handful of laughs, but not nearly enough for the 90+ minute runtime. Bad. (See my Special Correspondents Twitter review)

The winner for May is Green Room for it’s excellent writing, style, acting, and tension.

Another very late post, April’s Film Fight features four films.

First up, Midnight Special is a great sci-fi, indie film that manages its world building with defat and care. You’re shown what appears to be a kidnapping, with the layers of why this act is happening being pulled back over the first half of the movie, before the film takes a different turn. The cast is excellent, with Michael Shannon bringing his usual level of intensity to proceedings. The very last scenes are, perhaps, lacking the solidity of the rest, but not so much as to be off-putting. Odd, but tense. Very worth seeing. (See my Midnight Special Twitter review)

The idea of a filmed first-person sequence has been around for a while, but I don’t recall seeing a full-length movie that commits to the idea in the way Hardcore Henry does. Sadly, the film’s striking and sometimes tense set-pieces are lost in mess of camera movement. If first-person is going to work, it’s going to need a lot more image stabilisation to be watchable. That’s before mentioning the awful dude-bro dialogue, some of the worst I’ve seen in a long time. What starts as a good idea quickly becomes unwatchable, for more reasons than the shaky cam. Avoid. (See my Hardcore Henry Twitter review)

Continuing Disney’s quest to remake every one of their cartoons as a live-action film, The Jungle Book surprises with some nice shots and great performances. However, as with so many remakes, they can’t help but cram it full of shoehorned attempts at nostalgia and ill-advised musical cues. Fine, but very unnecessary. (See my The Jungle Book Twitter review)

Finally, Miles Ahead is Don Cheadle’s feature directorial debut, in which he also stars, about the latter days of Miles Davis. Despite what feels like a tight budget, Cheadle delivers a film that looks, sounds and feels the part. The music, editing, and central performance work together to give us an insight into Davis’ genius and downfall. Very good. (See my Miles Ahead Twitter review)

The winner for April is Miles Ahead, for its strong take on the subject matter.

The apologies for late film fights continue as March finally appears in October. Onwards…

First up, Anomalisa is Charlie Kaufman’s follow-up to the excellent Synechdoche, New York. This time, the odd world he has created is filled with puppets in existential crisis. Without saying too much about the film itself, it’s strangely sweet and funny, yet challenging and uncomfortable. It’s a smaller film in many ways to his previous work, but Anomalisa stands up well. Very worth seeing. (See my Anomalisa Twitter review)

10 Cloverfield Lane is the strange thematic sequel to 2008 monster movie, Cloverfield. However, don’t expect more of the same. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a taut psychological thriller that twists and turns as a woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) tries to figure out if she has been kidnapped or saved by a somewhat unhinged man, played brilliantly by John Goodman. The core of the film is the unwitting cat and mouse game between the pair. The last act takes something of a questionable turn, but everything before then is great. (See my 10 Cloverfield Lane Twitter review)

While Marvel are being consistently decent with their MCU films, DC drop the ball with Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Drop it, puncture it, set it on fire, and bury it. It fails on almost every level. The action sequences are almost all flat (the Batman warehouse attack aside), there’s no real threat from the combatants in the title, the plot is truly awful and at a bad pace, there are layers of terrible dream sequences, some clunky exposition setting up future films, bad CG… I could go on, but I won’t. The only highlight is Ben Affleck as Batman. Do not see. (See my Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice Twitter review)

Set in a slightly warped version of the 70s, High-Rise is a brutal and satirical look at class and inequality. Full of dark humour, and elegantly stylish shots, the film shows us a microcosm of Britain in a tower block. Hiddleston is excellent as the lead, a doctor trying to move up in the world. The director does a fine job of walking a line between absurd, brutal and thoughtful. Odd, but very good. (See my High-Rise Twitter review)

Finally, Zootropolis is one of the best kids films in a few years. It’s a little predictable, but it’s both sweet and genuinely funny, and a little clever. Set in a world where predators and prey of the animal kingdom live together, the characters explore issues of race and prejudice with great care; a remarkable achievement given the target audience. Worth seeing. (See my Zootropolis Twitter review)

The winner for March is High-Rise for its dark humour, beautiful shots, and engaging story.