#FF22 Violent Night tries to make a festive John Wick, and doesn't quite manage.

A fun premise but, despite some enjoyable moments, the action doesn't really work: way too many cuts, and under-lit scenes for it to be slick. Harbour is solid enough.

Okay but largely forgettable

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 4, 2022

#FF22 The Stranger is a slow, unnerving film that slowly lets you in on the horrendous case hidden behind the immediate narrative.

Both Harris and Edgerton are good, as the creepy con and undercover cop. A very slow burn, as we start to understand the scope.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 4, 2022

#FF22 She Said is about the investigative journalists who break the Weinstein story.

It's very straightforward, and fast-paced; constantly moving to the next lead. It focuses, rightly, on the women impacted, including the journalists. Good central performances.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 11, 2022

#FF22 The Infernal Machine is pretty dull and slow.

Pierce is fine as the lead, but he's not given a lot to go on. The twists are either very signposted or absolutely baffling, including the cut-rate Stephen King ending.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 30, 2022

#FF22 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is fun, if lightweight, entertainment.

The entire cast is great, especially Monae and Craig; mostly playing unlikeable, vain people. The structure works well, with some neat twists hidden in plain sight.

Enjoyable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 30, 2022

#FF22 Corsage is a slow but very watchable look at rejecting what's expected of you, while still needing others.

Vicki Krieps is excellent as the lead (an Austrian Empress). The whole thing looks great, with the interesting choice of non-period elements coming through.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 7, 2023

#FF22 It's A Wonderful Binge is genuinely terrible.

Where the first one was stupid but fun, this is just an incoherent mess; none of the main threads really work or come together. Few if any funny moments. Kaitlin Olson is better than this.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 7, 2023

#FF22 White Noise is turgidly slow, and lacks .

It tries an affect somewhere between the Coens and Wes Anderson, failing entirely. The dialogue is read in the same flat way by every character. The few good moments don't save it.

Surprisingly bad, given the cast and director.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 7, 2023

#FF22 Decision To Leave is another masterpiece by Park Chan-wook.

The story and imagery constantly brings us back to the themes (failing love, new love, betrayal etc), showing us everything from fresh perspectives.

Melancholy, but stunningly executed. Will stay with you.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 7, 2023

#FF22 Vengeance follows a self-involved podcaster spending time with a down to Earth family to solve something.

It plays into the fish out of water comedy a little much, but hits in other places. The cast and pacing are solid, and there are nice moments.

Ultimately, good fun.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 6, 2022

#FF22 Clerks III is Kevin Smith's best work in years.

There are places where it's underbaked and pandering (and indulges its meta-ness), but it tells a solid story about friendship and growing up while taking the series back to its roots.

Surprisingly good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 6, 2022

#FF22 Smile is the kind of horror that doesn't work.

It fails because it takes no time to make you empathetic to the main character and has smart people act in very stupid ways. The fake outs are tiresome. There are cheap but admittedly effective jump scares throughout.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 13, 2022

#FF22 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a mixed bag.

Beautiful production design throughout, Namor and his people are standouts. The action is great in places, and muddled in others. Solid plot and themes but Wright is the weakest link in an otherwise very good cast.

Okay.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 13, 2022

#FF22 Pearl is horror at its best: doing something different, confidently, and pulling it off.

It's showy, but it all lands: from the bright production design, the musical moments, the bold camera work. None more so than Mia Goth's jaw droppingly good monologue.

A must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 20, 2022

#FF22 The Menu is dark satire, taking aim at the pretentious world of high-end dining.

Delightful performances throughout (especially Hong Chau's Elsa) accompany a solid story. While it does get predictable towards the end, the journey is good enough.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 20, 2022

#FF22 Confess, Fletch sees John Hamm as the lead in a bit of a shaggy dog story.

The plot itself doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the film is enjoyable enough as a silly, dry comedy with some decent lines and twists.

Pleasant and watchable enough.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) November 20, 2022

#FF22 The Wonder is a smart, mostly quiet film about belief and the stories we tell ourselves.

Pugh is excellent as the steadfast nurse investigating a child who supposedly hasn't eaten in months. Well-paced, if a little obvious, with beautiful moments throughout.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 4, 2022

#FF22 Bones And All is enjoyably gruesome horror.

Shot and setup like a young adult romance, which works to contrast the creepiness of the cannibal subculture.

Doesn't quite nail the ending, but has a lot of great moments along the way, with both leads doing a solid job.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 4, 2022

#FF22 Watcher fails to amount to much of anything.

The lonely, isolated woman who might be imagining things has been done to death, with nothing new offered here. Slow, and unoriginal.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) December 4, 2022

#FF22 Don't Worry Darling is an entertaining mess of a film.

The production design and general look of the film is top notch, with real Bioshock vibes. Florence Pugh, too, is excellent. The twist is predictable, but aspects of it are eye-rollingly bad.

Good enough, but light.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 2, 2022

#FF22 Hatching is a fun, if at sometimes, silly horror.

A young, Finnish girl rescues a motherless egg, and in the process creates something creepy. The performances and pacing are solid, but there's very little subtext here; everything is pretty clear.

Good enough.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 The Woman King is an excellent, historical action film, with a great cast.

One light romantic subplot aside, the various threads all work well. The film fleshes out its characters fully, beyond just being incredibly tough women. Looks fantastic too.

Great action film.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 Luckiest Girl Alive is a bit of mess.

It jumps into heavy-handed narration, that tells rather than shows, and has some very out of place moments. There are a few scenes with appropriate weight, but they're the exception. Tonally all over the place.

Fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 No Exit knows what it is: a lightweight, low-runtime, strangers in a cabin horror-thriller. On that level, it works.

The film won't surprise you much, the strokes being used here are broad, but it does its thing well. There are a handful of well-done gruesome moments.

Ok

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 Amsterdam is a mess on all levels.

An incredible cast who are tonally in different films; a meandering plot with leaden pacing; showy direction that distracts; horrible structure with intermittent narration; and wildly unnatural dialogue.

Some funny lines, but pretty bad.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 16, 2022

#FF22 The Banshees Of Inisherin is a bleak, black comedy in the vein of McDonagh's other works.

The performances here work well, espcially Farrell's nice but dim farmer and Gleeson's dour and uptight musician. Some difficult moments punctuated with real laughs.

Well executed.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 Emily The Criminal sees Aubrey Plaza go from petty criminal to something bigger, as her circumstances (and attitude) force her towards wider confrontation.

Fun, clear plotting, and a solid cast make this a relatively easy to watch drama.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 The Innocents is a Scandinavian horror about some very young kids with difficulties, who gain growing powers.

There are some very difficult to watch scenes in here and the last act drags, but there's a creeping dread throughout that makes this compelling.

Decent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 Barbarian is about a woman who finds her AirBnB is already occupied but quickly realises that's not her biggest problem.

The pacing here is excellent with several switches in context as we learn more about what's happening. Fantastic direction.

An excellent, modern horror

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 30, 2022

#FF22 Rogue Agent starts with the worst kind of narration; all tell and now show.

It picks up significantly, as it moves into the main story of a charismatic con man. Arterton is excellent, as usual, and Norton makes the whole thing work.

Well paced, clear stakes, worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 10, 2022

#FF22 Three Thousand Years Of Longing is intriguingly small, yet expansive.

Set mostly in a room with an academic and a Djinn going back and forward, hearing stories that might be true or a trick. Swinton and Elba lack chemistry, but it doesn't matter.

Enjoyable, but flawed.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 10, 2022

#FF22 The Forgiven doesn't linger long on its precipitating event, quickly going to considerations and consequences.

The cast is strong, split between the cartoonishly rich and grounded poverty; the film builds on the juxtaposition.

Dark humour, drama, and tragedy. Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 10, 2022

#FF22 Fall is an okay story of two women being stuck 2000ft up a TV tower.

It doesn't earn its twists (which are telegraphed) and the budget shows through at times, but it does it's job of making you jump at just the right moment.

Okay, but lightweight.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 10, 2022

#FF22 Bodies Bodies Bodies is a tight little slasher, that encapsulates the Werewolf/Among Us experience well.

Maybe a little predictable but fun. Doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

Perfect popcorn fodder.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 11, 2022

#FF22 See How They Run tries to spoof Agatha Christie, but comes across as a little self-satisfied.

It all feels underwritten, with a great cast delivering lines flatly; failing to find the comedy in the farce. The structure and callbacks are painfully obvious.

Forgettable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 24, 2022

#FF22 Funny Pages sees a young cartoonist, obsessed with the likes of Robert Crumb, devolve his life into the kind of low-life world he sees in comics.

Like a Solondz film but without the bite, the plot sprawls but rarely progresses. A little twisted and funny, but also hollow.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) September 24, 2022

#FF22 Crimes Of The Future is Cronenberg returning to his body horror roots, with an eco-tinged story of squirming surgery as art.

Solid leads, but the story is muddled and meandering, with languid pacing.

Disturbing in places, leering in others. Uncomfortable, as is the point.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 2, 2022

#FF22 I Came By is a horror thriller, billed as a home invasion but is actually something... different.

The four leads are excellent, taking their turn in the spotlight as the plot twists, and twist it does. It never quite works out how you expect; a rare thing these days.

Good

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) October 2, 2022

#FF22 Bullet Train is a fine if somewhat forgettable entry into the overstylized action genre.

People have codenames that appear onscreen, we jump around the timeline, the dialogue is snappy: you've seen this before.

Entertaining enough action. Generally fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 7, 2022

#FF22 Prey is an excellent entry in the Predator franchise.

Beautifully shot, well-paced, tense, brutal action. Midthunder is fantastic as the lead, bringing tenacity and vulnerability to the role.

Original and exciting, while bringing back the ethos of the original.

Must see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 7, 2022

#FF22 Nope defies neat explanations and simple categorisation.

The cast are strong and it looks great, with the main action being clear and focussed. That recurring sequence in the TV studio is superbly tense. The message is harder to extract.

Enjoyable, but not straightforward

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 20, 2022

#FF22 Day Shift starts with a solid, quiet action scene that sets the world up neatly...

...and quickly devolves. While the action remains decent, the plot is nonsense and most of the characters don't make sense; world-stuffing the film for a franchise.

Forgettably entertaining

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) August 21, 2022