#FF22 All The Old Knives is a very solid, mid-budget, spy thriller.

It, rightly, focusses on espionage and intrigue, rather than action. The cast (Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton) do a great job of pulling you into the drama, as the narrative threads shift around.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 7, 2022

#FF22 The Contractor fails to do much interesting with its premise.

The slow and uneven pace don't help with the vague stakes, and predictable plot turns. The action lacks energy; with most sequences feeling very staged. The cast can't do much.

It's not bad, it's very average.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 8, 2022

#FF22 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is fine, if you enjoy Marvel films.

Raimi does a great job of injecting an 80s horror vibe, with a surprising amount of violence for the rating. It's a relative tame take on the multiverse, and not one well-explored

Fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 15, 2022

#FF22 Operation Mincemeat is a historical drama focussing on espionage in WW2.

While it tells the story well enough, it doesn't go into any depth. All of the sharp edges have been sanded down, and a by-numbers romantic subplot bolted on. The cast are fine.

Decent if lightweight

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 15, 2022

#FF22 Everything Everywhere All At Once is the kind of weird, fun sci-fi we need more of.

The cast helps the emotional weight of the story shine through, where it might have been lost to the wacky concepts. The directors are showing off with great nods to world cinema

Excellent

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 15, 2022

#FF22 Jackass 4.5 does largely what you expect. As with the other .5 increments, it's a mix of making-of documentary and unused footage from the main film.

It's fun to see the chaotic thinking behind the scenes, but isn't going to be for everyone.

Fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 12, 2022

#FF22 Emergency plays with its tone well.

It has the setup of a college comedy, with an elaborate drinking quest but quickly it becomes something far more serious, flipping between moods.

Solid performances throughout but the fear/raw emotion in the last act is stunning.

Watch

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) June 12, 2022

#FF22 Titane is a strange film that deserves it's Cronenbergian nods.

A mish-mash of violence and movement makes up a movie concerned with bodies and what they should and should not do; about love, and need. Beyond flat description.

Strange.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 2, 2022

#FF22 Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood brings together a few Linklater tropes pleasantly.

It's an easy going look at a moment in time, with rotoscoped animation making it seem further away. The narration didn't work for me, but the plot progresses nicely enough.

Decent.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 17, 2022

#FF22 The Northman is not a subtle film.

At times mythic and supernatural, at others full of brutality grounded by those excellent one-shots. It's silly, weird, and gripping. Skarsgård is excellent as the ball of rage at the heart of the film.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 17, 2022

#FF22 The Bubble tries to have fun with its premise, but isn't fully cooked.

There are some decent, knowing jokes, but far too few for the runtime. There's not much of a plot, more of a bunch of sequences they wanted in place.

Underwritten, too long, and not much fun. Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 30, 2022

#FF22 Mass is an incredible film about loss and anger, and forgiveness.

The style subtly shifts as the mood changes but four powerhouse performances are at the centre of the film, with a single location letting the film focus on the actors.

Film of the year contender.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 1, 2022

#FF22 Wrath Of Man transplants Guy Ritchie's Cockney Gangster schtick to US security trucks, to disastrous effect.

The dialogue is painful: bizarre phrasing and weird delivery. The plot itself is... fine, but it feels very slow and the action sequences mostly fall flat.

Avoid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 5, 2022

#FF22 Kimi is a perfect evening watch.

It's part techno-thriller, part Hitcockian-noir. Well-paced, with a paranoid undertone. Zoe Kravitz is excellent as the lead, and Soderbergh does his usual magic behind the camera.

Easy, fun, great.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 18, 2022

#FF22 The Batman is a solid entry in the canon.

Set during Year 2, Pattinson plays a scrappier, but accomplished, Batman well. The supporting cast are all good, too.

It is, however, far too dark, and about an hour too long. Lots of extraneous stuff packed in.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 18, 2022

#FF22 The Adam Project is mindless, big budget action with a bit of sci-fi.

Ryan Reynolds plays the same character he always does, so if you like that generally, you’ll like this.

Silly plot, fun action, easy going.

Totally fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 19, 2022

#FF22 After Yang is a slow but delicate film about loss, memory, and family.

Set in a not far-off future, we see a distant father reconnect with this family through the death of a family android.

Quiet, subtle, beautiful.

Worth seeing.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 2, 2022

#FF22 Windfall is low budget, Netflix fodder, as a man inadvertently kidnaps a billionaire and his wife.

The cast is solid enough, but the plot is stretched a little too thin, especially over the first half. Small, simple, short. Easy enough.

Fine.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 2, 2022

#FF22 Death On The Nile is teatime drama as blockbuster.

A huge cast of terrible accents, going through the old story again. It's perfectly fine at what it is, but you've seen this exact thing many times. The wide shots look terribly fake, but otherwise a pretty film.

Meh.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) April 2, 2022

#FF22 The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is a great insight into televangelism.

Chastaine's performance is transformative; slightly odd and utterly engaging. Garfield is solid too.

The pacing is a little off, suddenly jumping forward years, but it's a riveting watch.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 15, 2022

#FF22 Uncharted is as by the numbers as action films get. The jokes, the plot, the double-crosses, the set pieces, the banter: done okay but you've seen everything in this film before.

The leads are miscast and struggle to gel.

Fine, if you go in with expectations suitably set.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 15, 2022

#FF22 Coda is an exceptional film: balancing many plot threads, characters, and struggles, and bringing the together at the right moment.

It looks gorgeous, with some incredibly powerful moments setup through visual and sound design. Strong performances from all.

A must-see.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 20, 2022

#FF22 Petite Maman presents the slightly fantastical (a young girl meets her mother at an earlier point in her life) through a realist lens.

While there are cute moments, the flat affect and knowing dialogue break the illusion.

Doesn't say much but says what it does well.

Fine

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 20, 2022

#FF22 Belfast reminds me of A Christmas Story: capturing family moments from a different time, but with the shadow of The Troubles looming.

It's a little sappy, but not cloyingly so. It looks incredible, and the young actor who the movie focuses on does a great job.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 20, 2022

#FF22 Lamb is a delightful, unsettling horror about motherhood and family.

The Icelandic terrain is a stark backdrop to the uneasy new family member. Noomi Rapace is excellent throughout. While the pace dips a little, the film has enough going on to stay interesting.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 27, 2022

#FF22 The Tragedy Of Macbeth is an impeccably gorgeous take on the classic: every shot beautifully lit and framed.

The witches are stunningly portrayed, amongst a strong cast with only a few flat line readings.

A little cold, at times, but a fantastic ending.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 27, 2022

#FF22 The Protege is a fairly forgettable action film, with two very solid leads.

Maggie Q and Michael Keaton both work well in their roles, but the story is underwritten and the wider character motivations basically unknown.

A few action sequences work well, but meh overall.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 6, 2022

#FF22 The Lost Daughter is a fascinating tapestry of moments and memory, emotions bubbling up and those held in, barely.

Colman puts in a layered performance, always seeming moments away from a snapping point (Buckley does well here too). Well explored.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 6, 2022

#FF22 Licorice Pizza is a bit of a shaggy dog story, capturing moments disparately of a love story with a big question mark.

Funny in moments, and fun to watch, it's more about the mood than the story, and that's fine. A great film to sit and watch, and soak in.

Very good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 6, 2022

#FF22 Swan Song is a Black Mirror-esque story about what it is that makes us who we were.

Avoiding the plot itself, Mahershala Ali is excellent as always, bringing depth to a difficult role. The back third needs a little trimming but it's all beautifully shot and engaging.

Good

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 6, 2022

#FF22 Mother/Android is a disappointingly flat take on a robot uprising story.

The two leads are good individually but lack chemistry (and natural-sound dialogue) to help sell it. There are some tense set pieces (in the house), but it's all a bit predictable and derivative.

Meh

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 8, 2022

#FF22 The Tender Bar is what happens when the subtext becomes the text, narrated loudly and bluntly stated.

There's no reason to care about the lead, a relatively quiet and charmless boy; his lack of goals; or to want his cliche-mandated conclusion.

Obvious, and dull.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 23, 2022

#FF22 Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time seems like it'll delve into a delusional cliche, but instead doesn't really do anything.

A tentative love story, creeps forward slowly, and lands... somewhere.

Fine, if unexciting.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 23, 2022

#FF22 The Starling is a clunky movie, full of heavy-handed symbolism.

A solid cast is entirely wasted on scene after scene of disconnected drama, with only the CGI titular character coming away as having done its job.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 23, 2022

#FF22 Nightmare Alley left me feeling... indifferent.

It held my interest for the run time, but so much seemed obvious: from the tealy-orange grading, through other visual choices. The twist and the ending were entirely predictable, but seemed held up as big surprises.

Meh.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) January 23, 2022

#FF22 A Journal For Jordan is the slow but surprisingly sweet tale of unexpected and ultimately doomed love.

The end is very cheesey, but the rest works remarkably well. The two leads give solid performances, and have clear chemistry.

Watchable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 15, 2022

#FF22 Friends And Strangers fails to engage much.

Intentionally meandering and largely plotless, it has moments of conversation that are interesting and then discarded. A scene at a rich family's home approaches unsettling horror... and stops.

Unsatisfying and languid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) February 15, 2022