You Hurt My Feelings ★★★ JULIA Louis-Dreyfuss and Nicole Holofcener have proven a strong pairing in two films now. Enough Said was a great adult romance from 2013, written and directed by Holofcener and starring Seinfeld alumni Louis-Dreyfuss alongside the sadly since departed James Gandolfini. Their new effort, You Hurt […]

Louis-Dreyfuss in her groove

Extraction 2 ★★★ THE 2020 Netflix release Extraction snuck up on many critics. Star Chris Hemsworth, writer Joe Russo and ex-stuntman director Sam Hargrove proved a winning combination and the American action film was a critical and commercial success. So of course we would get Extraction 2 which basically features […]

Extraction 2’s one-take highlight

Headhunters ★★★★ ANYONE who reads crime fiction will be familiar with the work of Norway’s Jo Nesbø. The prolific author has a way of creating anti-heroes almost as warped as the antagonists they are pursuing and twisting narratives that match the darkness of his characters. There have been film adaptations […]

Headhunters the best Nesbo attempt

To Catch A Killer ★★★ I’LL basically watch anything that Ben Mendelsohn  is in. The quintessential Australian actor was finally noticed by Hollywood in 2010 with his chilling performance in the crime drama Animal Kingdom. Throughout his rise over the past 13 years he has maintained a decent balance between […]

Not quite full Mendo

Strays  ★★★ EVER wondered what your dog really thinks of you? Chances are they will love you unconditionally, just like Reggie the Terrier in Strays. But, if you have no intention of reciprocating that love, and Bug the Boxer lays out the painful truth to your Reggie, look out. That’s […]

Who let the !@#$% dogs out

Two Minute Warning ★★★½ THE 1976 thriller Two Minute Warning will never be remade in its original form. I can state that with confidence for two reasons. Firstly, the straight-forward manner in which it presents a mass killing by sniper just can’t work today. Sniper sequences do happen in modern movies […]

Two Minute Warning an original only

One Shot ★★★ ONE Shot – the title says it all. The most impressive thing about 2021 British action thriller One Shot is the fact that it is actually presented as one continuous take. Director James Nunn has made a half-dozen action movie, most of which are little-known, straight-to-streaming affairs. So […]

Ambitious action in One Shot

SOMETIMES you’re allowed to expect a little bit more. Rob Savage made a good budge horror fil called The Host released in 2020. His next film, Dashcam from 2021, wasn’t for me but others lauded it. For The Boogeyman (2023) he was given a much bigger budget and a Stephen King […]

The Boogeyman disappoints

Mother’s Day ★★★½ FORGET about recent female action heroes played by the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Charlize Theron or Angelina Jolie. Ex-NATO Special Operations agent Nina, played by Polish actress Agnieszka Grochowska, would have them all for breakfast. In Mateusz Rakowicz’s Mother’s Day, Nina despatches adversaries with every manner of weapon, […]

Nina’s happy Mother’s Day

Hillwalkers ★★½ IT NEVER ceases to amaze how many first-time directors also write and edit their offering. Irish drama Hillwalkers is the debut from Tom Cosgrove and it’s a mixed bag. The story is derivative and there are problems with both the structure and pacing, but it does demonstrate a good […]

Hill walkers lose way

Blood and Gold ★★★ KEEP an eye out for German director Peter Thorwarth. I haven’t seen any of his early films but 2021’s Bloody Red Sky was an exciting blend of horror, action and thriller pitting plane hijackers and a vampire. In his 2023 film Blood and Gold, Thorwarth opts […]

Bloody fight for gold

Influencer ★★★ AS YOU flick through the mountain of material available on your film streaming services it’s hard to know where to start. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and pin the tail to the donkey, as it were. One of my last ‘blind’ stops, that didn’t end […]

Influencers beware