Flow (2024) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

Flow (U) is a new animated film directed by Gints Zilbalodis that won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the recent Oscars ceremony. Set on a world where all the humans have mysteriously gone. Although signs of their former existence remain in the form of many wooden sculptures of animals dotted around the forest that were obviously carved by an intelligent being.

We see this world through the eyes of a black cat that seems to be wandering aimlessly through these woods but is totally wary of the possible dangers a feline of it's diminutive stature could face. On a particular day searching for food, it encounters a herd of stampeding deer that herald the arrival of a massive flood. Trying it's best to survive and through some random encounters, the cat joins a rag tag band of misfit critters who find an abandoned sailboat and hop aboard to see where the ever rising flow takes them.

First, I've got to say that I'm definitely not a domestic cat person, so feeling empathy for the main protagonist was difficult, but as there was a small diversity of refugees, I managed to feel engaged with their plight.

The animation style is incredibly realistic, including how everything reacts to the ever-moving waters. Obviously the animators have studied how these particular creatures move in great detail but given the fact that they didn't eat much, but appeared to remain amicable with each other as they navigate their ever-changing environment, seemed a bit of a stretch.

This is definitely not a classic Disney-like collaboration of animal characters that viewers of a certain age might remember. Also, there is no dialogue at all. It's just a group of diverse individuals trying to survive an event that's bringing massive change to their environment. So I'm sure this story has been created as an allegory to what the future might hold for our Planet. At 1h 25m long, it's well paced and definitely keeps your attention as the journey unfolds. I found it quite pleasing.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge (2024)

Wow! Llamageddon was low, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was low, but we have a new contender for the badge. This horribly low-budget film is diabolical in every way you could possibly imagine. The acting, the cinematography, (particularly) the sound (which seems was badly dubbed in some scenes but not others), the script, the story - just everything!

It was a bonkers idea by what would appear to be a bunch of students (the actors all have technical job credits too) trying to make a fast buck, I guess, and getting this 82-minute so-called film onto Amazon Prime.

A British group of young people head off for a holiday in the woods in a cottage they have booked but end up in the wrong house - yes, you guessed it, the house belonging to Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Who are actually 4 psychos, one in a cute dress and Goldilocks mask, the others in bear masks. The four of them rock up at the house to take bloody revenge on the intruders, which they do in sadistic fashion. There are a few scenes of (laughable) gore thrown in as they do grizzly (get it?) things to their victims but it's more silly than anything.

I imagine that this group of people have had great fun doing this and hopefully are, as our own Allan Gildea from our Projector Room Podcast would say, seeking an opportunity to create something they can learn from, crap as it may be - and that at least they have got it out there which is tough enough, rather than yes, a rotten cash-grab attempt.

It's so bad that it's worth seeing in order to witness how bad it is, so I'll leave that challenge with you! Actually the best thing about it is the Goldilocks character's actresses stage name - Olga Solo!

Adolescence (2025) - A Guest Review by Adrian Brain

My word! This is the best drama you will see this year. It is one of those programmes that should hopefully affect change in how we raise our kids, even though it studiously avoids trying to provide solutions to the many questions it raises. This Netflix Mini-Series is drama at its very best.

Jamie is a 13-year old kid, whose family home is raided one morning by the police. He is dragged off to the police station, where we find he is accused of the brutal murder of a fellow schoolgirl. By the end of the first episode, we know all of the shocking events that happened, but the remaining 3 episodes investigate why.

Each episode is shot in a single-take, leading to an urgency and immediacy in the acting. Stephen Graham plays the father of Jamie brilliantly and relatably. Jamie is played by newcomer Owen Cooper - and in such a disturbing, complex role, holds the drama together. Erin Doherty, as the child psychologist in episode 3, also deserves a special shout-out, even though the acting is exemplary across the board.

Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne are the writers, the dialog is naturalistic and avoids moralising or trite solutions admirably. They will be surely scooping up the gongs when awards season comes around. It’s good to see Graham getting 'big gun' support too - Brad Pitt is credited as executive producer, for example - though the drama is about as un-Hollywood as you could get.

It’s not quite flawless. For example, in the second episode, set in the kids’ school, the one-shot technique works against the narrative. We discover the chasm between the kids and the teachers, parents and police of what is actually happening on their social media feeds, but the message is disrupted by the constant flow of characters through the school - and an alarm bell of convenience. This is a small gripe however, on what is surely the 'must see' TV of the year.

Prey (2022) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

Set in the Predator Universe, the film 'Prey' came out in 2022. Set in 1719 North America, it follows Naru, (Amber Midthunder) a young Comanche woman living in a small tribe, trying her best to break the stereotype of just being a gatherer like the other females. Instead, like her brother, she wants to prove herself and the tribe, to be an accomplished hunter.

One day, out in the landscape with her trusty canine tracker, she is following a stag when she hears a crack of thunder and witnesses a light in the sky that comes to the ground in the distance. Then later that night she is out with her brother Tabee, (Dakota Beavers) and a handful of other braves trying to kill a cougar that had come onto their usual hunting ground. However, it's not what is stalking them tonight.

This was an interesting twist on a franchise that had definitely gotten repetitive in it's last couple of outings. Director Dan Trachtenberg did a good job of setting this early 18th century, in a part of North America barely touched by the White Man. With the native people still living their uncomplicated lives in balance with Nature in the stunning landscape. Ms Midthunder is definitely the star, is in virtually every scene and I can't really fault her performance. Mr Beavers was also pretty solid. The remaining Native American actors playing the tribal members looked authentic but the other young braves were more like a bunch of Californian surfer dudes in their interactions with each other. Also, it was a bit jarring that they sometimes spoke an indigenous language and then all of a sudden in English.

Part the way through, the siblings encounter a band of French-speaking traders that were typically as arrogant towards them as I guess any White interlopers treated indigenous people's during those pioneering days. All their dialogue was accompanied by only French subtitles, which I thought was a bit weird. Of course we have to mention The Predator. Played by 6'7" former basketball player, Dane DiLiegro, he seemed to have an almost endless array of deadly tech on his scant armour. Regardless, all the various fight choreography against the virtually stone age weapons was done well.

My main gripe is that I would have only liked the viewer to have been aware the alien's presence only when the first tribal member did instead of virtually at the beginning. It just seems to spoil any anticipation of the inevitable encounter. Anyway, the 1h 39m run time is about right and the 15 certificate is warranted due to the graphic nature of how our favourite alien hunter does his thing! Fairly decent popcorn movie which at the moment is free to stream on the All 4 platform at time of writing.

A Complete Unknown (2024) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

Currently in cinemas (and now some streaming services) Cert 15. First thing is: You really do have to not hate traditional American folk and acoustic music of the mid 20th Century. Otherwise, the entire cast in this James Mangold directed biopic of Robert Zimmerman nay Bob Dylan's life at the start of the 1960's, nail all their performances.

From Timothée Chalamet in the lead, Monica Barbaro as the sweet songbird, Joan Baez to Edward Norton as Traditional Folk Stalwart, Pete Seeger. Many of the main cast learned to play their instruments to assist the authenticity.

This purely chronologically told story is literally peppered with live performances of some of most memorable acoustic led songs of that era. We follow Bob from his early twenties as he is introduced to the New York folk scene by Mr Seeger.

First playing covers but soon his self-penned lyrics get recognised for their cutting pertinence and outstanding depth. As his fame grows he begins to neglect and annoy people close to him including his on and off girlfriend, Sylvie Russo, Elle Fanning and particularly his stage co-performer and lover, Baez.

Early 1960's Greenwich Village, NY is depicted with meticulous detail. From the many classic automobiles, shop fronts and countless beatniks busking on street corners, the viewer is totally immersed in the popular culture of the time. The 2h 20m run time did not feel at all long as every morsel of the lush visuals and THOSE SONGS kept me transfixed.  Definitely one of the best musical biopics!

Anora (2024) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

I was already a fan of Mikey Madison's work after watching her as the totally free-spirited teen in five seasons of the US Comedy TV series, Better Things from 2016. So when I saw she was going to be the lead in a major film release, I headed to the cinema last November to see Anora, (Cert18). It's really not my usual fair so that's why this review is a bit late but now it's won multiple gongs including five Academy Awards at the recent Oscars ceremony, I thought that it's about time now to put down some of my thoughts.

Firstly I want say it was refreshing to watch a story that was told in a straightforward, linear timeline for a change. Set in a fairly modern day New York, the look of this drama could be from anytime in the last forty years and it's only the use of quite recent smartphones in some scenes that place it firmly in the last decade. Anora "Ani" Mikheeva (Madison) is an exotic pole dancer and happy hooker in an upscale strip joint. Although only young, she is pretty confident, dedicated to her job and popular amongst her fellow workers there.

As the only Russian-speaking dancer, one night, her boss comes into the dressing room to ask her to "Entertain" a party of young Russians men flashing the cash out front. She duly complies and pulls out all her charms to give Vanya, (Mark Eydelshteyn) and his pals a good night. Things go well and as the night draws on, Vanya invites her back to his uptown palatial pad to spend the night. Things get even better in the morning when he says he'll pay for her to spend the entire week with him. For her, it's ($)kerching($) time as this sort of money will make her boss happy.

Later that week, as the couple are getting on very well, Vanya springs the jaw-dropping surprise of asking Ani if they'd like to get married in Vegas. After asking him multiple times if he really means it, they jump right in, soon after arriving in Nevada, and get hitched. The young couple are on cloud 9 and return to his New York residence to continue their celebrations. However, news of this whirlwind marriage has gotten back to his no-nonsense Oligarch parents and they fly in on their Learjet from Russia to immediately try to annul the wedding. Soon enough, Vanya's father's associates are banging on his front door!

Now this 2h 19m film does have an 18 certificate for good reasons. The many sex scenes are pretty graphic and I can imagine that the much talked-about "Home Invasion" scene could be quite traumatic for some to watch. However, the second half of the film could almost be viewed as a comedy as these fairly inept associates that include Igor (Yuriy Borisov), a young bodyguard. He starts to feel empathy with Ani's predicament as she's dragged along when they go knocking on various doors all over town trying to find the now, runaway groom.

This simple tale reminds me of TV movies I've watched in the late 20th Century, but it is well shot and deserves to be seen on the big screen. The remaining cast's performances are all believably solid - but Mickey's really does stand out, as Ani tries to deal with the terrible situation she's found herself in, in a brave and forthright manner. She holds her own on-screen with the older ruthless characters brilliantly, so I think it's definitely a well deserved BAFTA & Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Sean Baker got Best Director and he also wrote and produced it. To top it all, Anora also won Best Picture. Incredible for a film with just a reported budget of around $6,000,000.

Delicious (2025)

What a bizarre drama/thriller this is, now on Netflix. It's a German film about a wealthy German family on holiday in France. They are pretty bored with each other. Like you will be with this film. They all dabble around the edges of the family, flirting with other things on offer (or not), when one day they are coming home from dinner in their car and run over a girl on the road.

She's injured, but because dad has been drinking, they avoid hospital and take her into their holiday home. She accepts and stays the night. In the morning she has gone, with the money mum has left out for her (in order for her to get the picture and clear off). Family sigh relief. Phew! That was a close'un. But - she turns up again the next day and asks to be their maid, with veiled threats, telling them that because of her injuries sustained in the accident she’s lost her job and place to live. They take her in and give her the job so as to avoid litigation etc.

She starts to serve the family, whilst behaving suspiciously around them some of the time, sneaking around doing odd stuff, but on the face of it serves the family well. The dull daughter is starting to behave strangely and the dorky son, just wants photos of the hot maid with his phone, presumably for use later! Mum runs off with a young chap at the beach as she’s bored with dad. Dad beds the mum from another family they know - and by this time you wonder what on earth is going on as it’s turning into a soap opera. It's pretty poorly acted and feels like nothing is going to happen. At this stage, it’s a very dull and dreary low-budget drama, which I almost gave up on. But didn’t.

One hour and twenty five minutes into a one hour and forty minute film, yes, 15 minutes from the end (well, 7 minutes if you take out the credits!), we get the reveal as to what’s happening. And then we get a couple of scenes which depict what's happening in some (almost funny) situations. I’d love to spoil it and tell you what it is to save you the bother of ploughing through the film, but I guess I’d better not! When you know what’s what, you do realise that there have been clues along the way, but it’s so dreary and dull mostly that you’ll probably miss them anyway!

It really is a poorly imagined story with the payoff so ludicrously late in the film that I guess most people won’t get there (or be asleep). There’s very little build-up or tension anywhere along the way, nor anything to keep you hooked. At least if you watch it now you’ll know that there is something coming, unlike for me, going in blind! I really wouldn’t bother with it if I were you. If it had been better made, acted, directed, scripted and produced (with more money, perhaps) it would have the basis of a really interesting story. But they’ve just done it all wrong. Shame.