Hello, and welcome to the Geeky Brummie Film Roundup! Each week we run through the biggest new cinema releases and why you should be excited for them. This week we make some new friends, write some love letters, and reminisce about our summers…
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these movies yet so all of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I know if you know the last I Know What You Did Last Summer then you know what this summer’s I Know What You Did Last Summer is all about. But for those of you who don’t know, the plot sees a group of friends being stalked and terrorised by a hooded killer armed with a hook, who seems to know something about a horrific incident from their past. This version acts as both a reboot and a sequel, with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr both reprising their roles from the original film (and its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) to pass the baton to a new generation of guilt-ridden victims-in-waiting.
Leading the new cast are Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Tyriq Withers and Jonah Hauer-King (who you may have seen recently as the misogynistic conspiracy-theory peddler Conrad Clark in Doctor Who). What sets these films apart (slightly) from the usual slasher movie format is the whodunnit element – the core group of friends are the only people who really know what they did last summer, so either one of them is the killer or they know more than they’re letting on about who is. The reviews don’t seem to be anything particularly amazing – it currently has 46% on Rotten Tomatoes – but there has been some praise for the twists and apparently it has a good mid-credits scene to (perhaps optimistically) set up a sequel. If you’re a fan of the original, or if you like horror films generally, this could be a fun couple of hours.
- I Know What You Did Last Summer on IMDB
- I Know What You Did Last Summer on Rotten Tomatoes
Friendship
Craig (Tim Robinson) is stuck in a bit of a rut. He spends his evenings sat on an armchair, struggling to connect with his wife (Kate Mara) and son. That all changes when he meets his charismatic new neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd), a local weatherman who introduces Craig to his circle of friends. But when Craig goes all in on their friendship, Austin decides to nip it in the bud, sparking a downward spiral as Craig tries more and more extreme measures to win back his best pal.
If you’ve watched Robinson’s Netflix sketch comedy I Think You Should Leave you’ll have a good idea of the kind of surreal, cringe-worthy humour that’s in store. He excels at playing guys who believe to their core that they are the normal one, acting in a perfectly sane and rational way, and cannot understand why the rest of the world isn’t doing the same thing. Expect this to be brilliantly funny but in a way that makes you want to shrink into your seat. Meanwhile, Paul Rudd is perfectly cast as Austin – because who wouldn’t immediately want to be friends with Paul Rudd?
Robinson can be a bit of an acquired taste, and it’s probably not a bad idea to watch a couple of episodes of I Think You Should Leave before heading to the cinema just to get a feel for his humour. But he has a lot of fans, which is reflected in the positive reviews the film is getting (currently sitting at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes) with praise not just for the comedy but also for the relatable portrayal of male inadequacy and loneliness. This is a comedy unlike any other films in the cinema at the moment, and should be well worth a watch.
- Friendship on IMDB
- Friendship on Rotten Tomatoes
Smurfs
I always like to try and find the positives in these roundups, so I will point out up-front that the cast list for Smurfs includes John Goodman, Kurt Russell, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer and Nick Offerman, any one of whom would normally be a sign of a good movie. Unfortunately they all get second billing to James Corden, who is always a sign of a bad movie, especially when he’s voice acting (see also: Peter Rabbit, The Emoji Movie) or singing (Cats, Into The Woods). And Corden himself gets second billing to Rihanna, whose casting as Smurfette feels very weird, but the film’s marketing team seems very proud of it.
The plot here sees Papa Smurf (Goodman) captured by the evil wizard Gargamel and his brother Razamel, so the other smurfs have to set out to rescue him. Leading the charge are Smurfette and new smurf No-Name (Corden), so (not) named because he lacks any kind of unique personality trait that the smurfs are normally named for. There is a blend of animation, which looks bad, and live action elements, with what appears to be the smurfs visiting our world at one point. This is very much one for adults to take their small children to and hope that the bright colours distract them for long enough to justify the effort of sitting through it.
- Smurfs on IMDB
- Smurfs on Rotten Tomatoes
Four Letters of Love
Based on a novel by Niall Williams, Four Letters of Love follows Nicholas (Fionn O’Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly) – two young people who seem destined for each other. But fate has other ideas. Nicholas’s father (Pierce Brosnan) suddenly decides to relocate on what he sees as a divine calling to paint at the coast, and Isabel’s parents (Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne) send her to a convent school while they deal with their grief over her brother after a horrific accident. Will the two lovers find each other, when everything else in their lives is conspiring to pull them apart?
I haven’t read the book or heard much about the film, but it looks like a classic romantic drama – beautifully shot, with very pretty music and poetic locations. The cast is great too, although I’ve just started watching Vikings and it feels very weird to see Gabriel Byrne, who plays a slightly nasty earl in season 1, looking all sad and vulnerable tucked up next to Helena Bonham Carter. I would expect this to be very schmaltzy, but sometimes that’s exactly what you’re in the mood for. If you’re a fan of romance movies, or you just want something that will warm your heart, this is the film for you this week.
- Four Letters of Love on IMDB
- Four Letters of Love on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
I think you should leave for the cinema to watch Friendship.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Superman – A fun, colourful superhero movie and a great introduction to the new DCU. James Gunn and David Corenswet’s caped creation is truer to the comic book hero than Henry Cavill’s darker version, but with more exciting action scenes than the Christopher Reeve movies. The standout performance though comes from Nicholas Hoult, whose Lex Luthor strikes just the right balance of evil and genius – it’s alarming how many parallels you can draw between him and Elon Musk. Speaking of which, the plot’s political allegory is very on-the-nose, but it doesn’t spoil the film – it’s a comic book movie, after all. If you’re looking for subtlety there are better places to find it.
- 28 Years Later
- F1: The Movie
Trailer of the week
There are a lot of strong contenders this week, with new trailers dropping for Tron Ares, Mortal Kombat 2 and new Pixar movie Hoppers (it’s not Avatar), but my pick for this week has to be the first proper trailer for the final season of Stranger Things. The second of Netflix’s big tentpole dramas to come to an end this year after Squid Game (or at least the Korean version) threw down its final ddakji, Stranger Things has always been a bit of a cultural phenomenon. Season 1’s blend of 80s nostalgia and Twilight Zone mystery was an instant hit, turning the likes of Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour into household names and revitalising the career of Winona Ryder. Monsters like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer paved the way for the introduction of big bad Vecna in season 4, which ended with gigantic rifts opening up from the town of Hawkins into the Upside-Down. If the final season’s conclusion is half as exciting and iconic as Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson shredding his guitar on the roof of his van, or Sadie Sink’s Max floating to the tune of Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush, it’s going to be pretty epic. The story continues on 26 November, with more episodes dropping over Christmas and the finale on New Year’s Eve.
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