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This week, there are TEN new films out for you to choose from: Charlize Theron kicks ass while going after a double agent in ’80s Berlin in Atomic Blonde, oriental supernatural mystery in Once Upon A Time, sequelitis with jump-scares checks in with Annabelle 2: Creation, Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck tell A Ghost Story, can Scott Eastwood bring back the Fast 8 feeling in Overdrive?, Marlon Wayans does a rude Groundhog Day in Naked, there’s anime-turned-live action in Tokyo Ghoul, a gay culture icon is celebrated in Tom of Finland, sequelitis strikes again in The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, and even lamer animation rears its head in The Son of Bigfoot.
Atomic Blonde centres around undercover MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron), who’s sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent, and recover a missing list of double agents… but more interestingly, there’s punching and kicking and swearing aplenty and it looks fantastic.
Apparently, she’s the crown jewel of Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service – equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on her impossible mission. Sent alone into Berlin to deliver a priceless dossier out of the destabilized city, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies.
Directed by David Leitch, from a script by Kurt Johnstad, based on Antony Johnston‘s Oni Press graphic novel series, the film also stars Sofia Boutella, John Goodman, Toby Jones and Eddie Marsan, and looks all cloak-and-dagger spy sillyness, and while I’m not familiar with the graphic novels, I have seen it and… read the review!
Hit or Miss? Verdict: I said read the review!
Once Upon A Time
Three hundred years ago, the lady that stood on the Zhu Xian Terrace, turned around and jumped off without regret, and Caused by the man that stood by the bronze mirror to witness with his own eyes her death. Three hundred years later, in the East Sea Dragon Palace, they meet unexpectedly. Another lifetime another world, once again facing this person that had betrayed her, she is indifferent as wind…
Starring So Young 2: Never Gone‘s Yifei Liu, with Yikuan Yan, this looks well weird, but good fun, all the same.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Annabelle 2: Creation takes place several years after the tragic death of a girl for a dollmaker and his wife, who then welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, who then soon become the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.
Personally, I haven’t yet seen the first Annabelle, although I have seen both Conjuring films and while they were pretty poor, this film’s trailer looks like there could be enough in it on a horror scale, similar to the original Poltergeist movies.
Also, initially, according to IMDB, the theatrical ratio is a wider-than-usual 2.55:1, the Cinemascope ratio also recently used by La La Land. However, that stat then disappeared… spooky!
Director: David F Sandberg
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Cast: Javier Botet, Miranda Otto, Stephanie Sigman, Anthony LaPaglia
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
A Ghost Story tells of a singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, as a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try and reconnect with his bereft wife.
Written and directed by David Lowery, and starring Sonia Acevedo, Ke$ha, Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea), the film is released in the Academy ratio of 1.37:1, but I wasn’t spooked out about going to see this.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Overdrive
Two car thief brothers, who journey to the south of France for new opportunities, wind up in the cross hairs of the local crime boss. Starring Fast and Furious 8‘s Scott Eastwood, this film looks neither fast NOR furious!
Director: Antonio Negret
Writers: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas
Also stars: Ana de Armas, Gaia Weiss
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Naked
Nervous about finally getting married a guy is forced to relive the same nerve-wracking hours over and over again until he gets things right on his wedding day.
Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans and Dennis Haysbert completely waste their time.
Rehashing Groundhog Day but rude, don’t waste YOUR time because you will NOT get it back!
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Tokyo Ghoul
A Tokyo college student is attacked by a ghoul, a superpowered human who feeds on human flesh. He survives, but has become part ghoul and becomes a fugitive on the run.
Starring Yû Aoi, Masataka Kubota and Shun’ya Shiraishi, maybe this will work for some, but I’m not familiar with the original anime, and I just didn’t get this from the trailer, so I’ll pass.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Tom of Finland
Award-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski brings to screen the life and work of one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth century gay culture… it says here.
I watched the trailer, but I got nothing major out of it whatsoever, and certainly no desire to watch the film.
Stars: Jakob Oftebro, Werner Daehn, Pekka Strang
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature follows three years after the first film and sees Will Arnett (The Lego Batman Movie) and Katherine Heigl (Home Sweet Hell) reprise their roles as Surly and Andie, respectively, joined by Maya Rudolph, Jackie Chan, Isabela Moner, Peter Stormare and Bobby Cannavale.
The film is directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote this dross with Bob Barlen and Scott Bindley, the latter of whom is responsible for this year’s forthcoming TV movie, Cop and a Half 2 with Lou Diamond Phillips. Yes, Cop and a Half 2, a sequel to a dire theatrically-released film with Burt Reynolds.
CGI films from Hollywood are really scraping the barrel for ideas, now. I’d rather see The Nut Sack Job!
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Son of Bigfoot
Teenage outsider Adam sets out on an epic and daring quest to uncover the mystery behind his long-lost dad, only to find out that he is none other than the legendary Bigfoot! He has been hiding deep in the forest for years to protect himself and his family from HairCo., a giant corporation eager to run scientific experiments with his special DNA. As father and son start making up for lost time after the boy’s initial disbelief, Adam soon discovers that he too is gifted with superpowers beyond his imagination. But little do they know, HairCo. is on their tail as Adam’s traces have led them to Bigfoot!
Okay, so this has been brought out for kids during the summer holidays, but the animation is bog-standard and there’s plenty of other, better films in that genre if that’s for you.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.