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This week, there are SIX new films out for you to choose from, led by K-12. Here are the titles, with more info below:K-12
A Million Little Pieces
The Informer
The Souvenir
The Mustang
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion
K-12 is (it says here) an eerily enchanting musical film, written and directed by Melanie Martinez, where she plays Cry Baby, a strong and sensitive girl, is sent off to a disturbing sleepaway school that’s hidden underneath a grandiose façade. Luckily, she has a sweet and unapologetic best friend who sticks up for her when she gets bullied by the other students whose brains are under control by the Principal and his wicked staff. With the help of the magical friends they meet along the way, as well as an Angelic Spirit Guide, they are able to gain the strength they need to fight off the school’s belligerent patriarchal conditioning.
Watching the trailer, this is weird, spooky, and WTF is going on?! It looks fantastic!
Also stars: Emma Harvey, Zión Moreno, Megan Gage, Zinnett Hendrix, Jesy McKinney, Marsalis Steven Wilson, Maggie Budzyna
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
A Million Little Pieces stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.
Directed by Aaron’s wife, Sam Taylor-Johnson, this has a great cast, but the trailer makes it look like a dire ‘feelgood movie’.
Writers: James Frey, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sam Taylor-Johnson
Also stars: Charlie Hunnam, Ryan Hurst, Juliette Lewis, Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Bob Thornton, David Dastmalchian, Andy Buckley, Odessa Young
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Informer centres around ex-convict Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman), who’s working undercover and intentionally gets himself incarcerated again in order to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison.
Clive Owen‘s usually worth a watch in most things, but the premise for this is ridiculous and we’ve been here before with films like Escape Plan, and of course, Prison Break on TV.
Director: Andrea Di Stefano
Also stars: Ana de Armas, Rosamund Pike, Common, Arturo Castro, Ruth Bradley, Sam Spruell, Martin McCann
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Souvenir stars Honor Swinton Byrne as Julie, a young film student in the early ’80s, who becomes romantically involved with a complicated and untrustworthy man, played by Tom Burke.
I like the ’80s, but this comes across more like a dull period drama.
Writer/Director: Joanna Hogg
Also stars: Tosin Cole, Frankie Wilson, Hannah Ashby Ward, Jack McMullen, Tilda Swinton, Richard Ayoade
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Mustang tells the story of Roman Coleman (Matthias Schoenaerts – Red Sparrow), a violent convict, who is given the chance to participate in a rehabilitation therapy program involving the training of wild mustangs.
However, I’m not wildly sold on this as it just seems to degenerate into a sickly-sweet family drama.
The film is shot in a rarely-used 1.66:1 aspect ratio, according to the IMDB, although that’s not reflected in the trailer where it’s 1.85:1.
Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Screenplay: Mona Fastvold, Brock Norman Brock, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Also stars: Gideon Adlon, Connie Britton, Bruce Dern, Josh Stewart, Jason Mitchell, Kelly Richardson
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion
On the 60th anniversary of the much-adored comic book series, Asterix and Obelix embark on a quest across Gaul looking for a young druid worthy of learning the secret of the magic potion – a formula which has long helped to keep the Gaulish village safe against Julius Cesar and his invading army. However, once Asterix and Obelix begin their quest, all hell breaks loose at home as the Romans start attacking the village, and an evil wizard named Sulfurix does everything he can to steal the potion’s secret recipe.
For some reason, these films rake in the cash in France, but most CGI kids films look pretty lame to me.
Directors: Alexandre Astier, Louis Clichy
Stars: Christian Clavier, Guillaume Briat, Alex Lutz
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.