Vicious (2025)

 

One late evening a lone Woman Polly played by Dakota Fanning has a visit from a slightly unhinged pensioner (who reminded me of the character Gladys from 'Weapons') who tells her she's going to die, and leaves a mysterious box behind...Dakota Fanning is excellent and in pretty much every frame of the movie, this is a sinister freaky ride of a movie, I'm not quite sure of the set up for the plot, why is she targeted with these terrible tasks, but it's a creepy little movie and worth a watch.

4/5

Day Shift (2022)

 

'Day Shift' was released on Netflix back in 2022 and to be honest I'd never heard of it until a fellow horror friend recommended it to me. 'Day Shift' is a full on horror/comedy, Jamie Foxx play's Bud who's ruse is he's a pool cleaner in LA when he is actually a Vampire Hunter. Teamed up with the funny Dave Franco, it's the old bad tempered mismatch duo, but it really works, both characters are great fun, the Vampire scenes are top notch, great visual and practical effects, loads and I mean loads of gore, what's not to like!

4/5

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Ape (2014)

 

2011's "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" was both a huge success financially and critically, I re-watched it last night and had forgotten what a huge achievement it was, exciting, emotional and incredibly intelligent film making, so the planned release of this sequel back in 2014 was high on my 'to see' list, if not number 1.

The  reviews on release  were very, very positive, 90%+ on Rotten Tomatoes, so expectation was high, I settled down to watch it, would it deliver.....oh yes, and some! First things first, the sfx are astonishing, these are living, breathing Apes, Chimpanzees etc, full of character, personality, yes personality, a joy to watch. The screenplay is mesmerising, thoughtful, intelligent, the action engrossing, edge of your seat stuff, I seriously think this film is a notch above it's illustrious predecessor, yes the humans do take second fiddle to the Apes (these aren't just a bunch of Monkeys!) but you still get excellent performances from the two leads Gary Oldman (obviously) and Jason Clark ("Zero Dark Thirty").

Compelling awesome film-making and an absolute classic, but just a pity that the third in the series 'War For The Planet Of The Apes' released in 2017 was such a disappointment.

4.5/5

The Housemaid (2025)

 

A rich couple hire a Housemaid Millie (Sydney Sweeney) to do everyday chores, but soon the Wife (Amanda Seyfried) turns out to be a little bit unhinged to say the least. This is great fun with a cool cast, Seyfried is fantastic with a great performance as the psychotic Nina, her Husband Andrew played by the super smooth Brandon Skienar, trying to steady the very rocky boat, and Sydney Sweeney, well let's just say seeing her on the big screen was more than a treat on an early Monday morning!! The plot is very good with a nice juicy twist, try and avoid any spoilers because things really don't pan out as you might expect!!

4.5/5

Thirteen Days (2000)

 

'Thirteen Days' is a gripping reminder of how little the world understood just how close we came to World War III.I cannot believe this masterclass in film-making has slipped under my radar, but with how things are panning out in the US I thought it was well worth a watch, and boy is it. The film turns the Cuban Missile Crisis into a nerve‑shredding cat‑and‑mouse thriller, charting each escalation with an almost unbearable sense of inevitability. Its long runtime becomes an asset, allowing tension to accumulate in slow, deliberate waves as political manoeuvring tightens the noose. Outstanding performances across the board ground the drama in human stakes, Costner of course is superb, the constant bickering between Politicians and the armed forces is edgy and cold. It’s a masterclass in sustained suspense, revealing that if things had gone as many feared, I wouldn't be on this Earth now!!!! 

America had great leaders and diplomats 50 years ago, things now are far more sinister and dangerous, as all the orange cock womble see's is dollar signs $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

4.5/5

Best Comedies of 2025.

 

It's got to be said the Comedy film genre has been weak for some time now, hate to use the word woke but that's what it seems to be, can you imagine movies such as 'There's Something About Mary', 'Dumb And Dumber', 'Borat', or 'Team America' being released now? No. So slim picking's but here's a few that contained plenty of mirth.

* 'Chicken Town'-cracking Brit comedy which hardly anyone will have seen, well worth checking out, good 'Brassic' feel to it's madness.

* 'The Roses'- excellent remake of the classic late 80's early 90's 'War Of The Roses'

* 'The Naked Gun'- a "reimagining of the classic, Leslie Neelson and Pamela Anderson are great value for money.

* 'Marching Powder'- I don't care, I love the Dyer, always value for money, lude and crude but it'll put a smile on your fackin' boat race.

* 'Novacaine'- Utterly mad, reminded me of the 'Crank' movies, disengage brain-enjoy.

* 'Another Simple Favor'- another movie that got a lot of shit flicked at it, original was a laugh and so is this and just love Anna Kendrick doing comedy roles, she's just gert lush!

Risque (2025)

 

The plot for 'Risque' is a group of strippers seek revenge on the Boss by carrying out a high-stakes heist. Now I love a heist movie, so the prospect of one involving strippers, umm, grabbed my attention! And the first 20 minutes will definitely grab your attention, it's no messing around getting to know these Ladies, good grief, talk about not dilly dallying around, but to be fair once the heist plot develops it is an enjoyable piece of fun trash, and not just for the abundance of T&A, and there is plenty. The characters are fairly likeable, it's daft, crass but good fun, Yee Ha!

3.5/5

The 5 most disappointing films of 2025

 These are the 5 most disappointing movies I thought released last year, what they all have in common is they are all sequels of movies in which the previous release I absolutely loved! So, enough of this piffle, here's the wet farts of 2025...

1. '28 Years Later'-where do I start, the previous two were horror classics, in fact I rewatched 28 Weeks Later and it's still a bona-fide classic, this new one I might have to rewatch, such was my disappointment I think my brain has wiped my memory of it!

2. 'Black Phone 2'-again, the original from a few years back was a classic which I saw on the big screen, never got round to seeing at the Cinema, thank gawd, a ridiculous sequel with a daft supernatural plot.

3.'Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning'-never been a great fan of the series but 2023 'Dead Reckoning Part 1' was a belter of an action movie, this has it's moments but for so much of it's bloated running I was wondering when they would wrap this up.

4.'M3gan 2.0'- where do I start with this one, 'M3gan' was a blast, yeah it could have upped the gore but was trashy and fun, this is just drab trash with a pointless sci-fi twist.

5.'Knives Out-Wake Up Dead Man'- Again the previous 2 installments were great fun, 'Columbo' style whodunnits, this one, who cares who did it!

I haven't included 'Fear Street: Prom Night', a movie I was so looking forward to, the previous three entries were great, especially the 1978 and 1994 releases were classics, this though, the reviews were so damning I just can't be bothered with it. Another one I've avoided is 'Happy Gilmore 2', the original was a 90's Adam Sandler crass ass cracking laugh, again, reviews I tend to ignore but the overwhelming hate this film got from YouTubers I respect, Cody Leach, Drum Dums etc, just put me right off it.

Man Finds Tape (2025)

 

Man Finds Tape has an intriguing premise but unfolds at a slightly sluggish pace, testing the patience of anyone expecting sharper momentum. As a found‑footage entry, it leans heavily on handheld authenticity, yet the jumpy, erratic camera work becomes slightly annoying and distracting. There’s a decent story here but the whole film never got my full attention, I think it's a case of seen it all before and maybe the whole "found footage" genre is getting tired even though this one tries to add something new to the narrative.

3.5/5

Delivery Run (2025)

 Have you seen the classic Spielberg 70's thriller 'Duel'? Good, then there's no need to waste 80 minutes on this. No, it's not a bad movie, it's just not very....thrilling, scary or good. Lead character Lee played by Alexander Arnold, is an incredibly annoying lead, constantly whining, moaning, the other characters are all equally obnoxious cartoon character rednecks, especially the Cop, who's actions are utterly preposterous throughout, sample scene "You've got blood on your hand, that's not your blood, you're under-arrest!!"

Real grade B film-making.

2.5/5