#58 BAD MOMS

Starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Annie Mumolo, Jada Pinkett Smith and Christina Applegate. Written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.

 Budget $20 mill. Running time 100 minutes.

An impossibly well-paid, over-worked, young mom (Mila Kunis) rebels against juggling the insane demands of  her ludicrous and unbelievable job of a sales rep for a hipster coffee company, her home life with cheating banker husband and her over achieving children's school's PTA and it's uber dictatorial president (Christina Applegate) who controls the school. She teams up with two fellow yummy mummies, in the guise of Kristen Bell and Kathryn Khan, and decides to run for the post of 'PTA President', against the power mad Christina Applegate. After that much, well some hilarity ensues.

This is a fun and funny film, but not a hilarious one. There are three superb stand-out moments, the three heroines in the supermarket, the fantastic women-only house party and the first time the three women go out for a drink. Actually, come to think of it, whenever these three women get together it's hilarious. They share an easy, very likeable chemisty and are bloody funny to boot. The only thing that lets this film down is the very lame, generic plot that putts along doing nothing beyond joining the dots in an orderly fashion. It's a shame a film like this doesn't have the guts to be really raucous, because there is nothing more glorious then watching these women being very funny. Stand out is Kathryn Hahn who is a wonderful, fearless comedienne.

The only niggling thing I had about this film is Kristen Bell's character who is clearly in a verbally abusive relationship, her husband is shown as very controlling and manipulative. However rather than confront and deal with this situation the film ends with their roles literally reversed and Kristen now the domineering and bullying partner.

Anyhoo, this isn't a bad film, it's just that it doesn't have enough oomph.

There's a lovely bit at the end where the six actresses talk to their actual mothers about their relationships.

6/10 

#57 MECHANIC: RESURRECTION

Starring Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones and Michelle Yeoh. Written by Philip Shelby and tony Mosher. Directed by Dennis Gansel. Budget $48 million, 98 minutes long.

God, my third film of the day, the second to star Michelle Yeoh and the first feature the Stath. Now I like the Stath, I try and see all his films and used to think he had real potential, but now I'm beginning to worry.

Mechanic: Resurrection is the sequel, no one actually asked for, to the 2011 Mechanic movie, which itself was a lackluster remake of a sub-standard Charles Bronson vehicle from the 1970s originally directed by Michael Winner.

The story sees Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) enjoying his retirement, running a boat yard in Rio, who is forced to come out of retirement to perform three assassinations when his girlfriend (Jessica Alba) is kidnapped and used as leverage. What follows are three ridiculously convoluted 'hits', each more outlandish than the last before the final boss-level showdown on a luxury yacht with a ticking time bomb as motivation.

And that's it. The trailer was fun, the film not so. I used to love watched the Stath in action, but I'm beginning to get a little weary and fear his decent into Steven Seagel/Dolph Lundgren straight to video fare can't be too far behind, which is a shame because Stath is a good actor and can often project a likeable warmth, sadly missing here. Added to that, some dreadful acting, some terrible plot holes and some genuinely shoddy CGI effects and you've got a film that if it was a car wouldn't so much need a good mechanic as utterly scrapping into a cube of crushed metal.

Could do so much better. 5/10

#56 MORGAN

Starring Kate Mara, Anay Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Giamatti. Written by Seth Owen and directed by Luke Scott.

Budget $8 million and 92 minutes long.

A trouble shooter for a corporation, Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) arrives at a remote research facility, populated by a ragtag team of scientists, somewhere deep in a beautiful forest, with a hidden gun, a sharp set of trouser suits and a no-nonsense haircut to conduct an investigation into an incident involving a genetically created 'human' codenamed Morgan. Morgan, as played by Anay Taylor-Joy. Morgan is a 6-year old, adult-sized genetically enhanced human who, one day blinds one of her minders in an unprovoked attack and is placed into lock-down pending the result of Weather's investigation, who might be hiding a secret of her own...

As a series of interviews takes place between Weathers and the scientists, and with Morgan herself we learn of the relationship between the scientists and Morgan and the events that led up to the attack, which all culminate in an incredible showdown between Morgan and Paul Giamatti's Dr. Alan Shapiro - a behaviour psychologist, that takes a turn for the worst and leads to Morgan escaping from her glass box prison and wrecking revenge upon those who have imprisoned her.

This looks stunning, which thanks to having Ridley Scott as your father, is hardly surprising and features a terrific cast of actors. It also starts off well, creating a sense of menace that nicely builds until it's all blown on the totally generic, monster on the loose 3rd act where all the mental jousting is dumped for gun battles, fisti-cuffs and monster hunting that leads to a totally surprise free twist ending which you worked out in the opening scene.

This feels like someone watched the infinitely more superior Ex-Machina and said, 'hey, d'you what would make that film better? A monster chase!'

As stated, it starts well and reaches its peak with the extremely uncomfortable interview between Morgan and Dr. Shapiro, but after that, it's just a badly staged monster hunt and feels like Luke is paying far too much homage to daddy's Alien.

Nowhere near as good as Ex machina and ultimately disappointing, but it looks beautiful and the performances particularly Jones, Giamaatti, Leslie and Yeoh are excellent. it's just a shame it's all so generic and features one of the worst set up 'surprise endings' since Oblivion.

5/10

#55 SAUSAGE PARTY

Starring: Michael Cera, Kristen Wigg, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader,  Edward Norton, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Salma Hayek and Seth Rogen.

Screenplay by Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldbert. Directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan.

Budget $18 million. Running time 88 minutes.

Set in a supermarket on the eve of July 4th, the film follows the adventures of Frank a frankfurter (Seth Rogen), his girlfriend, Brenda, a bun (Kristen Wigg) and a gang of similar food stuffs who set out on a quest to discover the truth behind the myth of the Great Beyond, believed to be their version of heaven. Along the way they team up with a bagel (Ed Norton), a taco shell (Selma Hayek), a Lavash (David Krumholtz) and a deformed frankfurter called Carl, played by Johan Hill.

The plot isn't really that important, it's just there to mix some amazing off-colour jokes, with staggering innuendo, offensive smut and some gloriously obscene sex jokes and visual gags, including the most incredible sex  scene I've ever seen outside of Team America, which is a good comparison. If you liked that you'll love this. Along there way there are also two fantastic scenes, one set in a kitchen and the other in a slacker's squalid flat that mix the horrific truth of the food's terrible situation and the some truly gory gags together for some superb effect. Playing as an anti-Pixar movie, this might hopefully lead to some more 'adult' animated movies.

I laughed, I gasped and I squirmed, but that had more to do with the fact I watched this with my 17 year old daughter, who laughed at all the jokes I had hoped would go over her head. Some lovely animation, some really nice ideas and far funnier than most of Hollywood's regular 'R' rated comedies we're subjected to. Plus it ends with a simply staggering sex orgy that will have you weeping.

Anyway, there's nothing big or clever about this, and if you like Seth Rogen's brand of comedy you're going to love this. Also, don't feel the need to sit through to the very end, there's nothing there.

8/10

#54 PETE'S DRAGON

Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Oona Laurence and Robert Redford.

Written by David Lowery and Tony Halbrooks. Directed by David Lowery Budget $65  million running time 102 minutes.

A remake of the 1977 live action/animation kids film about a boy and his green dragon. This 2016 remake sees Pete orphaned in a vast wood following a car crash and then raised by a large green dragon whom he names Eliot. Later a plot involving a logging company, a skeptical ranger, her boyfriend who also happens to be the manager of the logging company and her dad, Robert Redford who swears blind he saw the dragon when he was a young man. Anyways, Pete is found living in the woods and brought back to civilisation and then promptly tries to escape back to the loving embrace of the jolly green giant and mankind in the guise of Dallas Howard and Karl Urban try to stop him and capture the dragon for their own purposes. Cue heart string tugging, mild adventure, some jeopardy and a thoroughly warm glow once it's over.

This is a Disney film so they know how to manipulate you. Don't fight it, go with the flow, this is a non offensive and enjoyable film that doesn't outstay its welcome. With some fab effects courtesy of Weta and some good acting particularly from the young boy lead, Oakes Fegley. This was an enjoyable feel-good family film, that somehow avoids mawkish sentimentality. Not sure we needed another remake of an old classic animated film but it wasn't half bad.

8/10

#53 MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES

Starring:  Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam DeVine, Aubrey Plaza and Stephen Root. Written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. Directed by Jake Szymanski.

Budget $33 million. Running time 98 minutes long.

Saw this back on August 14th, cannot remember a thing about it. Plot sees two boys, one a passive aggressive psycho and the other a mentally challenged halfwit, both perennial manchilds forced to find 'nice' dates for their sister's wedding. They end up with Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza's Tatiana and Alice, a pair of equally dangerous fun loving girls who pretend to be nice to get the free holiday. Queue a sweet, but rude, romantic comedy where the boys and girls discover their inner feelings, grow as people and bond, while at the same time, doing drugs, getting pissed and strangely avoiding the beast with two backs. They also destroy their sister's marriage before the final act where they save the day and everyone goes home happy.

Not terrible.

6/10

#52 BARRY LYNDON

Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Diana Koerner and Gay Hamilton. Written, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray.  Budget $11 million. Running time 187 minutes.

The rise and fall of a young Irish boy, Barry Lyndon as played by a never better Ryan O'Neal.

Originally made in 1975, and released again last month, although I'm not too sure why. This was utterly and totally satisfying. 187 languid, slow, thoughtful film making, beautifully shot, exquisitely acted and sumptuous. This was the perfect antidote to a summer of utterly dirge. I loved every slow moving minute. Deep, subtle and delicate. There was one whole scene that was played out with looks along. Cannot fault this film.

10/10.