Director Steven Sodebergh and writer Reid Carolin bring Mike Lane and his dancing talents back to the screen. Mike’s (Channing Tatum) life has taken a downward turn and he finds homes Bartending at a fund raiser where he catches the eye of the wealthy host Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault) and when she pays Mike to share his dancing talents she is won over. So won over she flies Mike to London to direct a show at the theatre she has gained control over as part of divorce negotiations with her husband Roger (Alan Cox). Staying at Maxandra’s home with her daughter Zadie (Jamelia George) and chauffeur, Victor (Ayin Kahn-Din), Mike has to work with Maxandra to find dancers and a theme to pull together a show in four weeks, while getting around attempts to close them down.

The original Magic Mike films, had some kind of narrative however, at the end of 112 minutes of this installment, I had no idea what in earth was going on. It is, sadly, a complete mess. It follows one unrealistic storyline after another leaving most of them unresolved, probably realising they were rubbish and nobody was going to care. Then we get to the final act and I had literally no idea how we’d got there from what had gone before. There was perhaps a narrative thread in there that explained it, but I’d long since stopped caring.

Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek Pinault are both really enjoyable screen presence’s. But neither of them can elevate the rubbish they had presented to them here.

My grown up daughter said to me that this feels like it exists to promote the Magic Mike Live stage show and it’s hard to see any other point in its existence. It makes sense that originally this was made for streaming because it lacks any cinematic quality.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a terrible mess of a film. The story is almost non-existent and the bits that exist are nonsense or uninteresting. It’s not a patch on its predecessors and feels like an early contender for one of the worst films I’ll see this year. Let’s hope it really is the last dance.

New on Netflix.

Aline Brosh McKenna writes and directs this romcom starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher. Debbie (Witherspoon) is a single mum living with son Jack (Wesley Kimmel). In trying to do her best she is over protective and Jack finds himself lonely. Debbie’s best friend is Peter (Kutcher) who she “hooked up” with 20 years previously. Peter is a successful branding consultant, living in his swish New York apartment. Both have forgotten their dreams to pursue a literary career, Debbie as an editor, Peter an author. When Debbie needs to head to New York to complete an accountancy course Peter steps in when her childcare lets her down and flies to California to look after Jack. As they switch homes they start to discover what they’ve missed both personally and professionally.

This film is probably the very definition of inoffensive and bland Romcom. It’s predictable and follows all the Romcom tropes you’d expect.

What it lacks in originality it does make up for with its watchable stars with both Witherspoon and Kutcher effortless in bringing likeable characters to the screen, even if they don’t have much to work with.

The are well supported with cameos from Steve Zahn, Tig Notaro and expecially Zoe Chao as Debbie’s New York “guide”.

What the film does lack though is a chemistry between it’s leads as the script has them 1000’s of miles apart for 99% of the time.

Your Place or Mine is a hugely predictable, very average and inoffensive romcom. And if you are after some simple light hearted forgettable fare, with two enjoyable leads then this will do the trick!

Darren Aronofsky directs Samuel D. Hunter’s own screen adaptation of his stage play. Brendan Fraser is Charlie, a lecture teaching online writing courses to university students, he does so hidden away in his cheap apartment and hiding from his students, “yes my webcam is still broken”, his morbid obesity. He struggles to move, to breathe and it’s killing him. He relies on the support of his friend Liz (Hong Chau) a nurse as he refuses to go to hospital. But knowing his health is failing him he wants to reconnect with his 17 yr old daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink). She has her own challenges. She’s lonely, struggling at school and angry, at life, but mostly her father. In the middle of this is Thomas (Ty Simpkins) a church missionary who thinks he can save Charlie. We follow a week of Charlie’s life as he comes to terms with what his choices and his weight has done to him and others.

Throughout the film is the use of Moby Dick, the idea of a man trying to kill a whale because he thinks it will make him feel better. And this, rather than Charlie’s weight is the heart of the story.

It’s not just Charlie we find dealing with Whales, Ellie, Liz and Thomas are all hiding behind or lashing out at something or someone who they think is holding them back. It is this rich exploration of these characters that makes it a warm and engaging watch.

Fraser awards recognition is well deserved, because while his character can look pitiful Fraser ensures we see Charlie’s warmth and charm, making him someone you care about. Sadie Sink does a similarly strong job portraying Ellie, she’s angry, petulant and unpleasant. But she’s also vulnerable and caring, in her own way.

The film is cleverly shot in 4:3 pulling you in and ensuring the focus is close up and personal. And It’s emotional final scene worked a treat for me.

The Whale is a thoughtful, engaging piece of storytelling. Lit up by Fraser who ensures that Charlie’s emotional warmth shines through the layers of prosthetics he’s buried under. A story of caring and love, that charmed me throughout.

Steven Spielberg directs and co-writes, with Tony Kushner, this semi autobiographical story of growing up and finding your passion. We follow Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan plays the young version and Gabriel Labelle the older) who discovers cinema at a young age. He is fascinated and wants to learn how to create the same magic. His father Burt (Paul Dano) is a very talented computer engineer, analytical and driven and sees his son’s passion as no more than a hobby. Mitzi (Michelle Williams) his mother is a talented musician an artist and a dreamer, who believes in his dream. It is in this environment he tries to follow his passion. This passion is his constant and sees him through house moves, anti-Semitism, bullying, his first love and family breakdown.

The Fabelmans has a lot of awards buzz. But I have to say it left me rather cold. It’s not a terrible film and I’m not 100% sure why I didn’t connect with it.

The opening act is beautiful the young Sammy finding the wonder of cinema and his exploration of how to make film is mesmerising. Its final act, including a wonderful final scene, is equally entertaining, maybe less heart warming, but joyous as Sammy finally moves towards fulfilling his dream.

It’s the middle portion of the film I struggled with as his family starts to disintegrate and I found it a hard to have any empathy for Mitzi for the position she puts the family in. That’s not a reflection of the performance, Michelle Williams is excellent as the increasingly unstable Mitzi. But her story was annoying rather than engaging.

Performances are great throughout Paul Dano perfectly balances Mitzi’s excesses as a “good man”. Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch and especially Chloe East as Sammy’s Jesus loving first love all add plenty. And Gabriel Labelle is really engaging playing Sammy.

I wish I’d connected with The Fabelmans more than I did. It is Spielberg’s love letter to those who inspired him and there is lots to enjoy. But ultimately it left me feeling a little cold, which was a real pity.

Damien Chazelle writes and directs this tale of 1920’s and 30’s excess set in and around the early Hollywood movie industry. Jack Conrad (Brad’s Pitt) is a major studio offering guaranteed box office. This comes with perks, he’s the king of his domain, he is the party and when they party they party big. We find Jack at the most decadent of parties sex, drugs, naked bodies everywhere and of course an elephant. Here we meet Manny (Diego Calva) a gopher for the rich with dreams of making movies and Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) a “wild child” with dreams if starring in films. We follow their lives as they navigate a world of excess and a film industry that is in flux as “talkies” emerge and those that don’t fit find themselves callously dumped.

I’m a big fan of Damien Chazelle’s movie and TV work and here he takes a big swing at telling an epic story that runs just over 3 hours. I do admire big swings but sometimes, as with Babylon, they don’t quite catch it right and it falls short.

There are plenty of things to enjoy during its running time. Chazelle always uses music fabulously well and he does here and his direction often feels like a dance as we often find ourselves skilfully moving through busy complex scenes.

There’s plenty of performances to enjoy, Brad Pitt particularly as he takes us on Jack’s downward spiral. Margot Robbie’s Nellie the out of control young star who is equally popular and lonely, Robbie portrays this perfectly. Alongside them Jean Smart, Diego Calva and a cameo from Tobey Maguire all add to the tale.

However there is a lot going on and not all of it comes together, the narrative is sometimes a mess and sometimes self indulgent which leads to it 3 hours plus running time.

There’s no doubt Chazelle is steeped in film history and with this he wants to honour an important and pivotal part of it. But in wanting to tell such a big story it feels it often gets a little lost.

Babylon is an epic and wants to tell a big sweeping story. However it doesn’t fully succeed, as it tries to tell too much and indulge itself as much as the Hollywood of the time and that shows in its long running time. It’s likely to be divisive too much of a mess for some, but for others a 3 hour romp through movie history.

Todd Field writes and directs this story of control, infidelity and mental health all set in the world of classical music. Cate Blanchett is Lydia Tár, the first female lead conducter at the world famous Berlin Philharmonic. She is well respected jetting between the US where she guests as a lecturer at Juilliard. Her passion is the work of composer Mahler whose work she is recording. While doing this she also is balancing her family life with her wife Sharon (Nina Hoss) and their daughter Petra. While also releasing her memoirs, trying to compose her own music and prepare the orchestra to perform and record Maher five the last of nine pieces. However the tragic suicide of a former colleague begins a process that starts to unravel Tár’s life taking her on a painful downward spiral.

This film may not be for everyone there is a lot here and it takes its time telling its story. But personally I found it intriguing and absorbing a film. Its orchestral setting helps naturally bring a tension and energy in the way of something like Whiplash.

But at the real heart of what makes this work is an incredible performance from Cate Blanchett, completely believable and her presence absorbing and engaging throughout. Her character is successful, but belligerent, controlling and abusive. She lives in a world where historically men have dominated and have behaved as she has and she believes this to be fine. But as her world unravels Blanchett brings this to screen perfectly as her character becomes increasingly desperate.

The supporting cast are also strong Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant and Sophie Kauer all shine around Blanchetts central whirlwind.

The score as you’d expect is fabulous in bringing the pace and frenetic nature of the story to life.The film can be slow moving at times and probably over runs a little, but it does lead to a satisfying end.

Tár is for me an intriguing and compelling watch. Built on a fabulous performance by Cate Blanchett who takes you on an increasingly desperate downward spiral. It won’t be for everyone, but worked a treat for me.

Written and directed by Sam Mendes is this film of life amongst a group of cinema workers, set in a 1980’s English sea side town. Olivia Colman is Hilary, assistant manager of the Empire theatre. She seems happy and enjoys the community that the small team gives her. However she also has a history that is initially alluded to but not explained. When cinema manager Donald (Colin Firth) introduces Stephen (Michael Ward),a young black man, to the team he has a big impact on them all and Hilary especially. The film explores themes of 1980’s Britain its music, its attitudes to mental health and race, but also how these broad themes impact the individuals who work at the Empire.

If there is a probem with Empire of Light, it is the unevenness of its narrative. That doesn’t make it a bad film, but probably explains the mixed reviews it has received. It is perhaps beat summed up when projectionist Norman (Toby Jones) describes how film works, images with dark bits between them, but when played at 24 frames per second you don’t see the dark bits. That is what Empire of Light tried to show, that as life hurrys by it works, but when you stop and look at the gaps in between you can see something very different.

The film revolves around Hilary, as her relationship with Stephen develops and impacts her. We see her change as her life descends into the darkest of places. Colman is of course outstanding and I don’t think there is anyone else who plays this type of role better. Toby Jones brings his effortless quality to the screen as does Colin Firth. Michael Ward brings an engaging charm as Stephen showing a caring individual dealing with the ugliness of the racism that surrounds him. It also looks fabulous thanks to Roger Deakins cinematography.

Empire of Light is flawed, with a narrative that is a bit unclear. But I was won over by its beauty, heart and the quality of its performances. None more than that of Olivia Colman who is as wonderfully watchable as ever. Not perfect but touching and warm and there is nothing wrong with that.

Noah Baumbach directs his own adaptation of Don Delillo’s book. Adam Driver is Jack a professor in Hitler studies at the local college. His wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) is mum to their three children and runs classes for seniors. They spend their time dealing with the mundanity of life, trips to a beautifully colour coordinated supermarket and work. Life changes after a train crash which forces them to revaluate life and the impact of death.

For me White Noise is a very odd film, some of it works, some of it less so. It’s at its best during its second act when it moves from introspective look at life to part disaster movie part allegorical tale of an unseen threat that forces humanity to act in unusual ways.

There’s are also some interesting observations around stories and the subtle use of misinformation. As the title suggests a lot of this happens in the background a gentle hum of conversation and background chatter. There is also an entertaining final part to the film which includes German nuns and a supermarket scene that keeps in line with the oddity of all that preceded it.

I do enjoy a quirky film, however this often felt too quirky for its own good and not quite as clever as it thought it was, often disappearing into its own oddity.

That said Adam Drivers presence does hold it together and he gets good support from Don Cheadle. The film also looks great, recreating it’s 1980’s look with brown and yellow tones mixed with bright colours.

White Noise overall didn’t work for me, but was by no means terrible. In Adam Driver you always get a compelling lead and the second act works really well. But to often it feels muddled and a little too much hard work to stay engaged with. In the end as its name suggests it is that background noise that occasionally gets your attention.

Based on Keith Beauchamp’s investigative work and directed by Chinonye Chukwu is the telling of the true story of the murder of 14 year old Emmett Till. Mamie Till (Danielle Deadwyler) is a single mother bringing up her son Emmett (Jalyn Hall) in 1950’s Chicago. At 14 he is keen to head to Mississippi to spend time with his cousins. Mamie is concerned, as a black woman who grew up in the south, she knows the different world her son will be visiting. Her worries are not unfounded and when Emmett has an interaction with white shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant (Hayley Bennett), it starts a chain of events that leads a lynch mob kidnapping Emmet. A few days later his beaten, mutilated, murdered body is found in a river. When Emmett’s body is returned to Chicago and Mamie sees his mutilated body she wants America to see what was done to him. His open casket funeral leads to national coverage of the disgusting crime and Mamie to Mississippi to testify at the trial of the perpetrators.

The abhorrent reality of Emmett’s murder is always going to be more impactful than any dramatisation. Chukwu realises this so rather he focuses on Mamie and everything that the horror of her child’s death brings

It is this study of her anguish were the film is at its best. It lets its impressive star, Danielle Deadwyler, shine brightly as she portrays powerfully and movingly a mother’s life crashing around her in the most horrific way.

Outside of this, a bit like with the recent She Said, the importance of telling this story overcomes some of the deficiencies in how it is told. As it does sometime struggles to balance the tough reality with the character study.

The film also looks incredible thanks to Bobby Bukowski’s wonderful cinematography.

While the film has some deficiencies it is made up for by Danielle Deadwyler’s outstanding central portrayal of grief and drive for justice for her child. The abhorrent crime at its center deserves to be understood and for that reason it makes Till more than worth a watch.

Marc Foster with screenwriter David Magee bring to screen this adaptation of Fredrick Backman’s book. Otto (Tom Hanks) is in his mid 60’s, a widower about to retire. He lives on a small private road, hassled by property developers and, in his mind, surrounded by idiots. All has taken its toll, he’s fed up and annoyed with life and his only thought is to rejoin his wife Sonya. We see Otto’s past through flashback with Hank’s son Truman playing the young Otto alongside Rachel Keller as Sonya. Otto’s life is changed when new neighbours move in, in the shape of Marisol (Mariana Treviño) her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and their young family, who begin to give Otto purpose in his life as realises that maybe not everyone is an idiot and life still has purpose.

If you have ever seen Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino and wondered what it would be like with Tom Hanks in the lead role, then this is your answer. Ultimately it’s a pretty predictable story, Grumpy older man fed up with life finds purpose in unexpected relationships.

But predictable doesn’t mean bad. Now while this is unlikely to be hugely memorable it is enjoyable and delivered with a huge slice of charm. That charm comes on occasion from the good hearted story, but mainly it comes from an excellent set of performances. It’s no surprise to anyone that Tom Hanks is his usual charismatic self and he does grumpy very well. But the film is at its best in his interactions with Treviño’s Marisol, she brings a real humour and heart to the roll. There is good support elsewhere with Juanita Jennings as Anita, Cameron Britton’s Jimmy and Mack Bayda as Malcolm amongst the picks.

A Man Called Otto is predictable and pedestrian at times. But Hanks and Mariana Treviño bring so much charm and warmth to the screen that you can’t help been carried along. Ultimately delivering an enjoyable good hearted story.