Showing on Netflix.

Amy Poehler directs and stars in this tail of a group of friends who rent a house in the Napa Valley to get together to celebrate the 50th birthday of Rachel Dratch’s, Rebecca. Which predictably leads to a story of self discovery, regret and the chance to rediscover friendships, all linked by a selection of comedy set pieces, mainly centred around drinking too much wine, you know the story, you’ve seen it before.

While there is nothing particularly fresh or original here with Wine Country treading very familiar ground, I rather enjoyed it and was somewhat surprised by some of the negative reviews.

While what we get is a very nuts and bolts comedy, we have a cast of talented comic actors with a solid script that allows Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell et al to show their comedic qualities. The characters are all the ones you recognise and expect to see in this kind of story and the story line unfolds as you’d expect.

With that said, It remains consistently funny, never gets to saccharine sweet and at around 100 minutes doesn’t over indulge itself and embraces its light and fluffy nature. While it’s not spectacular it’s certainly humorous and enjoyable with a cast you’re happy to spend time with and if nothing else there’s some spectacular scenery to enjoy!

If you’re after some disposable comedic movie entertainment this may fit the bill.

Showing on Netflix.

Will Ferrell writes (with Andrew Steele) and stars in a fictional story of an Icelandic small town band Fire Saga who find themselves as thier countries entry into the Eurovision song contest.

Ferrell plays Lars, enamored by the contest as a young boy still grieving the loss of his mother, he vows to one day win it with his lifelong friend Sigrit, played by Rachel McAdams, who credits Lars with literally helping her to find her voice.

Now it would be untrue to say that this film does not have problems, especially in an uneven first half, but it would be equally untrue to say even with its flaws, I didn’t find it enjoyable fun.

Problem wise, its first half particularly feels pedestrian with not enough laughs. It’s also unclear who it’s aimed at with a range of actors from around the globe delivering a set of seemingly stereotypical views of Icelanders with varying quality Swedish chef style accents, while also seemingly poking fun at the very competition at the centre of the story.

However half way through, as we find ourselves at the actual contest, we get a fantastically entertaining musical “mashup” which lifts the film and from their it finds its feet, focussing on the seemingly unrequited love Sigrid has for Lars, a fun performance from Dan Stevens as Russian contestant Alexander Lemtov and a surprisingly convincing appearance by Graham Norton as himself.

Rachel McAdams is a big part of how the film gets past many of its flaws as she brings a warmth and one of the less ridiculous accents to Sigrid.

It’s too long at just over 2 hours but it does has plenty to enjoy and brings more than the occasional smile.

Showing on Netflix.

Directed by Greg Pritikin and starring Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss The Last Laugh tells the story of Al Hart, a long time comedy talent agent who is encouraged to move into a care home as he enters his later years, where he’s reunited with his first ever client, Richard Dreyfuss’s Buddy Green, who had seemingly thrown it all away as a young comic, Al encourages him to get back on the road and on tour.

What that gives us is a classic road trip film, it’s not original and the storyline is relatively predictable, but that’s fine, it’s delivered with enough warmth and laughs to keep you engaged and with a cast of veteran actors led by Chase and Dreyfuss, especially, who carries the film a long and keeps you engaged.

At 98 minutes it doesn’t over stretch and it was good to see a well looking Chevy Chase back in a starring role.

It’s perfectly fine comedy, nothing special and probably a film in its perfect environment on your tele when you have nowhere else to go!

Showing on Netflix.

Adapted from Joan Didion’s novel The Last Thing he Wanted supposedly tells the story of Anne Hathaway’s Elena McMahon, an investigative journalist who is working on stories of fighting in Nicaragua and wants to understand the US’s part in this as well as other conflicts. She then finds herself pulled from the story and sent to follow Reagan’s election campaign where we come across Ben Affleck’s Treat Morrison, some kind of politician identified for bigger things.

Elena’s life is then changed when her estranged father (Willem Dafoe) becomes ill and shares with her a big business deal that will be “the one”, however it would seem his business is gun running. Elena then inexplicably decides she can do some gun running on his behalf, this amazingly doesn’t end well, with me so far?

I said at the beginning of the synopsis “supposedly that’s what it’s about” because if that description sounds unclear and convoluted that’s nothing compared to what unfolds on screen. From the minute we hear Hathaway’s mumbled narration which makes no sense the film lurches from one unclear plot line to another. It feels like the film was cut into 100 segments, which were then randomly stuck together to produce the finished article.

Even with a talented cast Hathaway, Affleck, Dafoe supported by Rosie Perez and Toby Jones amongst others, there is no saving this mess of a film, incoherent dialogue, no discernible plot, a series of random events that may or may not be linked to each other and a twist at the end, that may or not be a twist depending on whether you’ve understood the preceding 100 minutes or so.

There is some enjoyment in Hathaway’s performance and a fun cameo from Toby Jones but there is no saving of this film, maybe it’s a work of misunderstood genius but I doubt it. I’d imagine the last thing he wanted was the same as the rest of us, to not have to watch this film.

Available on Streaming Services.

Days of Bagnold Summer is the directorial debut of Simon Bird (yes he of The Inbetweeners fame) and provides a charming portrait of coming to terms with change and re-defining who you are. Based on a graphic novel by Joff Winterhart it focuses on the awkward but loving relationship between a teenage boy, Daniel, played by Earl Cave and his single Mum Sue (Monica Dolan).

Birds film is a gentle look at an evolving mother and son relationship when the two of them unexpectedly find themselves spending the 6 weeks of summer school holiday’s together when Daniels now Florida based Dad changes their summer plans.

Daniel is your “average” surly teenager his look and attitude informed by his love for heavy metal bands, sporting a fine selection of black Metallica T-shirts, while his mum is the archetypal quiet librarian, dressing to “un-impress” with a safe haircut and hiding behind the comfort of her glasses.

The two main characters are hugely engaging throughout as you see the desire from Sue to find ways to be close to her son who is trying to find his place in the world, while he is auditioning to become the lead singer for a new band, alongside trying to come to terms with that annoying gentle encouragement from his Mum to get a summer job, tidy up, go shopping and her insistence that he can’t go to a wedding later in the summer in a pair of black trainers and needs new shoes.

While this kind of look at a relationship isn’t particularly new and this story doesn’t do anything unexpected with the premise, the story is lovingly told and the change in the relationship built around the family dog during the final act is charming. Daniels realisation of what his Mum means to him alongside her own, that she needs to help him find his own way and compromise a little on her idea of how he should be, provides a satisfying conclusion.

Simon Bird shows some nice touches, I’d particularly encourage that you look out for the representations of distance that are dropped in throughout the film which I thought were really well done and the two main characters are strongly supported, especially by Tamsin Grieg and Alice Lowe.

Days of Bagnold Summer is an enjoyable piece of work, with characters you enjoy spending time with and for anyone with teenage kids, provides a fun peek into a world many of us are familiar with.

Showing on Netflix.

In the 1970’s National Lampoon redefined comedy in the United States and beyond, spawning from a Harvard campus magazine, they introduced the world to comedy talent who would become household names, first via books and magazines before spawning the most successful film comedy, up to that time, with the classic that is Animal House. All of this coming from the minds of Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson) and Doug Kenney  (Will Forte).

David Wain’s film focuses on the life of the two founders and more specifically that of Kenney. The film flits between traditional biopic interspersed with fantasy scenes (a la Rocketman but less extravagant) showed perhaps most clearly by Martin Mull’s self proclaimed narrative device of an older Kenney.

It’s an interesting reflection of the time and focuses on the story of a hugely influential character in modern comedy, but one, as we hear in the intro, that you’ve never heard of. Kenney’s, like with many comedic talents, zany exterior hides an inner sadness that shows itself through the excess that his success and quickly acquired wealth allowed him, alongside talents of the time like John Belushi and Chevy Chase, to spiral into, as these new comedians developed a “rock n roll” lifestyle.

While the film provides an interesting window into their world, it never quite fully works, it’s a little uneven and feels like it drags as the film enters its final act. However, there are things to enjoy, there are plenty of solid performances from a plethora of well known current comedic talent and some recreations of well known scenes from influential comedies from the late 70’s.

If like me you’re a fan of National Lampoon, while not perfect, A Futile and Stupid Gesture provides an interesting take on its creator and a chance to see loving recreations of famous moments from their colourful past.

Showing on Amazon Prime Video.

Dating Amber, written and directed by David Freyne, shares the story of Eddie and Amber two kids coming to the end of their school lives in 90’s Ireland who while trying to come to terms with their sexuality decide that the best way to deal with it is to have a pretend straight relationship.

There’s is a lot to like in this film, it has warmth and humour, especially a recreation of a 90’s sex education video! And dips into some of the angst, difficulties and youthful optimism of kids heading into their after school futures.

In Fionn O’Shea and Lola Petticrew’s, Eddie and the titular Amber we have two interesting central characters, Eddie from a military family but one that is breaking down, struggles to admit his sexuality and tries to fight it, looking to do the things that are expected of him. Amber is much more confident, she knows who she is and how she’ll get there, with an enterprising streak that sees her renting time in a caravan to horny teenagers! However, her home life is equally difficult as her and her mum come to terms with the early difficult death of her father.

All that said, ultimately it did fall a little flat for me, it didn’t quite engage me in the way it perhaps should and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Perhaps in its 90 minute running time it’s because we only get to examine everything at a superficial level, we never really delve into the struggle of the two central characters or those around them and I suppose because of that I never really become truly invested in them.

Which is a pity, as there is a lot to like about Dating Amber, warm, humorous, nice performances all around but it didn’t quite click. But I’d say enough to enjoy to make it a worthwhile way to pass 90 minutes.

Showing on Netflix.

Two things dawn on you about 5 minutes into Cuneyt Kaya’s Rising High, it’s dubbed, but a bit annoyingly and it’s a poor mans attempt at a Wolf of Wall Street type story.

The film centres around Viktor Steiner who we see retelling his adventures to a journalist, we flick back to his childhood to find his early steps into con-artistry before we find him in contemporary Berlin, dabbling with shady property dealings ahead of running into Gerry an equally suspect character who can “get anything in the world” and Nicole a smart banker who also doesn’t mind bending the rules to make a few euros.

The film then follows very familiar territory as the three play fast and loose with the rules to buy, develop and rent properties perpetrating cons as they rapidly build wealth.

Like Wall Street there story unravels as they delve into a life of excess drink, drugs, hookers and ever more flamboyant scams.

The problems with this are plentiful, the dubbing is distracting, the script at time is excessively ripe and some of the storylines a little “random”.

But that said, David Kross as Viktor gives a decent central performance and carries the film well enough and while throughout it screams “cheap unconvincing copy of much better films” it was compelling enough to keep me engaged (most of the time) and was not as terrible as the component parts suggest.

If you fancy a cheap German, English dubbed, knock off of Wolf of Wall Street but with only a 90 minute run time, this may work for you.

Showing on Sky Movies and other streaming services.

Based on writer director Laure de Clermont-Tonerre’s short 2014 film Rabbit, The Mustang is a fictional story based on a true prisoner rehabilitation program in the US where prisoners work with wild Mustang’s to help “break” them and prepare them for sale.

It focuses on Roman (Matthias Schoenaerts) who, on been moved to a new prison, becomes part of the program, run by the always watchable Bruce Dern’s, Myles. Myles takes the quiet and surly Roman and gives him purpose and a belief in what he can be beyond what he believes he is.

The film follows many a familiar trope for this kind of story, the parallels between the caged wild horses, who are to be taken, broken and sold on into “society” and the men who train them are laid on pretty thick, as is the story of how purpose and someone believing in someone else can change a life, but let’s face it they’re not bad messages to push hard are they.

While the story messages are not subtle, the performances are, the story telling is patient and Schoenaerts provides a compelling and complex central character. There are no real over the top prison figures, no scary Mr Big, no vicious warden or guards there are scenes of the grim realities of prison life and the complexities of Roman’s character, his past continually bubbling under the surface, including a difficult relationship with his daughter as he tries to battle with who he is who he has been and perhaps, who he’d like to be.

The Mustang is a steady paced story, no grandstanding or set pieces, captures the harshness of prison life, the difficulties of change and trying to become something new and with a final act that isn’t afraid to say “sometimes you just can’t change” alongside a very watchable central performance, it delivers an enjoyable and intriguing film.