Movie reviews of Bob Mann

Sigh. I wasn’t a mad fan of the last Ghostbusters outing (Afterlife). But I was hoping this New York-set follow-up might be better. But it struck me as a bit of a mess; a jumble of Ghostbusters-related vignettes, designed to tick all of the buttons of Ghostbuster fans. Review

Tricia Cooke is herself a lesbian and so her ‘marriage’ with Ethan Coen is allegedly extremely unusual. Some of the incidents in this film are reportedly based on her personal experiences. But this doesn’t make it funny. Review

It’s a comedy that’s simply not funny enough. Nice idea… shame about the execution. Review

It’s an entertaining enough biopic, with some memorable visuals and solid performances (and more than that for Lynch). But, for me, it’s not the definitive Marley. Review

For that reason I haven’t gone completely to town on the rating since if it’s sloppy romanticism you’re looking for then this vaguely delivers. But you compare this sort of pappy mush to classics like Notting Hill and its chalk and cheese. Review

YET another lacklustre horror-lite, this time from Blumhouse. Review

Thought provoking and moving, this is one of the best on the shortlist that I’ve seen. Review

This is a cleverly animated short using a combination of traditional animation and stop-motion animation. Review

I wasn’t very impressed with this one when it first started, but then when the concept of the piece made itself clear, I warmed to it. Review

There’s no doubting the quality of the artwork, animation and innovation here, but narratively, if the film had stuck to its knitting, I would have enjoyed it more. Review

The cast also deliver splendid performances, with lots of real tricky technical acting on show. Review

The short film, only 23 minutes long, is really helped along by an excellent performance from Brittany Snow and an even more engaging performance by young Juliet Donenfeld. Review

This is an engaging drama infused with moments of deliciously black humour in typical Scandi-style as the story goes off into surprising territory. Review

It’s got an astonishingly proficient performance by Léokim Beaumier-Lépine who reminded me in terms of acting intensity of a young River Phoenix. Review

This is all held together by a solid performance by Oyelowo who really has to act! Review

Good documentaries should lift a veil and educate you on a subject that you know nothing about, and this one did just that. Review

Given that the Academy tend to be more left-leaning in their views and given the feelgood nature of many of the stories in this documentary, this one feels like it might have legs for the win as well! Review

Here, a relative of the old dynamic duo visits their home and as a result the pair goof around to the camera in an endearing manner. Review

And it really hits the touchy-feels with the background stories of the repair shop workers as well as touching portrayals of how much the school-kids they help value their musical instruments. Review

It is a very topical and hard hitting subject though, and I think it will resonate with the more left-leaning Academy members. Review

Action, adventure, revenge, death, new-life, love, loss and religion. Denis Villeneuve has delivered a heady mix of all of these against the epic sand-scape of the unforgiving Arrakis desert. It’s epic in scope and utterly engrossing. Review

This is pretty poor. Best avoided imho unless you are a Marvel completist. Review

It’s a fun, terribly British, comedy of manners and embarrassments. Imagine the dinner party scene from Notting Hill and then add some very (VERY) dark themes. But I enjoyed this one: it’s smart, cutting and devilishly made. Review

A British film that turns the air blue in a very funny way. Recommended. Review