Relay (2024)

An anonymous "fixer" (Riz Ahmed) who only operates through an intermediary relay service, breaks his own rules when he takes a personal interest in one of his clients (Lily James) as she navigates a dangerous situation with several henchman on her tail. It attempts to evoke paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, but unfortunately it only succeeds in breaking the cardinal rule of being boring.

2 "Go Ahead"s out of 5

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY [2016]

Taking a slight detour from the established Skywalker family Star Wars stories, director Gareth Edwards' Rogue One remains in the same universe but delivers a far darker and violent tone.
In what is essentially a footnote in the original saga, the film tells the story of the scoundrels rebelling against the Rebels, as they go on a dangerous mission to retrieve the plans of the infamous Death Star.
Filled with all sorts of familiar faces, bridging the gaps between the two sets of trilogies, the film clearly panders to it's fans and with a quality film like this it's easy to take in.  Edwards relishes in playing in an already well-established series but he gives it his own stamp of gritty chaos that feels fresh to the universe.  There's a bit much going on in the beginning but once the action starts up it all swiftly comes together as a damned fine pulpy sci-fi thriller.

4 not very nice days on the beach out of 5

NIGHTCRAWLER [2014]

Jake Gyllenhaal gives a ghoulishly unsettling career-defining performance in screenwriter Dan Gilroy's highly unique directorial debut, Nightcrawler.
 Gyllenhaal plays a thief with a severe antisocial personality disorder that starts selling his own footage of accidents and violent crimes to a local Los Angeles news station.  It doubles as a tightly written satirical thriller with a sadistic smirk on it's face and a deeply disturbing, yet oddly alluring, character study, very reminiscent of Taxi Driver or Breaking Bad.  With it's beautifully lit LA night shots, the film reminds one of Drive or Heat but peel away that sleek aesthetic charm you have yourself some delightfully sick shit here that may or may not be funny.  That's for you to judge for yourself.

4 camcorders out of 5

FOUR LIONS [2010]

Four Lions is a hilarious satirical comedy from Chris Morris about a group of bumbling British jihadists who aspire to be better than they could ever be.
Based on its premise you'd expect it to be full of racist or overly silly jokes but in truth it's actually quite a spot on witty comedy that speaks more truth about both sides of the war against and for terrorism.  At times it reminded me of a Christopher Guest film with its inanely hysterical banter between the leading characters but it never felt unrealistic and actually made you root for these poor fools.  It's shot in such a way that it seems there's always someone watching these guys from a distance but not in the overdone "found footage" style and more or less like TV's 24.  I don't remember the last time I've laughed this much during a film and whole-heartedly recommend it.

4 bunnies without ears out of 5