Review - Movie catch up blog 2019 - Part 8

midlandsmovies • December 12, 2019

Review - Movie catch up blog 2019 - Part 8

The last catch up review blog of the year covers a whole host of the good, bad and the ugly flicks we've finally caught up with in 2019. Check out our thoughts on:

• Spider-Man: Far From Home (Jon Watts)

• Ready or Not (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)

• Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria)

• Pet Sematary (Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer)

• Long Shot (Jonathan Levine)

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (André Øvredal)

• Dolemite is My Name (Craig Brewer)

• The Highwaymen (John Lee Hancock)

• The Laundromat (Steven Soderbergh)

• Eli (Ciarán Foy)

• Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher)

• One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirô Ueda)

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Dir. Jon Watts

With anticipated sequels comes much disappointment as the excellent Spider-Man: Homecoming gets a lacklustre Marvel follow up as Spidey and school chums travel Europe fighting new foe Mysterio. The often ace Jake Gyllenhaal cannot bring life to a villain who has nasty vibes of Iron Man 3’s The Mandarin as a duplicitous “faker” of fear. Far From brilliant, it’s entertaining enough but the abundant and plastic CGI undermines the admittedly solid performances from its young cast. ★★★ ½

Ready or Not (2019) Dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

Samara Weaving (and spitting image of Margot Robbie) is excellent as a bride who is forced to play a violent game of hide and seek with her upper class in-laws on her wedding night if she is to join her new family. A quirky idea with some satisfyingly bloody set-pieces throughout a mansion, the b-movie thrills are given a leg-up by the cast who provide sleazy delights from the beginning of the game. A large smattering of gore and a thrilling ending makes this one of the most enjoyable guilty pleasures of the year. ★★★★

Hustlers (2019) Dir. Lorene Scafaria

Catch this film for Jennifer Lopez’s fantastic performance as mature exotic dancer Ramona Vega who assists newcomer Destiny (Constance Wu) in the ways of dance before pulling together a crew who scam wealthy businessmen. Solid to the point of blandness my initial reaction was that artistically it’s one of the most overrated drama flicks since the incredibly flavourless Spotlight. Plenty to enjoy along the ride however with a splash of added social commentary but like the drugged Wall Street guys in the movie there’s very little to remember here. ★★★ ½

Pet Sematary (2019) Dir. Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer

With Stephen King adaptations being all the rage again, we get a second take on the story of a haunted burial ground that brings animals, and later children, back to life with haunting consequences. The dry (and always unmemorable) Jason Clarke takes us through a tedious set of ironically lifeless sequences with little tension or horror to be found throughout its duration. It’s not something I’ve said before but put simply – go read the book. ★★

Long Shot (2019) Dir. Jonathan Levine

Man, I really like Charlize Theron. And Seth Rogen is more than likeable in most films too (despite his lack of range). Here, he again plays a schlubby guy who rekindles a relationship with school sweetheart Theron, who is now running as a US Presidential candidate. Straight to the point, but I simply didn’t laugh enough for what is billed as a comedy as each actor plays to their regular stereotype and I just couldn’t get my head around what Theron’s character saw in Rogen (kind of important in a film that’s about love crossing divides). Definitely not the hilarious triumph some critics have labelled it as, it’s an ultimately inconsequential and tiresome lark which tries to mix politics, class, love and ambitions to a hugely varying degree of success. ★★★

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) Dir. André Øvredal

An inconsistent adaptation, this film has a 15-rating but its mix of tame frights and young protagonists smooths off a much-needed edge as a group of friends tackle a cursed book which writes its own terrifying tales they end up living through. Aiming for the tone of IT or Stranger Things but delivering more of a Goosebumps or Lemony Snicket vibe, a couple of the early stories worked well and although the framing device lends itself to a Creepshow anthology structure, the quality fluctuates too much to be totally satisfying. ★★★

Dolemite is My Name (2019) Dir. Craig Brewer

The last good Eddie Murphy film? Dreamgirls (13 years ago)? Bowfinger (20 years ago)? Well, as a fan of his early 80s hits (Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, Coming to America) it’s gratifying to know he’s way back in form in this real life tale of Rudy Ray Moore – a hero of 70s comedy and Blaxploitation films. Murphy is joined by a talented support cast including Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Keegan-Michael Key and Wesley Snipes, and has a terrific script to work with along with space to improvise. It’s reminiscent of The Disaster Artist where a similar low budget filmmaker creates a passion project with erratic results, but to some accidental success. The film therefore reminds us of how superb Murphy can be with the right material. ★★★ ½

The Highwaymen (2019) Dir. John Lee Hancock

Netflix pulling together two fantastic actors (Woody Harrelson & Kevin Costner) with the director of the stupendous Saving Mr. Banks in a period crime drama focusing on two of America’s most infamous outlaws must be a recipe for success, right? Well, sadly it’s a definite no. Mind-numbing detail, a lack of chemistry between any of the cast and a drama vacuum only serve to remind you of far better films on the same subject. The two leads take their investigating rangers on a wild chase to nowhere in a tedious drama. ★★

The Laundromat (2019) Dir. Steven Soderbergh

What the hell even is this film? With a cast featuring Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman and more, you’d think that alone would deliver a certain level of quality but oh how wrong you will be. With echoes of The Big Short with its focus (and explanations) of money laundering, the style, tone, comedy and drama are hilarious undisciplined as this massive misfire tries to scattergun pot-shots at the morally corrupt players involved in the Panama Papers. With three stories that simply don’t work together as a whole, it’s like Soderbergh attempted to complete a puzzle using pieces from different sets and what a holy mess he’s ended up with. And the final result is an even bigger let-down because of the talent involved. ★★

Eli (2019) Dir. Ciarán Foy

Eli has a rather interesting beginning as we are introduced to a young boy with a rare disease that causes severe allergic reactions to the outdoors. He arrives with his parents to a secluded medical facility (clearly not a good idea) and after some suspect “treatments” begins to see strange things which are chalked up as hallucinations by Lili Taylor’s creepy doctor. The major problem with the film for me was the squandering of a really fascinating idea despite the inclusion of a couple of well-executed ghostly and sacrificial set-pieces. Yet it fails through its technical flaws and poor script which just doesn’t bring alive the premise it sets up of [BIG SPOILER WARNING] a boy not knowing he is in fact a child of the Antichrist. A really wasted opportunity in my opinion. ★★

Rocketman (2019) Dir. Dexter Fletcher

Pack your bags and join a fast-paced musical biopic featuring the classic songs of Elton John in a star-filled romp through campy history and heartfelt melodrama drama. Director Dexter Fletcher (fresh from helping to “finish off” Bohemian Rhapsody) takes a different angle in this flick though, delivering a more conventional musical. For me, it’s not my favourite genre so although I love Elton John’s genius back catalogue of hits, the film was more like Moonwalker with a collection of music videos punctuated by a simple retelling of some of Elton’s important life moments. Taron Egerton (John himself) and Jamie Bell (lyricist Bernia Taupin) are both excellent but I’d rather listen to a Greatest Hits than re-watch this slightly formulaic, but well-intentioned, flamboyant diversion. ★★★ ½

One Cut of the Dead (2019) Dir. Shin'ichirô Ueda

Made on just $25,000 with a cast of unknowns, this surprising Japanese “horror” is an underground bloodbath success which takes familiar zombie tropes and its relationship to the editing and construction of smaller fright flicks. We begin when a group of actors are filming their zombie film at a water plant before a real zombie attacks takes place as the director and camera operator carry on filming. At the halfway point the credits roll (!) and the film backtracks to show a different version of what you have just witnessed. Clever and knowing with plenty of comedy, One Cut of the Dead is as much about low budget zombie filmmaking as it is a low budget zombie film. Takayuki Hamatsu as the director takes centre stage but a fantastic, and funny, support cast play their “roles” spectacularly. A genuine indie gem, the film is in love with other rom-zom-coms but its true romance is with the filmmaking process itself. ★★★★

Michael Sales

Midlands on the Move: Carl Staples storyboard artist

By midlandsmovies • December 6, 2025
As part of our Midlands on the Move features, we speak to Carl Staples, a Midlands storyboarder and filmmaker with a wide range of regional experience who went on to be involved in the Oscar-winning short film The Silent Child. Find out more about Carl's work...

Midlands on the Move: A Local Lad in London

By midlandsmovies • December 4, 2025
Our resident local film critic @_jacob.holmes headed off beyond the region's boundaries to the BFI London Film Festival. In our latest Midlands on the Move feature, Jacob shares some helpful hints for first timers, as he provides a guide for local filmmakers and film fans as to what to expect when visiting events further afield... In 2025 I had the honour of attending the 69 th BFI London Film Festival for a week, I attending premieres for some of my most anticipated films of the year. And even grabbed a press pass too. This wasn’t my first film festival, but this was my first London Film Fest and to be brutally honest, in the build-up, I was nervous! Sadly, I found the BFI and Accreditation websites not very intuitive and quite confusing. So this this article hopes to give some peace of mind and let people know what they can expect when attending such UK festivals - both as a regular guest and as press. Tickets Getting regular tickets can be stressful, akin to a big concert. And in a way it's like the Hunger Games, a survival of the fittest type of vibe. First off, BFI advertise tickets go on sale at 10am in September, which is true but not wholly accurate. Instead, at 9am you head to the website and get put in a waiting room with a random allocated number for when the actual sale start at 10am. At that time it tells you where you are in the queue. If you get lucky, you could wait 15 minutes, but often the wait can be an hour plus. Finally when you can make a purchase, you are let in and can put all tickets into your basket. I have two years of experience with this queue! The first time, I failed completely and all movies I wanted to see were sold out. But this year I had a plan! The key to success is knowledge to how to play the game. Tip 1: For the best possible chances, subscribe to the BFI and become a member. The year membership was £35 at its cheapest. And if you're in the Midlands like I am, outside the festival a membership can be fairly useless unless you go to London often. But what this membership gives you is important. A week before general release there is a presale for BFI members. Not only is this a benefit, it also gives you a crucial second chance. By that I mean if things don't go your way the first time, you can try again in the general sale. And I had to do exactly this. When general admissions came out, I tried again for tickets for Wake Up Dead Man and got my ticket! Tip 2: Quantity. There's nothing against the rules saying you can’t enter the queue on multiple devices! I was placed very low down in the queue in my first year on one laptop, but this year I used my phone, PC, laptop, my friend's laptops AND my friends' devices! But it all paid off. Devices can take 2 hours or only 30 minutes. More Devices = Higher chance of getting tickets. Tip 3: Know the films you want to see beforehand. If you don’t know what films you want to see or when they screen you will be completely lost. Write a timetable - and furthermore, have back up plans. Sometimes you'll click on what you want and it will be sold out, but having a backup plan will be much easier overall. Tip 4: Even if you don’t get tickets, it's not the end of the world. There are plenty of second-hand ticket websites selling tickets at normal (or sometimes cheaper) prices. Websites like Twickets, social media accounts like @LFFstubs on X or the r/londonfilmfestival on Reddit will have second-hand tickets. In fact, I sold one of my tickets on Twickets and had no complaints either. Press passes As you can imagine, this process is very different for industry passes. The biggest issue is tickets go on sale in waves each day. Instead of one go, pass holders book their tickets day by day. Tickets go on sale at 8am two days before, usually taking place on the accreditation app or website. In some ways this is easier, but it's also a gigantic pain. Although it's MUCH easier to get a ticket, do have to wake up every single day to go onto a laggy website and book a few tickets. You may even have to book tickets in the cinema. Another issue can be if you plan to see both general and press screenings. One you book way in advance, but press screenings are booked during the fest. Ticket prices for public screenings vary, but the gala/premiere screenings are usually £30-£40. Whilst the press screenings are completely free, you just have to pay for the pass itself which is around £55.

Midlands Review of Royston Vale Road

By midlandsmovies • December 2, 2025
Developed as part of the anthology, Serial, Royston Vale Road is a slight, comedy-heavy, found footage short directed by Chris Annable, co-owner of the Straight to Video movie memorabilia and tape store in Alfreton.

Midlands Review of Dead on Distribution

By midlandsmovies • November 29, 2025
Dead on Distribution tries to tackle a lot in its brief 17-minute runtime. Taking place just as the VHS market was starting to boom, flooding shelves with low budget horrors, the film satirises the prevailing thoughts of the time.
Show More