The Screen Critic with Jim Schembri

Life wasn’t meant to be easy after the fall of society, as we are again reminded in The Dog Stars, a pretty good, large-scale post-apocalyptic survival drama set in the now-familiar terrain of a world ravaged by a population-stripping pandemic.

Featuring some memorable scenes in a shambolic city, we follow a young pilot (Aussie actor Jacob Elordi) as he searches for a better life away from his airport home where he and his pal (Josh Brolin) deal with those roving marauders who always turn up in these films.

Showing his long-standing love for the big screen, veteran director Ridley Scott (Alien; Blade Runner; Gladiator; The Martian) delivers a gritty escapade about how hope and community can still make it through the global devastation brought on by a bad flu season.

Girls are behaving badly once more as the fun, formulaic raunch-comedy Spa Weekend sees three close friends (Leslie Mann; Anna Faris; Michelle Buteau) have their restful mini-holiday crashed by their brash Aussie semi-friend (Isla Fisher).

Chaos and much property destruction ensues, along with a decent amount of laughs and some good character stories.

Doing some of his finest work yet, consummate British actor Bill Nighy plays a famous writer nearing his end in the absorbing, unusual family drama & Sons.

Gathered at his sprawling mansion, his disaffected sons (Johnny Flynn; George MacKay; Noah Jupe; Arthur Conti) bicker as they try to make sense of a revelation their eccentric father has just made about his past. It’s a classy showcase of top acting.

Though it feels like the first part of a trilogy, Tony is a very well-performed biopic about the early career of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain whose talent for cooking was matched by his love of lying and drug taking.

As the ego-driven young Bourdain, Dominic Sessa is very good, ably supported with strong performances from Leo Woodall and an outstanding Antonio Banderas.

There’s nothing much to say about Insidious: Out of the Further except that fans of the previous five films in the horror franchise will have nothing much to carp about as it cranks out the usual old-school scare tactics. Not very original, but it works.

Now, here are two very different treats awaiting all denizens of the arthouse circuit.

In the enjoyable, strictly adults-only comedy I Want Your Sex a wide-eyed, financially strapped young man (Cooper Hoffman) gets a job working for a sex-obsessed artist (Olivia Wilde) who promptly uses him as a sex servant.

What starts out as a raucous bit of erotic fun full of leather and latex becomes more engaging the more perplexed our dim young hero gets.

Also for adults is the wonderful French satire The Party’s Over as the permanent live-in caretakers for a wealthy family embark on a class war when they decide they’re not being properly paid.

We don’t get as much comedy about class as we once did and this sharp little number is a real cracker. Stars the marvelous Laure Calamy.

Those who don’t have a fear of flying might well acquire one after watching the excellent, frightening investigative Netflix documentary Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing. 

A follow-up to 2022’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, this film examines whistleblower testimony about falling quality standards, outsourcing and corporate malfeasance that prioritised profit over safety.

Once built in one location where quality was all that mattered, airliner construction was moved to a new cost-cutting model where different parts of the aircraft were made elsewhere then “snapped together”.

Alas, things didn’t not go as planned, leading to aerial catastrophes and the loss of hundreds of souls.

It’s gripping stuff, presently drawing huge viewing numbers.

For more visit jimschembri.com with updates on X at @jimschembri