You might not comprehend every single word they spout, yet the two money-hunting heroines in the breezy girl-buddy comedy One of Them Days have enough sass and comic fizz to keep you laughing.
Ambitious fast-food worker Dreux (Keke Palmer) and her irresponsible bestie Alyssa (SZA) have a few short hours to raise the rent money, a mission that sees them stuck in a spiral of comic desperation.
It’s a straight-up time-killing comedy with enough visual gags to make up for the verbal ones you might miss from our motor-mouthed gal pals.
As much as we love Cate Blanchett she’s been popping up in some odd films of late. Thankfully, the espionage thriller Black Bag is one of her better efforts.
Our Cate plays a British secret service officer who is being secretly investigated by her steely husband (Michael Fassbender), a fellow agent who has been told his good lady might actually be an enemy of the state.
Be prepared for a twist-laden plot and plenty of talk, but it’s a fine yarn backed by a strong ensemble cast that includes Tom Burke, Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan as the crusty head of the service who wants to keep Britain’s secrets from causing a catastrophe.
And now, as a favour to all film lovers, a quick note about the over-sized sci-fi lark Mickey 17, one of the big new current releases that isn’t worth your time or money – that is, of course, unless you’re a huge Robert Pattinson fan, because you get two of him here.
Set in the near-future where cloning is used to produce cheap labour for dangerous jobs, Pattinson plays a dim-witted sap who, after 17 rebirths, meets the 18th version of himself when he doesn’t die as planned.
The film starts out well with lots of comedy and strong ideas, only the story gets side-tracked over concerns for the welfare of all these giant bugs that inhabit an ice planet. Things just get dull. And at 137 minutes, it’s yet another film that outstays its welcome by at least half an hour.
Over on the arthouse circuit are two gems that are really worth checking out.
Every Little Thing is an absolutely fascinating, beautifully photographed nature documentary about Hollywood hummingbirds and local bird lover Terry Masear, who devotes her time and home to helping the injured and the abandoned.
Replete with stunning slo-mo footage of the birds in flight it’s a truly lovely piece.
Though veteran director Mike Leigh is not known for raising laughs in his dark social dramas, his latest offering delivers a lot more humour than usual, thanks to its bile-spitting main character.
In Hard Truths, Marianne Jean-Baptiste (in a stellar performance) plays Pansy Deacon, a depressed, angry suburban housewife whose disdain for everything and everyone has her spouting sarcastic putdowns at every turn.
Not even random people working in shops are safe from her aggressive verbal sprays, which are often quite funny even though her broader situation is anything but.
Devotees of Mike Leigh – Naked; Life Is Sweet; Another Year; Secrets and Lies, which he made in 1996 with Jean-Baptiste – will receive Hard Truths as one of his finest films as he explores loss and the chronic fear of loneliness, even amidst a loving family.
Just be sure to catch it quickly. It’s one of those prestige British dramas that is unlikely to last long in theatres.
Big on Apple+ right now is a fabulous slice of matinee entertainment called The Gorge, a ripper romance action sci-fi horror film with an intriguing premise and two terrific, attractive leads.
On opposite sides of a super-secret, mist-covered gorge stand two heavily armed concrete guard towers.
In one is an American ex-marine sniper (Miles Teller); in the other sits a highly efficient Lithuanian assassin (Anya Taylor-Joy).
Peering at each other over the chasm they are drawn together, first figuratively then literally.
The only thing interrupting their budding love are the violent critters from the valley below who the couple have to keep shooting to keep them from scaling the cliffs.
What a satisfying, well-executed thrill ride this film is, spending the first half building up the unlikely relationship between the two loners before all the mayhem kicks in.
Some neat twists are worked into the loopy story, along with a fiery finale.
If you’re hungry for a strong mix of romance and action, grab a beverage, call up The Gorge, sit back and enjoy.
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