Late May to June 2021

All the films I saw in the cinema during late May and June 2021 ranked from worst to best.

SPOILER WARNING, for any of the films pictured above!

#9: Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It

I honestly did not want to see this, which is why I chose Billie Eilish attending an outdoor screening event of the film as the picture for my ranking.

I haven't watched the previous Conjuring films. Walked out of a Cineworld Unlimited preview screening for Curse of La Larona 2 years ago when I realised there was like 9 jump-scares within a 5 minutes time span.

I've never been one for jump-scare heavy horror films. I like when they feel warranted and aren't every 5 seconds.

My favourite horror films of the past couple of years include Brightburn, Mark Hamill's Child's Play, Pet Semertary, Into The Tall Grass, both Brahms The Boys and UnderWater.

*

I really hope Patrick Wilson stops affliating himself with these types of films as this was absolutely dreadful. Get a better talent agent or something, he desrerves better than this drizzle.

The first minute of the film in the bath was probably most scary with the dark fingers creeping over the curtain. Everything else ranged from meh, predictable or laughable.

It honestly felt like they tried to build a basic story around the millions of jump-scares during the 120 minute runtime.

Hope this is the final in the Conjuring series.

2/10

#8: In The Heights

I saw this on my birthday which just so happens to also be the UK theatrical release date (18th June). I'm not a huge fan of Lin Manuel Miranda, I like his version of musicals, incorporating rap/hip-hop rhythms into the songs, keeping a more livelier pace compared to most modern musicals.

Out of all the films I've saw in the cinema since last month, the trailer for this has played in almost every screening, which means I've saw the trailer upto at least 10 times since the reopening of Cineworld on May 17th.

*

This was okay, a few catchy and good songs. Dragged quite immensely.

I didn't know Stephanie Beatriz was in this. It was a pleasant surprise when she shown up, perhaps the only majorly positive thing I can say about this film. She looked virtually unrecognisable at first as I've been too used to seeing her with curly hair(in Brooklyn Nine-Nine) instead of straight/wavy.

Brilliant performance by the lead actor, Anthony Ramos, who also starred in Lin Manuel Miranda's American history musical 'Hamilton'.

The elder woman had perhaps the weakest song out of all of the characters. Also, I didn't feel the emotion of her death as she was only in like 2 scenes prior to it. It was beautifuly shot and cherographed, ngl. But, I didn't feel sad about it.

In The Heights honestly reminded me of a positive and an alot more upbeat version of one of director Spike Lee's earlier films called 'Do The Right Thing' as both films center around lives of a small community in New York dealing with a hellacious heatwave.

This was great at a few occasions, but inevitably became sort of boring and overly drawn out.

5.8/10

#7: Dream Horse

I remember first seeing the trailer to this during a screening of 'Military Wives' during March 2020, a week or so before Cineworld's "temporary" closure.

If this didn't have Toni Collette or Damien Lewis, this probably wouldn't have gotten a theatrical release as I feel it doesn't really warrant one and should've just went to VOD during 2020 instead of getting delayed.

*

Great performances by both Damian and Toni.

Powerful Welsh score.

I did not expect Katherine Jenkins and the 5th Doctor, Peter Davison to show during this film, absolutely unexpected cameos.

A really heartwarming underdog story about horce racing.

7.3/10

#6: Raya and The Last Dragon

I could've saw this on June 4th on Disney+ for free, but chose to watch it in the cinema for a more immersive experience.

I didn't know much about this apart from it featuring the voice of Kelly Marie Tran from The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. She got quite a bit of immensely unnecessary hate for being in them two films, which she did not deserve at all. I'm honestly really glad Disney gave her a leading voice role in a big animated film.

*

This was quite excellent, it has really powerful message of trust and selflessness, especially in the culmination of the film.

Great performances by Kelly and also Awkwafina. I think they fit their roles perfectly.

This, weirdly, reminded me of a mystical version of Tomb Raider, but with an Asian leading character.

As always in a Disney or Pixar film, the animation is absolutely phenomenal, this was no different. Brilliant use of colors and superb designs for the magical dragons.

7/10

#5: Fast and Furious 9

This was my last cinema trip of June 2021.

I'm probably in the small minority that actually prefer the OTT side of this film franchise (Fast 5 all the way upto Hobbs & Shaw) than solely focusing on fast car racing, like the first 2 and Tokyo Drift did.

My favourite film of the series(excluding Hobbs & Shaw) is probably Fast and Furious 7. Not only because it starred Ronda Rousey but it just seemed more enjoyable with ultra epic set pieces, the dive between two skyscrapers and The Rock taking on a military-level helicopter with a mini-gun definitely comes to mind when I think of that film. It also felt like a good bookend to the series, with the beautiful ending due to Paul Walker's untimely death before the movie came out.

F9 was originally supposed to come out last summer but was probably the first film to get delayed a whole year due to the on-going global pandemic. I was a little upset that it was delayed a whole year, but in-hind sight, it turned out to be$ the best idea possible as the majority of cinemas around the world, let alone in UK, were still closed during winter last year.

*

I did not expect this to be quite emotional. Excellent backstory for Vin Diesel's Dom and John Cena's Jacob Torreto.

Thrilling action and awesome stunts, in line with the recent spinoff film.

I will admit, it should've been shortened down a bit, by only 30 minutes at least.

I loved the comedic friendship between Roman and Tej, constantly trying to one-up each other in every film. They are by far the funniest part of the series.

I was enjoying the film alot until two parts specifically came up. One, was Cardi B being a part of the film, she was terrible in Hustlers and was equally as terrible in F9. The second, was the very last frame of the film, where it is implied Paul Walker's character was still alive, I thought that was in very poor taste.

Enjoyable action film that gives alot of potential for the inevitable final film.

7.9/10

#4: The Father

I wasn't too fussed about seeing this until I finally saw the trailer to it at a screening of 'My New York Year' last month. I loved the concept of the film solely taking place in one room/apartment, very reminiscent of the concept of my favourite TV show Inside Number 9.

Even from the trailer I understood why it was a major award contender. Hard hitting emotional story and great acting.

*

I honestly did not expect this be as powerful than it already was. Great emotional film.

Superb performances by Olivia Colman and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Much like the episodes of Inside Number 9, this keeps you second guessing every detail until the very end, when everything and plot point starts to click into place. It reminded of my all-time favourite I.N.9 episode called 'Twelve Days of Christine' starring Sheridan Smith about a woman who quite simply sees her life flash before her eyes in an abstract but also very beautiful and moving way.

This deserved the awards it won and even more.

9.4/10

#3: A Quiet Place Part II

My first horror film in the cinema of 2021.

I never saw the 2018 original hit film, I did get major plot points spoiled for me watching a CinemaWins video however. So I know a very vague outline of the previous film.

A Quiet Place Part II was originally supposed to come out around March/April 2020 before the still on-going pandemic swept the world. It never got a digital release during that whole year of the cinemas being closed.

*

This was amazing, excellent sound design and scene transition in the opening sequence. The 'Day 1' scene was brilliant as it shown how they took sound for granted as they were walking around and talking. Such a painful juxtaposition to the silent journey the family goes on in both films.

Beautifully tragic score.

The sound design was very reminiscent of the great 2021 film 'The Sound of Metal'. Giving the viewers a immersive perspective of certain characters being deaf.

Great performances by Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy.

I got 'Last of Us' Joel and Ellie vibes from the pairing of Cillain Murphy and Millicent Simmonds.

Absolutely powerful scenes toward the culmination of the film, the ending is a certified tear-jerker in my opinion.

I honestly hope this is the last film in the series as the ending was a perfect bookend to the story.

8.8/10

#2: Nobody

I didn't know much about this film apart from it starring Bob Odenkirk from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul(never watched an episode from either show) and it having supposedly great action scenes, on par with the John Wick trilogy.

*

This fucking film, man!

Holy shit, Bob Odenkirk surprised the hell out off me with his badass performance.

Throughout the runtime, I lost count of the amount of times I thought to myself "My God, the editing is sooooo great!"

The Invincible-esque title card transition felt amazing, I marked out when that came on-screen in that way.

Honestly, this tops ALL 3 John Wick films by a lightyear, there is literally no competion. The action scenes also shit all over the Keanu led films.

Odenkirk's Hutch did come across as a luckier Mr. Wick. No dead wife or dead dog to avenge, he's just a dad looking for his daughter's lost kitty cat bracelet.

I wasn't too keen on it setting up a potential sequel. But, at the same time, I wouldn't mind if it happened as this was a really enjoyable thrill ride from beginning to end.

8.9/10

#1: Cruella

I remember, years ago, when Emma Stone was originally rumoured to play the role of Cruella De Vil in a live action origin story of the character.

At first, I wasn't that interested in, excited or even anticipating the film until she was cast 2 years ago as the titular character of the film, she's perhaps the only reason I really want to see it, love everything Emma has been in.

I absolutely LOVED the Todd Phillips' JOKER esque vibes I got from the first trailer earlier this year, as that was my favourite film of 2019. The gritty muted but somehow still vibrant colour scheme.

*

This was amazing, honestly quite beautiful at times.

Powerful performance by Emma Stone!

One scene in particular after a major plot twist, I was on the verge of tears from, her acting was THAT great! She fit the role of the merciless fashion-ous villainess.

Excellent Brit punk rock soundtrack. Thhe song choices perfectly captured the atmosphere of the film.

I was suprised how insanely similar this was to JOKER, in story pieces, cinematography style and one song that features in both. I marked out when I heard Jimmy Durante's Smile but by a different artist in Cruella.

The camera work also reminded me of Zack Snyder's Army of The Dead, where there is a heavy amount of lens apperture, making the background is immensely blurry.

Less than 10 minutes into the film, I thought it was, to quote Spider-Man Noir from 'Into The Spider-Verse', a hardcore origin story. The way the film portrays the Dalmatians as the antagonists from the very beginning was quite excellent, as they aren't usually vilified in any Disney media.

This does try to setup a sequel and I am 100% for it.

I hope this isn't just trying to lead into the 1996 Glenn Close film, similar to how 2018's BumbleBee ends leading into Michael Bay's series as I really want to see more of Emma's Cruella, she was incredible!

9/10