Obsession (2025)

Obsession is a film that says be careful what you wish for, cause you will get fed your recently deceased cat in a sandwich. Barker’s previous film Milk & Serial got my attention because it was released on YouTube which is a novel way of getting attention and it worked. Aside from the fact that it was a bold move to give a film away for free, it was an enjoyable horror film. The set up of the film is that Bear wishes for someone he works with and fancies to fall in love with him and only him and things go very wrong very quickly.

Michael Johnston is quite good as Bear. He is someone who comes across as somewhat of an introvert and when push comes to shove, he always chickens out. You could argue that he is putting his will onto Nikki but the film manages to make it a bit more ambiguous when there are moments which show the real Nikki trying to get Bear to kill her. Inde Navarrette does a great job as Nikki. Playing someone that crazy and yet still coming across as somewhat grounded is a hard thing to pull off. There is one moment where is she is smiling as Bear leaves the house and it did remind me of the ending of Pearl where Mia Goth’s character has an exaggerated smile and stays like that for what must be a couple of minutes. In this film the smile is slightly made worse by the sight of Nikki wetting herself. Both Navarrette and Johnston work well together which is why the story works as well as it does.

The film has an 18 certificate for gore but to be honest I don't think the film was that gory. I’m not a huge fan of gore and I would never sit and watch stuff like Terrifier or Saw or any of the torture porn genre films but I thought that the gore is elevated because it comes at times of extreme violence such as when Sarah’s head is pummelled against a brick on her steering wheel at the hands of Nikki.

There are a few issues with the film. In no particular order, the moment when Bear realises he is eating his cat in his sandwich was quite an obvious thing and although it is still a screwed up thing to do it is something that I saw coming and I usually see that as a bad sign. If I can spot it then it means that it's either way too obvious or the film isn't working. On this occasion it is the former. Then there is his ‘friend’ who fancies Nikki and I think that aspect of the plot and their relationship is a bit underwhelming. When Bear is trying to get Ian to make the wish to get the curse off of him, Ian decides to wish for a billion dollars and in literally his next scene is killed so it kind of made that money scene pointless.    

I enjoyed Obsession. I thought that it took a pretty simple concept and managed to make it atmospheric and proves that smiling is one of the most horrifying things you can do. We have really been on a great run of horror films over the last few years with Weapons, Bring Her Back, Smile, Barbarian and Nope. This more than deserves its place amongst those films and it was to see what Curry Barker could do with a stronger story and also a bigger budget.

Rose of Nevada (2025)

 Rose of Nevada is one of the those films that I decided to see based purely on the trailer. Two guys arrive on a boat end up back in time and the film follows them as they are trying to cope with their situation. Given that there are some big hitters at the cinema out at the moment and given the trailer, I was surprised and took comfort from the fact that there was a decent number of people in the screening.

George Mackay plays Nick who at the start of the film uses a food bank and when he arrives home, his next door neighbour is standing outside in the pouring rain. In his own home, his wife and daughter are living in a house falling apart. He takes the job on the Rose of Nevada out of desperation. Callum Turner plays Liam who is sleeping at the docks seemingly having no home of his own. He seems to adjust to the change in their circumstances better than Nick. Even though they have nothing in common and have completely different priorities, both Turner and Mackay work well together. Cast wise, the film is pretty much faultless. There isnt a weak performance which everyone managing to walk that fine line of delivering a straight performance but with a hint of the realisation that something is slightly off. 

The town that they are in seems to have seen better days. Normally I hate the allegory of modern society in films but I think that it works very well in this film because its too accurate to a lot of modern towns and cities. There is something clearly off about the town even when they go back to the 1990’s. I did enjoy the surroundings and it added to the mystery. 

The idea that they have ended up 30 years in the past and everyone in the town thinks Nick and Liam are different people is a neat mystery. The two crewmen of the original Rose of Nevada died in tragic circumstances and it allows Nick and Liam to effectively leave their previous lives and take on new personas.

From a technical standpoint, this film looked amazing. It was a bit weird at first that the film must have only occupied 60% of the screen but once I got past that I was able to enjoy the way that the film looked. The grainy look and the light exposure gave the film a look that pretty much hasn’t existed for decades. Even in the 90’s this look was obsolete so choosing to have the film look as rustic and grungy as it does is an unusual thing. I can see some of today’s audience not liking the film purely because it's not filmed in HD. 

Nick and Liam may be working together but they have different priorities. Nick wants to get back to his wife and daughter and Liam is happy in his relationship with Tina. As the film progresses, Nick grows increasingly desperate to return whereas Liam has become acclimatised to his new surroundings.

I will be honest that I didn’t fully understand the finer details of the film but the fact that I still enjoyed shows how good everything on screen was. I dont mind things being spoonfed but it would be nice to have something explained in a way that didn’t come across as exposition but this film doesnt do that and so you are left working things out for yourself. As I write this it has been four days since I saw the film and only know feel like I understand most of the film but I don't know if I will ever understand this film 100%. This was the first Mark Jenkin film that I have seen and on the basis of Rose of Nevada, I am intrigued to see what else he has come up with.

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

I remember thinking that the first Mortal Kombat was ok. To be fair to it, the film came out during the pandemic so that might have played into my thinking at the time. As that film came out in 2021 and I haven’t seen it since, I decided to rewatch it in preparation for this and was much more impressed with the story and the fact that it was far more gory than I remembered. The trailer did make this feel more like the 1995 Paul W.S. Anderson Mortal Kombat but I knew the film would be able to improve on that without having to try very hard. Movies based on video games have improved greatly since the mid 90s.

There are several fight scenes which feel like the setting is either lifted from one of the games or inspired which shows how much care and attention to detail has been paid. Not being a massive fan of the games I wasn't aware of the lore of the games I am only guessing that the fight scenes took place in familiar settings. I thought that the fight scenes were really good and even though the gore didn’t seem as frequent as it did in the first one, there were moments where it seemed more intense for a 15 certificate film. 

Karl Urban plays Johnny Cage and starts the film as a jaded film star who has resorted to going to conventions to sell signed photos of himself. They don't go completely into the idea that he is a washed up star but at the very least suggest his moment in the spotlight has faded. Urban does manage to make Cage feel like someone who is thrust into a world that he doesn't fully understand but by the end of the film he feels believable as the leader of this group. Kitana in this movie is so much better than the one in 1995. For one she actually has weapons which I don't remember her having before. 

I thought the only downside of introducing so many characters was that the film doesn't get the chance to give everyone a decent amount of screen time which is a shame because I could have done with more Kano. Kano would just come on screen every so often and hurl an insult at someone. Sonya Blade and Jax feel like their importance in the story is greatly reduced from the first film. Also the betrayal of Jade on Kitana was obvious the moment that one feels like they are sisters and that inevitable moment felt like a bit of an eye roll moment.

I enjoyed this film. It was clear that they have lent more into the lore than in the first film which was a wise move and even though there were probably tons of references, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on it. The story was straight forward, the fight scenes were very well staged and the gore made the fights feel tough. It is clear that they are anticipating a third movie which is something I would be happy to see because the Movie Game genre of films has never been in a healthier shape than right now. In the trailers before this film I saw Street Fighter which will attempt to beat the poor 1994 Jean Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue original. To be fair the trailer looked decent. Back to this film though and its a relief to say that ths sequel is highly enjoyable stuff.

Highlander (1986)

Who wants to live forever? Well no one if they have any sense. With a new Highlander film coming out soon and 40 years since the first film meant that it was a great opportunity to see this first film on the big screen for the first time.

It always seems so random to have a wrestling match feature in the beginning of the movie. It does feature a great panning shot from one side of  what is supposed to be Madison Square Garden to the other side to find Connor although there is minor edit to focus on Connor.

As a lead, I think that Christopher Lambert is fine as Connor. As the film progresses I think that he gets better but it does take a while for Lambert to find himself in the role which given how he has to exist in multiple periods of time is somewhat understandable. Sean Connery is great as Juan aka The Spaniard although he speaks in his usual Scottish accent cause…..well he’s Sean Connery. Due to his screen charisma, he does steal the spotlight from Lambert but his involvement in the story whilst important is still relatively short. Clancy Brown is one of those actors who is instantly good in everything that he is in and in this film he is a really good villain. As Victor Kruger he is the one who is tracking down Connor. He comes across as an effective and dominating villain yet not too strong.

I always find it funny Kate MacLeod is teary eyed when Connor appears to be on death’s door but she does a complete 180 when he is still alive. Yes it could be argued away with the superstitious mentality of the period but it's something that I find quite funny. As this is a UK production there are plenty of British stars including many who have appeared in Doctor Who.

I really enjoy Highlander. It is the only good in the series although the upcoming Chad Stahelski remake might be able to clear the low bar to be the second best Highlander film. The film does take a bit of time getting going but whilst you are waiting for it to kick into top gear, you are being entertained by a great soundtrack from Queen. Being a child of the 80’s and having watched plenty of their films, It was great to see the Cannon logo on the big screen. Might be the first time I’ve seen a film of theirs at the cinema. 

There is a downside to watching these film from this period in time and it’s that the picture quality isnt as good as we are use to today. There are a few shots at the end when Connor is spinning around in the air where you can see the strings holding him in the air and I thought I saw one shot of how it was connected to his jacket. But that minor issue, this is a great film to have seen at the cinema. 

The Christophers (2025)

The Christophers was a mystery screening (my 8th of the year) and one that I genuinely didn’t see coming. I had seen the trailer but it wasn't one that I would probably have gone to see normally.  Amusingly, this is the second Steven Soderbergh film I have seen like this. The last time was Prescence which was about a ghost but seen from its POV. This time two kids of a famous artist (James Corden & Jesse Gunning) hire forger Lori (Michaela Coel) to complete their estranged father’s unfinished work so they can be sold after he dies which we are told is close.

I thought that Ian McKellen (Julian) and Michaela Coel worked well together. The relationship naturally starts off a little bit prickly. Whenever Julian asked Lori a personal question, Lori would answer in what a typical Gen-Z way and I was worried that the film was going to be like this and be totally alienating to me but thankfully thawing improves but to the point where it betrays either character. Julian doesnt feel like its a million miles away from Ian McKellen.  I did find it amusing when we first meet Julian and he is doing Cameo videos (which unexpectedly become relevant right at the end of the film). The last time I saw Ian McKellen was in The Critic where he played an aging Theatre Critic and in this he plays an aging artist who in his spare time does the videos to try and earn some extra money. I suppose when you are the age that McKellen is then you can stop doing Gandalf roles and do what are more interesting and more grounded roles and its nice to see.

Michaela Coel is good in a role that is relatively hard to like. There isnt a lot of room for range and Coel manages to drag as much as she can out of it. The film at times wants to make he appear to be some talented forger but then they try and input motivation as to why she is in the same room as Julian and its because of a meeting on a TV show years earlier but she seems to want to stick it to Sally and Barnaby and yet seems to want the money so her motivation is mixed and not very well thought out but during the more lucid moments in the plot, Michaela Coel manages to make you happy that she has made a career by the end of the film.

Normally I find James Corden (Barnaby) to be totally insufferable. He comes across as a totally unlikeable person in real life and his performances have been average at best. The only time I haven’t completely disliked his performance was in Cats and that was because the quality bar was so low. Jessica Gunning (Sally) or the woman from Baby Reindeer was fine, her performance was always secondary to Corden’s. Not because he was stealing the screen time but because her character seemed to be secondary to Barnaby.

I did find myself asking one question and its comes towards the end when Barnaby and Sally are trying to buy Lori’s services and say that they can only give her £20,000 even though they have already been pre-paid £1 million. How have they only got £20,000? What have they done with it?

I enjoyed this film but I can’t say that I loved it. There was something stopping me from loving this film and I honestly can’t put my finger on it. I think that its a bit too slow and its lacking something that could just zap some energy into it. I think that its a film that people will struggle to enjoy and it will struggle to get an audience. Like I said at the beginning of the review, I probably wouldn’t have gone to see this film at the cinema if I had the choice but at least there weren’t any walkouts which feels like a rarity.

Power to the People: John & Yoko Live in NYC (2026)

Having enjoyed EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, I thought I would embrace the chance to watch another music documentary. I have never been the biggest Beatles fan and only knew a couple of John Lennon’s songs so I went into this film as pretty much an outsider. The documentary follows John and Yoko as they play at Madison Square Garden during two concerts.

Unlike EPiC, there isn't any build up beside watching them walk towards the stage. It seemed a bit strange at first that there wasn't some sort of introduction to the events but in the context of the entire documentary it worked. The songs are well performed and there is something enjoyable seeing songs performed live because you get it in a slightly different way to how they would be on vinyl or cd or whatever. Having never seen Lennon perform, especially solo, it impressed me how unflashy he was and how self-deprecating he was. 

I also like the way that the film was essentially in three blocks with the images constantly changing but I didn't find it distracting. I knew that my attention could switch to any of the blocks and I wouldn't miss what was happening and still got a great sense of the whole concert. Despite this there is a massive issue with this documentary and it is with Yoko Ono perhaps not that surprising. I didn't think I could find someone worse than Gal Gadot’s attempt at singing in Snow White but up steps Yoko Ono. I had never heard her sing before and was told by a friend that her singing is terrible but this was on another level of terrible. By about the third song I said ‘Oh No’ loud enough that my friend heard me and it made him chuckle. The only time she made any sense was when she was reading the words supposedly said by Hitler. John Lennon really must have loved Yoko Ono because that is the only reason that he would have allowed her to be within a mile of a microphone. She seems to play the keyboard well enough but singing was a big fail.

I don't think that this was as good as EPic but I still think that it was enjoyable. It seemed like it was a great concert to be a part of and obviously it was done for a good cause but this is the first time that I can genuinely put the negatives of a film down to one person and that in this case is Yoko Ono. These sorts of documentaries are becoming more popular because they allow you to see and hear your favourite artists and bands on the largest screen and on the best sound system around and far better than any of us have at home. Even if I am not a fan of their music, if it gets people into the cinema then it can only be a good thing. Especially with the way cinema is in 2026.

The Sheep Detectives (2026)

The Sheep Detectives is one of those silly films that I feel the world needs right now and whilst everyone was going to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie or The Devil Wears Prada 2, I was sat in a quiet cinema on a Sunday morning wanting something that wouldnt change the world but would make you forget for 110 minutes. The film stars Hugh Jackman as George Hardy and a great cast list of voice actors including Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Brett Goldstein (twice) and Bella Ramsey. When George is found dead, the police want to write it off as a heart attack but the sheep decide to use the skills they have acquired from benign read detective novels by George to discover whodunnit. As well as the murder there is the wannabe journalist Elliot, George’s daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon), the butcher Ham (Conleth Hill), the neighbor Caleb (Tosin Cole) and a host of other characters.

The film does play out like its trying to break the fourth wall, using all the known cliches to try and throw us off the scent even though we know that they are red herrings because we are told them at every opportunity and yet despite this fourth wall breaking, I found that it played into the vibe of the film perfectly.

Hugh Jackman is quite good despite being killed off relatively quickly and then popping up again every so often in flashbacks. It isn't the best performance from Jackman but given that he mainly interacts with CGI talking sheep, I think he does quite well. It’s hard to dislike Jackman because he comes across so likeable and as George he only seems to care about one thing and that is his sheep. Emma Thompson is in this as Lydia Harbottle, the lawyer who has such disdain for Officer Derry. The character is so unlikable and yet because it's Emma Thompson she still manages to come across with a weird amount of charm. Nicholas Braun is good as Tim Derry who seems to be the only police officer in this tiny little village and manages to solve the case in spite of himself. He is helped at pretty much every stage and despite being completely out of his depth, I still found myself liking his character. Nicholas Galitzine is good as Elliot but it was a little bit obvious that he would have something to do with it because he stood out like a sore thumb because he basically looks like he stepped out of a YA story. 

It probably was just to add something bright to proceedings but there are a lot of neon signs in pretty much every shot of the film. It’s never explained why but when the local butchers has a neon sign then it is worth noticing. Another thing that has to be commented on are the sheep. They manage to get around the fact that they can't pick things up or interact with the humans but they still manage to help move the story along and they all have their own personalities and are the main reason why the film works as well as it does. 

There is a lovely idea that sheep don't die but become clouds and there is also a running thread that one of the lambs is an outcast because they are a winter baby and they are considered less than compared to the spring lambs. This is the closest that the film gets towards melodrama but manages to show restraint in this area. Overall The Sheep Detectives is an enjoyable film but not quite on the same level as The Magic Faraway Tree. That came across as magical and yet this doesn't quite go as silly as the trailer seemed to suggest that it might. I still think that the film is a good family film but it might get lost in the shuffle especially when we have just had the Super Mario movie out and we have a Minions movie coming out. I think that this is going to be something that people might watch when it comes out on streaming. 

A perfectly fine and fun family film.