A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Fall Guy” (2024). The casting dream of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in a stunt-filled action/comedy based on the 80’s TV series “The Fall Guy”? I was “in” from the get-go. Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is stunt double to the mega star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and boyfriend to cinematographer Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). But following an accident, Tom is taken out of the scene. Despite his self-doubt, he needs a way back in and Jody’s directorial feature, filming in Sydney, could be it. Certification: UK: 12; US: P ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Abigail” (2024). Imagine it’s 1999 and you’ve just made a film called “The Sixth Sense”. You pass it across to the Spyglass Entertainment marketing team to promote it…. and they put out a trailer with a big caption saying “and BRUCE WILLIS as ‘THE GHOST!!” Quite. So, brickbats incoming for the Universal Pictures International marketing team for taking the horror film “Abigail” and managing to DESTROY what could have been a classic movie twist. I’m NOT going to repeat their error. I’m not going to mention the twist in this tale. (But you probably already know it ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies review of “The First Omen” (2024). 1976’s “The Omen” is a horror classic, starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick and featuring a phenomenally scary soundtrack by the great Jerry Goldsmith. Now, nearly 50 years later, we have a sequel finding out how the antichrist – Damien – came into being. Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young American woman, arrives in Rome to take her vows at a convent there. But she finds dark goings on around a young woman in her teaching care, Carlita Scianna (Nicole Sorace), who spends long periods imprisoned in ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Monkey Man” (2024). I was late to the game in getting to watch this one, but was so glad I did. It’s a breathless blast of violent entertainment from beginning to end. Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: A young man (Dev Patel), with traumatic childhood memories, has revenge in mind as he takes on the political organisation behind the death of his mother and ongoing persecutions. . Certification: UK: 18; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong bloody violence”.) Talent: Starring: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sikandar Kher, Makrand Deshpande, Ashwini ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Challengers” (2024). Is Zendaya the hottest female property in Hollywood at the moment? I think so. In “Challengers” she is portrayed as the “hottest tennis player ever” and who am I to argue? I went into Luca Guadagnino’s new film with middling expectations, but was blown away by the trio of cast leads, the virtuouso camerawork and the gripping narrative and game play. Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya) is at the peak of her powers as the leading US tennis star. Falling under her spell are two male up-and-coming tennis stars – Ar ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Civil War” (2024). Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: In a near future America, we are pitched into a vicious civil war between the successionist states of Texas and California and the rest of the US run by a delusional President (Nick Offerman) who’s bullied his way into a third term. (Sound familiar?) Veteran photo-journalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and reporter Joel (Wagner Moura) are determined to interview the President in Washington before it’s too late. Tagging along are rookie photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) and wisened old New York Times journalis ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies Film Review of “Shirley” (2024). Although not American, I tend to really enjoy films centred around US politics, with 1998’s “Primary Colors” being a particular favourite. Here then is “Shirley” from Netflix: a movie based on an amazing woman of colour called Shirley Chisholm who single-handedly took the patriarchy of Congress apart and then in 1972 set her sights on the highest office of all. Bob the Movie Man Rating: Plot Summary: The film starts with Shirley Chisholm (Regina King) becoming the first woman of colour to be elected to US Congress. But she has higher ambit ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies Film Review of “Hanky Panky” (2024). I sometimes get sent screeners for movies that – erm – will normally struggle to get a cinema release. Many of them are almost unwatchable pants (hmmm… killer pants… where is my scriptwriting pad?) But sometimes they become quirky, strangely watchable oddities. “Hanky Panky”, sent to me by Actor/Writer/Co-director Nick Roth and soon to be on streaming services, is one such movie. You’ll probably find yourself either thinking “this it’s bat-shit crazy nonsense”. Or you’ll find yourself weirdly drawn into the madness! Given this is 100 ..read more

Last year (see here) as part of our Flickering Dreams podcast show we had a fun game with our Oscar Predictions: trying to predict, almost a year ahead, which films would be nominated as the Ten “Best Films” at the Oscars. So, it’s that time again and my friend and colleague Scott Forbes has thrown down the gauntlet! So, here are my predictions for the 10 films which I think will make up the Best Film Oscar nominations next year. I’ve also named some standby’s (in ranked order) to slot into the list if (for any reason) any of my main list don’t get released within the Oscar window for the 97 ..read more

A One Mann’s Movies Film Review of “Back to Black” (2024). You’d need to be a bit out of it, particularly if you are from the UK, not to realise that “Back to Black” is a biopic of the legendary but tragic singer Amy Winehouse who died in 2011. The film is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who burst onto the movie scene with a wonderful film about another music legend (John Lennon in 2009’s “Nowhere Boy”). It’s written by Matt Greenhalgh, who also wrote “Nowhere Boy” and who has an impressive CV of more recent scripts. So, the film has pedigree and it does make for an interesting watch. Howeve ..read more