Author: Joel Fisher

Kyle Parson (Joe Cole) lives in a small town with his wife and child on the border between Texas and Louisiana. There doesn’t seem to be much happening there and people lead simple lives, trying to maintain their happiness.

One of those people is Joan Dempsey (Carrie Preston) and after her love life takes a downward turn, she decides to throw herself into her PR job and devices a ‘touch the truck’ competition. Clearly having to do something to distract herself from her life, Joan powers through even when things start to get worse for the contestants, one of which is Kyle who’s feeling the pressure with every waking hour.

One of These Days is a drama written and directed by Bastian Günther who attempts to take a look at a small slice of life in a seemingly aimless town. With many people gathered around the trick hoping for a chance to win, it shows that there are many and varied characters within this sleepy town.

The trouble is that director Günther doesn’t really know what he wants to do with his large cast of characters and has very little to say about the town in which they live. Depicted as ‘small town America’ there could have been many opportunities for the story. Having the story so closely focussing on a group of characters in an artificially confined situation could have led to drama and conflict between them as the story goes on.

However, it seems that Günther is so interested in shooting his movie with as much realism as possible that he forgets to plan out a plot. One of These Days may indeed show a slice of life in a small town, but it also reflects the boredom.

There are certain elements of character development, particularly from Kyle and Joan’s stories, but these fleeting moments are few and far between as there is an insistence to portray the competition as closely as possible.

In the end this makes One of These Days feel like a wasted opportunity with a cast who feel very underused. By reflecting the desperation of people trying to get something good out of their lives, it may leave the audience feeling tested past their limits.

Vincent Baros (Kristos Andrews) has made a serious mistake. Firstly, he’s decided to turn to a life of crime, secondly during a shootout he kills an undercover cop and is sent to prison for a very long time.

His father, Alex (Louis Mandylor) is understandably very disappointed in his son, but he’s still willing to make amends and decides to visit him in prison. However, it becomes clear that there’s still bad blood between them and Vincent isn’t going to let it lie.

This matter is only made worse when notorious criminal Max Chandler (Brian Krause) decides to execute his plan of taking over the prison during Alex’s visit. This causes a problem for him because Alex’s background is in Black Ops and he finds himself taking the law into his own hands in order to save his son.

Breakout is an action thriller directed by Brandon Slagle and co-written by Robert Thompson and Devanny Pinn. Showing its influences proudly on its sleeve, Breakout attempts to reignite the excitement of late Nineties/early 2000’s movies such as Con Air and The Fast and The Furious. It has everything that an audience may expect from that kind of movie with a liberal sprinkling of Die Hard to go on top.

Giving the impression of a movie with a much bigger budget, Breakout manages to use its score, action and cinematography in order to give audiences the nostalgia of an action movie they just don’t make anymore. However, those looking for something with a bit more of a modern edge or originality may want to look elsewhere.

Breakout is a combination of those kinds of action movies you remember, but unfortunately without the things that made them so great. With movies such as the Fast and Furious franchise, part of the appeal is on the big action set pieces, and although Breakout tries, the choreography just doesn’t seem to hit the spot.

Also, despite their best efforts the cast don’t quite have the chemistry or performance value to pull off what they’re trying to achieve. Making Breakout feel like it was so busy trying to look the part that it forgot the vital ingredients.

Massimo (Michael Klug) is a recovering drug addict, and he thinks he’s finally turned his life around. He’s madly in love with Tien (Christine Nguyen) and is excited to finally bring her to his parents and perhaps smooth over the cracks in their relationship. However, things go wrong when they reject Tien and Massimo is heartbroken.

He goes back to his apartment and hears a knock on the door, a woman comes in and before he realises it, he’s been bitten by a shape shifting creature that’s turning him into one of her own. Desperate to keep Tien away, he’s forced to start a new life with Sofia (Meghan Deanna Kingsley) as she converts him to her side and his bloodlust grows stronger.

Blood Covered Chocolate is a horror movie written and directed by Monte Light which puts its lead into an incredible situation from which he can see no escape. Shot mostly in black and white with the occasionally interesting imagery, Blood Covered Chocolate may not be to everybody’s taste.

Despite the set up and seemingly interesting premise, the audience may be under the impression that the movie may have something to say about either Massimo’s drug addiction or his relationship with Tien. It’s a shame then that there seems to be very little subtext as to why Massimo’s life is taken over in such a way.

It’s also unfortunate that director Light chose to shoot his film in black and white because there may be some who are interested in a horror movie portrayed in such a different way. Although it seems they may eventually realise that this presentation is an attempt to disguise the fact that there isn’t much plot or coherence.

Worst of all comes the ending which may have added an interesting plot twist, if it weren’t already such a tired cliché about the state of mental health.

To portray a film in such a way as to suggest an artistic flair and then give such a lazy ending contradicts itself in the worst way. Ending up exposing itself for what it really is – a movie that wants to succeed, but gets in its own way.

Cassandra (Mena Suvari) is on the edge and thinking of ending it all. Ever since her daughter went missing, her life had no meaning and she started to drink. Then one night, Cassandra is attacked by a couple of men and just as she thought it was all over, she’s saved by a woman who violently puts an end to their abusive behaviour.

The next day, Cassandra is feeling like she’s in a better place and as she’s settling down for lunch, she meets Carter (Casper Van Dien) and Jackson (Will Peltz), a father and son with a close bond and a keen interest in hunting.

Inviting Cassandra to go on a hunt with them, she’s taken to a quiet, hidden away place where Carter, Jackson and their friends prepare for the hunt. However, little does she know it, but Cassandra is being prepared to be their prey.

Hunt Club is a Thriller directed by Elizabeth Blake-Thomas and written by David Lipper and John Saunders. Something that seemingly may have potential for social commentary on the modern age of gender politics, however, it seems that there just wasn’t enough thought put into it past the premise.

In a similar vein to 2020’s The Hunt, there could have been commentary on such as the MeToo movement and the escalating reports of abuse in the Hollywood film industry. However, what could have worked as a social satire is played too seriously and with misogyny being as relevant a topic now than it ever was, it seems that Hunt Club is stuck in the past.

There may be certain aspects of the movie which are subtle winks to the audience about the familiarities of horror movies. Things such as scantily clad women running away from men who are hunting them down is as cliché as it comes. However, the script doesn’t seem deep enough to inform its audience that it knows what it’s doing.

Instead, Hunt Club seems to be a movie made in order to get a reaction rather than say anything about the state of the world today, and may wash over the real life villains who don’t understand the irony.

Lee (Mitchell Fisher) doesn’t really know what to do with his life. He seems to do whatever he likes, although it often leads him into trouble. Feeling lucky one day, Lee goes into his local newsagents and buys a lottery ticket, and whilst thinking about what he could actually do if he won, he gets talking to Ruby (Niamh Branigan).

They talk for a long time, getting to know each other and even though Lee barely remembers to ask her name, he gets her number written on his lottery ticket and he heads off home.

The next day, Lee is checking his numbers and he cannot believe it when his numbers come up and he realises that he’s won millions. However, that joy is soon soured when Will (Neizan Fernandez) turns up at his house, punches Lee and takes his ticket.

After Lee regains consciousness, he’s surprised to see Ruby has turned up at his house and it’s a bittersweet experience. She tells him that Will’s her ex-boyfriend and after Lee explains about the ticket, she wants to help him get it back.

Lottery is a romantic drama turned thriller written and directed by Ryan J. Smith which tells a somewhat grounded story despite its high concept. The more cynical members of the audience may suspect what could happen between Lee and Ruby, but the best experience is to go in knowing nothing at all.

What follows is a smartly scripted drama with enough twists and turns to keep the audience interested and does so without hyperbole or too much dramatic flair. It also helps that the audience is kept in the dark just as much as Lee, letting them find out things just as he does which may give both lead character and audience a surprise or two.

The small cast all play their parts well and there’s a good chemistry between Fisher and Branigan which keeps the audience rooting for their success. With a surprisingly low budget, it just goes to show how a good story and decent performances can still lead to an interesting and thrilling film.