A little late with my movie of the month following a busy weekend, here are the contenders, just five new movies and two classic reissues:
Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – The Fast and the Furious long since stopped being The Fast and the Furious and became Mission Impossible, if you accept that you will probably enjoy their latest outing. It isn’t exactly good, but it is really great fun. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are likeable stars, Idris Elba is having great fun as the villain, and Vanessa Kirby is sensational.
Oldboy – Back in cinemas for one day only, one of my all time favourite movies is as great as ever.
Blinded by the Light – Based on the memoir of Bruce Springsteen supperfan Sarfraz Manzoor: Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll. The tone of the film doesn’t always work, not knowing if it wants to commit to being a musical fantasy or not. The young leads are great and its use of music of The Boss is great.
Pain & Glory – Many of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies have elements of autobiography, particularly about his relationship with his mother. This may be his most autobiography and is certainly about his mother. Penélope Cruz is as great as ever in a small part. Always underrated as an actor, Antonio Banderas gives the performance of a lifetime; it’s a shame Oscar is blinkered to subtitles! The film features something in the final act that I would call a revelation rather than a twist, it is truly sublime. 
Apocalypse Now, Final Cut – I first saw Apocalypse Now in my early teens, and loved it. A few years later I saw a scratchy old 35mm print on the big screen, it was even better. The Final Cut offers a longer version of the film (but around 20 minutes shorter than the Redux version), with a runtime around three hours. More significant than the cut, is the print, a 4K transfer from the original negative; I saw it on IMAX, it looked amazing! 
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino’s return to form. Rather than try and distil my thoughts into a paragraph, take a look at THIS. 
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – Teen horror, that lacks any real horror or scares. It is generally fun with likeable characters, and a couple of good performances. The film looks fantastic with excellent production design and photography. 
As always I excluded re-releases for movie of the month, this leaves two contenders. In most moths Pain & Glory would be a clear winner, but looses out to my Movie of the Month:
Fandango Groovers Movie Blog 