Reel Magic: Straight Outta Compton, Knock Knock, The Walk, Black Mass

Black Mass
Kicking off a particularly strong week this Thursday is Johnny Depp's reported return to form in Black Mass. Gone is the eye-liner from those pirate films, the faux-aristocratic accent from the abysmal Mortdecai and in comes steely blue eyes, a receding hairline and genuine menace in this gangster flick.
Black Mass charts the true story of Boston mobster Whitey Bulger. Set in the '70s, as his brother William is elected to the Massachusetts senate, Whitey takes the city's organised crime by the reigns and turns himself into one of the most powerful mafia bosses of all time. There are many twists and turns during the film, so I don't want to give away anything that may spoil it for you. Suffice to say, this one looks good.
IMDb gives this 7.8 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 75%
Trivia: Johnny Depp says this is his favourite movie he has appeared in
The Walk
On the face of it, The Walk doesn't appear that interesting. The true story of a French guy in the '70s travelling to New York to walk a tightrope between the Twin Towers doesn't seem like it could fill two hours. Watch the trailer, however, and you'll be raring to see this one.
Legendary director Bob Zemeckis turns an already perilous situation into a heart stopping thrill ride complete with all the raw human emotion you remember from his previous works including Forrest Gump and Flight. Aside from lead star Joseph Gordon-Levitt's dodgy wig, all I can say about this film is it looks great.
IMDb gives it 8.9 and Rotten Tomatoes has it at 76%
Trivia: This film is based on the documentary Man On Wire (2008).
Straight Outta Compton
This NWA biopic has received mainly positive criticism since its worldwide release last month. The rap group were game changers, bringing gritty hip-hop to the world, and served as Dr Dre's launch pad. But it just seems there's more style than substance here. With biographies of people who are still alive you have to be careful not to slander. Plus you never know how much influence the real-life versions of the characters had on the plot. This movie fails to give voice to much of the controversy surrounding the band, and the rampant unaddressed misogyny is a massive let down.
Watch this one for the music and an overview of what happened, but there's more to this story.
IMDB gives it 8.2 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 90%
Trivia: Compton: A Soundtrack was secretly recorded by Dr Dre and released, according to him, as his 'grande finale'.
Knock Knock
Keanu Reeves does his usual bang up job of being Keanu Reeves in this thriller. Playing implausible family man Evan (you've got to admit, rather than looking after kids, he does look and act like he spends most of his time smoking Gauloises in the corner of a dojo), his wife and children leave for the weekend. This allows him to be Keanu Reeves - silently going about his business in a relatively unconvincing manner.
This is until, on one stormy evening, two young women knock at his door. Impossibly attractive and in distress, they ask to come in. the rest involves acts of intimacy, which will no-doubt be cut from screens here, subsequent mind games and eventual torture as the women exact punishment on the adulterer. Tedious.
IMDb gives it 6.1 and rotten Tomatoes gives it 44%
 
 

Straight Outta Compton