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Here's a look at the new movies I saw this week.

Bad Trip (Netflix)
Starring: Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, and Michaela Conlin
Synopsis: This new comedy on Netflix is a bit like a Borat formula. Andre, Howery, Haddish and Conlin are characters in a story, but at the same time they're setting up a series of outlandish moments and pranks being played on real and largely unsuspecting people. That gives Bad Trip its comedy edge, and it's those pranks, and the reactions of the people involved that are the parts of the movie that work best. The buddy comedy story between Andre and Howery is just OK, but Andre is incredibly gifted at pulling off these pranks and selling what's happening. Haddish also gives a fun performance in a crazy role. This is a decent film with some fun moments but overall it's not incredible. Still, it's a somewhat different concept that works for what it is.
Rating: R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, some graphic nudity and drug use.
Verdict: Two stars out of four

Collective (Hulu)
Synopsis: This documentary comes in the wake of a fire at the nightclub Colletiv in Romania in October 2015. A total of 27 were killed and 180 more were injured, with many of them suffering horribly and dying due to a horribly inadequate and mismanaged health care system. In the film, director Alexander Nanau follows a team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast  fraud that made politicians and moguls rich while people suffered and died. It's a tough story to see and at times heart-breaking to see survivors suffer and die needlessly. It's about a fight for justice and a fight against corruption. The film is nominated as one of five for Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Feature, and I see it as a front-runner in the documentary competition. For those interested in seeing the story and learning more about the fight to safeguard citizens in Romania, this is worth checking out.
Rating: NA
Verdict: Three stars out of four

The Courier (In Theaters)
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, and Jessie Buckley
Synopsis: This biopic tells the true story of Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch), a British businessman in the 1960s who became an instrumental part of the Cold War. When a high-ranking Russian official (Ninidze) reached out to the Americans, indicating he wanted to provide information and then defect, an American Spy (Brosnahan) and a member of MI-6 (Angus Wright) to make the introduction. As a civilian, Wynne was able to travel to Russia and take secret correspondence without drawing suspicion. Wynne and his Russian counterpart, Oleg Penkovsky, provided the largest source of intelligence in during the Cold War, helping to stave off disaster during the Cuban Missile Crisis before being discovered. The film tracks their work and Wynne's fight to get back to his wife (Buckley), as well as the toll the endeavor took on his family. Director Dominic Cooke delivers a decent spy drama and Cumberbatch gives an excellent lead performance. Ninidze is great as Penkovsky and I enjoyed the work from Brosnahan and Buckley in key supporting roles as well. This is a well-made and engrossing tale, and one of the better theater experiences I've had recently.
Rating: PG-13 for violence, partial nudity, brief strong language, and smoking throughout.
Verdict: Four stars out of four

The Day Sports Stood Still (HBOMax)
Synopsis: This new documentary from director Antoine Fuqua focuses on the external issues that changed the landscape of sports the last year. The film, a partnership with Chris Paul who is a main interview subject and producer, begins with the COVID shutdown last March and proceeds through a summer that saw a great deal of unrest, and the impact that made on athletes as they returned to games and used their platform to help make social change. The film features a blend of stock footage and interviews with athletes. It's interesting at times but comes out a little dry and feels like it moves through a lot of events too quickly, while at the same time being so close to those events that it feels a bit difficult to relive it. This is an interesting concept but didn't pay off as well as I'd hoped.
Rating: NA
Verdict: Two stars out of four

Nobody (Theaters)
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA, and Michael Ironside
Synopsis: This latest action film is sort of in the John Wick mold, with an everyman (Odenkirk) who used to be a highly effective government assassin trying to live a quiet, peaceful life. He's an accountant by day and husband and father by night. When thieves break into his house, Hutch (Odenkirk) restrains himself, for which he's mocked. That incident and the aftermath awaken something, and when a Russian gangster (Aleksey Serebryakov) gets involved, the beast comes out. Odenkirk is exceptional in the lead here, and this film ended up being a lot of fun. The script from Derek Kolstad moves at a good pace, and I liked the direction from Ilya Naishuller. This has some humor, but also some great action sequences and a tight, compact 90-minute run time. It doesn't wear out its welcome and delivers on a fun cold open. The film has more graphic violence than expected, which may put off some viewers. But if you're a fan of the genre, this one does it well.
Rating: R for strong violence and bloody images, language throughout and brief drug use.
Verdict: three stars out of four

The One and Only Ivan (Disney+)
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Sam Rockwell, Helen Mirren, Angelina Jolie, and Ron Funches
Synopsis: This film is based on the true story of Ivan (Rockwell), a gorilla who was a performer at an exhibition in a local mall. There he developed a knack for painting that brought him and the circus run by Mack (Crantson). This is a family-friendly film, one that earned an Academy Award nomination for Visual Effects. The film is predominately animals, voiced by actors, carrying the action and drama of the film. It's fairly cute and innocuous, a good piece of family programming and little more.
Rating: PG for mild thematic elements.
Verdict: Two stars out of four

Saint Maud (Epix)
Starring: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, and Lily Frazer
Synopsis: This horror film centers on a young woman and new Christian (Clark) who serves as a home nurse for an ailing dancer (Ehle). They form a friendship and young Maud, who believes God is talking to her and sending her signs, believes she has to save the soul of her client, whether she wants to be saved or not. That takes both of them down a dark path. This film, written and directed by Rose Glass, has a nice look, tone and mood. It's a simple piece, but the strong acting from Clark helps ground the story, which really doesn't take flight until the third act. Overall, this is a film that was hyped and has even earned some award season recognition. I was curious to see it play out but wasn't taken with the overall product. There are some strong moments, but overall this is just OK.
Rating: R for disturbing and violent content, sexual content and language.
Verdict: Two stars out of four

Seaspiracy (Netflix)
Synopsis: For this documentary, Ali Tabrizi, inspired by his passion for the ocean and ocean life, set out to explore the damage being done by humans. This journey takes him around the globe, considering different threats to sea life and how we can safeguard this natural wonder land, if it can even be safeguarded. This is an interesting film that captures one man's passion, some natural beauty, and the horrors we've inflicted upon the sea. It doesn't offer any easy answers, but it's an interesting exploration of this important topic.
Rating: NA
Verdict: Three stars out of four

A Week Away (Netflix)
Starring: Bailee Madison, Kevin Quinn, David Koechner, and Sharri Shepherd
Synopsis: This new musical is about a teen (Quinn) who is down-on-his-luck and, after some trouble, gets shipped to a week of Christian summer camp. There he meets a girl (Madison), makes some friends, gets some direction and a musical breaks out. I'm not kidding, and though the set up sounds absurd, I actually enjoyed this movie. Maybe it was the nostalgia it induced as I thought about my own experience at Christian Summer Camp, maybe it was the music or maybe it was just the fine direction from Roman White. The look was good, the musical numbers were fun and the tone here was light. The story is silly but it was enough to keep me entertained.
Rating: TV-PG
Verdict: Three stars out of four