WATCH AT HOME
ARTHUR & MERLIN: KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT (15) ★★★☆☆
THERE’S a strong northern accent to this admirably earthy take on the Arthurian legend, as it’s written and directed by Yorkshireman Giles Anderson, and stars the solid presence of Geordie actor Richard Short as a battle-hardened Arthur.
Freeing England by defeating the Romans has taken a toll on Arthur, who’s living in France as a drunk and bearded brawler who must overcome his personal demons in order to unite his unruly Knights of the Round Table to save England again.
But this time it’s from his illegitimate adult son Mordred, a sneering and arrogant Joel Phillimore.
Stella Stocker’s solemn and steely Queen Guinevere is captive in Camelot, and though we see less than we’d imagine of Richard Brake as Arthur’s mercurial spiritual guru, the wizard Merlin, we’re not shortchanged of Lancelot or Percival. The Lady in the Lake and the Sword in the Stone appear too.
Filmed only in natural light and making good use of locations, this is very much the Game of Thrones version of Arthur, as supernatural elements combine with a dour muddy realism to create a meaty experience.
■ Available to download/stream now.
ARKANSAS (15) ★★★☆☆
VINCE VAUGHN again demonstrates he’s so much better when not trying to be funny in this meandering hard-boiled modern-day thriller based on the novel by John Brandon, which digs deep into the American dream and comes out covered in nihilism, filth and death.
With a brawny menacing charm, Vaughn plays a mysterious and ruthless gangster called Frog who’s based in rural Arkansas. He becomes involved with a pair of none too clever low-level drug dealers who are struggling to dispose of a couple of cadavers and events spiral out of their control.
The dimwitted duo are played by Liam Hemsworth and Clark Duke, the latter miscasting himself in his directorial debut as the overly confident and talkative “brains” of the operation.
Although Duke struggles with meshing the comic moments and the violence, he succeeds in obtaining some entertaining performances from his cast which includes Michael Kenneth Williams, Vivica A Fox and John Malkovich as a far from clean cop.
■ Available to stream on Amazon Prime.