‘Twas a dark and stormy night… not unlike the one in Jurassic Park. The dilemma facing any Jurassic franchise director is how to add anything new. Like the customers of Clare’s destroyed dino park, we’ve forgotten the first time we saw live dinosaurs; and we too want them bigger, with more teeth. We tut at… Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Read More
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Cannes 2018) 3.5 stars
Solo is terrific fun, a blast, a movie that never feels too long. But also doesn’t quite reach the heights it aspires to. WARNING – this is slightly spoilery, including Han and Chewy, so if you want to go into the cinema in blissful ignorance about this and some other plot points, leave now, with… Solo: A Star Wars Story (Cannes 2018) Read More
Tully 4 stars
If throwing a chair is your response when someone helpfully suggests you sleep when the baby sleeps, then Tully is for you. Though if you saw a chair that didn’t have piles of washing on it, or a stack of baby books you don’t have time to read, you’d probably sit down on it and fall… Tully Read More
Avengers: Infinity War 4 stars
I enjoyed Avengers: Infinity War, despite or perhaps because I wasn’t always sure what was going on. A familiar superhero problem for me, though at least this time I spotted Stan Lee. The movie is fantastic fun, a ballsy blast, though for me mostly emotionally unengaging. Admittedly I’m not that invested in superheroes, but also so… Avengers: Infinity War Read More
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 3.5 stars
There’s a cosiness to the word-count guzzling Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society, in a lie-back-and-think-of-postwar-England kind of way. We know what we’re going to get: fabulous 1940s fashions (wide-leg high waisted jeans, here I come); clattering typewriters; bosom-hoiking landladies; beautiful views. Plus love, loss, and employment for several British national treasures. But it… The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Read More
The Shape Of Water 5 stars
This is an ode to gods and monsters, and fittingly it is set in the early 1960s – when America has become used to strange creatures on screen, warning us of our failings as a species, or terrifying us into submission. And with so many B-movies allegories for East-West relations, it’s also appropriate that The… The Shape Of Water Read More
Downsizing 3 stars
Downsizing could have been a burning satire on social save-the-planet activism being twisted to support the newly idle, newly rich. But instead it becomes an apocalyptic tale about the power of love. Which is all very well but has nothing to do with being small, apart from only needing an ark from Toys ‘R’ Us…. Downsizing Read More
Darkest Hour 4 stars
Let’s get it out of the way right now, Gary Oldman’s physical transformation into Winston Churchill is simply astonishing, and his performance absolutely Oscar-worthy. This is the fourth film in a year covering some of the same WW2 ground, and I’d be lying if I claimed I hadn’t been concerned about Wartime Britain Fatigue setting… Darkest Hour Read More
All The Money In The World 4 stars
“A man who has children gives hostages to fortune” said billionaire miser J. Paul Getty’s own father to him, a maxim that is not about money but about saying or doing something that sets you up for trouble in the future. Though in this case it is both, as descendants of billionaires are obvious kidnap… All The Money In The World Read More
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle 3.5 stars
Four kids are headed for detention, and seeing them sitting in a row outside the Principal’s office – the soccer player, the geek, the princess and the loner girl with hair in her eyes – did make me wonder if we were set for Breakfast Club 2. All they have in common is their school…. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle Read More
The Disaster Artist 4.5 stars
The Disaster Artist is a total triumph, and thank goodness for that. Imagine if it had been terrible and someone else had to come along and make a film about the making of the the worst film ever made about the making of the worst film ever made. We could be here for decades, with… The Disaster Artist Read More
Justice League 4 stars
When it comes to superhero films I’ve ploughed a lonely furrow over the years, as try as I might, I can’t get my head round a grown man dressing up as a bat to fight crime. But thanks to Justice League I have finally found someone else like me. Step forward… Aquaman! The man from… Justice League Read More