Much like with music, the last decade has been a sparkling one for film. The leaps and bounds that technology has given us has enabled...

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. This one is going to cause some debate. It’s difficult to explain the intangible love for Star Wars for the non-believer or, God forbid, the uninitiated. How we can watch the prequels whilst mocking every line, laugh deliriously over mocking memes and point out the shoddy scripting and those student-like screen wipes. It’s the only franchise that, to many, gets an absolute free pass due to the sheer joy it provokes. It goes beyond

A coming-of-age film presenting a young Nazi boy slowly getting to know a Jewish girl being hidden in his attic could just be the perfect way to launch 2020. Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit is a comedy about empathy and friendship that uses its setting and concept to its full effect to show us a moral message about the absurdity of not getting along. Ostensibly, the film follows the titular Jojo: a ten-year-old devoted Nazi during the final days of the Reich. Adolf Hitler is his

Despite everything, there's a temptation to call the 2010's (or the 'teens' if we must) a wonderful decade for music. 2019 has been...

There’s nothing like a classic murder mystery film in terms of assembling frankly awe-inspiring casts. Perhaps it’s the attached prestige to the genre, and the literary legacy, or maybe they’re just great fun to film being largely devoid of CGI and often set in one location. Knives Out is beholden to the classics of the form but bucks the trend in not being based on a pre-existing text. It also, refreshingly, is set thoroughly in the modern day despite its traditional hallmar

Your actions are important and, sometimes, cinema too can be important. Films can elevate the achievements of people and inspire others. Official Secrets is an investigative journalism-inspired thriller in the vein of Spotlight which depicts the actions of Katharine Gun: a British Intelligence worker who leaked a memo that requested her team spy on UN Council members in order to have bargaining power to, ostensibly, fix a vote so that the US could have legal discourse to inva

Zombieland knows that coming back ten years later brings with it a sense of anticipation, but also cynicism, and this is addressed as soon as Columbus picks up the narration as if nothing has changed at all. It’s the sequel long wished for but fans were sceptical given director Ruben Fleischer’s diminishing returns since the cult classic first movie. Fortunately, Zombieland: Double Tap largely delivers on the anticipation and will leave a warm feeling for any fans of the firs

A ludicrously long-range sniper assassination of a target on a moving train sets Gemini Man up in the best way possible. Could we have another top-quality modern spy film in our midst? Unfortunately not as, after a pretty darn entertaining and fast-paced opening half an hour, the film completely loses its way. It’s a real shame as Gemini Man has a lot going for it (despite the bad title.) It’s a jet-setting, good looking movie with an enticing premise (the only candidate good

An ACE Chemicals vat of acid, a child circus performer, the death of an unborn child, Red Hood. We’ve seen a few different origins for the Joker, the most famous of Batman’s legendary Rogue’s Gallery. In The Dark Knight and Suicide Squad, the decision was made to forgo an origin at all and the character still stands tall as one the best villains on page or screen. Against all odds, especially considering DC’s most recent output on screens small and big, Todd Phillips has just

The modern space film, the ‘science-fact’ rather than the ‘science-fiction’ variety, has given us much to celebrate in recent times although it’s perilously close to being oversaturated. Despite the overwhelming infinity of space itself, the lack of ‘fantasy’ in these films often leaves a frustrating sense of déjà vu as we’re hit with the same themes, characters and performances. James Gray’s Ad Astra is the latest movie to take off and sits squarely within these limiting and

We’ve seen a lot of iconic character entrances in the movies from Vader to Bond, Indy to Sparrow, Joker to Rabbit (Jessica). Add to that poster-worthy list Jennifer Lopez’s Ramona Vega in Hustlers. Strolling into the film through a whirlwind of dollar bills you’ll find yourself quoting Django Unchained: “You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.” Hustlers is based on the New York Magazine article of the same name, the true life tale of a Robin Hood-esque band of fo

The story behind James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces is a convoluted one. A celebrated work of literary linguistics and language publicly shamed and exposed as embellished fraud rather than the warts-and-all (and-all) memoir it was initially sold as. The kerfuffle surrounding it is a crying shame as the book is a masterwork and a vitally important comment on addiction and recovery. Commissioning a film is interesting for a number of reasons. Clearly, Sam and Aaron Taylor-Joh