It’s fair to say that Drew Goddard is a bit of a Quentin Tarantino acolyte if his latest: Bad Times at the El Royale, is anything to go by. The story of seven strangers who arrive at the titular hotel, crossing the border line between California and Nevada, on a stormy night in 1969 has more than a whiff of The Hateful Eight to it. Chuck in chapter cards from Inglourious Basterds, a Jackie Brown-esque ‘same-scene-from-a-different-perspective’ and even the font from Pulp Ficti

Sony come wading back into superhero waters, despite losing their prized asset, in what can only be described as an ill-conceived, petty rebuke to Marvel for setting the benchmark for Spider-Man. Venom is the first drop in a ‘new universe’ of Spidey friends and foes but would do well to earn itself a sequel as it’s a lazy and derivative example of superhero cliché delivered about ten years too late. Bloated and by-the-numbers origin set up? Check. A total lack of screen time

A Star Is Born might just be the best remake of a remake of a remake (not that it’s a hotly-contested category.) Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut is an intimate, soul-baring affair charting the upward trajectory of a pop-star-in-waiting whilst her Americana-playing husband’s own career slowly falters, in no small part thanks to his crippling alcoholism. This is one of those ‘authentic’ musicals with the music scenes acting as live performances or rehearsals rather than spon

Media saturation and Insta-fame mean it's difficult to release a truly meaningful and thought-provoking anything anymore. Those that do have to be extra special to stand out in the crowd and, fortunately, 2018 has been very kind to us when it comes to protest art. Childish Gambino's This Is America video perhaps is the biggest single and video with Idles' album Joy as an Act of Resistance set to join it as a landmark album. Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman stands tall next to these

The superhero comedy is now as ubiquitous as the very genre it looks to mock. From spoofs like The Lego Batman Movie through meta alterna-franchises like Deadpool and even shared universe mega-hitters like Thor: Ragnarok. Fortunately, these examples are all uniformly excellent and we now have a more youngster-friendly film to add to the mix with Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. Based on a little seen early-noughties animated series the titular Teen Titans are DC's Robin, Starfi

It seems disingenuous to criticise a film for something it's not but The Festival is a bittersweet watch knowing that it's highly unlikely that we'll see The Inbetweeners on our screens again. With a lot of the writing and production team on board, and real life couple Joe Thomas and Hannah Tointon headlining the cast, we'll forgive you the deja vu. Graduate Nick is brutally dumped by girlfriend Caitlin (at his graduation ceremony, no less, in a watch-through-your-fingers mom

Following Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War was always going to be a daunting task and the short (or should that be microscopic) straw has been drawn by MIA Scott Lang and Ant-Man and the Wasp. His lack of involvement in April’s epic suitably addressed (he’s under house arrest after breaking those damned Sokovia Accords after Captain America: Civil War’s airport battle) this sequel squeezes into the space pre-Thanos, as Scott teams back up with Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne

Those of a nervous disposition would perhaps be wise to steer well clear of Mission Impossible: Fallout. The series has long been a playground for Tom Cruise to jump off tall things, climb even taller things, crash bikes and cars and cling to the side of planes. The constant one-upmanship of the franchise’s stunts has pushed each instalment higher and Fallout is another stunning addition to the collection. This mission that Ethan Hunt chooses to accept brings a few familiar f

Check yourself into Hotel Artemis for one of the best underground movies of the year. Its dismal showing in the US hopefully won’t stop it from being a sleeper hit on these shores. Boasting an almighty cast it’s a stunningly realised directorial debut from Drew Pearce. The titular hotel is a mythic institution in LA twenty years in the future which acts as a safe haven for the state’s criminals. The city’s in the midst of a riot with protesters rebelling against the privatisa

It’s taken 14 years and an unprecedented superhero boon to bring The Incredibles out of the woodwork to join the multitude of costumed crimefighters inundating our cinema screens. Pixar are masters of the ‘appeal to the adults trying to distract their young ‘uns with a kid’s movie’ but Incredibles 2 (not entirely sure why they’ve dropped the ‘The’ from the title) feels like it’s aimed squarely at those of us who were children when the original graced our VHS machines. You cou

It’s very rare to get a good horror sequel, let alone an entire franchise, but, yet again, James DeMonaco’s Purge series comes up trumps – pun very much intended. The First Purge is the long awaited prequel to the celebrated trilogy, giving audiences a taste of what happened during the first ‘experiment’ proposed by the NFFA. The political set up is an intriguing one and the ramifications obvious and intriguing. It’s a shame that Director Gerard McMurray doesn’t dwell more on

Greenlighting a sequel without your top-billed star, celebrated cinematographer and now superstar Director seems like critical and commercial suicide but has somehow worked for the rather excellent Sicario 2: Soldado. The first film built on the small-screen’s love for cartel tales with a gritty, violent and classy thriller which firmly set Denis Villeneuve as ‘one to watch’ before Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 truly sent him overboard. This sequel, and apparent middle chapte