The Lego Batman Movie should be applauded for daring to return a comedic touch to a now, supposedly, 'dark and serious' character. It's all too easy to forget that, whilst the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan movies, coupled with the Frank Miller (amongst others) graphic novels and the incredible Animated Series are justly the 'definitive' versions of the Dark Knight, there's a host of portrayals of the character rooted in silliness and comedy. Lego, of course, are exactly th

Another film, another Oscar-nominee and another career-peak performance from a leading star. Lion is quite remarkable for a first feature from Director Garth Davis. It tells the story of 5 year old Saroo, an Indian boy living in an extremely poor area of the country, who gets lost when out with his brother and ends up thousands of miles away in Calcutta after boarding a train. A couple of years later, with no one claiming him as their own, he is adopted by a family in Austral

The Oscar's committee have a tough task this year with Best Picture. We've already seen some stiff competition and Moonlight is the latest to stake its claim for the prize. Already spoken of in hushed terms as the frontrunner due to its content, I'm very happy to say that Moonlight is so much more than a reaction to the '#OscarsSoWhite' controversy of last year and stands as a contender in its own right. Moonlight is the story of Chiron, a homosexual, African-American from Mi

There are certain 'immortals' in pop culture. Significant movies, albums, songs, art etc. Properties that shouldn't be touched, remixed, pastiched, reworked or reimagined. Trainspotting, for a long while, was one of these icons and, despite clamouring to release a sequel after the original was released in 1996, Danny Boyle resisted. Even with Irvine Welsh's subsequent follow up texts: prequel Skagboys and sequel Porno, there was no news on a film follow-up. It became the film

I've spoken glowingly in almost all of my reviews thus far in 2017 about the awards-worthy performances and career-best turns by this year’s actors and we’re treated to another virtuoso casting in Jackie. Taking a different angle on the well-trodden story of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Jackie presents itself as a semi-biopic (it only spans a week in the life) of the former President’s wife in the days after, and before, the shooting and how she came to terms with this de

It's great to see the cinema-going public both in the UK and Stateside flock to see Split and prove to any doubters and naysaying critics that M. Night Shyamalan is a great Director. Sure, he may not have quite topped his early triptych of movies but time does wonders to a Director's oeuvre and it is often their early features which are most heralded (my personal favourite auteur Quentin Tarantino still can't escape this particular fate in many people's opinion as well.) What

2017 is being all too kind to us movie-wise with January and February flooded with massive new releases and, almost without exception thus far, films delivering on the hype and being critically praised. Most of these have already been on screens Stateside last year and hoovering up awards and Manchester by the Sea is no exception. All you need to know going in is that Lee (Casey Affleck), a janitor in Boston with a potentially haunted past, moves back to Manchester (the titul

After squabbles, in-fighting and more shuffling than a Vegas casino I present the best films of 2016: 20. The Jungle Book 19. Captain...

Early awards buzz for La La Land has seen Damien Chazelle's second feature shoot to the top of a lot of 'must-watch' lists and, if it's not already one you've earmarked to see, you must dash to the nearest cinema to catch it. It seems odd for a film in these circumstances to achieve such hype, especially considering Chazelle's first film was a critically (but not commercially) adored indie about a jazz drummer, but it speaks volumes, perhaps, for the lack of musicals in the c

Martin Scorsese returns to his 'religious' strand of films with his latest Silence. Clearly a massive passion project for the great Director, and in production hell for years, his adaptation of the 1966 novel finally comes to screens. Set in 1600's Japan, where Christianity is outlawed on punishment of death, we focus on two young Priests smuggled into the country to find a former mentor thought lost. It's a quiet (no pun intended) and slow film, spread richly over a hefty...

Assassin's Creed is the latest film to try and fill the gaping void marked 'good video-game adaptation.' So many big hitters have tried and failed with last year's Warcraft the latest casualty. It's a shame to say that Assassin's Creed is also wide of the mark but more 'clipping the post' than shooting into row z. A brilliant core trio at the heart of the movie (Director Justin Kurzel and stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, who all worked on 2015's Macbeth adaptati

So rounding off 2016 we have the hotly-anticipated and well-advertised Passengers. Brilliantly capitalising on our current obsession with space movies and the critical recognition they've been getting (Gravity, Interstellar, Arrival, The Martian) and casting probably the two biggest stars in Hollywood right now (no wonder there's hardly anyone else in the movie!) Morten Tyldum's film should be a resounding success and a nice way to end a somewhat hit and miss year. Luckily [d