The Running Man is not quite a remake of the ‘80s Schwarzenegger movie but, instead, a different and more faithful version of the book written by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It’s also the return of Edgar Wright and another chance for Glen Powell to stake his claim as THE current action star (who hasn’t yet been in a superhero film). Sadly and shockingly, it may not even be the best ‘Stephen King as Richard Bachman’ adaptation this year, let alone the 'fi

Whilst it might sound strange to describe Bugonia, a film wherein two conspiracy theorist Ufologists kidnap a CEO on suspicion of her being an alien, as Yorgos Lanthimos’ most ‘accessible’ film, it might just be a correct statement. Lanthimos is rightly celebrated for his arthouse idiosyncrasies and has the awards and critical consensus to back that up and Bugonia is absolutely not a film where he suddenly ‘breaks mainstream.’ Nonetheless, there’s something about the more str

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is very much a ‘capture the mood of a specific moment in time’ biopic rather than an audience-friendly, ‘dance in the aisles’ type. A music biopic will often live or die on its ability to capture the ‘feel’ of the artist it is representing. In that respect, this is a fantastic depiction of The Boss in this era but probably not one that’s going to get any non-believers onside. Trying to get inside the head of the man as he records the dark

A story so wild that it can only be true certainly applies to Roofman, one of this year’s best little surprises. The absolutely insane story of Jeffrey Manchester, an escaped convict who lived inside a Toys R’ Us for months whilst slowly falling in with the local community and finding some sort of sense of self in the early 2000’s. Told with noughties nostalgia, zippy pace, humour, pathos, light, shade and everything in between by a cast teeming with stars, this is a wildly e

I Swear has got to be the most heart-warming, tender and moving British film that also features its main character swearing at the Queen. A biopic of John Davidson, a pioneering figure who suffers from Tourette syndrome, this may hit the ‘British feelgood’ film familiars but escalates itself beyond the trappings of the genre. At once fiercely funny but deeply compassionate and harsh, the realities of growing up and living with John’s condition are writ large onscreen. It’s al

A film set within the world of combat sports is always a surefire winner. Whilst it means we’ve pretty much seen everything there is to see, there’s just something about this world and the people who inhabit it, whether real, imagined or influenced, that make it so engrossing. So it is with The Smashing Machine, one to add to the heavyweights of the combat sport genre. It’s a Raging Bull-esque biopic (although, not quite hitting that all-timer level) of early MMA/UFC fighter

A sequel no one asked for to a 15-year-old film (which, in itself, followed up one from 28 years before) TRON: Ares is a bit of an odd choice from Disney. Let me go against the consensus though and declare that, as a weekend cinema experience, it’s well worth your time. The critical mauling of certain blockbuster films is always baffling. Whilst some, of course, deserve to be critiqued and it’s important to judge the worth of projects in this ever-saturated landscape, especia

Sometimes a film comes along that just feels like it’s always been part of the furniture, something you swear you’ve seen before, maybe late on TV one time. One Battle After Another is one such film and joins the ranks of the very best to have been released in recent times. Timely yet also timeless, this is a ‘worthy,’ epic, ‘great’ piece of work but one with the accessibility and usability missing from others of this type. Whilst something like The Brutalist perhaps can feel

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a rom-com with a slightly science-fiction-y bent to it. Using the conventions of another genre is often great for a nominally romantic film, it can offer concepts and thoughts to better articulate the often hard-to-put-into-words feeling of love. This is a solid example of this micro-genre but is a little tonally inconsistent. Kicking off with a comical interaction at a truly offbeat car rental agency, we soon see the conventional ‘meet-cute’ a

The idea of a legacy sequel for This Is Spinal Tap is about as heinous as the idea of doing the same for Blade Runner and Trainspotting. Those two worked out pretty damn well in the end but, unfortunately, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues doesn’t quite get to that top tier level. Fortunately, it doesn’t tarnish the legacy of the first one either. Not only one of the finest comedies ever made, the original is vastly influential to the ‘mockumentary’ format and to the world of

Add to the list of ‘dream houses from the movies’ the pretty spectacular, sea view bespoke build from The Roses. It’s a stunning set to house some whipcrack sharp and wincingly awkward arguments. Unfortunately, the rest of the film isn’t quite as well put together. Despite its status as a remake and novel adaptation, it’s clear that the film’s had a bit of a tight edit and doesn’t quite cohere as well as it could. The story of a married couple slowly falling apart as one’s ca

The Long Walk might give you motion sickness. In what is, ostensibly, the next YA craze after The Hunger Games (even using the same director Francis Lawrence), The Maze Runner et al., we instead get a distinctly one-off, Squid Game-esque, brutal and violent thriller. Based on an early Stephen King novel, The Long Walk is set in a dystopian future where a yearly contest (like the aforementioned Hunger Games) is broadcast on national American television. In it, fifty young men