A fun caper from the DC Comic books. Dwayne Johnson as the Rock really made the film watchable with Pierce Brosnan as Dr Fate, a pale mirror image of Dr Strange from rivals Marvel (Benedict Cumberbatch) but his stoicism anchored the drama and increasingly became the essential supporting role. The plot is plainly ludicrous but with some rare […]

The remake was remarkably entertaining despite knowing the outcome. The python Kaa, of  ‘Trust in Me’ fame and the orang-utan, King Louie with a threatening Christopher Walken voice over stole the show. Disney left for the most part the musical interludes alone or they were sung with Rex Harrison lethargy which was probably just as […]

The Force Awakens The long awaited sequel arrives and my son chants out the story line displayed as the credits roll up the screen into infinity, but he is unable to keep up as they become smaller and smaller – sucked into a greater, outer space. No matter. Then the camera view drops, holding blank […]

Despite the hype I enjoyed the movie – the opening sequence – as 007 trips across the roof tops of Mexico City and the camera steadfastly following him ready for the shot (to kill).   The swashbuckling cascade thru Rome, high above the trees and the chase along the Tiberius; the references  back to the […]

My son dragged me along to this film – we waited in the Costa franchise in Cineworld and I wondered why there were so many unattached ladies meeting up and then of course it dawned on me the it was the opening night of 50 Shades of Grey ! However all was not the lost […]

Interstellar Literally a slow burn, as the opening sequence shows the future is in the instant with – ‘the talking heads’ – not that you realise it at the time. Then the movie gathers pace, moving into space travel mode where time is warped and those that you leave behind can age in years, while […]

My experience with a packed audience was not exactly as I expected. Timothy Spall – was a radical departure from a national hero, grunting and ruminating his way thru this performance. The first half was engaging and the cameo scenes were really watchable but after a while the episodic nature of the film with too […]

Away for the weekend, and as we arrived at a London hotel we noted a cavalcade of vehicles and a galley of actors in costume sitting on the pavement smoking and drinking, waiting to be called to set. Luckily enough a kind hearted steward allowed us access to view more closely the chosen location, a hidden […]

My favourite film is a grand old 40 this year, Peter Hall’s 1974 free form adaptation of Suffolk born Ronald Blythe’s portrait of the vanishing English village culture, Akenfield (1969). It is a masterpiece of rural social commentary, an improvised folkscape of a county long gone from the turn of the century to the beginning […]