Reality TV is a cesspit. It doesn’t matter if it’s Chris Hansen or Love Island; at their core, it is entertainment at the expense of others. We love it. We can’t get enough of it. Each time we tune into a new episode, we want more drama than the last. It’s the same reason most people skip the challenges on The Traitors. No one cares; let’s get to the juicy stuff.

2006 was a big year for reality TV, and To Catch a Predator was a big reason for that before the infamous incident, which marked the end of the show. It’s in this series of events that this film takes place. Hansen and crew had made it to primetime, and they were not going to stop until they were the biggest show on TV.

Regardless of what you think of the exploitation at the centre of the show, I think it’s fair to say Hansen started with good intentions. Journalist by trade, there was a clear passion for uncovering the truth in the world, and how better to do that than to expose the scummy predators who walk among us. However, when the views start piling in, and you’re competing against TV heavy hitter Lost, the quest for ratings was always going to end in catastrophe. If not Bill Conradt, it would have been someone else.

It’s in this sentiment where Primetime impressed me the most. It depicts the shows and the people involved descending into madness excellently. The higher they rose, the more they lost their core principles. It was no longer about catching any old predator; it was about catching the most depraved and higher-end predators. They needed a whale. In the search for one, set-up stings were disregarded, and awful humans were able to get away because an ordinary paedophile was no longer of interest to the studio or the public. Of course, searching for more depraved individuals isn’t a bad thing. One less pedo on the street is always a good thing, but is it worth it if many others slip through the cracks?

I think ultimately what this film does best is showing how everyone was complicit when it comes to reality TV, and we continue to be. The studios meddling with people’s lives are to blame; the public’s thirst for drama is equally as damaging, and Hansen’s self-importance is to blame.

Primetime isn’t interested in depicting Hansen as a villain, and neither should it. Morally bankrupt and a tad unstable, sure, but it is a captivating look into a man who turns from journalist to a man who believes he is cleansing the world. A look inside someone who starts to believe in his own hype and further descends into the morally grey.

This is thanks to Robert Pattinson, who is giving a career-best performance: utterly deranged, eerie, energetic and his accent work is at inch-perfect precision. He sets the tone for what is arguably the best-performed film of this decade. Merritt Wever is excellent as the callous producer; Matthew Maher excels as the online vigilante, and Skyler Gisondo brings the humanity as the thrown-to-the-wolves decoy who entraps the predators.

If you are well-versed in Hansen lore, I’m not sure how much new information is being added to the conversation here. If you are looking for an extra look into the events which take place, I would highly recommend reading the Esquire article called Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die, which this film is based on.

Irrespective of what you think of Oppenheim’s messaging, it is undeniable that this man knows how to create a visual identity. The way it embodies the early 2000s TV aesthetic and how, in doing so, it blurs the line between what is real and what is fantasy is mesmerising. Don’t worry, everyone, there is still hope for colours in movies as long as Oppenheim and Jane Schoenbrun are around.

It’s a film that you have to see to grasp. No amount of reading reviews or listening to discourse will help you discover what you will think of the movie. You have to see it, believe it and sit down for yourself to see how it looks to you.

10. Rose (Dir. Markus Schleinzer)

2026 has been a year of actors giving multiple performances, but no one has been as successful in doing so as Sandra Hüller. It’s in Rose where she gives her best performance of the year. I’ll go one step further and say it’s a performance which, if there is any justice, will be nominated for an Oscar. It’s a man’s world, especially in 17th-century Germany. For a woman to survive, they have to be stripped of their autonomy. They are reduced to merely a vessel for their men to have kids and are moved around as if they are currency. For a woman to live, she has to do the impossible. That is the essence of director Markus Schleinzer’s drama. It is a reserved character study about a woman who fights against the established patriarchy. That is until the townsfolk start to become suspicious of her after an incident, leaving both her and her newly appointed wife, Suzanna (Caro Braun), facing the full might of a broken society.

9. Paper Tiger (Dir. James Gray)

It’s a sure bet that if you have Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson star in a film together, it is going to be a success. It’ll stress you out to no end, but it will be fantastic viewing. Seven years on from being at each other’s throats in Marriage Story comes Paper Tiger. James Gray’s crime thriller set in 80s New York is about a family who get involved in some shady dealings and have to deal with the life-threatening consequences. What transpires is an expertly done cautionary tale about family, the further deconstruction of the American dream and why you should always mind your own business – especially with the Russian Mafia. It is less interested in shootouts and violence and instead takes a character-focused approach not unlike The Godfather – slick dialogue, a fantastic tension-driven score, and a warm colour palette. It’s a subtle critique of a violent, corrupt system which is built to further dismantle your working-class families, and it’s enthralling to watch.

8) Animol (Dir. Ashley Walters)

If there is one thing UK film-makers love, it’s a prison drama. They can’t get enough of making them, and dads across the country eat them up. It’s a tired genre. Most films hit the same story beats and end without scratching the surface or offering any insight as to how these boys end up with such violent tendencies. If there was anyone I could trust to delve into these problems with real insight, however, it would be Ashley Walters. In his impressive debut feature Animol, he takes to the entry point for these troubled deviants – a young offenders institution. Walters proves to be as much of a talent behind the camera as he is in front of it and takes a nuanced approach to these incarcerated boys. It’s funny, considering one of the driving forces behind him stepping into the director’s chair was being told he couldn’t on the set of Top Boy. Who knows, maybe if they let him try, Top Boy wouldn’t have gone out with a whimper.

7. A Girl Unknown (Dir. Zou Jing)

Despite the heavy hitters on display at this year’s London Film Festival, it was Zou Jing’s A Girl Unknown that impressed me most. It comes by way of a soul-crushing coming-of-age story which follows a young Chinese girl who is passed between three families between the ages of 6 and 18. Each family, a new name. Every new house, a new identity. Her sense of belonging, further adrift each time. It’s a heartbreaking journey – one which takes on themes of grief, depression, generational trauma, societal pressures and searching for belonging when all you have experienced is displacement. Equally, it is a story of resilience and mental fortitude in the face of constant adversity. All these themes are handled with a great level of care and delicacy. It may not have been the best, but such a stunning effort from Jing on her debut is the biggest surprise of the festival. I will be eagerly waiting for whatever she does next.

6. Behemoth! (Dir. Tony Gilroy)

Behemoth! is a film which would be best experienced swirling a glass of red wine in your hand, while the crackle of a fire simmers in the background. It has a certain elegance to it. It holds itself with a level of class you’d expect if you were visiting a live orchestra. I felt like a slob sat there with my baseball cap on and a pair of trousers three days past their iron due date while Pedro Pascal glides around in his tux. Obviously, it works on more levels than just the vibe it exudes. 14 years on from Tony Gilroy’s last outing, we follow Alex who, after 20 years on the road performing, returns to his hometown LA, forcing himself to face the life he has spent decades ignoring. It’s not too dissimilar to last year’s Jay Kelly. It acts as an intimate exploration of an artist who has avoided the consequences of his actions, accompanied by an undeniably beautiful score. Gilroy’s conducting of the film is on tune, and all the performances strike the right note. Cue the standing ovation.

5. Ray Gunn (Dir. Brad Bird)

Brad Bird’s long-awaited passion project Ray Gunn is a pure animation delight. It’s a neo-noir crime mystery which has the perfect balance of silliness and maturity we have come to expect from his work. Though some of its bits can go on for too long, and the animation is hardly as good as its concept art, this is full of everything which has made his animated work so captivating. This is the film his career has been building towards. For a film pitched in the 90s, it’s very timely in what it has to say about our current world – the using of AI, artistic integrity, the power of the elites; and finding truth in a dishonest world namely and it sticks the landing on majority of them. This is Bird back to his best. The killer voice acting performances by Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson and Michael Giacchino’s brilliant score all make for an enjoyable time at the movies. The gun wasn’t jammed. We are so back.

4. Ink (Dir. Danny Boyle)

I need a cold shower after that one. Journalism has changed a lot over the years, but nothing has been as seismic as the rise of the infamous UK tabloid, The Sun. Once that train left the station, there was no going back. It sort of plays out like Oppenheimer, in that way. We are living in Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb’s world of news whether we want to or not. The clickbait, the sensationalised headlines, the constant belief that the ends justify the means are all a consequence of that group of rambunctious misfits’ desire to become the best. The ink will forever be on their hands. It’s fascinating to watch Jack O’Connell portray Lamb’s further descent from the grey to being completely morally bankrupt. Despite all this, Ink will rightfully be stained due to the AI usage. What an embarrassment from Danny Boyle. It makes it worse because his style is in full flow, and for him to ruin it with a few seconds of AI scenes is just silly. Do better.

3. Wild Horse Nine (Dir. Martin McDonagh)

Martin McDonagh’s follow-up to Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin, Wild Horse Nine is a sombre buddy tragicomedy which follows the crass but innately charming Chris, a CIA agent in the last week of his life. It’s 1973, and the historic overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government is just over the horizon. It wasn’t a good time to be a politician – assassinations, overthrows, secrets, the lot. Two of the men responsible for many cover-ups over the years are Chris (An Oscar-worthy John Malkovich) and Lee (An electric Sam Rockwell). While Chile was about to face their very own catastrophe, the long-term partners had been dispatched by their chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi), to Easter Island. It has been a desire of Chris’s to see the famous stone heads on the island before cancer got one back for the countless people he had killed. It is full of laugh-out-loud scenes from the whole cast, but its introspective and existential themes are what will leave the most impact.

2. Wildwood (Dir. Travis Knight)

This is Laika and animation at their peak. Dare I say, it may be their best yet. Travis Knight’s second directorial outing of the year follows Pure (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), who, after going to the town with her younger baby brother Mac, watches as her brother is taken by a murder of crows into the mysterious, magical forest. Determined to get him back, we watch as she, along with her classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), ventures into the unknown in hopes of finding him there. There are some films I watch where the sheer magnitude of it makes it unthinkable to me that anyone could have made it. I was sat there completely spellbound for the whole 131 minutes. The mere thought of the efforts and work they had to put in gives me a headache. In a climate where an AI film is pushing to be nominated for an Oscar (yuck!), it feels important to highlight films which are showcases of pure brilliance. Wildwood is just that. Go and support it in any way you can.

1. Josephine (Dir Beth de Araújo)

Josephine is not only the most important film of the year, but it may be the best. One day, Damien (Channing Tatum) and his daughter Josephine (An incredible Mason Reeves) are on a routine run through Golden Gate Park. While racing through the forest, Josephine strays away from her father and stumbles upon a woman being sexually assaulted. Seeing such horrors, Josephine starts to act out, leading Damien and his wife Claire (Gemma Chan) to try and search for justice and a way for all of them to feel safe again. Director Beth de Araújo gives you nowhere to hide. We are placed in the mind of a confused, eight-year-old girl trying to make sense of something she can’t understand, and it is deeply upsetting to watch unfold, especially if you’re a parent. It is uncomfortable, but immensely powerful in its themes of the loss of innocence, honest communication and wrestling with the fact you can’t always protect those you love. By far and away the best film of the festival.

I remember myself watching it and seeing the scale of it all with M83’s My Tears Are Becoming a Sea playing in the background and just feeling very emotional. I couldn’t even tell you why. Maybe it was the song. Or the scale and ambition of the film. I don’t know, but it really had an impact on me.

So, although I’m blaming it on the usual film festival sleep deprivation, it comes as no surprise to me that this same emotion washed over me. A few tears were even shed. More so than I expected, actually. Towards the end, especially, I was so overcome with emotion I had to use all my willpower to not succumb to a flood of tears.

This is Laika back to their peak. They have stepped up their animation to unfathomably good heights, creating stunning images that make my jaw drop. Dare I say, it may be their best yet. Travis Knight’s second directorial outing of the year follows Pure (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee) who, after going to the town with her younger baby brother Mac, watches as her brother is taken by a murder of crows into the mysterious, magical forest. Determined to get him back we watch as she, along with her classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), ventures into the unknown in hopes of finding Mac.

It wasn’t just an exercise in strength for the crows, but rather an instruction by the mysterious Alexandra (A powerful Carey Mulligan), a grief-stricken witch hellbent on taking over the forest.

No match for her solo, Pure has to enlist the divided functions of the forest to help retrieve Mac from her deadly grasp. It’s a beautiful narrative full of emotion – especially if you have a sibling –, creative action sequences, heart, growing-up, grief and a final battle I haven’t been so impressed by since the hold for Helm’s Deep in the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

As has been come to be expected, it has Laika’s usual charm where they push the boundaries of their 12A rating. Not as scary as Coraline, but it still made me jump a few times. Give me some grace. I will remind you again that it was a 6:30 wake-up for this one.

Where this film excels most outside the animation is its uplifting messaging. I’m sure I’m not alone in being dejected by the current divide in the world, so seeing a story where people come together to fight for each other and peace had me choked up.

There are some films I watch where the sheer magnitude of it makes it unthinkable to me that anyone could have made it. I was sat there completely spellbound for the whole 131 minutes. The mere thought of the efforts and work they had to put in gives me a headache.

I know I’m gushing, but it feels important to do so. Animation as a whole is a genre which has never been given the respect it deserves, and in a climate where an AI film is pushing to be nominated for an Oscar (yuck!) it feels important to highlight films which are showcases of pure brilliance. Wildwood is just that. Go and support it in any way you can.

1) As much as it was a shame to find out the couples featured throughout the film are not real-life couples, I was glad to find they were at least based on real love stories. The love stories from the crew, no less. Regardless, it’s a great way to start as a reminder that falling in love can be a complete and utter mess. It’s never easy, but that’s what makes it so beautiful.

2) New York native Frank Sinatra’s beautiful jazz track It Had To Be You playing as we are first introduced to Harry and Sally, is perfect. It not only sets us up for a fantastic soundtrack, but also sets the tone for the romantic story about to play out.

3) I know he may not be conventionally attractive, but the way some people try to act like Billy Crystal is some slob is shocking. He is a handsome fella.

4) The first mention of Casablanca, and it has to be said, Harry is right. I, too, would rather be with Humphrey Bogart. Man, I wanna watch Casablanca again.

5) Meg Ryan’s hair in this film is majestic.

6) The chemistry between Crystal and Ryan is unfathomably good. I could listen to these two talk and bicker for hours. Sally talking about her days-of-the-week pants? Hysterical.

7) Can a woman be friends with a man? Harry thinks no; Sally thinks yes. As we are about to discover, Rob Reiner believes it is more nuanced.

8) They do a great job of ageing up Harry and Sally. Harry looks so much younger at the start compared to the end.

9) This film understands life in a way that many films don’t. Even little things, such as Sally not remembering her close friend’s name, who was with Harry at the start of the movie, feel shallow, but that’s just how it is. We’ve all been there.

10) I’m not one for headcanons, but if I were to ever have one, it would be that Harry somehow kept up with what Sally was up to over those years. Maybe not much, but he had a half-decent idea of what she was up to. He was pining for her from early on.

11) Harry’s worldview is fascinating. He is so deeply cynical but emotional. It’s interesting to watch him develop. He could have came off as so obnoxious if not for Billy Crystal being Billy Crystal.

12) Sally’s face when hearing Harry ramble on about why men and women can’t be friends is so funny. Her constant bewilderment at Harry’s audacity is so fun to watch.

13) Ah, Carrie Fisher. You’ve got to love her. May she rest in peace.

14) There are many moments in this film which make me laugh, but Harry standing up to do the Mexican wave while trauma dumping about his divorce to Jess might be the funniest.

15) Nora Ephron’s script may be my favourite ever. What a genius. Each conversation feels so real and is so clever. There’s someone looking at you in personal growth. I mean, come on! That’s a bar.

16) The thing is, Joe, we never do fly off to Rome in a moment’s notice. What a fantastic line. It’s such a perfect encapsulation of how you cling to the idea of what your relationship used to be because you have stagnated.

17) The fits Harry and Sally have on during this film are incredible. Whoever the costume designer for this film was had their rent due.

18) Not only is it incredibly funny, but pairing the houses with the obituary column is actually a fair shout.

19) Our second mention of Casablanca and Harry is right again: Casablanca may be the best ending to a film. Well, it would have been before this film anyway. Still, I love the choice to show how they have grown and how their ideologies of relationships have changed through Ingrid Bergman's choice.

20) This is hardly something I have only just realised, but this is the Autumn film. Nothing encapsulates fall like this film. However, the film being so aesthetic also gives you false expectations. Walking through Leicester never quite hits the same.

21) I want that white jumper. Scratch that, I need that white jumper. It looks so good.

22) Harry is the full male experience. He can be so crass, but he is so undeniably charming you can’t help but love him. No wonder half of New York has slept with him in this film.

23) You’d think that I would turn my TV down a bit before the moaning scene started. After all, it is one of the most instantly recognisable scenes in film history. I didn’t. Rookie error.

24) Singing Oklahoma! while his ex-wife walks in. It doesn’t get worse than that. I’m not one to shame, but Helen has no taste. Ira is ugly, especially compared to Harry.

25) The sheer embarsement of it makes his crash out completely valid. BUt we’ve all been there. You get angry and kick off and then instantly feel bad about it. I get it. I too express every feeling I have as well.

26) If this film somehow doesn’t work for you, it at least does a great job of showing how infuriating Pictionary is. Come on, Jess, you’ve been told a million times it’s not a monkey. STOP GUESSING MONKEY.

27) The endorphins I experience when they start getting jealous of their other partners. We are nearly here boys and girls.

28) I don’t care who it is; if I had a black knitted jumper as good as the one Harry is wearing, I wouldn’t let anyone blow their nose on it. I’m not bothered if you have found out your ex is getting married; there are some tissues right there. Use them.

29) It finally happens. It took them long enough. Harry’s prophecy is somewhat realised. They have sex. Can women be friends with men without sex getting in the way? The natural answer this film says would be no, you can’t. However, without their friendship they would have never got into bed together, so it’s a bit of a mix. It’s not black and white. One thing is for sure, though: once it happens, you can’t go back.

30) Look, Harry was being a dick at the wedding, but she’s better than me; I would have folded instantly. As he says, though, it is grovelling season. It may seem crazy that he is singing down the phone, but when you’re in love, you do some mental things to try and get them back. I’ve been there. It’s a strange time.

31) Harry will be happy to know that the Knicks finally got their championship. He’d only have to wait 27 more years.

32) I can’t believe this film is nearly over already. I think I could literally watch it again straight away. Should I? No, I shouldn’t. But if someone asked me, I would. It’s that rewatchable.

33) Here we are, back where it all began. I have only just realised now that Harry being back next to the Washington Square Arch where he was dropped off at the start of the film is his final push. It Had To Be You plays again as he reminisces on their blossoming relationship. What are you waiting for? Run, Harry, run. God, this ending is so romantic.

34) I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start right away. Ain’t that the truth. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

35) The little smirk Harry has when Sally tells him she hates him. Ugh, I love these two. Ending the film with those two sitting on the couch talking about their wedding is the perfect ending. This will not be the last time I watch this film this year.

Like Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), our police officer Fulda (Alexis Manenti) is reeling from a break-up. Though he is hardly dealing with it well. He spends his nights meeting the end of the bottle to the sweet tune of his ex-girlfriend’svoicemail. He is hardly heroic like Simon Pegg in Edgar Wright’s magnum opus but he does have a passion for stopping injustices.

The one he faces here in the countryside, however, nearly sends him over the edge of his own sanity. No worries, the department has been sent a mandatory psychiatrist, Stéphane (An hysterical Ella Rumpf), to stop them from going mad.

So what’s the mystery? Well, the town is overrun with boars. Yep, big boars. It had become an issue a year prior withunhappy farmer Brun (Jean-Louis Coulloc’h), who shoots the hunters’ club president after having one too many of his buttons pushed. I liken him to the bloodthirsty farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean from Fantastic Mr Fox. I’m sure they’dhave a great time sharing a cider and relating to their farming grievances.

It’s a weird old mystery. A mystery which isn’t taken seriously by the rest of the department due to the bizarre nature of it all, leading Fulda to enlist Stéphane to help him out.

It’s fun to speculate what’s going on, though I could have had a million guesses and not predict what transpires in the last half an hour.

Already funny throughout, the film takes a turn to true madcap shenanigans which I couldn’t stop laughing at. The physical comedy on display is Jim Carey levels of excellent and one you can’t look away from.

It is quite deranged as it goes – a nice change of pace to what the festival has produced so far.

Films like these are the beauty of a film festival. Sure, it’s fun to see celebs on red carpets, industry professionals talk about their work and see the Oscar contenders, but if I can’t enjoy a film about boars and hunters and police officers here, then when can I?

Too Many Beasts? In my eyes, not enough. I would have loved to see more.

We are placed in a small village by the sea. The husband works, the wives stay at home, and young girls are being shipped off to the nearest sleazy man to fulfil their duties as a woman. As it goes, a bad place to be. Picture the Kendom from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, just without the plastic and set many years in the past. Lowest on the village’s pecking order is Fisherwoman (Olivia Coleman). She smells like fish, is painfully single and takes the jibes from the village wives – led by Elizabeth Debicki’s fantastic Tailor’s Wife – about her lifestyle like a champ.

That is until one day, after some on-the-nose but funny wedding traditions, she has had enough of their remarks.Fisherwoman takes herself down to Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage) and asks for a husband.

Then comes the big selling point – Alexander Skarsgård hunky Wickerman. He is everything the husbands in this village are not; he actually likes his wife, is polite and great in bed. It’s a real head-scratcher for the husbands who are bewildered at the fact he doesn’t treat Fisherwomen as a maid.

Up until this point, Wicker plays out how you’d expect from the trailers. There’s an overuse of crude jokes you’d expect from a high schooler and a whole lot of sex.

After Wickerman has been integrated into the town, Wilson and Fischer start to have fun. Their bizarre romance causes heaps of jealousy and chaos, which slowly spirals into a comical madness. It’s the perfect weaving of true sincerity and quirky sensual fantasy.

It’s hardly subtle in its commentary – after all, the characters are named after their jobs or their husbands’ jobs – but a literal Wickerman is walking around, so it would have been silly to do so.

There are a great sum of wacky sequences and some laugh-out-loud moments. Unsurprisingly, most come from Coleman, who, although not too dissimilar to her role in Wicked Little Letter, is a riot.

It is quite staggering that this film works as well as it does. Don’t settle for less; Mr Wicker is out there somewhere for all of you.

The end of the sunshine signifies more than the Autumn leaves and the start of the chill in the air, as it means 2026 movie heavy hitters are going to start releasing. With the London Film Festival right around the corner and huge releases such as Dunesday, it is going to be a busy time of the year for us movie lovers.

So before we get into the most hectic part of the calendar, it’s time to do some house cleaning and review some of the biggest releases from this year, which I haven’t written full reviews on.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

You never really know how to react when people are telling you that a movie based on a cult TV show out of Toronto is up there with not only the funniest but the best films of the year. What am I supposed to do with that? I tried finding it at the cinema, but Leicester is determined to only show these films at 9 pm. So I had to wait until it was on streaming, and I was left with many questions.

How much context do you need going in? Is it actually funny, or will this be a case of humour not translating to the English channels? Do I need to watch the show? God, how do I find this show to watch?

Do not fret; I have the answers to these questions. As long as you watched Back to the Future, you will be fine for context; you can watch the show, but it’s not a necessity to get enjoyment from the movie – I still have no idea where you find the show –, and no, this film can actually be quite funny.

Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie is as fever-dreamish as a film can get. Lifelong friends Matt (Matt Johnson) and Jay (Jay McCarrol) have spent years trying to play the esteemed music venue the Rivoli, often to no success. In one last wacky shenanigan to play a show, they find themselves accidentally travelling back to 2008.

From that point onwards, Imagine Canadian Back to the Future with witty writing and heavy self-awareness from Matt Johnson. The pair are charming. It wasn’t quite laugh-out-loud humour, but there was enough to trigger a chuckle throughout.

At its core, it’s definitely a love letter to fans of the show – the way they tie in the archival footage from the first episode to now is excellent – but also a surprisingly good lesson on the importance of friendship. You may become a world-renowned singer or a massive celebrity, but if you’re not enjoying the success with your friend, what’s the point?

Rating: 3.5/5

The End of Oak Street

In 1993, Steven Spielberg transcended cinema with his dinosaur epic Jurassic Park. All it took was Chris Pratt’s posse and a trilogy of aggressively average legacy sequels to destroy the excitement and wonder they’d built. All we could hope for was a meteorite crashing down in the Jurassic World universe, reducing this franchise to its bones.

Director David Robert Mitchell had an alternative to their second extinction. He had an idea. A simple idea. Make dinosaurs fun again. He brought these prehistoric creatures to the doorsteps of the families in Oak Street to unleash terror we haven’t seen from a dino in decades.

He puts us with the dysfunctional Platt family. Divorce looms for parents Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor); kids Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery) are blatantly aware of their parents’ discomfort with one another, leading to Brian acting out, and they have none of the necessary skills to survive the cosmic event that has arrived at their neighbourhood.

As much as the family falling apart leads to a few cliches, it’s a nice change of pace not to have a dinosaur expert or ex-militarian helping navigate the situation. Just pure adrenaline and will to live keeping these alive.

The situations they find themselves in get increasingly tense and create some good laughs – a rooftop incident with Brian made me audibly chuckle – which was a bonus. A special mention to Anne Hathaway, who is way too good for the turn-your-brain-off movie this essentially is.

But I didn’t come here for the family dynamics, despite them impressing me. I came here to see dinosaurs wreak havoc, and you get that and then some – menacing, vicious, and with no regard for human life. They are just pure murderous dinos. Long may that continue.

Rating: 3/5

Insidious: Out of the Further

Jacob Chase is the next director to try to get some life into the Insidious franchise, and is the latest proof we should leave this franchise behind the red door. This time it’s Gemma Hall (Amelia Eve) and her daughter Maya (Island Austin) who are left dealing with the dead after Gemma learns she possesses the ability to bring the spirits that live in the Further back to the real world.

When you’re sat in the pub going through the hypothetical best and worst superpowers, I think I may have to start saying this for worse.

It’s a slightly promising story on face value, but you soon realise the same issues which have been present in this six-film franchise still arise. You are scared for the first twenty minutes until the jump scares become predictable and boring, and then you are left waiting for the usual safe conclusion.

There is certain promise in where this film was going, but it is held back by this franchise refusing to take any risks.Horror films do not need a happy ending. Give me something bleak.

That’s not the film’s fault that I prefer my horror movies to leave a pit in my stomach by the end. However, it’s certainly the film’s fault for how painfully mediocre it is. It’s just so average. My word, give me something of substance. Ah, The Substance. Now that’s a horror film which takes risks. Give me a horror film like that over another in this tired franchise any day of the week.

Rating: 2.5/5

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Near the start of Jane Schoenbrun’s meta slasher, Kris (an excellent Hannah Einbinder), who is responsible for rebooting the dead Camp Miasma franchise, speaks with the lead of the first film, Billy (Gillian Anderson). Kris talks and dissects the transphobic undertones present in the first Camp Miasma film and what they believe is the hidden meaning to it all. They are not wrong, but Billy is not having it. She simply replies: “It’s just flesh and fluids.”

It’s in that three-word reply where the brilliance of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma lies. Like most of Schoenbrun’s films, there are many themes on display; studio executives box-ticking when picking directors; the hypocrisy of enjoying something which is derogatory to groups of people; the trans experience and Kris’s conflict throughout is a clear self-insert for Schoenbrun themself.

There’s a lot to unpack. It’s overwhelming, but it’s a lot simpler than it all seems.

Ignoring the messaging for a second, I can’t go on without mentioning how gorgeous this movie is. Schoenbrun is quickly becoming one of the most distinctive directors working. They are clearly having so much fun creating this world and the surrealist nature of it all, and it is breathtaking to look at.

What I appreciated as well was the upbeat nature to it all. I saw The TV Glow, as fantastic as it was, left me completely devastated by the end. I’m glad to report TSADACM is less existential dread and more a celebration of being trans and sexual awakenings. It was a nice change of pace.

There is undoubtedly a lot going on and a lot to look at. They pack many different thoughts and questions, which will be answered with think pieces by people much smarter than me. But as aforementioned, it’s a very simple movie. It’s just like Billy said; it’s just flesh and fluids.

Rating: 4.5/5

Goat

Legendary Basketballer Stephan Curry was deemed too small for most in his early years. One hell of a shot on him, but worries that his 3-point ability wouldn’t translate to the NBA and his lack of physicality were enough to be overlooked for years on end.

That wouldn’t be enough to deter him. Curry had hoop dreams. Dreams which turned into reality. Reality which turned into an animated film about a Goat called Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) and his against-all-odds rise in Roarball.

Goat, directed by Tyree Dillihay and loosely based on Curry’s journey to stardom, is, in its simplest terms, what it would be if Disney’s cash cow Zootopia was about Basketball and not police. Will, like Judy, was deemed too small and constantly passed over until their persistence in the face of adversity gave them a chance to show what they are worth. Will never looked back.

What ensues is a rather charming story about the impact sport can have on a community, teamwork and using what people perceive as your disadvantages to your advantage. Once again, very similar to Zootopia, but dare I say Goat is more successful in its messaging.

What Goat undoubtedly does better is its world-building. The scenery this film takes place in feels like a fully realised animal-human hybrid, namely in the Roarball matches which take place in some killer arenas.

Of course, it being a kids’ film and all, there is certain tediousness in their jokes. It’s not overly obnoxious. The same goes for the usual kids’ film cliches. Even so, the heart in the centre of its story and stellar animation make up for its few pitfalls.

Rating: 3.5/5

Ray Gunn - Dir. Brad Bird

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits

Let’s go back to the mid-90s. A wide-eyed Brad Bird with no releases to his name has a dream. That dream is called Ray Gunn. Described as a retro-futuristic blend of The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers, it was the first brainchild of our now highly accredited animation filmmaker. It started its life in developmental hell when it was picked up and shelved in 1996 by Turner Feature Animation. From then on, he would go to Pixar with his idea, which would be rejected for its PG-13 rating and allusion to more adult themes. It's a massive shame we didn't get to see the early Pixar version of this. That meeting wasn’t all bad, however, as he went on to create some of their finest work: The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Not too shabby. Over the years, he has continued to try to get Ray Gunn off the ground, often to little success. That takes us to now. Skydance and Netflix-backed Ray Gunn will be arriving at Southbank after a 30-year journey. Sadly, it will not be in its 2D animation glory and doesn't look nearly as good as its concept art, but the fact that his original script has seemingly not been toned down makes me excited.

Animol - Dir. Ashley Walters

Cast: Tut Nyuot, Vladyslav Baliuk, Stephen Graham

Recently, the UK have been developing some fantastic talent. Most recently, David Jonsson has risen to new heights after being cast by Ryan Coogler in Black Panther 3, following his fantastic work in Rye Lane and The Long Walk. It’s always fun to speculate who may be next up, and I believe I have the answer. To find him, you only have to go back to that same Steven King adaptation. Ever since he made me cry as Arthur Baker and had me on edge in Tim Mielants’s Steve, I have been excited to see what Tut Nyuot does next. I didn’t think it would be as interesting as a film directed by Ashley Walters. His first leading role will take him to a young offenders institute, full of gangs, violence and loyalty. What excites me the most is Animol doesn’t seem like the next in a long line of basic prison-esque dramas; while all this violence is going on, it’s the developing bond with a fellow inmate which becomes most dangerous. Put your stocks in now; Nyuot is going places. Get this on your watchlist, trust me.

Fjord - Dir. Cristian Mungiu

Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Carlehed

Palme d’Or winner Fjord is a no-brainer. After the deaths of Mihai’s (Sebastian Stan) parents, the Gheorghiu family move from Romania to a remote village in Norway, hoping to rebuild their lives with Lisbet (Renate Reinsve )’s parents in Norway. Any semblance of peace starts to unravel when the Gheorghiu family’s youngest daughter, Elia, arrives at school covered in bruises. Yes. No notes. There isn’t a single part of that script or the actors involved which I am not completely sold on. I am incredibly excited to see Sebastian Stan back in a serious role after his haunting work on The Apprentice. Consider me sat.

Fatherland - Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski

Cast: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler, August Diehl

It’s been a year full of actors and actresses starring in several movies – Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, namely – and Sandra Hüller might be the most intriguing of all. She has already shown some stellar work in Project Hail Mary and in Digger, which have both gotten her some quiet Oscar buzz, but I imagine it will be Pawł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland which will turn the heads of Academy voters. Set in 1949, it follows German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika as they embark on a journey through Germany during the Cold War. It has seemingly had patchy reviews, but not enough to deter my excitement.

Josephine - Dir. Beth de Araújo

Cast: Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan

I was originally hooked on this film from Channing Tatum’s face alone in the screen grab above. I can’t speak for what has happened in this photo, but the sadness and shame he is conveying on his face tell me this is going to be a heartbreaker. Starring alongside Gemma Chan, we follow them as parents as they deal with the fallout of their eight-year-old daughter witnessing a crime in Golden Gate Park. Josephine (Mason Reeves) unravels, trying to regain her sense of safety, all the while her parents tirelessly help to console her. Don’t worry, the tissues are already packed.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother - Dir. Bassam Tariq

Cast: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito

When Bassam Tariq was writing the script for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, the main character Latif didn’t have a name. Instead, he had simply put Mahershala. Regardless of how this film turns out, I'm thankful he did. The two-time Oscar winner has stagnated since his win in Green Book, and to no fault of his own. After being messed around by Marvel in their now-scrapped Blade film – I will forever mourn what that could have been – his career hasn’t exactly been what we would expect from such a high-calibre actor. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother seems like a great return to form. Even better, he will be able to channel some of the skills we will never be able to see in his version of Blade, as the film follows Latif, a devoted religious hitman who struggles to balance work, faith and fatherhood while protecting his children.

Ink - Dir. Danny Boyle

Cast: Jack O”‘Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy

It’s almost poetic: a film about the rise of notoriously scummy media, The Sun, includes the use of scummy filmmaking practice AI in a few scenes. Anything that newspaper touches forever has an undercurrent of murky waters. Director Danny Boyle has said it was only used for a few rats and old photos. It’s nothing major. I’m not accepting that. That’s how it always starts. I’m sure Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb told themselves the same things before their slow descent into constant controversy. It’s always a domino effect. Boyle, you should know better. Especially considering you just made a film about unethical practices. Luckily for him, I am incredibly intrigued by this film, and I’m likely to watch it. I might need a cold shower after, though.

So maybe it shouldn’t have come as a shock in November 2023 when they shelved Coyote vs Acme – although it was already finished – as a tax write-off. But it did. That’s what I get for even expecting a shred of decency from multi-millionaire corporations. Fool me twice, shame on me.

What they failed to realise was just how infuriated people would be by the decision. They clearly didn’t learn from Paramount’s ugly Sonic fiasco. Months following the incident, fans took to social media to protest the decision to force Warner Bros.’ hand.

It didn’t take long, as only a few months later they sheepishly went back on their decision and let studios have the chance to buy the product. In comes our saviour, Ketchup Entertainment, who in May 2025 bought the film for $50 million.

Which leads us to August 2026. Coyote vs Acme has hit cinemas, and we have an opportunity to stick it to Warner Bros. The chance to prove that fan outrage actually means something is in our hands. Let’s not waste it.

The long-awaited animation-live-action hybrid follows Wile E. Coyote, who, after decades of dastardly plans to catch his nemesis Road Runner, have gone up in explosions, decides to sue Acme for every time he has been foiled by their wacky gadgets – which is a whole lot.

He goes to the help of billboard slob lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) and his glass-half-full niece Paige (Lana Condor) to stick it to the big corporations run by Foghorn Leghorn and their lawyer Buddy Crane (John Cena). Think Erin Brockovich but less push-up bras and more eyes shooting out of people’s heads.

The irony of a film about capitalism and the bossing around by big corporations being shelved by a big corporation for a tax write-off must have given director Dave Green a good laugh. The jokes wrote themselves.

What ensues is the classic Looney Tunes slapstick antics. Coyote takes countless smacks to the face, Road Runner evades everyone’s attempts at capturing him, and the ensemble of characters pop by like an MCU cameo. I wasn’t cheering each time they came, but it caused a good smile seeing these characters on the big screen — who knows when we will get this chance again?

It would have been a sticky situation if the film we were all batting for ended up being a travesty, but luckily Coyote vs. Acme is a whole lot of fun and certainly too good to nearly have been cancelled. I implore you to go and see it even if it is just to prove a point. I’m sure you’ll end up having a good time anyway.

Screen 10 at my Odeon is always serving up great fun. Never had a bad time in there. It’s never been exceptional either, but hey ho. Less can be said for screen 3 at my independent cinema, the Phoenix. Always having a bad time in there.

It’s not quite the dizzying heights he imagined himself for that summer break. Tony (Dominic Sessa) had large aspirations. Ideally, he would be in the Big Apple, writing his novel and riding off into the New York sunset with his high school crush Nancy (Emilia Jones).

The reality of the matter goes more like this — he is awakened by a chilling bucket of water over the face by his Chef (Antonio Banderas); he spends his day at Chef’s restaurant in exchange for the hammock he sleeps on, and he gets into trouble with fellow kitchen staff and resident bad boy Sal (a career-best performance from Leo Woodall).

As for Nancy, she is being lied to. Constantly. In her eyes, Tony has coincidentally found himself in the same place she is residing for the summer after winning the writing placement. It’s a facade only made more extravagant by Tony digging himself into a deeper hole each time he has the chance to come clean.

It’s not a good summer for Tony — a real ego bruiser. Bless him.

It’s hard to believe from such self-sabotaging beginnings that Bourdain would end up being such a success. Nothing of his early lackadaisical attitude particularly screams acclaimed chef and best-selling author, which he ended up being. A few punches in the face will do that to you.

For those reasons, Matt Johnson’s Tony is a journey worth going on. Taking place during this summer of self-actualisation, we get to see the shift from — in his own words — “A spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive young lout and badly in need of a good ass-kicking,” to the successful man he became.

Too many modern biopics rely on the name they are focusing on being enough. The sheer magnitude of the person they choose to tell a story from often gives the creators a licence to phone it in. Why bother telling a coherent story when you can pack the runtime with easter eggs and key jingling?

Of course that has its perks, and I’d be lying if it isn’t entertaining, but once the credits roll you are left with nothing of substance.

Tony is different. Perhaps a risky choice, but it feels quite far removed from Bourdain himself. The growth of Tony is at centre stage, not constant references to his future life. You could switch out the name for any other, and you’d still have a fantastic coming-of-age story which is as charming as it is bittersweet.

It goes to show how far biopics have sunk that character growth and prioritising the story seems like a foreign concept. I blame Bohemian Rhapsody.

I didn’t know who Bourdain was going in – I’m the furthest from a foodie you can get – but I found myself as engaged as I am with Straight Outta Compton, where I understand every little reference they are making. I never felt a lack of context.

Which is the biggest credit to Johnson. Though nothing is genre-defining – I imagined he saved that for Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie – its witty script and impressive ensemble are more than enough to make this an interesting watch.

Namely Dominic Sessa as Tony himself. Despite it not being too dissimilar to his rebellious breakout role in The Holdovers, he is fantastic. His curly hair and fake-it-until-you-make-it attitude feel as if he was ripped straight out of the 70s.

As biopics go, Tony definitely stands as one of the better ones. There’s no over-reliance on the celebrity name; it’s just a well-made movie that understands what not to do when it comes to biopics.

Which is a shame, because there was a joke which used Bourdain and boring in there somewhere which I would have loved to use.

I think it’s fair to say – and I’m sure Tom Holland would agree – that the MCU’s version of the web-slinger has struggled to capture these qualities.

The home trilogy wasn’t bad by any means, but his ties to Iron Man’s heavy tech – less said about the Iron Spider suit the better – have made this newest version feel like the only resemblance it holds to the character is the name and the suit.

No longer is he the kid from Queens trying to save his fellow New Yorker, but an Avenger travelling to different planets to save the world.

It’s been fun and necessary to the progression of the MCU, but it’s not the reason we all fell in love with the web-slinger.

Spider-Man: No Way Home ending signified a fresh start for the web-head to get back to his grounded ways. The world has forgotten Peter Parker. No more coddling from the Avengers, no more friends, just a Spider-Man with the exact two qualities we can all get behind – broke and alone.

So does Spider-Man: Brand New Day deliver on such a promising ending?

It does in ways Spider-Man fans could have only dreamed of. Pure Cinema.

Admittedly, going off the trailers and seeing a raging Hulk – finally –, the Punisher, and the Hand doesn’t exactly scream grounded superhero story, but it is the most contained Spider-Man has felt in a while.

After a slick montage, we land four years on from Dr Strange’s spell. Peter Parker is a name which barely holds any significance for himself. Spider-Man is all he has and all he is. New York is all the better for it, but Peter’s mind is far from sane.

Complications to the arachnid DNA inside and a dangerous new threat on the horizon put him in a position I honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to resolve.

Compelling stuff, and it’s all thanks to Holland himself. In several interviews leading up to this mammoth release, he spoke about how he delved deep into internet fandoms – poor soul – to get a real sense of what fans would have wanted.

It was promising to hear, but it does leave you with the slight worry that it is going to be 145 minutes of fan service and key jingling. Seeing the Avengers: Doomsday trailer before definitely didn’t help the matter.

Luckily for us, this isn’t made by the Russos. If there is any way to do fan service right, it’s like this. Comic panels come to life, Spider-Man is alone and cracking jokes, there is not a single mention of Tony Stark, and he is utterly depressed.

That’s my Spider-Man.

Holland realising he has Marvel and Sony by the balls as their only guaranteed one billion pound man was an absolute godsend. He holds the cards. I’m sure Sony would have loved to somehow tie in their horrendous collection of villain movies, but they are kept far away.

Added bonus is that Holland truly cares about the source material, so we finally get an outing which feels like Spider-Man. A big thanks to Christopher Nolan for teaching him what a movie set is actually like; you can see the impact it has on this film’s visuals.

The improved visuals aren’t just the sum of a few months on set of The Odyssey, but an important change in the director’s chair. Jon Watts’s isn’t necessarily bad, but in terms of studio directors, he is more Shaun Levy than Ryan Coogler.

Destin Daniel Cretton, however, is much more of an inspiring choice. What Watts lacked, Cretton more than makes up for this time around. The way he places the camera in Spider-Man’s mask and closer to him makes you feel a lot more immersed in the scenes.

For any ball knowers who watched and loved Shang-Chi, they would have known the potential of having Cretton sit down in the chair. Seeing his take on fight sequences with Holland’s athletic ability is just a delight. Please keep him on for any future Spider-Man films, please and thank you x.

Some of the old guard did return, however. Zendaya as MJ and Jacob Batalon as best friend Ned are back along with a few others from the original cast – even Scorpion! The Homecoming post-credit scene has been fulfilled — and all effortlessly continue where they left off.

I’m hard-pressed to find anything negative to say really. I had tempered expectations going in, but this is exactly, to me at least, what a Spider-Man movie should embody – tough choices, great dialogue and some excellent web shooting action.

The future is finally bright again. Just get him working in the Daily Bugle next time, and you have perfected it.

This time, we are looking back at a classic. Not only the best superhero film made, but it is also arguably Pixar’s best. The Incredibles deserves more love. Pixar became synonymous for their infusion with adult themes and enjoyment for children, and none walks that line better than this one. I can’t count how many times I’ve rewatched this film, but even still there are 45 things I missed the other times — a true testament to this films greatness. Here they are:

1) “Leave the saving the world to the men? I don’t think so. I don’t think so.” These interviews are a great way to introduce us to these characters and what makes them tick. This line by Elastigirl, in particular, is just a great way to start it. My mum quotes it all the time.

2) Michael Giacchino’s score gets me going every time. When it first plays in this film, without fail, I start getting excited like I am a kid all over again.

3) The handbag the robber stole has a Mr Incredible Pez dispenser in it. Nice

4) I am a sucker for a scene with either a sunrise or sunset, and the rooftop scene where we first see Mr Incredible and Elastigirl interact is right up there.

5) What made Pixar, and especially The Incredibles, excel was how it disguised its adult themes for kids. It took me so long to realise that Mr Incredible was stopping the person from suicide, but even as a kid, I understood in essence what was happening. Obviously, as an adult, you realise the severity and complexity of it all.

6) It’s the little details which ground this film in reality. Mr Incredible is insanely strong, but he isn’t invincible. Things still hurt him. So when he braces for impact when stopping the train coming off the tracks, it makes the world feel much more realistic.

7) The only bad thing about this film is how every superhero film has tried to copy it but failed. The number of superhero films that have tried to do the ‘superheroes are a danger to society and shouldn’t intervene’ stick, but worse is unfathomable. Even this film’s sequel got it wrong.

8) Bob and Helen’s lives being the complete opposites of what they said as Mr Incredible and Elastigirl during the opening interviews is great.

9) I know they are based on the Fantastic Four, but I do love their names and personalities matching their powers. Especially Jack-Jack being a jack of all trades. 

10) This time around, especially, I really appreciate Helen. We know she would love to be a superhero just as much as Bob, but she gets stuck in normal life and does what needs to be done to be a great mum. Going off and reliving the glory days like Bob is something she can’t afford to do.

11) I love the self-awareness of superhero tropes. Especially monologuing. Is there anything more infuriating than monologuing villains?

12) I never noticed that Syndrome was originally going for Frozone. I don’t know how I didn’t notice, it is exceptionally clear.

13) Bob humming his own theme tune is brilliant. I’d be doing it all the time.

14) The family drama is the driving force behind this film. Take away all of the superheroes and villains, and this is just a family and a marriage trying to find their place in the world. The central relationships are what separate this film from its counterparts.

15) I’ve always loved Bob using a hairdryer to dry the books. I don’t know why, but I find it super satisfying.

16) Bob gaining weight in the 15 years since being a superhero is bang on. Once again, he is still human. If you keep chucking chocolate cake down your throat, you are going to gain a few pounds.

17) See, I now realise that’s why Bob gets led to the lava, because it was made for Frozone. See, it’s the little things.

18) Life is incredible is such a great part of an already fantastic score.

19) The montage with the score is equally fantastic. A reinvigorated purpose is a great way to get your marriage back on track, lose some weight and start being a good father.

20) There is just no way this film was made with kids in mind. You miss so much as a child. The older I got, the more I enjoyed this film.

21) Edna. Mode. What a character

22) No capes! In fairness, it’s a great rule, and it receives an equally great payoff.

23) I mean, he doesn’t cheat, but I like how the film doesn’t shy away from the fact that he is, at the very least, emotionally swaying. Granted, I think it is less of an attraction to Mirage and more the superhero life, but regardless. There is no doubt he loves Helen, but that doesn’t mean his eye isn’t wandering.

24) Syndrome being Incrediboy is great. Such an interesting villain.

25) “You got me monologuing” See? They are aware of the tropes.

26) The Kronos scene is brilliant.

27) Pull yourself together indeed, Elsatigirl. You are better than this mopeing.

28) Dash and Violet make me laugh. Love me a great sibling relationship.

29) I must have watched The Incredibles hundreds of times, but man, I get so tense when watching the missiles hit the plane. It’s like an armour of goosebumps each time.

30) I never really thought about the fact that Bob thinks they are dead when the missiles hit. I don’t know how I never put two and two together.

31) No film makes me giggle like a schoolgirl as this one does. I get so giddy at so many points.

32) “They will kill you.” Just a perfect way to set the stakes for both Dash and Violet. It makes the following scene much more tense.

33) Violet’s hair progressively moving out of her face as she embraces her super side is a fantastic detail.

34) The action set pieces are so creative in this film, and Elastigirl being stuck in the doors is a great example of that. When Brad Bird is on it, there is no stopping him.

35) This whole forest scene is peak cinema. Get the Martin Scorsese photo out.

36) There is something special about growing older and starting to get more insight into your parents’ lives in the years before you were born. Dash and Violet seeing their parents turn into Elastigirl and Mr Incredible is a perfect encapsulation of that.

37) I know it’s been memed to death, but “honey, where’s my supersuit” is still a great moment. “I’m the greatest good you’re ever gonna get” is such a bar.

38) Another moment of humanity: Elastigirl straining, carrying the RV while Dash complains how long it’s taking, topped off by Bob saying “We get there when we get there” is perfect family dynamics.

39) Everything in the final battle is such a great payoff to the rest of the movie. My personal favourite is Dash going long, namely because my Dad always quotes it.

40) The sequence of when they see Syndrome with Jack-Jack to the panic over how they are going to get him back puts me on the edge of my seat each time.

41) No capes. Words to live by. Actually a really gruesome death for Syndrome. He is going to have to hold that.

42) Even the kid looking for something amazing gets a payoff; I mean, come on.

43) The confusion on the guy’s face when they are asking to get Dash to come second gets an audible laugh out of me each time. You would be baffled, wouldn’t you?

44) A great ending with the Underminer. There’s no way they could follow it up with a painfully average sequel, right? Right? Sigh.

45) One last time for that theme. To quote Neil Diamond, so good. So good.

I’d like to be clear, this is not a review. There is no analysis here really, more just me spurring out thoughts at this triumphant movie.

I will hopefully in a few days get a proper review out about this movie, but for now here is my initial reaction to seeing the long awaited The Odyssey.

There was a time when a practical 60 ft monster would have rocked me to my core. The time for that would have been four Nolan films ago. Now, it’s a formality, but an incredible one at that. He has made extraordinary filmmaking somewhat ordinary. A true testament to him. The Odyssey lives up to its levels of grandeur and is a journey of monumental proportions.

With the level of hype going on, I didn’t believe anything could live up to it. Especially after how much of a success Oppenheimer was. I was sure there would be something to stop this from being as incredible as it seemed.

There wasn’t.

Nothing can be perfect, but this comes pretty close. I’m in awe. Any words I would use to describe this film have left me. Not often do I spend a journey home just smiling at a loss for words, but that’s all I did.

This is a journey of epic measures. It’s a journey which you feel like you are on with them. You feel the weight and burden placed on these characters. Even now, lying in bed my back and shoulders ache from how tense I was throughout.

The performances are incredible. Each person takes whatever screen time they have and they leave a lasting impression. Standouts have to be, Matt Damon, Elliot Page, Robert Pattinson, Himesh Patel, John Leguizamo and an incredible Anne Hathaway.

That may seem like a long list of standouts, but that is just scratching the surface. That doesn’t even mention Tom Holland who gives a career-best performance.

So many scenes will be etched into my brain for a long time. The last half an hour is one of the most incredible endings I have seen. The way it recontextualises everything that came before it and delivers what it was building up to is something to behold.

I’m admittedly, one for an overreaction straight out of the cinema, but this is something special. Is it Nolan’s best? Honestly? It could be. His storytelling and direction on this is magnificent. I’ll have to wait until I watch it again to give a full verdict, but as of now, only Interstellar stands in its way.

There is nothing like a new Christopher Nolan release. Every film he has is an event, and he delivers each time.

Nothing to do with the film itself, mind you. I enjoyed our introduction back into this universe in Evil Dead Rise, and the trailer promised this film would follow in the same gnarly footsteps.

It was the array of horror trailers before which stunted my excitement. I only have a certain amount of appetite for jump scares and gore which come with the genre, and each trailer had already satisfied that. A special mention for the Ice Cream Man trailer, which looks bizarre as it is gruesome.

I tried to shake off the blood and cobwebs before the film, but after the first five minutes, I was already dreaming of the moment I got to get out of my chair and walk to my unreliable Corsa.

As they say, evil doesn’t die; it reinvents itself, and the Evil Dead franchise has been able to do that better than anyone. From minute one to the last, this film is relentless with the shock and blood. The spirit grabs you by the neck and doesn’tlet you go no matter how much you beg and cover your eyes.

I thought they had pushed the boundaries of ways to inflict torture on our cast in the last movie, but they up the ante here tenfold. Things happen in this film which have never been used as a means of terror.

Our unlucky hosts this time around are the Price family. After an altercation with his wife Alice (Souheila Yacoub) leads to their oldest son dying at the hands of the demonic presence, the family, along with Alice and their other son Joseph’s(Hunter Doohan) girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan), have to face their demons at the wake.

They are tested more than they would have hoped. I’m sure they expected some awkward conversations and some charged arguments, but they definitely didn’t bargain for drinking candles and killer grandmas.

At many points in this film I believed I had seen the height of the depravity, but each time they do something so twisted and gory you hope there is a line of questioning for the person who conjured them up.

Whether Sébastien Vaniček needs locking up for what is a nauseating 109-minute watch is neither here nor there, but untilwe decide whether his brain is fit for society, he should definitely continue in the horror genre.

He has a knack for inflicting ungodly amounts of pain on his characters, and he knows how to make us feel the weight of it all. We are put right in the middle of the action. Uncomfortable close-ups, long sprawling takes, erratic movements are all used to make us feel like we are scuttling away for our lives like the rest of them. I didn’t enjoy that. Not even a little. Well played.

You can sense he was having great fun making this film – again, a line of questioning is required – and so was the cast. Amongst a host of performances loaded with terror and angst, it’s Buchanan who steals the show. After she is brutally murdered, she is tremendous fun and plays the evil entity with a great level of sass and excitement.

Vaniček has proved there is still gruesome death left in this franchise even when you think they have squeezed out the last blood left. I will roll my eyes if another Evil Dead film is announced. Not because it’s unwelcome, but because I don’tknow if I can stomach the trailer, let alone a movie. I never want to watch this film again; I’d call that a resounding success.

The way I saw it, I had two options: sit in front of my fan and have hot air be blown at me all day, or brave driving in my black car and go watch a film at the cinema.

I picked the latter. It was slim pickings. I wasn’t going to give the time to Disney’s creative crisis and watch Moana, and I have already booked to watch Evil Dead Burn in a few days.

Then I remembered seeing the trailer for Rosebush Pruning. It had caught my attention at the time as something I maylike, so that’s what I decided to watch.

After watching it, I’d rather have worn full thick black clothing with a woolly winter coat on and gone on a run until I inevitably pass out from the heat.

Yeah, it’s that bad.

What an embarrassment of a film. I haven’t seen any of the films director Karim Aïnouz had made, and after that I don’tthink I’ll ever bother.

It follows a weird incest family of five: Jack (Jamie Bell), Ed (Callum Turner), Anna (Riley Keough), Robert (Lukas Gage) and their father (Tracy Letts) who sit in a mansion and are obsessed with music and fashion and are standoffish with Jack’s new girlfriend Martha (Elle Fanning).

You very quickly realise this is another in a long line of terrible attempts to make Emerald Fennel’s already distinctly average Saltburn. Long-time collaborator of Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou wrote the script, which would lead you to believe that there will be a bit more nuance than what is usually on display.

Nope.

This film is as subtle as getting hit over the head with a hammer. Essentially, take all the worst qualities of Saltburn and Lanthimos’s movies, mesh them together and add some gross sexual scenes between family members, and you get Rosebush Pruning.

Some of the scenes in this movie are gross for the sake of being gross. It doesn’t add any substance other than trying to push you to your limits.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the room was a crisp temperature thanks to the aircon, I would have walked out halfway through during a scene in the bathroom, which is one of the most appalling things I have ever seen.

My anger doesn’t stem from it being gross, but more so that it has nothing to say. It adds nothing of interest that other eat-the-rich haven’t already, and it does what has already been done infinitely worse. It is loathsome.

It is a waste of the talents of Callum Turner, Elle Fanning and Jamie Bell, who still manage to do well despite being cut off at the knees. It is a waste of cinematographer Hélène Louvart’s quite exceptional cinematography, and it will be a waste of your time if you decide to watch it – I implore you not to.

This film is a consequence of the mass psychosis people experienced when thinking Saltburn was brilliant. The ripple effect that film had will be felt negatively for years to come.

For those of you who do not enjoy Lanthimos’s films, I completely get it. I do believe, however, you would appreciate what he does a lot more if you saw how bad this film is.

Do not confuse that with me telling you to watch it, however. I under any circumstance don’t think you should watch it. In hindsight, I would have much rather sat at home dealing with the scorching heat. It without a doubt would have been more bearable.

10. The Drama

Out of all the lines in a wedding vow, none are ignored more than ‘for better or for worse’. It’s a good sentiment, but not one which is ever fulfilled — especially in the film. If the divorce rates in the world are above 40% in real life, we must be nearing the high 70% for film couples. Charlie (Robert Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya) were heading for the win column when it comes to film couples. They were besotted with each other. Obnoxiously so. They were the type of couple who make you roll your eyes because of how in love they are. It seemed like an obvious happily ever after, until the same thing that derails most marriages comes into play. Drinking. Too much drinking. Seeing the bottom of the bottle led to a surprise confession from Emma and a darkly funny outing by director Kristoffer Borgli. It will likely be Robert Pattinson and Zendaya’s weakest film from this year – a testament to them and their agents – but that shouldn’t take away from how great they both are in this film. Till drinking game do they part.

9. Toy Story 5

Really? Pixar are actually doing another one? A fifth instalment of a franchise which people – wrongly – thought had run out of steam in the fourth? They did, but Andrew Stanton wasn’t going to let his beloved franchise come back unless they had a story worthy to match this franchise’s beloved catalogue. It’s toys Vs tech this time around, and it shoves favourites Woody and Buzz to the side and lets Jessie take the reins of the crew. It can’t be understated how bad Toy Story 5 could have turned out, but they make all the right decisions to make this film not only feel warranted but to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest. The biggest stroke of genius was putting Jessie central to the plot and taking us back to her devastating roots. Is it a Toy Story movie if they don’t make your lip quiver? If they can keep thinking of scripts as great as this one was, I can’t see why we can’t cling onto our childhoods for a little while longer with future instalments.

8. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

I’m sure most of us were left perplexed when 28 Years Later – a film that was surprisingly just as sincere as it was visceral – ended with a group of humans dressed as a mix between the Power Rangers and infamous cunt Jimmy Savile saving Spike (Alfie Williams) from zombies by moving like ninjas. I can’t say I wasn’t left intrigued, but I had no idea how you continue what such a bold statement to end on. The answer? You embrace it. Naturally, you turn down the mighty morphing tone of it all, and you instead lean in on the insanity and repulsiveness that comes when you embody such a disgusting human. There is no good place to be in a zombie apocalypse, but this group of vermin is definitely the worst. Poor Spike can’t catch a break. Nia DaCosta had quite the task following the long-awaited sequel, but she succeeds in keeping this story going with a gruesome but weirdly hopeful way. Bring on the finale.

7. The Devil Wears Prada 2

It’s been 20 years since The Devil Wears Prada first hit cinemas, and a lot has happened in the world since. In-universe, Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs has become a hard-hitting journalist, taking on stories with importance. She isn’t the only one who has left; Emily Blunt’s Emily is now a fashion executive at Dior, moving away from Miranda’s grasp. As for Miranda (Meryl Streep), she is still shaping the fashion industry at Runway along with Nigel. Though she is struggling to come to terms with the new PG world she finds herself in. As for in real life, there has been a seismic shift in both film and journalism. Editors have new priorities which lean heavily on clicks more than actual worthwhile stories. Directors have adopted a familiar philosophy, as more and more big studios focus on legacy sequels and reboots more than original ideas. That leaves The Devil Wears Prada 2 in a tricky position, standing both as a legacy sequel and a film which was built on the importance of journalism. There were two ways for them to go — fully embrace the cash grab or have a genuine attempt at focusing on the change in industry. It has the usual stick — savvy comebacks, jokes about fashion and condescending attitudes, but woven throughout is a sincere attempt at critiquing itself and the new world we find ourselves in when it comes to journalism, film and even the rise of AI. Even the devil has better morals than most studio heads. Sounds about right.

6. Hokum

Adam Scott is the perfect douche American. He has a face which seems lovable, but an attitude and tone of voice which could be put under the dictionary description of an overbearing Yank. So when you place his character, famous writer Ohm, inside a humble hotel deep in Ireland, he feels dramatically out of place. It’s like trying to force a puzzle piece into the wrong spot. Bilberry Woods Hotel is full of the usual Irish craic. It’s a lively spot. Ohm hates that. His attitude is weary and uninviting. Any patience for their small talk is limited. The respect for their way of life is at a bare minimum. So what subsequently happens to him for the rest of Damien McCarthy’s 107-minute unsettling horror adds up. The usual horror situations he finds himself in are not jarring or the consequence of stupid decision-making, but rather a sum of an attitude that he feels above everyone else. It’s been a year blessed with horror films – did you know YouTubers have been making horror films? – and Hokum is right up there with the best.

5. Disclosure Day

Steven Spielberg is long past trying to convince you aliens exist. Instead, he is more interested in how the world would react when the world is informed that the extraterrestrials have not only been on the planet, but have also been tortured by the government. His answer is glass half-full. Similar to leaving James Gunn's Superman last year, you are blasted with a feeling of hope and humanity, which gets your hope core in overdrive. Once that wears off, I am left feeling unsatisfied by the climax. As much as I do believe the news broadcast scene is immensely powerful, the kumbaya of it all feels a tad overbearing. There are great moments throughout: Emily Blunt is giving career-best work, the score is great, and some of the chase scenes get the heart pumping. It’s Spielberg at the end of the day; his worst movies are still better than most. There are just too many things holding this back from being truly great.

4. Send Help

Like most early in the year releases, we are at risk of forgetting how great Sam Rami’s Send Help was. Which is a shame, because it was a bloody delight. A great return to form for Rami, which reminds everyone he still has the sauce. It follows Linda, a survival expert and Strategy and Planning employee. They are two great qualities, but to newly appointed nepotism baby Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), Linda’s unhygienic ways are too much to stomach. She wants a promotion, Bradley wants her packing her desk. As a compromise, she is given the chance to make it up to him on a trip which ends in destruction and life on a remote island. The pair’s chemistry is off the charts. They bicker constantly, which delivers laugh after laugh. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a cinema room full of so many people audibly reacting to what was going on. As it escalates, it gets more and more unhinged, playing into Rami’s skills. He has been on somewhat of a hiatus when it comes to his trademark horror elements, but they are beautifully on display here. Let’s hope he continues to do more Send Help and less Doctor Strange.

3. Obsession

The world has become obsessed with Obsession. Weirdly so. It has become the highest-grossing film made under $1 million, got a 4.1 on Letterboxd and is already getting early Oscar buzz – after Amy Madigan’s win, who knows? It has taken the world by storm and deservedly so. Inde Navarrette’s Nikki is always watching. Always. Bear (Michael Johnson) may be out of sight, but she is always watching. However, she is not obsessed. Not even close. Creepy weirdo Bear is the obsessed one. Like most incel boys, Bear had a crush on Nikki but had no courage to tell her. So he did what any sane person would do – made a wish that Nikki loved him more than anyone else in the world. Silly, silly man. There is a reason the Genie in Aladdin doesn’t cast love spells. He knew. What ensues is a frighteningly funny consequence of Bear’s actions played out by a great quartet of performances. I love me a horror film, so I am pleased to see the love it was getting, but it didn’t seem like the film which would resonate with so many people. Curry Baker’s first outing is a triumph. Maybe even too triumphant. Just maybe, we are all the consequence of Baker’s own One Wish Willow to get us all to love his film.

2. The Invite

It’s been a turbulent start to Olivia Wilde’s directing career. Her debut Booksmart was a charming outing. It wasn’t pulling up any trees, but a solid and uneventful start. Her follow-up, Don’t Worry Darling, was anything but. Shrouded in controversy, her sophomore release had the world captivated by the behind-the-scenes drama between Chris Pine and global superstar Harry Styles. To make matters worse, the film was panned by critics. Not ideal at all. You’d be forgiven for thinking this put an impromptu end to what could have been a promising career. Not on Wilde’s watch. She stripped it back. No more secret mystery simulation world, just two couples under the same roof. Wilde puts any doubts to bed in the English-speaking remake of The People Upstairs. She takes the source material, and she makes it sing. Her confident directing and great performance alongside Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz make for an incredibly funny and irresistible watch. I am certain I will not laugh more at another film for the rest of the year. It takes the themes of modern marriage and the taboo of sex and trusts the audience to understand the complexities of it all. If you hopped off the Wilde train, now is the perfect time to get back on.

1. Project Hail Mary

My dad wouldn’t be born for another nine years when Stanley Kubrick redefined the Sci-Fi genre with 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was alive when Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus, Interstellar, was released, but I was only ten. Apologies to anyone I made feel old saying that x. I have missed many classics thanks to, well, life, but none more so than the transcending trips to space. Luckily for me, I was right on time to watch the latest Sci-Fi epic, Project Hail Mary. I’m sure that to some of you it is blasphemy to even utter Christopher Miller’s and Phil Lord’s book adaptation of the same name in the same atmosphere as the other two, but we will look back on this film as this generation’s poignant space film. Though tonally different from the other two – there are more jokes in the first ten minutes than the other two combined – its levels of grandeur are more than equal to its counterparts. Spearheaded by a usually charming Ryan Gosling performance, and his space buddy Rocky (James Ortiz), the pair go on a journey to save their respective planets from certain doom. What sets Project Hail Mary apart from its predecessors is the sense of hope in the film’s narrative. It doesn’t try to emulate what the previous film succeeded at: it creates a new identity of optimism which feels necessary. I will be amaze if a film that releases this year is better. Believe in the hype. Believe in the Hail Mary.

Kimmel hosting still sends a shiver down my spine. Praise Conan O’Brien.

The big story going into the night was the battle between Damien Chazelle’s dreamy musical romance La La Land and Barry Jenkins ‘ coming-of-age story Moonlight.

This is the Messi vs Ronaldo of the Oscars. It is Coke vs Pepsi. Arguably, two of the strongest films that have come out this century were battling out for a trophy given out by snobby journalists and industry professionals, which fans give way too much stock to.

It had been an uneventful night, and we had got to the final award, Best Picture. Fans across the world waited with bated breath as Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty opened the envelope.

After a strange, long pause and confusion from Beatty, he handed the envelope to Dunaway, who crowned La La Land the best picture winner. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the crew went up on stage while the creators behind Moonlight did their best graceful defeat faces.

The producers of La La Land had gotten over a minute into their victory lap when Jordan Horowitz received news which likely still wakes him up in a cold sweat.

“There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won best picture.”

I think all the credit has to go to Horowitz, who had to explain to the confused auditorium and millions worldwide through gritted teeth that they did not, in fact, win.

It was very gracious. If it were me, I’d be a spitting image of the guy from Come Dine With Me after finding out I hadn’t won the £1000 prize. What a sad little life, Barry.

It was a monumental cock-up. One which had imprinted itself as the most controversial incident to ever happen at the Oscars. I’m sure no one was happier than whoever the culprit was when Will Smith bitch slapped Chris Rock.

More importantly than the controversy, it was a monumental win. It was a win for independent filmmaking and a win for filmmaking from marginalised groups.

Maybe hard to believe now as La La Land has become a mainstay in people’s favourite movie lists – I make no secret how it is my favourite film of all time – but it had become somewhat of an Oscar villain during the lead up.

It’s $30 million budget compared to Moonlight’s measly $1.5 million in comparison, rendered Chazelle as Goliath and Jenkins as Dave.

The Oscars were in a patchy phase of winners at the time, but awarding an independent story about self-discovery and being gay in majority black and testosterone areas for the biggest award in Hollywood was a massive win.

It was a win which should have started a step in the right direction for the industry.

It was anything but.

We have failed everyone who was a part of Moonlight. More specifically, the film industry has. We have failed Barry Jenkins. We have failed the actors for both Kevin and Chiron. And we even failed Mahershala Ali, although Marvel is to blame for such.

My local cinema recently blessed me with the opportunity to watch this on the big screen, and all I could think of was how I couldn’t name one thing any of the actors had been in since, despite all of them giving groundbreaking performances.

I can’t fathom why the creatives behind this film shouldn’t have their fingerprints all over new releases in Hollywood. Moonlight is a beautifully rendered film. There is no reason for them to be in such short demand other than the obvious – race.

It’s no surprise Hollywood loves the white man – they are not getting 70% of roles by chance.

It’s a noticeable pattern for the Oscars. They often enjoy awarding films which focus on minorities to create the illusion they are supporting them. A pat on the back exercise, or more crudely, a circle jerk, if you will.

Of course, winning the award is a massive step, but it’s helping create the opportunities afterwards that are lacking.

Someone like Shaun Levy can make such dross films in continuation and still get big budgets, but it takes someone as skilled as Barry Jenkins an Oscar win and nearly eight years wait to earn a blank cheque.

It’s not a problem just for Jenkins and co, but industry-wide. The reason it particularly stings in relation to Moonlight, however, is that the film was about self-discovery, black male identity and dealing with systemic issues.

We are running the risk of the Oscars cock up becoming more culturally relevant than the film itself.

When people think of Moonlight, the conversation will often refer back to that mistake, not the incredibly powerful story that takes place. The industry needs to platform these creatives again to give this film the legacy it deserves, not just the legacy of someone’s mistake.

If any of those apply to you specifically, it is down to the hard work of Sue Quinn.

There is nothing Sue can’t do. There is no budget too small, no location too tricky to get. If there is a location a director wants, Sue will get it. It doesn’t matter if it is the busy streets of Notting Hill or landing a helicopter in Trafalgar Square, she will find a way.

“I have never not filmed somewhere we wanted to… I’d never say no. There is always a way to do it. Always. But it’s never easy,” Sue says. “Nothing is insurmountable.”

Even if it is only a five-second scene, there have been countless phone calls, traffic plans and logistics needed to sort out to get it done.

That’s without considering all the added baggage which comes with a film set on location. In her 30 years on the job, Sue has had to manoeuvre all sorts of challenges to achieve a director’s goal, but none more so than landing a helicopter in Trafalgar Square for Edge of Tomorrow.

“I think there were about 60 different bus routes that had to be diverted. The traffic plan was immense. I had more security on that day than on any other day to stop people from going into certain places. That was a massive day,” she says.

But it almost didn’t happen. As with most things in England, it was almost derailed thanks to some weather. “We were waiting for the helicopter to come, and I had a phone call saying, ‘There’s fog, and I don’t think we are going to be able to get there.’ You think, oh my god, but it did arrive, and that was some relief. That was probably one of the most stressful times,” she says.

It’s stressful, but that’s the job. No matter how many weeks or months of planning have gone into a scene, all it takes is a usual grey sky in England to disrupt the plans. It’s the little things you have to prepare for. It may seem tedious, and it can be, but Sue loves it all the same.

“It’s not glamorous, it’s hard work. I’m lucky, I really enjoy what I’m doing. At my age, I really should be retired, but I actually enjoy what I do,” she says.

Ever since she accidentally started location work when she was 17, she has been responsible for immortalising locations through her work. “There was a Ken Loach film being filmed nearby where I lived, and I went there and got a job as an extra. When I was at school, you either went into medicine, law or the main subjects like English or History. I realised there was a whole other world out there,” she says.

“I was lucky enough to talk to somebody who asked if I could find something for them, because it was an area I lived in. After that, I never really looked back.”

She worked as an Assistant Director on other projects and built her connections, but none captured her heart more than the world of locations. Though Sue would soon realise there was more to the job than just scouting out areas.

“You read the script, and then you discuss the script with the director and also the production designer, and they will say, ‘This is sort of what we want. We’re not sure, can you go out and have a look?’ So as a location team, you go out, and you take 100s of photographs and present them, and then you hopefully spark the imagination of a designer or a director,” she says.

After that? Phone calls. Research. It has become easier for Sue. The introduction of the internet has helped things. At the very least, it has saved her a few paper cuts.

“Nowadays it’s so easy because you can look online. In the old days, I just had 100s of books I looked through. There used to be just three of us in a department; now the team is enormous,” she says.

It is a teething process to sort out a location. You may find the most perfect, picturesque place, but if the logistics are unviable, you have to find somewhere else. “Even though you might be able to find a wonderful location in the North of Scotland, you can’t go there because, financially, it’s not viable. So then you have to circle back and find what you can around where you are. It all comes down to economics,” she says.

“In the old days, if you wanted something to do, you just had a pile of cash, and you’d pay people; you can’t do that now.

Money is the root of all things difficult for Sue. It always comes down to money. But it doesn’t stop her. Whether the budget is big or small, she can achieve a director’s vision and never spend a penny more. “Darling, I’m never over budget. We find a way, don’t we?” she says defiantly, almost insulated by the notion. Lesson learned, there truly is nothing stopping her.

Once the location is chosen, Sue, along with different departments on set, will go and start planning the area. “We will all go, and then they will say, ‘I need this here. I need to put a crane there. I’m going to need to close the road there, and we want this here.’ So then you get all that information fed back to you, and then you process it, and then you start to put that in action,” she says.

“Then we call a movement order, which is basically telling everyone where to go, how to get there, where they park, and how they get to the location. We would then put up signs, and then we are also in charge of security,” she says.

“You set up a whole structure before they even come to film.”

When it comes down to it, Sue is a facilitator. Her job is to give the other departments the best possible chance to do theirs. It comes with the pressure, but Sue turns that into diamonds.

“We are enablers. It’s very important that we give the creatives what they want. All you can say to somebody is, ‘I’ll go away and see what I can do.’ I’ve always found that if you just tell the truth… All you can do is your best,” she says. More often than not, Sue’s best is more than enough.

“On a project I was doing last year, a childhood dream of this director was to film in this particular place. When we saw it, we thought, ‘Oh my god, this location is a nightmare, but we did it,” she says.

You don’t get the label of dream maker without some serious notches in your career. Which Sue has aplenty. She has worked on Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Love Actually, and Billy Elliot, to name a few. She has had her hand on some of England’s most iconic films.

There is no such thing as an easy job for a location manager, but she — along with some great directors — finds a way.

“I worked closely with Stuart Craig, who was probably one of the best production designers ever. I had the fortune of working with lots of people. David Yates, Stephen Frears, Richard Curtis, they were all wonderful directors, and you love all of them,” she says.

There are a select few who have managed to get on the wrong side of Sue. “Most of them are good, some of them are naughty,” she says.

Irrespective of whether the directors have gotten in her bad books, Sue helps to create a great final product. None more so than her work with Roger Michell on Notting Hill. “Everybody loved doing that film, but for the location department, it was quite hard because there are a lot of people to talk to, and there are businesses and everything else that you have to take care of as well,” she says.

Before Sue arrives, it is a place, but once she leaves, it is a landmark. “I used to walk through Notting Hill, because people always stand by the blue door, you know? They’re all still there, and you just sort of think, Oh my god,” she says, amazed by the impact left.

That’s why, no matter how difficult it gets, she loves it. “It’s great fun. It’s one of the only departments that deals with every single other department. You have that freedom, and you are never tied down. You are always on the road, or you’re doing this or going somewhere. Truly and honestly, I can say you never know what is going to happen on that day,” Sue explains.

It’s a lot less physical work for Sue in recent years, but she misses when she used to get her hands dirty. “I always used to be quite hands-on. I’d get in the van, and I’d move a tower light. They wouldn’t let me near that now. You did all those things, putting up signs and things like that, but it is a lot more delegated now than it used to be. I miss getting stuck in a bit,” she says.

After her distinguished career, Sue was recognised for her work in 2024 when she won a Lifetime Achievement Award in August 2024, voted for by her peers.

“I’ve been very lucky. You do need a bit of luck at the end of the day.

The thing is, when you get a lifetime achievement award, you realise I’ve done this for a whole lifetime’. You feel very humbled by it,” she says.

“Then I always probably think it’s because I’m the oldest person out there and they can’t think of anyone else,” she jokes.

She didn’t take it as a sign to settle down. She still loves it and has a great team, so she sees no reason to stop. There are still locations out there to find. “Why give up while you still can? I have a great team, they look after me and, you know, I just do the bits that I know that I’m good at. If you enjoy it, there’s no reason to stop, is there?”

Masters of the Universe

Are you He-Man, God of swords?

The similarities of Thor’s arc in Thor: Ragnarok are not the only things that Masters of the Universe borrowed from Marvel’s cinematic universe. Travis Knight must have finished a Marvel binge before stepping into the director’s chair for this film. Many great actors are underutilised; the writing is mixed — hoping you just roll with it and don’t ask too many questions, it captures the camp feeling prevalent in their early work, and Adam’s transition into He-Man feels ripped out of The First Avenger when Captain America gets his new body for the first time.

He decided not to use the colour grading and shoddy CGI — good choice.

It’s less Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and more Iron Man 2. Not great, but good fun. It nearly shifts into wasting Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, but it has the good amount of seeing him flex his muscles. He is also great at being goofy, which is good fun.

Dare I say it, Jared Leto as Skeletor is also really good. He brings the right amount of freak.

I wasn’t old enough to grow up with He-Man. I only watched little bits at my great-nan’s house on a video player, so I wasn’t picking up every reference, but there was enough for casual fans to enjoy it.

I’d happily welcome more, but this bombed hard. It can sit beside Dungeons and Dragons in surprisingly good adaptations which no one cares about.

Swapped

When Michael B. Jordan narrowly beat Timothée Chalamet for Best Actor in a Leading Role at this year’s Oscar ceremony, I don’t think anyone would have expected his next role to be a Netflix original animated film.

I can’t help but find it funny that the Dune 3 trailer was held back in hopes of putting Academy Award Winner next to Chalamet’s name, and instead that honour went to Swapped.

Forget Paul Atreides, it’s all about Ollie (Michael B. Jordan), a curious and trusting pookoo who doesn’t agree with his father’s worrisome attitude.

Maybe his father was onto something, as a misunderstanding between a mystical bird, Javed, leads his species to face starvation. Ever the curious Pookoo, Ollie accidentally turns himself into a Javed after falling into a magic orchard. Fellow bird Ivy (Juno Temple), after helping Ollie, turns herself into a Pookoo. It’s a classic switcheroo.

So it’s not an original plot. That’s ok, I expected as much. What I didn’t expect is how stunning and creative this film gets in portraying these ideas.

Much of my distaste for modern kids’ movies is their lack of respect for the children watching them. Just this year, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie showed an astounding lack of trust in modern children by shoving a new action scene in every five minutes with no downtime.

Swapped laughs in the face of key jingling. It sees recent attempts at trying to appeal to kids and hits them with many passages of no dialogue. It will just let the visuals and Siddhartha Khosla’s fantastic score take them along the story. It’spowerful. It’s the kind of trust these films should have in kids.

It may not have been the trajectory imagined for Jordan, but it’s a welcome one. His soothing voice lends itself perfectly to a kids movie, and hopefully more people gave this a watch thanks to his newfound glory.

Apex

Apex is as original as a middle-aged mum with a live, laugh, love painting on the wall. Two people go on a dangerous expedition to start the movie — this time in the form of Sasha (Charlize Theron) and husband Tommy (Eric Bana) climbing up in the uncanny CGI Norwegian mountains — and something goes wrong. Terribly wrong. What was originally a thrill-seeking exercise turns into an early grave for poor Aussie Tommy.

Never has a death been so guaranteed since the Final Destination franchise. As soon as he remarks about how his love for climbing is deteriorating, the coroner would have already been on his way to these mountains.

It doesn’t get much better from that point either. Each scene that follows is just about as predictable as the last.

Apex is a bore. It’s 96 minutes of supposed thrill and exhilaration which barely grabs your attention, let alone making the hairs on your neck stand up.

We are not the only ones who are going through the motions. Sasha, who I can only imagine is completely unfazed by it all based on her facial expressions, travels to the Australian woods for some solo adventure. No more mountains though. They have been retired until it is convenient again.

If the dead husband wasn’t enough, a run-in with freaky local Ben (an unhinged Taron Egerton) makes matters worse, luring her into a twisted cat-and-mouse game where her life is at stake.

This is where the heart should start beating quickly, but it doesn’t. There is no element of surprise. Sasha has to run for her life as crossbow-wielding Ben starts to chase down his prey.

But it all just feels tame? Whether that’s the janky camera work or the pace, it doesn’t ever really live up to what promises to be a nail-biting run time.

There are a few mildly ok twists and turns, and stomach-curdling reveals, but none of it makes this bland film any more average than the rest in this subgenre of movie.

Inside Digbeth’s Custard Factory creative hub, people of all ages have started arriving at the humble independent Mockingbird Cinema. However, they are not here to watch their very own Tommy Shelby’s final outing on the big screen, but instead for Expresso 90, a film festival solely for 90-second-long films.

Created by lecturers Dan Finnemore and Matt Prentice, the festival was originally started for their students to see their work seen on the big screen. It worked to great effect as one of their former students, Tommy Read, decided to start it back up after the pandemic hit.

“Not only for me, but for a lot of students, it was building a lot of confidence and just seeing your film on the big screen was a boost for it,” Tommy says. He is now the co-founder of the IMA festival based in the West Midlands. In his newfound role, the first thing he wanted to do was bring back Expresso 90.

“Top of the list was, ‘let’s bring back Expresso’. We wanted to try to share that opportunity again with other people. Luckily, we’ve got some very nice people who obviously support us as well. It wouldn’t be possible on my own,” he says.

He was right to do so. As more people arrive, the atmosphere increases. Past film-makers are here to support first-timers who nervously wait outside. It has grown from strength to strength since returning to the streets of Birmingham, now currently in its seventh year and returning to a sold-out crowd.

If you’re thinking the 90-second run time is another way to try to accommodate the younger generations’ ever-decreasing attention span, don’t worry. The run time was picked as it was the perfect mix of being challenging for veteran film-makers and digestible for first-time creatives.

“It was really achievable for students to be able to do, but it’s also a challenge. Anyone who has made a film in 90 seconds that actually makes sense and is coherent will know it’s really difficult to do,” Tommy says.

“I always found I really liked the balance of it. It was open for people to have a go who had never made a film before in their lives. But if you’ve made loads of films, then it’s something you can get together with a bit of a crew and go, ‘all right, let’s try and enter this thing and let’s see what’s possible.”

It had been quite the start to the day for Tommy. The event consists of judges who award two winners at the end of the night and then have a talk with the people in the audience to help them at the start of their careers.

Usually that’s the case. In the morning, three of the four judges had to drop out due to illness and prior engagements. Not ideal. Luckily, the remaining judge, Matt Taylor, the Creative Director and Co-Director of Method in Motion, was able to pull in a favour and get one more judge in.

I’m sure no one was more glad than he was when an excited buzz started to fill the air, and people arrived in their numbers.

There were 22 films on display for the day, and none alike. Filmmaker Maria Audert Samudro took an animated route with their short Friends With Pigs. Lewis Hooper chose a comedy with his short Butter Bunny’s — a film about killer bunny cookies — and Ismay Sanders decided to take a more vulnerable route with The Queer Archive.

Each film exuded individuality and a high level of quality. The range of shorts on display is what Tommy loves so much about the event. “What I really love about this festival is that it gives you that freedom to say, I’m just going to have a go,” he says.

One of the filmmakers giving it a go was Jason Kok. He is a student at Kingston University and had the festival recommended to him by one of his lecturers. His film was called The Last Shot, a short about someone trying to beat their friend at basketball.

“As we only have 90 seconds, there are limitations for us as to how we explain the plot of our story within a short time, and meanwhile still make it interesting. It’s very fun and satisfying after we’ve made it,” he says.

The festival awards a Best Young Filmmaker and an overall winner. Tommy’s bad luck continued as the first winner, Clarissa Kumala, who won best young filmmaker for Full of Sh*t, was not in attendance. Luckily, the overall winner, Maxwell Cavenham for The Nine Lives of Charlie Dickinson, was in attendance to receive the award.

The minds behind Expresso 90 are excited to keep helping filmmakers get their start. That’s what Sammy Ha, Co-Founder of IMA Festival, loves the most about it. “It’s so nice seeing the reaction of the filmmakers. I look back at the photographs after each event, and it’s nice seeing the smiling faces. Watching people meeting each other for the first time and being able to facilitate them seeing their film on the big screen for the first time is really special,” she says.

Tommy hopes it keeps growing in the future, but for now, he just hopes next year is smoother sailing than this one.