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The Book of Clarence is an interesting film, you can never really tell where it's going as it weaves a narrative from stoner on the make comedy, and a much deeper look at responsibility, courage, and civil rights.

Clarence is Thomas's (of the disciples) twin. He deals in weed and along with his bff Elijah, is hustling as he tries to get his big break. Resentful of his brother who gets looked up to for abandoning their Mother to follow Jesus, Clarence ends up owing a lot of money to Jedediah the Terrible, a local crime boss.

It's Jerusalem and Judaism is facing many challenges from would be messiahs, Clarence comes up with the idea of becoming one to be able to pay off his debts.

During this hustle Clarence encounters Christ, the Romans, and a side of himself that he was not aware of. It's a funny, touching and poignant film. There are belly laughs, genuine emotional moments, and a deeper look at Christianity and civil rights throughout.

LaKeith Stanfield is exceptional as Clarence, plus James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch also provide great supporting roles as part of an amazing cast that includes Nicholas Pinnock, Omar Sy, R J Cyler, Alfre Woodard and more.

It really doesn't matter what this film is about, it's a spectacular comedy, made up of wonderful set pieces and brilliant actors who play off each other beautifully.

But okay, it's the 70's and San Diego's most trusted source of news and information is Ron Burgundy and his News Team 4. He's a god amongst men, his power at its highest in his small pond. He's also ready to take the leap to the next level and wants to become a national anchor.

Then in walks Veronica Corningstone, a female anchor, fighting for attention and airtime in a male dominated world. Despite her dedication to the craft of news, Burgundy's animal magnetism is too strong and they being a torrid, passionate romance. When jealous gets in the way, Ron's world comes crashing down.

But none of this is slightly important. What matters most is the jokes. They come thick and fast, and are eminently quotable. 60% of the time, they work every time.

It's a brilliant ensemble and can survive endless replays. Como Estas Beetches, Ron's here and he's here to stay.

If you're going to watch a film called Sharktopus, and its biggest star is Eric Roberts then you know exactly what you're doing and please don't pretend otherwise.

SP11 is a black ops military experiment that allows a highly trained team to guide a shark to help stop drug cartels navigate the waters around the USA. Why it is a mix of Shark and Octopus is never explained and that's probably a good thing as there is absolutely no justification for its existence.

The tech developed to harness the power of Sharktopus went under slightly less rigorous testing and falls off when it gets bumped by a boat.

Free from the pressure of defeat cartels, Sharktopus is now free to follow its natural instincts, which apparently is killing.

Needing his mutant Shark/Octopus back, Eric Roberts hires a former security chief to help capture it. Naturally things go awry, leading to more blood and mayhem.

This is every bit as wonderful and terrible as you'd hope. If you're even tempted by a low budget Roger Corman mutant shark horror film then you already know you're going to love it.

PS there are also two sequels.

Nicholas Cage in a sword and sorcery movie. Wait, what? No seriously, but please stick with me here.

It's the 14th Century, the crusades are in full swing, two knights, Behman and Felson move from having an awesome time slaying the infidel in the name of God, to realising that the wholesale slaughter of men, women and children might not be in the best interests of a kind and forgiving deity.

They abandon the Crusade, despite the condemnation and consequences, returning to a European state wracked by a devastating plague. It's not all bad news though, the local lord's men have arrested a young woman and beaten a confession out of her to prove that she's a witch and they should burn her.

Determined to dot all the i's and cross all the t's, they plan to take her to a remote abbey where the monks will determine if she really is a witch so they can burn her with impunity.

Imprisoned as deserters, Behman and Felson 'volunteer' to escort her to the Abbey, joining the Priest who got the confession, a nobleman, and a travelling conman who knows the way. As everyone else is determined to stay home and die of the plague, there's not a lot of other people available. A young squire, keen to prove himself also joins them along the way.

It's an eventful journey, the girl, not expecting a fair trial naturally tries to escape, her efforts convincing the priest of her guilt, but having the opposite effect on Behman. The girl though is definitely not all she seems, accidentally or deliberately causing the gang to be slowly whittled down along the way.

It's a surprisingly strong story and Cage, Perlman and the rest of the cast are excellent. The film also includes Claire Foy as the girl, and she delivers a great performance convincing and confusing the audience as both innocent victim, and villainous manipulator.

The third act is action packed, delivering an unexpected and exciting conclusion.

I went in expecting an entertaining Cage performance and left entirely satisfied with the entire experience.

After the disappointment of Return of the Seven, Yul Brynner opted to leave the character of Chris behind him. The series however wanted the continuity of his character and so the part was recast.

Enter George Kennedy, hot off his Oscar win for Cool Hand Luke. Looking absolutely nothing like Brynner, he plays the black clad, er wait, he wears pale clothing, well, he play Chris.

And he does a good job, he's commanding and capable and it's a shame he couldn't be tempted back for more.

Joining him are a solid cast, Monte Markham as Keno, Chris' right hand man. James Whitmore as Levi, a knifeman who's financial situation draws him out of retirement. Joe Don Baker as Slater, a one armed shootist, and former Confederate. Bernie Casey as Cassie, a tough guy who needs work following a mining accident. Scott Thomas as PJ, a dead man walking due to his tuberculosis. Rounding out the Seven is Reni Santoni as Max, part of the resistance movement that Chris is hired to support.

In this movie, rather than defending a village against raiders, the Seven are hired to attack a military fort to rescue a political prisoner and revolutionary.

It's a solid film with a developed plot that is helped by having rounded characters as the Seven, a sub plot with revolutionary bandits who are led by a 'hero' who has lost his revolutionary zeal and doesn't want to risk his life. It also has a great villain.

Michael Ansara plays Colonel Diego, a military officer who enjoys torture and brutality as part of his toolkit for keeping the locals in their place. He's a menacing presence on screen and feels dangerous.

It's a good film, not perfect, but it holds up well and tries something fresh with the Seven. There is a third sequel, Magnificent Seven ride, but it seems to have forgotten the lessons of this, and returns to a formulaic approach with a very one dimensional plot and set of characters.

After the first movie, this is the best and quite frankly the only one worthy of your attention.

The Magnificent Seven is a fantastic and iconic movie so it seems natural to try to replicate that magic with a sequel.

Chris, Vin, and Chico, survivors of the original return, as Chico's village is attacked and he, along with the other male villagers, are herded away.

A landowner, obsessed and driven mad by the deaths of his sons, has kidnapped men to work as slaves, rebuilding a church to act as a monument to his loss, stripping three local villages. The priest who started the rebuilding project alongside the landowner, Lorca, remains to try to keep the men alive.

Chris, finding out about the attacks, and Chico's kidnapping, quickly pulls together four men, mostly prisoners, who alongside Vin and Chico (once rescued), will form his new seven.

The seven drive off Lorca's numerically superior numbers and defend the partially rebuilt church. Lorca, driven mad by grief pulls all the men from his lands together to wipe out the seven, knowing the act will also ruin his legacy as crops will fail and herds will stray.

The final battle sees some of the seven die, but ultimately the villagers help defeat Lorca, whose death frees his men from their commitment to his insanity and the fight is done.

It's terrible.

Only Yul Brynner returns, adamant that Steve McQueen doesn't get rehired. The two men clashed in the first film as Brynner felt McQueen was always trying to upstage him. For his part, McQueen read the script and was just fine leaving this Vin to be filled by another actor, Robert Fuller stepping in to the cardboard cutout character written here.

And that's the real issue here, none of the seven are fleshed out, even Brynner, building on the legend of Chris in the original, ends up just stripping away layers of depth to be simply the leader. There's no character here.

The rest of the seven are barely fleshed out either, Warren Oates and Virgilio Teixeira effectively play the same character, a womaniser, only Warren survives and becomes a changed man, Virgilio's character dies in the final battle.

Jordan Christopher plays Manuel, a cockfighter who Chris thinks would be lucky, the character takes over Chico's role as the naive youth, only this time, while he saves the day, he doesn't make it out alive.

Only Claude Akins gets some limited meat on his bones as a gunman determined to get killed in the battle, a reversal of Robert Vaughan's Lee in the original as a gunman hiding out in the battle. Akins' Frank killed his wife in an apache raid to save her from being kidnapped by the native tribesmen. He survived that attack and has lived with the guilt, trying to get himself killed, but refusing to commit suicide. His character spends the movie standing tall in battles, refusing to take cover, finally achieving his desired end by throwing himself in front of a bullet meant for Chris (Brynner).

Julian Mateos, taking over the role of Chico is there simply to give Chris and Vin a reason to get involved, he gets little chance to show any of the bravado of Horst Buchholz's portrayal of the character. Instead he's a plot device and aside from the occasional statement that he'll put his guns away again as soon as this battle is over, may as well not be there.

Robert Fuller takes over Vin from McQueen but gets little chance to make anything out of the character, certainly not getting any of the wisecracking, fun of McQueen. It's almost certain that Brynner didn't want to take any risks here of a repeat of his experiences in the first film, and Fuller suffers for this.

Ultimately it's a poor shadow of the original, the fights are lacking any drama or danger, and when the heroes are wounded or cut down, there's little drama or tragedy, because the audience is given absolutely no reason to care.

The final battle is also almost laughable as the heroes are trapped around a raised fountain/well, not hiding effectively as they're surrounded by dozens of enemy. Fortunately Lorca's men can't aim as this should be a bloodbath.

Give this one a miss and go straight to Guns of the Magnificent Seven. It's still a poor sequel, but understands we want to know our heroes and as a result is miles superior to this.

Reese Witherspoon is a successful Doctor with no social life, who is killed in a traffic accident.

Mark Ruffalo rents her apartment only to find she's haunting it.

The usual comedic missteps happen as their relationship moves from antagonistic to romantic. You can tick off the rom com moments as you go through and the film is entirely predictable. But it's also sweet unchallenging fun.

It's a fluffy, inoffensive romantic comedy, filled with great actors. Obviously Mark Rufallo and Reese Witherspoon are excellent, however the supporting cast is fun and it's always entertaining to see faces you remember from elsewhere, whether Mozzie from White Collar, Napoleon Dynamite (he still can't act but it doesn't matter here).

If this film was made in 2024 it would be a Hallmark Channel movie and would be set at Christmas.

Dave Filoni called this series an add on to his Star Wars Rebels cartoon and it certainly feels like this. The characters and plot all stem from this, and the tension and motivations all relate to the earlier show. So if you haven't seen it, the emotional drive may seem a little weak.

There's a lot here to like though, Rosario Dawson is excellent as always, and the supporting cast are all very talented. Ray Stephenson, Ivanna Sakhno, and Diana Lee Inosanto sparkle as the villains of the piece.

It's a shame it all feels lacking.

Spoiler Alert: The remnants of the Empire are conspiring to find Grand Admiral Thrawn, and return him to their Galaxy to unite and restore the rebellion. Former Jedi Baylan Skoll (just how many former Jedi are coming out of the woodwork?), now a mercenary, has allied himself and his apprentice to these forces because he senses a greater power behind it all and a greater purpose for himself.

Sabine Wren gets caught up in this in the hope of rescuing Ezra Bridger, also lost with Thrawn.

There's clearly a bigger plot here, and this is the prelude. It's a shame it doesn't feel all that important in itself, and even the welcome return of Hayden Christiansen as Anakin isn't enough to elevate this to essential viewing.

The Baylan storyline is arguably more interesting, it's a great shame that the untimely death of Ray Stevenson means he won't be around to continue Baylan's quest himself.

There's also the question of how this fits into the New Republic timeline for the sequel trilogy and this is where the rumours that this series is the start of Lucasfilm's attempt to shuffle that trilogy into the void, and start again. It's unlikely though.

Ultimately, right now, this fits into the section of Star Wars stories that is for dedicated completists, rather than the general population. I didn't resent the time it took to watch it, but I'm hardly enthused by it.

Before we start, we need to look back at the original novel Meg. Based on a novel by Steve Alten, the Meg follows Jonas Taylor, a former Navy Deep sea diver who is disgraced after the scientific crew he is with are killed when he resurfaces too quickly.

He claims that on this deep sea mission the team encountered a Megalodon, but naturally he is isn't believed. His disgrace and subsequent obsession to prove himself right leads him into self destructive behaviour that ruins his marriage and career.

A later deep sea diving project is his chance to redeem himself, but Jonas is planning on using it to prove he was right. A second encounter with a male Megalodon leads to the death of his diving partner, but the entanglement of the Meg in the cables.

Jonas has an opportunity to show he was right, but as the entangled corpse is raised to the surface, a pregnant female begins to feed on it. The warm blood acts as a barrier for the female to travel through the icy water barrier that has kept the world of the Meg and the world of man, separated for millennia and wackiness ensues.

The pregnant Meg has three pups, but over the course of the novel, only one survives, ensuring a sequel. The adult Meg is finally killed when Jonas allows the small submersible he's in to be swallowed so he can use its emergency propulsion system for quick surfacing, to turn the submersible into a cannon ball, ripping through the Meg and killing it.

In this film, Jason Statham tried to be Jonas for a time, but his Lee Christmas/Deckard Shaw programming is too strong, ultimately leading to him punching the Meg to death.

It's a waste of solid source material.

Star Trek has gone through many iterations, as a fan of the original series, movies and next generation, I was disappointed with the later series' which boldly stayed still, boldly tried to get home, and boldly whatever Enterprise was. Discovery is good, but it feels like Trek fan fiction.

Enter Strange New Worlds, it's set before the original series, using many characters we know, and know where they're going, so this shouldn't work.

But it does.

From the reworking of the classic Alexander Courage theme into a rousing adventure soundtrack that gives me chills, to the excellent storytelling, casting, acting and more. It's a fantastic return to form for Star Trek.

I love this film. It's so much fun from start to finish. The plot is simple, the evil Mage Profion is trying to usurp the power of the new Empress Savina. The key to both sides is an ancient rod of power that will control Red Dragons, honestly it really doesn't matter. This is tv movie material on a cinema screen and it is a thing of beauty.

Forget all the reviews that compare this to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, this feels like a group of friends got together for some LARPing (live action role play) and someone happened to film it. Everyone just seems really happy and to be having just so much fun.

Jeremy Irons is clearly having an insane amount of fun and it's good that so much of the film's backdrops are CGI or they'd have his teeth marks all over it from his scenery chewing.

Justin Whalin tries to bring all of the intensity of an A list movie to his lead role, clearly thinking he's making Lord of the Rings.

Bruce Payne channels a drag Queen on downers for his performance as the lethargic but fabulous Damodar.

I went to the cinema 3 times to see this. It's literally the perfect bad movie.

Renfield is Count Dracula's familiar and he has looked after the ailing Count since the brutal events that saw the Count reduced to a burnt corpse at the end of Dracula (1931). With the family fortunes gone, the once great Prince of Darkness is reduced to living in an abandoned hotel in New Orleans, slowly recovering his former strength, living off the few poor scraps his familiar Renfield brings him.

For his part, Renfield has tried to keep both his duty to his master and his own conscience satisfied by bringing Dracula criminals, thugs, and most recently, the abusers of the members of the recovery group he has joined. But now, after a century of service, an existential crisis, and a chance encounter with a police officer that leads him to feel like a hero, Renfield finally wants out.

That's the premise, but it's all about the delivery. Nicholas Hoult channels his finest naive, affable charm as Renfield.

For Nicolas Cage, Dracula is a bucket list role and he is clearly enjoying himself. He channels Bela Lugosi well, and manages to throw in some Cageisms too.

The rest of the cast, including Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Brandon Jones, and Shohreh Aghdashloo are all excellent and it's just a fun film, with everyone clearly having fun.

The story, cowritten by Robert Kirkman (the Walking Dead, Invincible) is a celebration of horror and gore. It's laugh out loud funny, and gloriously gratuitous and over the top. Chris McKay (Lego Movie, Tomorrow War) is a great director and the slick action sequences are stylish, funny, and deliver a popcorn worthy experience.

Star Trek has an impressive television legacy, but a hit and miss cinematic one. In this sixth outing, the original cast are reunited for the last time in a race to save the Galaxy from an interstellar war. Nicholas Meyer (architect of the other best Trek film (the Wrath of Khan) returns to write the screenplay and direct what is a near perfect Trek adventure.

Based around the collapse of the USSR, the Klingons face extinction after the destruction of their moon leaves their home world facing total environmental and economic collapse. Their Chancellor reaches out to the Federation for peace, but elements on both sides attempt to prevent this, some unsure of the other's motives, some too invested in the hate, some who would just prefer a war to settle everything.

It's a great plot, the Klingons have been the great enemy of the Federation since they were first introduced in 1967. As a result audiences, taught to hate them are just as conflicted as the characters on screen, Kirk himself has to overcome his own prejudice (his son was murdered in Star Trek III by them).

Part sci fi action, part 'who done it', part Cold War thriller, and even a bit of prison drama thrown in for good measure. The pacing is excellent and the film moves steadily toward an exciting and satisfying conclusion.

The main cast are perfectly at ease with their on screen personas and the addition of Kim Cattrall and the marvellous Christopher Plumber elevate the whole show. Plumber especially, embraces the opportunity to both menace and chew scenery as General Chang, an old Klingon warrior who is having a hard time letting go of the past. Plumber acts as a great foil for Shatner's own conflicted old warrior, Kirk.

As Star Trek, it's absolutely outstanding, vying neck and neck with Meyer's first outing which saved the fledgling cinematic franchise, and it's hard not to get a little misty eyed as the crew of the Enterprise sign off for the last time.

Cocaine Bear is the biopic of Pablo Escobear, the brown bear who consumed pounds of cocaine belonging to a Colombian drug Lord, that was lost on its way to a U. S. dealer.

At least it's based on the bear's life, in as much as a brown bear was found dead with pounds of cocaine in its stomach. Beyond that, someone got stoned and wrote a story about an apex predator, high as a kite, on cocaine.

It's everything you expect, funny, gory, thrilling, and just plain daft, and definitely something with replay value. Elizabeth Banks deftly directs this comedy thriller and everyone involved is definitely having fun. It's not going to win any Oscars, but it's good to know that Ray Liota's last movie was clearly fun to make.

Strays is an interesting and thought provoking debut by writer/director Nathaniel Martello-White. A woman flees an abusive life to create her ideal world with another man, only her past will not stay buried.

That's the basic outline, but Strays deals with a lot more. Told initially from Cheryl/Neve's viewpoint, we meet a woman who wanted more from her life. Clearly scared by her partner, she just leaves her life, walking out one day. We then move to see the new life she's created, a perfect suburban lifestyle. She's a successful deputy head teacher at an exclusive private school and is fundraising for a charity to help underprivileged children in Africa.

But Neve is more complicated than the stepford wife she is trying to portray. She's literally run from her past, and everything about it. She's living a 'white' lifestyle with her cultural heritage hidden from herself. She won't let her children identify as black, she's working at the most privileged of environments, and acting as a saviour for black children she'll never meet, guilting her neighbours into donating money to the charity that is used to improve her social standing, far more than it is to benefit the recipients of the charity.

She's not entirely comfortable with her place though, self consciously scratching herself under the straight haired wigs she wears to hide her natural hair. Her makeup also whitens her skin so she 'fits' more comfortably as a blackish woman in white society.

Then things start to fall apart, because Neve didn't just run away from her life as Cheryl when she left her partner, she also left her children, Marvin and Abigail, who have now returned after years of separation. Both have been traumatised by their lives since their mother abandoned them, in and out of care and foster homes, unwanted and unloved. Neve is terrified that their return will destroy the life she has carefully crafted. They're a reminder of her old life, her failed life, and it is absolutely important to note that these children are darker than her new children, it's impossible for them to 'pass' as Neve has tried to ensure her new children do.

Forced to confront her past, Neve opts to pay off her children to leave her life, burying her dirty secret with £20,000 and a vague promise to work on their relationship. Neve even tries to justify abandoning her children to her new family by saying she's done nothing worse than many men (and there is a point here, as a woman, walking out on your children is considered far worse than a man doing the same). It's another issue for black families who are 24% single mothers in the UK, vs 10% for single white mothers.

Neve, again selfishly buys off her guilt and expects it to just go away, an act of reparation for her previous transgressions. But her children wanted more, despite Marvin's anger and aggression, he wanted to be loved, to create a family for his sister and himself. So when Abigail's birthday comes around, her fragile psyche is broken and Marvin returns with her for a final confrontation with Neve.

True to her nature, in a jarring final scene, with the violent chaos of her life and choices closing in on her and her family, Neve opts once again to run away, leaving her children, new and old to deal with the consequences of her actions. The sudden end is jarring and may be disappointing to some viewers, but it's a perfect end as Neve leaves to most likely, repeat this one more time.

Gender politics, cultural politics, black shame, white guilt, colonial legacy, white privilege, broken families, there is so much to unpack in Strays that the viewer can look at this as a dark tragic drama, or pull on any one thread that Nathaniel Martello-White has left dangling. The performances are all excellent and the slow building tension is expertly crafted. It's not a film I'll likely watch again, but hours later, I'm still pulling on those threads.

Following the death of her estranged husband, Harper rents her dream cottage in the countryside for two weeks in an attempt to get away and reset.

But Harper is hiding a secret, her husband James, was abusive, both physically and emotionally. His death was a suicide, something he had threatened to do if she left him, and he committed it so she would see. Traumatised by this, her country break is an attempt to make the memories go away.

Unfortunately this is not to be a relaxing experience. Over the course of her stay, Harper meets a variety of men (all played by the exceptional Roy Kinnear), raging from the sweet but awkward Geoffrey, to the seemingly deranged homeless man who stalks her after a country walk.

Each man portrays a facet of her relationship with James, from the childish Samuel who resorts to insults when he doesn't get his way, through the lascivious Vicar who blames Harper for James' death, and for leading him to sexual temptation. There is the policeman who makes her feel like her emotions are silly, the nameless but aggressive man in the pub, and even Geoffrey who seems nice but ineffective, however is ultimately just as abusive as the rest.

Harper's PTSD is triggered by each man as she descends into madness, a psychotic episode, a dream, a nightmare, or a horrific reality? You choose. Everything is deliberate, the imagery carefully chosen to convey her inner turmoil.

It is no accident that her first act when she arrives at her sanctuary (her Eden if you will) is to eat an apple, the forbidden fruit that caused Adam and Eve to be cast out, and Eve to suffer the pains of childbirth and monthly periods. Harper is trying to make sense of her life post James, facing the possibility that he didn't mean to kill himself but slipped trying to get back into their apartment. Is she to blame for his suicide as he said? How can she move on with the weight of his final attempt to make her stay, if you leave me I'll kill myself and it will be your fault.

Ultimately she has to face up to his abuse and her relationship with him in a nightmarish sequence where each facet is birthed out of the previous until finally she faces James again and has to deal with his expectations for her, that she's wife, mother, wanton lover, and Saint. But these are all his expectations, not hers, but she's been carrying them, allowing them to weigh her down and consume her.

The cast is excellent, Roy Kinnear is outstanding in a multi character performance where he plays at least seven characters and makes them all unique (He also gets to run around naked a lot, which seems to be something he enjoys if you've seen Penny Dreadful). Jessie Buckley is also excellent as Harper, her performance is believable throughout. Alex Garland explores male and female identity using folklore and myth, iconic representations and his story and direction build a genuinely creepy and disturbing narrative through to the final chapter.

Though the final confrontation was a little too surreal and jarring to leave me completely satisfied, it is a powerful film that made me continue to mull over the story and imagery days later. The lack of a 'traditional' narrative flow from start to end with a fully explained resolution, may turn off some viewers.

It's an art house journey into the cave in Empire Strikes Back in many ways, there is no roadmap or explanation, it means what you think, and you feel what you bring with you. It was genuinely creepy and disturbing, it was beautiful and deep. I enjoyed.

What on the surface seems to be a tale of two men, whose friendship has ended, slowly descending into hate and violence, is actually a metaphor condemning violence, war, and conflict.

Set against the Irish Civil War (1921-1922), when an Ireland recently united in a War of Independence (1919-1921) turned on itself, The Banshees of Inisherin is the story of Colm and Pádraic, part of a tiny community on a small island off the Irish coast, who likewise end a long friendship and turn on each other.

Colm wakes up one day feeling that he needs to leave a legacy to the world, but his friendship with Pádraic is getting in the way, so he ends it, offering no real reason why until pushed.

Pádraic can't accept this, continuously pestering his former friend who just wants to be left alone to create a musical legacy to leave the world. It's a decision that ultimately leads to madness and violence that both men inflict on themselves, each other, and the community around them.

As with war, sectarian violence, and conflict, ultimately it's the community and innocents around the warring parties who suffer the most.

Both Gleeson and Farrell offer fantastic performances, their genuine lost friendship is clear in the loss both men suffer, and there is a spectacular supporting cast helping writer director Martin McDonagh bring the film to life. The most compelling performances though (aside from the two stars) come from Barry Keoghan as Dominic, and Kerry Condon as Pádraic's sister Siobhan.

It's a fascinating and fantastic film, the parallels to the internal conflicts that have left such visible and lasting scars on Ireland are clear, but it's the wider condemnation of war and violence that lifts this. Combined with a self important Church, and a corrupt Police, both representing Government and social structures that hinder, ignore, and exacerbate the violence through self interest or a refusal to intervene, The Banshees of Inisherin is a film that will leave you thinking for a long time after its finished.

I knew the twist, Steve (Sebastian Stan) had a fetish for raw human flesh, and somehow after seeing the trailer, I was expecting a dark romantic comedy where he and Noa (Daisy Edgar Jones) tried to reconcile this need within their relationship.

Instead what I got was a dark thriller about a man who picks lonely single women with few friends and family, kidnaps them and slowly carves them up for a niche "1% of the 1%" who will pay a fortune for this forbidden culinary delicacy.

Fresh is a fantastic thriller, that also acts as an insight into the fear women have of dating. There are no sympathetic male characters in this. The men in this are either online weirdos, giant assholes, cowards who let women down, or complete psychopaths.

Sebastian Stan is excellent as Steve, a funny, attractive, surgeon who is romantic, passionate and the complete hallmark package, and also a psychotic, cannibal killer, who is also already married with children.

Daisy Edgar Jones is likewise brilliant as Noa. She's a good woman just looking for love. She's not stupid, she's not a secret martial artist or detective, she's a regular person who is drawn into danger in a way that is taught to us as being romantic, through its frequent use as plot line for many romcom movies.

The film plays on that fear of risking it all for love, opening up to someone, and risking having your heart torn out when a person you love turns out to be someone else. In Fresh however, it is in a very literal and dark way, and ultimately it's your friends who will get you through this.

Dark, clever, disturbing, funny in places, and really well acted. It's a great movie, just not one for a first date.

When I watched this in the cinema it was great but felt, unfinished. There were character developments that didn't make sense, elements driving the plot that weren't explained.

Then the Directors cut arrived and the 2 hour 24 min edition gained 43 minutes that simply transformed this film into a masterpiece. It's a fantastic film that is based around the events culminating in the siege of Jerusalem in 1187. The film is told from the perspective of Balian of Ibelin, a real figure from the medieval period. The Orlando Bloom version diverges from the real life knight, as do most of the characters in the film, but this is an epic exploration of war, honour, religion, and belief.

There is a stellar cast, from Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Marton Csokas, and Brendan Gleason, through to David Thewelis, Eva Green, Alexander Siddig, and Ghassan Massoud, and each one is performing at the top of their game. The same goes for Orlando Bloom, who shows that he is absolutely capable of carrying a film based on this performance, and it's a shame the studio didn't release this version in cinemas.

While a three hour epic doesn't seem like a big deal now, with Avatars, Avengers and others regularly clocking in extended run times, back in 2005 it wasn't. The film doesn't feel that long and is eminently rewatchable. The action pieces are stunning, and the intensity of the quieter moments combine to create what is, in my opinion, Ridley Scott's best film.

Writing a sequel has to be one of the hardest jobs, you need to capture the spirit of the original without just repeating it, you need to make it different while still honouring the first. You have audience expectations that weren't there for the first film to also consider. Perhaps this is why the list of sequels that are better than the original is so short. The Godfather part 2, the Dark Knight, the Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2 tend to be the films that are consistently judged to be in this exclusive category, however we must also include Deathstalker 2 amongst these giants of cinematic achievement.

The first Deathstalker is a Roger Corman low budget fantasy, made to take advantage of the craze for Conan style films. The plot is thin to be almost nonexistent, the direction is poor, and the plot mainly revolves around boobs.

It's hard to imagine how a sequel was green lit, yet Deathstalker 2 is fantastic. The plot is thin, the acting questionable and again a reliance on semi nudity. But what elevates this is that the main cast knows this is schlock and embrace it. All this film needed to be perfect was an occasional fourth wall break by Deathstalker himself, John Terlesky, who has great comedic timing as well as the charm and physicality for the role. Monique Gabrielle, in the dual role as Reena the Seer and her evil clone Princess Evie, John Lazar as the evil sorcerer Jarek, and Toni Naples as Sultana the Sorceress also play this for laughs and it just works.

From the pre credit sequence which concludes with Sultana announcing to the camera, "I will have my revenge, and Deathstalker too." Through the incredulity over Deathstalker's name, "is that your first or second name?" The film deftly parodies the entire sword and sorcery genre in a fond, low budget manner.

There are two more instalments to the Deathstalker saga, but original writer and director Howard Cohen returns to replace writer/director Jim Wynorski and sadly the fun left with him.

What started out as Family Guy in Space, clearly intended to parody Star Trek, over the course of one season transformed itself into the best Star Trek in screen since the Next Generation.

Dealing with complex subject matter such as genocide, gender politics, death, hate, homophobia, love, racism and more, within a science fiction framework, The Orville is one of the best shows out there right now.

The show has a long running plot that links the seasons, but the majority of episodes are self contained, with occasional elements moving the long term plot forward. It's well delivered and doesn't shy away from difficult questions or resolutions. There is however a solid optimism driving the series that if you do what is right, eventually things will work out. It's the positivity that Gene Roddenberry instilled in the Original Star Trek that seems to have gotten lost in some of the later shows.

Exciting, moving, thought provoking and always entertaining, it's a shame that season 3 could be the last. The cast is excellent, the writing solid, proving that Seth McFarlane is a very talented writer and can offer far more than fart jokes and crude humour.

This is a show with legs, but might not get the chance to run the full marathon. There's a certain level of irony that this show, intended to parody Star Trek might only last as long as the original series.

Persuasion is my favourite of Jane Austen's novels, a story of second chances and of people so concerned with other's thoughts and feelings that they neglect their own.

It's funny, dry, witty and romantic, so I was excited to see a new adaptation in the post Bridgerton era. Dakota Fanning is an excellent Anne, dry, observed and I really enjoyed the fourth wall breaking throughout. Richard E Grant was his usual delightful self, effortlessly embodying the self absorbed Sir Walter Elliot. Mia McKenna Bruce was a very amusing Mary but Henry Golding gave the standout performance in this as Mr Elliot, wry, charming, devious and clearly enjoying the period role.

The modern twists and nods didn't detract and there were hints of a greater adaptation here. Ultimately it fell a little flat for me. It wasn't bad and is definitely rewatchable, but it was an unchallenging and average adaptation of a clever novel and could have been so much more.

A missed opportunity with a fantastic cast, both they and the source material deserve better than an okay film.

Spoiler free review:

There have been a lot of mixed reviews for this one, including a 29% rotten tomato score from critics.

I've just finished watching this and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I do need to point out that if plot holes, unrealistic set pieces, and an underdeveloped political/economic/social world are issues, then please avoid films with dinosaurs in the modern world.

I also need to state that my expectations for dinosaur movies are:

1. Dinosaurs.

2. Dinosaurs fighting each other.

3. Dinosaurs eating people.

4. Pretty people to look at.

I was not disappointed.

It's mad fun, it's daft in places, it's thrilling, there are some great throwback moments. It's fantastic to see the cast together and overall, it's a great conclusion to the franchise ...so far.

"A circle jerk for people who like their Viking films figuratively and literally dark." is how my 18 year old son described it, and honestly, despite enjoying it, I can't really disagree with him.

If you're looking for a well directed and atmospheric blend of Viking culture and myth, blended into a dark, violent, and moody revenge thriller then this is for you.

I enjoyed it, I'm glad a saw it on the big screen, and I certainly don't regret the time it took to watch it, but it did seem a little shallow. The performances were fantastic all round, the raw brutal physicality of it is stunning, but it doesn't have much replay value and it's not a film I'm going to go out of my way to watch again.

Ridley Scott, director of Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Last Hawk Down has released a 2 1/2 hour medieval drama about the last duel fought in France. Ben Affleck and Jodie Comer support Matt Damon and Adam Driver. If ever a film was made to appeal to a male audience it was this.

But it didn't. The film was widely panned and quickly vanished from cinemas across the world.

The Last Duel suffered from poor marketing, and bad press about Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, trying to fit their accents into a European period piece. It was badly marketed, because it isn't a boys film, there is action, drama and a brutal, violent, final climactic encounter between the two male leads, Damon and Driver. But there really aren't any heroes in this film, just villains and victims. It's also a complex film, aimed at 40 somethings, cinema shy during an ever ongoing global pandemic.

This is Jodie Comer's film, and she gives a brilliant, nuanced performance as Marguerite de Carrouges, who accuses Jacques de Gris, the sometimes friend and rival of her husband, Jean de Carrouges of raping her. The event led to the final trial by combat in medieval France.

The film is in three parts, the first told from the perspective of Jean de Carrouges (Damon), covering his hardships and then fight to protect his wife's honour.

The second part is from Jacques de Gris' (Driver) perspective. We see a different side of the story, Carrouges isn't a victim, but rather a buffoon who brings a lot of the misfortune he faces on himself.

The third part is Marguerite's chance to fill in the blanks and draw the story together. We see two men vying for power and wealth, where Marguerite is simply property in their struggle. We see that neither are heroic or justified, we see that neither care about anything other than themselves.

Ultimately this is a complex film, based on a true story, about the politics of sex and violence, about privilege and power, about rape, silence, men and women. The posters for the film hint that this is more than it seems, the duel element is predominant, but in both posters, it's Comer who is centre, dividing and also skewered by the blades of both men. It's a marvellous accomplishment that Scott delivers 100% on the premise. The performances are stunning across the cast, from Comer, Damon and Driver, through to Affleck and the rest of the cast. It's a shame it wasn't marketed better but this film is now streaming on Disney +, and will hopefully get a second life as word of mouth spreads.