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This film intrigues and engages from its beautifully crafted opening titles to its unusually optimistic end.

The immaculate (and slightly too pristine) recreation of the American dream, or more accurately nightmare, of the 1950s and its values carries a message that is true and very relevant today in every country. The story line is simply told and allegorical. The protagonists in the film - who are the stakeholders who hold power and social position - all focus their attention and ire on people who are different while overlooking the horrendous crimes that are going on in their own midst and behind their own backs.

The story is told very simply and has some surprise moments - a couple that, unusually, caught me completely off-guard. My only criticism of the film is that the story is told a little too simply. There is no mystery or sudden revelation. the pieces fit together like a child's jigsaw but, sometimes meaningful story needs to be told simply.

Noah Jupe, as Nicky, steals the show effortlessly from Matt Damon and Julianne Moore and in his convincing emotional range prevents the film from turning into 'Home Alone'. His silent, withheld anger and understanding seethe out from the screen in the scene where he sits at the table while his father eats a sandwich. Julianne Moore is as wonderful as ever. This role enables her to develop the 'evil beach'range of her acting that she started in 'Kingsman 2'. Matt Damon unravels in a strong, measured and resilient way as the plot unravels. Some funny moments are clearly aimed for in many of the darker scenes but George Clooney, as director, does not extract their full laughter value and Matt Damon seems unsure whether to play it straight or play it for laughs.

For once, the Coen brothers hold back a little on the violence. Some of it is only semi-witnessed allowing the imagination to fill in all the gaps. The film is all the better for it.

All in all this an excellent film and is very relevant to modern world- life. It is my film of the year and it has has affected me deeply. If you only see one film this year - make it this one.

Now. I am coming to Blade Runner a little late. 35 years late, in fact. In 1982 I was married to a wife who only ever wanted to watch Rom-Coms. Sadly Sci-Fi was off the viewing agenda, despite the fact that I had a colleague (Niall) who lived 'Blade Runner 1' and managed to bring a line from it into our work every day making me want to see it. Thirty five years and one divorce later, I managed to catch up with BR1 and BR2 in the same fortnight, at the encouragement of my latest ex. How times change.

I am not a sci-fi fan. Towering cities and flying cars usually turn me straight off but the moody, near-apocalyptic atmosphere of BR1 and the human/non human emotional conflicts really caught my imagination. In BR2 I was astounded at how accurately Denis Villeneuve picked up the cyber-ball and ran with it so easily, recreating the same atmosphere and continuing a complex story-line so deftly and seamlessly. It could have been Ridley Scott himself directing. I should have expected something good though. 'Arrival' showcased Villeneuve's amazing sensitivity and skill as a director so I should have known better (despite the fact that he didn't know the difference between an interpreter and a translator and assumed that 'interpreters' could interpret all languages!) That forgiven, he did a marvellous job with 'Arrival'.

Even though I am not a sci-fi fan 'Blade Runner 2049' engaged me totally -in particular the unchanged appearance of one of the original characters - and I am not talking about Harrison Ford! I had to look up how that was done. My only criticism of the film is that Ryan Gosling seemed to have used botox throughout the film. His face remained largely frozen. It was like watching 'Buster Keaton IS Blade Runner'. Shame, as he is capable of so much more. But, he might have been directed to play Rick Deckard as originally written, not as played by Harrison Ford. Who knows?

Anyway - at three hours, this is a long film with a sad plot twist at the end that caught me out. This is worth waiting for.

Unusually, for a genre that I don't generally like, this gets a ten out of ten from me and, I surprise myself in saying that I would like to see this subtle and thoughtful film again.

Armando Iannucci has a reputation for comedy gold but, in my opinion, his gold definitely appears tarnished with this production.

Despite having high production values and a wonderful cast, this film struggles to raise a cynical smirk. The cinema auditorium remained deathly silent - perhaps in embarrassment - not knowing quite what to make of this very uneven piece of work. Perhaps it was the way that the film lurched between Stalin's victims ears full of blood and the sporadic sound of shooting and an uninspired slapstick carrying of Stalin's ailing body that left the audience unsure of how to react. Whatever the reason, it didn't work.

Simon Russell Beale excels as the casually evil Beria, but Michael Palin - who normally steals any scene - lacks his usual mischievous waspishness. Even they can't rescue this dark drama. The settings are very convincing, however.

With uncertainty and few laughs, this ill-conceived concept failed to grab my interest and became only the second film that I have walked out of after an hour during the last fifteen years. It felt wrong to laugh during the violence.Tarantino and Bond are one genre - that is fictional violence and gore. Ultimately I felt that it was offensive to try to create laughs over a background of terror, torture and murder that actually happened and was an appalling time for humanity.

What next. 'Holocaust - the Musical' ?

Despite being yet another film set in London (yawn) The Limehouse Golem is atmospheric and will certainly hold your attention. This is partly due to the detailed scenic constructions that create a dark, intimate atmosphere but also due to the excellent casting. Juan Carlos Medina brings out the best in the cast. Watch how he uses the actors' eyes to communicate directly with the audience via the camera lens. Oliva Cooke, alternately resembling Emma Watson and Julia Roberts, glows and sparkles and then freezes as the film jumps between her recalled memory and her jail cell. Sadly, the usually wonderful Bill Nighy only hints at his customary quirkiness and the inferred gayness of Nighy's Inspector Kildare and Daniel May's gentle George Flood seems strangely pointless. The interplay between audience the stage of the music hall and the audience draws the cinema audience right into the heart of the action. The music hall scenes are beautifully re-imagined and are a joy to watch. Douglas Booth turns in a beautifully sensitive portrayal of Dan Leno that reminded me of Eddie Redmayne in the Danish Girl.

Despite the fact that the film is a little under-written - I worked out the identity of the Golem about one third of the way through the film -

this is a very enjoyable and convincing tale that is well told. My major criticism of the film is that it is overlong. Sometimes less is more and the film would have benefited by tighter editing of the final scenes where fantasy and fact become confused leading to the audience being not quite sure what is happening.

Overall, though, a very enjoyable couple of hours spent in the cinema and please, film producers,let's have more films like this. But please also remember that London was not the only location in the UK where dark deeds happened in Victorian times. There was, and is, life and interest outside London.

This is still a great production and has the potential to become a slow-burn cult film.

The film's strength, paradoxically, is its weakness. It's very Englishness, it's middle-classness, the 'niceness' of its lead characters evokes an England (yes, an England - not a Britain) that never was except for a privileged few - and that is a hugely attractive draw. The characters have warmth, genuineness and kindness and live in a gentleness and sophistication that we would all like to experience. For many people this is far from the reality of life and so this is, effectively, English Disney.

This middle-class Englishness pervades all of Richard Curtis' films. From this point, the film lacks originality. We have seen it all before. We have also seen the time-travelling scenario. In this case, the technicality that Tim jumps back and creates a parallel happening, is overlooked - perhaps for reasons of practicality. We don't know what happens to Tim and his family in the life stream that he has left behind as he continues to live his new 'amended' life. But,perhaps, that is just me being picky but I will resist the temptation to travel back in time and erase that comment or it will be totally lost!

Put those two minor flaws aside and you have film that is full of warmth and heart. This film does make you value the people who have contributed positively to your life and what you, personally, would do when someone was injured or when the inevitable time comes to say goodbye. It also reminds you of the awful and awkward gawkiness of your youth and how you wish you had handled it differently. I loved the scenes where Tim travelled back and replaced his crassness with emotional intelligence and sincerity.

All of the performances are strong. Bill Nighy is as wonderfully Bill Nighy as ever, Lindsay Duncan gives an original, spiky and strong performance as the strangely unnamed mother , Domnhall Leeson projects a fragile and maturing appeal and will inevitably morph into Hugh Grant as he he ages and, while I loved Richard Cordery's Uncle Desmond, the plot purpose of this role was somewhat lost on me. I can only assume that it was to emphasise the complete warmth and acceptance of loving someone for whom they are and that existence can be enough in itself.

Rachel McAdams is perfectly lovely and the ever-wonderful Tom Hollander is grumpily magnificent. Joshua McGrath's Rory is a joy to watch (not least because he has recreated a friend of mine!) and, perhaps, a little bit more could have been made of Will Merrick's Jay. He has all the makings of a great 'Richard Curtis' character.

So, for me, this is a feel-good film and there's nothing wrong with that. Like Richard Curtis' other films it is a welcome retreat to a screen family for whom you could love and care and whom you know well. Definitely a classic to snuggle up to on the sofa with something alcoholic, or someone warm at the end of a trying day.