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Morgan Galen King and Philip Gelatt's animated film is strictly for fans of fantasy epics and barbarian flicks, with a strong Conan the Barbarian vibe throughout - an epic tale of magic, bloodshed and tragedy as a cosmic flower of enlightenment from ancient Gods is used instead by tyrannical and megalomaniacal forces. Cue a centuries spanning saga of bloodcurdling violence, with witches, titans, kings and gods and all sorts of unworldly terrors and slaughter. The animators opt for rotoscoping for the human characters, and while some may find this jarring, I actually thought if fits very well with the story being told.

It's great, but only if this kind of tale is your cup of tea to begin with. Absolutely not for kids.

Mike Flanagan , the director behind the exellent Doctor Sleep and Haunting of Hill House, delivers an almighty dud in this boring tale of a clergy that brings an ancient evil to an isolated island settlement of devout catholics. If your idea of entertainment is to be clobbered over the head by long sermons about death, God and redemption, be my guest. To the rest of the horror fans out there - do yourselves a favour, just rewatch Tobe Hooper's 1979 miniseries of Salem's Lot starring David Soul and James Mason. You can thank me later. Yes - it's the same story. And Flanagan should stop casting his wife Kate Siegel in every project he attempts, because she doesn't have enough depth as an actress to pull off anything dramatic. Maybe it's the script, which , frankly speaking, sucks. Flanagan has great talent - but risks going the M Night Syamalan route with this one.

Sorry.

Dennis Villeneuve's Dune (Part One) is an epic and glorious version of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi, and fully deserved to be seen - more than once - on the big screen. The sets, FX and production design are majestic, the storytelling strives for (and for the most part) achieves mythic scope, and it is truthfully a story that unfolds unhurriedly. Timothee Chalemet makes a good Paul Atreides, and there are great supporting turns by Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Rebecca Ferguson and Dave Bautista. Zendaya makes for a radiant Chani, and the thunderous middle eastern laced percussive score by Hans Zimmer just adds to the overall feel of the pic. An instant classic, although I did find some of the action sequences a bit too dark. Here's hoping Part Two gets greenlighted.

Netflix's turkey of the year goes to this ludicrous and bizarre film about a man who loses his wife to cancer (Jason Momoa) and decides to go after the big pharma responsible for her death. The result is a film that will please no one: fans of taut conspiracy thrillers will be appalled by the preposterous plot, and fans of Jason Momoa kicking arse will scream blue bloody murder when the ridiculous "plot twist" trundles along. Truth be told, pic is a snoozefest even before that. Avoid like the plague.

The Suicide Squad gets done right in this uproarious reboot directed with true style and wit by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. While the R-rated shenanigans make it seem otherwise, there are often endearing moments in this romp as well. You'll feel for the secondary characters like King Shark (Sylvester Stallone, doing hilarious monosyllabic voice work), Polka Dot Man, and Ratcatcher 2. Think Mystery Men with a lot more main characters getting shot, squished, or butchered. This movie deserves watching on the big screen, so do yourselves a big favour and go see it in the theatres!

Himura Kenshin's character arc in the rousing Rurouni Kenshin series comes full circle by tracing his beginnings as the assassin Battosai the Killer, during the years of the Shogun war. Pic paints the samurai Kenshin as a conflicted killer, although there is a lot of bloodletting in the first half of the film. The second half, though, is an elegiac and moving account of the doomed love affair between Kenshin and Tomoe - the woman who will shape his character's motivation throughout the preceding four chapters. Mounted with flair and panache, this is a much more sombre installment compared to the other movies in the series- but there is still enough lightning fast swordplay which has become a hallmark of the series. Star Takeru Satoh also has filled in the character he has played for almost a decade. A must watch for fans of the series. Also returning as leader of the Shogun police force is Saito, although he has yet to pick up chain smoking.

Just like a football match involving Liverpool FC, Navot Papushado's brightly coloured action flick about a young female assassin (Karen Gillan) is a tale of two contrasting halves. The first is gleefully ribald, with more than a dash of humour and some slickly orchestrated action sequences that exhibit an uncommon wit for films of it's ilk - for example, how do you take out a trio of heavily armed goons with both your arms paralysed? However, as soon as everyone gets shut in the "library" (which, in movies like this, is not really one - in this case, it's actually an armoury with enough heavy weaponry to make a regular SWAT team blush), the movie devolves into the kind of tepid action that we have all seen before - you know, the sort that relies a lot on slo-mo and "ironic" musical choices punctuating the gunplay. Which is quite a shame, really. Still, star Karen Gillan gives an assured physical performance, and is plenty stoic enough to carry the film. Leana Heady, Angela Basset, M. Yeoh and C Gugino all appear to add some star power. Doesn't really stick the ending, but well worth a watch, especially the excellent first half.

Michael Sarnoski's pic about a cantankerous hermit and truffle hunter (called Robin) and his adored truffle pig is one of the year's best, with Nicholas Cage and Alex Wolff (as Robin's go between) giving both understated and powerful central performances. The movie is quiet and dialogue is minimalist, and whatever is said therefore counts. We've been so used to crazy Nic Cage's antics over the past decade, one forgets that he is still an academy award winning actor. And so he proves in a magnetic performance, full of still pauses and slow burn deliberation. It's the story of a man who has left a stellar haute-cuisine career behind (perhaps due to the death of a loved one), to focus on what's important. Perhaps one can say the same for Nicholas Cage himself. Pic itself doesn't strive for effects and lets the story play out gently but inexorably to a devastating conclusion. A strong streak of indie style filmmaking is evident throughout, especially in a tender, wordless and pastoral coda. This is one of my favourite movies of the year. Don't miss it!

Kate Beckinsale, star of the popular Underworld series of movies, has come up firing blanks in this one, a sorta female version of the Jason Statham actioner, Crank. With a plot and effects reminiscent of an 80s TV movie, and a dreadful script and dire performances from everyone involved, Jolt is unremittingly awful from start to finish. And the one deadly fault for movies such as these - it's boring and there's not enough action, and whatever action sequences they are are poorly executed. We understand Becky needs a new action franchise, but this isn't it. Skip this one.

One of the greatest movies ever made. And amazingly, surpassed by the even more expansive and epic "Godfather Part II". Iconic in every sense of the word.

Ignore the lower than expected user ratings, the critics are right on this one. Prano Bailey-Bond's debut feature is a fine shocker and the slow pacing complements the pic well. Enid (Niamh Algar) is a censor in the British Film Censorship office whose constant exposure to the gore from video nasties in Thatcher's Britain begin to affect her already brittle psyche - already scarred from a childhood incident where she mysteriously lost her sister Nina in the woods . 70's gloomy brit aesthetics (think faded colours and green wallpaper) proves a perfect counterpoint to Enid's steady spiral into madness, ably captured by a finely tuned performance from newcomer Algar. A brilliantly subversive closing scene too, and some memorable gore including death by a mini puppet ax(!). Both Bailey-Bond and Algar are people to watch.

The wandering samurai, Himura Kenshin, is now settled in Tokyo 12 years after the epic battle against the super terrorist Shishio (as seen in parts 2 and 3 of the series). But the peace is shattered by the emergence of a new adversary from Kenshin's past with a link to the Chinese Mafia, and could trigger an upheaval in the new government of Tokyo. Kenshin must once again draw on his back-blade to defeat this new threat together with Sanosuke the street fighter, Aoshi the long bladed watcher, and the chain smoking police inspector Saito . Cue excitement galore amid moments of high emotion and drama. Although not hitting the heights of the previous installments (parts 2 & 3) there is enough swashbuckling action and heartwarming moments to please both fans of the series as well as new converts. The baby faced assassin Sojiro also appears in one of the series' show stopping action highlights. Great continuation of the adventures of the man formerly known as the fearsome killer Battosai, who has learnt that to atone for his past sins, he should not die, but to preserve his own life to perform good deeds. Pic ends with poignant moments, perhaps a closure to Kenshin's relationship with his long time admirer, Kaoru. Highly recommended, and much better than any Hollywood action movie recently.

A good story, with some great action sequences, including an electric fight sequence where Jason Momoa as Baba Voss, the blind warrior, takes out a phalanx of slavers in an abandoned building (the first great fight sequence comes in episode 3). Yes, everyone's blind in this series set in the future, but hope for humanity is reappearing as two young adults have the gift of sight. Meanwhile, Silvia Hoeks from Blade runner 2049 tries to hunt them down as the maniacal Queen Kane. Not as boring or tedious as the critics say. However, why does Baba Voss' wife, Maghra, have such beautifully groomed hair? One might have thought this was unnecessary when everyone is blind.

The third installment in the Conjuring series has series creator James Wan ceding directorial duties to Michael Chaves, with typical diminishing returns. Overlong, tired and not scary at all, pic coasts along the warmth of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson's portrayal as Lorraine and Ed Warren - this time, trying to prove that a murderer (real life character Arne Johnson) who stabbed his landlord 22 times did it because he was demonically possessed. It's all kind of tedious, with director Chavez attempting scares by throwing the whole Exorcist kitchen sink at the screen (you know, crashing thunder, hissing voices, body contortions , levitation). Unfortunately, nothing works. Pretty damning when the eeriest moment in the film is a (supposedly) true audio recording of an exorcism caught on tape. Perhaps it's time for this series to conclude here before it well and truly runs out of gas.

Andrew Levitas's telling of feted photojournalist W Eugene Smith's fight to bring a face to the victims of an industrial poisoning in Japan in the 70's is one of the great movies of the year, with a powerhouse performance by Johnny Depp - who digs deep into a mire of self loathing and alcohol to find courage to go against a large multinational (the Chisson corp of Japan). Pic reaches a moving and poignant conclusion as the screen segues into the stark stills of Smith's photos. At turns heartbreaking and triumphant, this movie is a must watch.

Adam Rehmeier's comedy/drama about a misanthropic musician who falls for a socially awkward girl starts off plenty profane but ultimately proves to be a winning romance between two different kind of loners.

Simon (Kyle Gallner) is the rebellious indie punk rocker (we see him torching someone's lawn after a family date dinner gone wrong early in the proceedings) - who somehow shacks up with Patty (Emily Skeggs) , a good natured but awkward, frumpy and socially inept girl. As they have a series of misadventures together, Simon helps Emily to stand up for herself, while getting her whole family to mellow down and do pot; along the way, he also finds out that Patty is his anonymous admirer (Simon has an underground gig as the leader of a punk band).

Emily Skeggs is adorable as the regularly put-upon Patty, and slowly, she in turn brings out the better side of Simon. Although Simon is portrayed as an expletive-spewing anti-social dick, his character's more human side emerges by the end of the movie. Pic is a real charmer, with a beating heart of gold. There are also some good indie/rock/ metal numbers near the end, such as the titular "Dinner in America", and Patty's rendition of "Fuxx-em--all". I would hesitate to recommend this to anyone easily offended (especially by foul language), but if one were to "take it down a notch" and sit this movie through, you'd be rewarded with a sweet and winning film.

Dominic Cooke's cold war spy drama has it's fair share of cloak and dagger shenanigans but it's effectiveness hinges ultimately on two great performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Merab Ninidze. Cumberbatch who play Greville Wynn, an unassuming businessman tasked with bringing out Soviet era secrets from Colonel Penkovsky (Ninidze), a high ranking member of the GRU Russian intelligence. Greville (Cumberbatch) was recruited by MI6 to be a courier for leaked Russian military information during the cold war. His friendship with Penkovksy perhaps (or so the pic goes) averted a nuclear war. Things move to a strong and moving conclusion when both men were captured just before the Cuban missile crisis. Nicely done, nothing flashy but the period nuances feel lived in and the performances are genuinely touching.

Amy Seimetz directs this film about a woman (Amy, played by Kate Lyn Sheil) who suddenly develops an overwhelming premonition that she will die tomorrow. Worse, this feeling is contagious and it spreads to others who come into contact with her. A crescendo of mounting paranoia ensues as more and more people start feeling that they are going to die. Meanwhile, we also get flashbacks of how our main protag got "infected". The use of Mozart's Requiem may be a bit too on point, but overall, Seimetz manages to create a pervasive sense of existential dread that permeates every frame of the movie; this ably conveyed by an effective music score and some hallucinatory dream sequences. A modest and moody chiller, well recommended.

A teenaged girl is suddenly cured and starts performing miracles while seemingly channeling the virgin Mary in the small town of Banfield, Massachusetts. Lead actor Harry Dean Morgan plays a disgraced journalist who sees her as his ticket back into the big time. No one's going to think this is a Christian movie, so suffice to say that's it's not the virgin Mary who's performing all those miracles. There's a demon skulking around looking like a Nazgul from Lord of the Rings, and things become increasingly ridiculous as pic lurches towards its conclusion. Harry Dean Morgan is an underrated performer; here, he brings a welcome world weary charm to this character - but really, nothing can save this tedious pile of supernatural malarkey.

Girls in a haunted dance academy are dying or being murdered in alarming numbers in this carefully calibrated movie by Simon Barret. When a student in Edelvine academy apparently commits suicide by jumping out her window after a prank gone bad, her replacement Suki Waterhouse is plagued by ghostly sightings. The girls conduct a seance and a ghostly presence emerges. Pretty soon, the body count starts climbing. Pic seems slack on the atmosphere and chills, despite it's "suspiria" inspired setting. Suki Waterhouse gives a sly performance (all deadpan line deliveries) , and the dreamy synth like score adds to the odd, off-kilter atmosphere. But viewers patient enough to sit this through will be rewarded by a great ending - when everything finally makes sense, especially Ms Waterhouse's cool performance.

Brian Metcalf's small indie drama/ thriller has an ex offender (Thomas Ian Nicholas) attempting to go straight while looking out for his sister, but invariably ends up at odds with a loan shark ops run by Mickey Rourke. One tends to forget that once upon a time, Mickey Rourke was a really handsome actor. Not sure what has happened to his face, but he can still act. Buried somewhere near the end of this tedious and dull movie is a 5 minute sequence where Mickey Rourke sits in a cafe, delivering a quiet monologue about how he never intended to end up as a gangster. The one great thing director Metcalfe has done in this film is is to let this scene play out in one take, and to linger on Rourke even after he's done with the dialogue. For this scene alone, I'm giving the movie a 6/10. The rest of it is probably a 3, not helped by generally poor acting by all involved (except Mr Rourke, of course). Sorry.

A global pandemic has raged has devastated humanity, and two people (Ellora Torchia and Joel Fry) head into the forest to find out why a team researching a possible cure has gone silent.

Ben Wheatley's latest horror opus doesn't amount to a hill of beans despite a menacing atmosphere and several toe curdling scenes of gore. It's denouement will likely make most go "Huh?". Kudos to the technical team for making a forest bristle with ominous imagery and the effective score are standouts but unfortunately there's not enough to make this ecological horror movie a good one, despite what most critics would have you believe.

Driven by public clamour, Zack Snyder's original cut of the Justice League just premiered on HBO Max. It is certainly a vast improvement over the Whedon cut released in 2017. Although I'm not a big fan of DC comics roster of superheroes (other than Batman), I did grow up reading Superman, Wonder woman and flash. Things I liked about this version is that it feels very much like a comic book miniseries , with chapter and titles forming the whole 4 hour run time, each a self contained "issue" in a 7 issue miniseries. Also good is the extended characterizations given to the new heroes Flash and Cyborg, and the added depth to the character building gives an extra dimension to the myth making. The villains (Steppenwolf and Darkseid) are given more run time and thus they have become more menacing on screen, unlike in the Whedon cut where they just seemed to be generic CGI villains. Also great that Superman , last seen in Batman v Superman being killed in the battle with Doomsday, is resurrected only late into this version - as it should be - because we all know Superman is the "ultimate weapon" for the Justice League, and dramatically , it makes sense to unveil the big guns only late in a story like this. The action sequences also have a better dramatic effect and the individual superhero's powers are clearly and effectively brought out.

So all in, kudos to DC fans who made this happen. I like the intro by Snyder as well, and this version clearly shows the love and care he has put in to these characters.

Some things I still dislike - the overall gloomy feeling, the portentous slow motion, the overly pointed mythologising of the characters - but generally I would say this is one of the best DC movies made, a vast improvement over the theatrical version, which was, frankly, quite lacklustre and forgettable.

Anthony Scott Burns' second directorial feature is a confident tale of Lynchian dreams and nightmarish images, starring Julia Sarah Stone. Do dreams come true? The waif like Stone is mesmerizing in the role as a teen with trouble sleeping and enrolls in a sleep study programme. Needless to say, the sleep study is not what it seems - as the narrative soon veers into sci-fi territory.

Kudos must be given to the electronic soundtrack which complements a few dream sequences perfectly. This is a very interesting film to take in - sometimes sinister, other times surreal, and punctuated by several poignant sequences. Not an easy watch, but well worth it for fans of the sci-fi genre. Great ending as well. Who's to say where the realm of dreams end, and where does reality seep in?

Kevin Costner, the award winning actor and director, seems a strange star to top bill this rather pedestrian horror movie about a newly divorced father trying to bring up his two kids (a young boy and a teenaged daughter) and moving into a house with a dubious history.

I'm always amazed by how Hollywood movie characters tend to not do enough research when making important real estate decisions. Oh, I don't know - perhaps a big house on a sprawling piece of land with a long and isolated forested drive in and a sinister looking mound in the backyard would ring some alarm bells? No?

Kevin Costner has always been underrated as an actor. Here, he is the only good thing about this movie - he delivers an extremely committed performance, much more so than the film deserves. Maybe he's just feeling guilty they busted the whole movie's budget on hiring him.

Elsewhere, the same old tired genre tropes get recycled by the director Luis Berdejo - thunder, creaking floorboards, whooshy things on the soundtrack, etc. These kind of movies need some pizzazz to the horror proceedings - or someone like crazy old Nic Cage to jazz things up. No such luck here - the movie ambles along in a most pedestrian way to one of those conclusions that we've seen a hundred times before. Watch something else.