Smalltown sequel takes the action away from the city that made it exciting and turns it into a sub-Spielberg kids’ fantasy adventureThe Ghostbusters franchise now gets a pointless and ill-suited sequel-iteration, co-written and directed by Jason Reitma…
Ron’s Gone Wrong review – a cheeky tech spin on ET
A lonely boy and a sparky bot team up for in a tender film that dials up the charm but swerves the big-tech questionsScreenwriters Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith have programmed this watchable if very derivative animated movie about a lonely, bullied ki…
Breakfast at Tiffany’s at 60: the sharp romcom that grows darker with age
Audrey Hepburn’s star-making turn as Holly Golightly remains as luminous as ever in Blake Edwards’ sweetened yet still bittersweet adaptation of Truman Capote’s novelBreakfast at Tiffany’s was a sacred film in my household growing up. My mother’s VHS t…
Redemption of a Rogue review – dark Irish humour in a suicide denied
After killing his abusive father, a son is thwarted in his own death by Dad’s strange will and a biblical stormJimmy (Aaron Monaghan) wants to kill himself, but he keeps being interrupted. There are only so many grim jokes to be wrung from a noose, but…
Redemption of a Rogue review – endless rain of deadpan Irish banter
Philip Doherty’s black comedy about a prodigal son returning to his hometown for a funeral goes big on self-satirising absurdismThis chucklesome black comedy is a little meandering and prone to repeat the same comedy beats ad infinitum, like having cha…
The 20 best Will Smith films – ranked!
Soon to be seen as the father of Venus and Serena Williams in the Oscar-tipped King Richard, Smith has lent his everyman charm to comedies, sci-fi and even a buddy movie pairing a cop with an orcWill Smith has made many more than 20 films, but the econ…
Sweetheart review – good-natured caravan-park romance
Nell Barlow is the long-suffering gay teenager who falls for a lifeguard on holiday in Marley Morrison’s likably wistful debut The holiday romance coming-of-ager is the genre that’s given writer-director Marley Morrison her likable feature debut. And i…
From the Vine review – laugh-free comedy of midlife Italian escape
Joe Pantoliano stars as a disaffected executive setting out to revive his grandfather’s vineyard in this tiresomely whimsical taleAn Italian-American man in late middle age rejects the rat race and embarks on a voyage of self-discovery and winemaking i…
The Toll review – toll booth man with no name fights back in jokey Welsh western
Michael Smiley is the toll operator facing up to his murky past in this fusion of western and black comedyFather Ted meets the old west in this entertaining black comedy set in rural Pembrokeshire – “where English people come to die”, according to graf…
The Last Bus review – a cliche-packed vehicle for Timothy Spall
A widower takes a nostalgic journey from John o’Groats to Land’s End using his free bus pass in a well-acted but overly sentimental filmTry as I might, I couldn’t make friends with this weirdly unreal and sentimental Britmovie in the last-journey-with-…