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  Certificate: 15 Running time: 90 minutes  Starring: Sarah Paulson, Kiera Allen, Sara Sohn Directed by: Aneesh Chaganty The story: Teenager Chloe is wheelchair bound and homeschooled by her mother Diane. Soon Chloe becomes suspicious of her mother and discovers that her mother may be hiding a dark secret. The verdict: I think I’ve found yet another director whose work I’ll be closely following. The director of this, Aneesh Chaganty, made his feature length directorial debut with Searching which was one of my favourite films of 2018. Now he has returned with Run, and this is another film that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Run is a film that appears reasonably straightforward on the surface and perhaps you may even feel like it’s very predictable. However, it may very well surprise you and I certainly felt that there were plenty of “oh my gosh” moments. It definitely surprised me. The two central performances from Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen are great and I felt that they ha...

  Certificate: 15 Running time: 126 minutes  Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback Directed by: Shaka King The story: William O’Neal agrees to a plea deal with the FBI to act as an informant and gather intelligence on Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. The verdict: Judas and the Black Messiah is a film that has been on my radar for awhile and upon seeing the cast for this, I knew that it would undoubtedly feature some terrific performances. Of course that has proven to be true and the film has gotten a myriad of awards’ attention. In particular, the central performances of Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton and Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal really stand out and it is easy to see why both actors have earned Oscar nods in the Best Supporting Actor category. Both actors are brilliant and are so in completely different ways. Kaluuya is measured and stoic but has such a powerful presence. Whe...

  Certificate: PG Running time: 84 minutes  Starring: Sergio Chamy, Romulo Aitken, Marta Olivares Directed by: Maite Alberdi  The story: In Chile, a private investigator hires an elderly man to act as an undercover mole at a retirement home where a client of his suspects that her mother is bring mistreated. The verdict: When this film first begins, it has the look and feel of a spoof noir, and truthfully I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it.  However, The Mole Agent slowly changes into an entirely different film and that film is a film that I think everyone should see.  As Sergio settles into his role as the mole, he meets the retirement home’s other residents and as he gets to know them so does the audience. We are introduced to an amazing group of people, all characters in their own way, and all with fascinating stories.  Soon it becomes clear that this undercover investigation is going to uncover something quite unexpected. I ended up really liki...

  Certificate: 15 Running time: 242 minutes  Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa Directed by: Zack Snyder  The story: Director Zack Snyder’s cut of his 2017 film Justice League.  The verdict: It all started with a hashtag, #releasethesnydercut, after 2017’s Justice League was released to a lacklustre reception. Zack Snyder had been forced to abandon the film during post production after a family tragedy which led to the studio recruiting Joss Whedon to finish the film. The result was a film that no one was particularly happy with and fans became convinced that there was a much better version of the film, if only Snyder had been allowed to release his version and vision. Fast forward to 2021 and finally the world gets to see the infamous Snyder cut, but is this version better? The answer to that is a categorical yes.  Every change that has been made is for the better, every sequence which differs from t...

  Certificate: 18 Running time: 142 minutes  Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Michael Rispoli, Jack Reynor Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo The story: A US army veteran turns to crime to support his increasing addiction to drugs. The verdict: Cherry feels like a film that has been a long time coming with embargoed reviews from as early as December last year suggesting that Cherry was not up to scratch. Sadly, upon its general release, it has been the subject of much criticism. With that being said, I consequently approached Cherry with some trepidation, unsure of what to expect and it turned out to be an intriguing experience. I have a weakness for films that chart a character’s life, and I especially love if the character in question is a messy character. Tom Holland’s unnamed protagonist is certainly a lost soul, so along with that and Holland’s extremely likeable screen presence, I immediately felt an empathy for his character.  Cherry is split into different par...

  Certificate: 15 Running time: 126 minutes  Starring: Ruby Rose, Sam Heughan, Hannah John-Kamen, Andy Serkis Directed by: Magnus Martens The story: An SAS operative faces must stop a group of highly trained terrorists when they hijack the Eurostar. The verdict: I have deliberately not looked at any of the reviews for this as I’m going to take a guess and say that they’re probably not going to be great because SAS: Red Notice is a pretty cheesy action flick with an illogical plot and it’s fair share of wooden dialogue. However, all the negatives I have just mentioned are actually some of the reasons why I thoroughly enjoyed it. And unlike the plot, I do have some logic for this.  SAS: Red Notice is a Sky Cinema original film and actually it watches a lot like a feature length episode of a Sky drama. It reminded me a lot of Strike Back, a series which was shown on Sky One and follows the British Secret Intelligence Service. Though, it should be pointed out that the two a...

Running time: 75 minutes  Starring: Britney Spears (archive footage), Dave Holmes, Wesley Morris, Felicia Culotta Directed by: Samantha Stark The story: Since 2008, Britney Spears has been living under the conservatorship over seen by her father. This film explores her rise to fame, her treatment by the press and the fan driven movement #freebritney The verdict: In 2009, I saw Britney in concert. Though a consummate professional throughout, putting on a great and entertaining show, I remember thinking that it felt a lot like she was just going through the motions. She only addressed the audience once and there was a lack of a spark in her eyes. At the time, I put that down to the fact that she had done a number of tour dates and was probably exhausted. However, now I can see how much more was going on behind the scenes.  With documentary films, it can be easy to become biased towards a certain side or point of view because that’s how most documentaries work - they show the a...

  Certificate: 15 Running time: 85 minutes  Starring: Nanna Blondell, Johannes Kuhnke, Anastasios Soulis, Kalled Mustonen Directed by: Alain Darborg The story: A couple who are on a trip to rekindle their relationship soon find themselves fighting for their lives when they are targeted by an unknown shooter. The verdict: Nordic films are often most associated with Nordic noir, a genre which gives audiences dark, gritty and ruthless films. And it is fair to say that Netflix’s first Swedish movie definitely encapsulates the Nordic noir genre and Red Dot is a film which only gets darker and more harrowing with each subsequent act.  Our two main characters in Red Dot are David and Nadja, a young couple who were once madly in love but the stress and reality of adult life has soured their relationship and now they snipe at each other and argue over things like who does the washing. They decide that they need to spend some quality time together and so a trip away is planned. ...

Certificate: 12A Running time: 118 minutes  Starring: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Elizabeth Marvel, Fred Hechinger, Thomas Francis Murphy Directed by: Paul Greengrass The story: When Captain Kidd happens across a young lost girl, he decides to undertake a perilous journey to return her to her home.  The verdict: When it comes to film there are certain names, whether that be cast or crew, whose association will immediately make the film in question appealing to you. And for me, Mr Tom Hanks is definitely one of those names.  As soon as News of the World opened, I felt my whole being exhale - Hanks’ screen presence is always reassuring and invites you to join him in whatever world he is inhabiting. News of the World is shot gorgeously, helped by the expansive and beautiful landscapes which are the backdrop of the film. The score is also brilliant and altogether the technical elements elevate the film. In terms of Greengrass’ filmography, this film feels like the least expe...

Certificate: 15 Running time: 119 minutes  Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, David Denman, Scott Glenn, Roger Dale Floyd Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh The story: John Garrity and his family face a race against time when they desperately try to seek shelter as a planet killing comet streaks towards earth. The verdict: I have found that the last couple of Gerard Butler films that I have seen have been very hit and miss - in particular Hunter Killer was one of my least favourite cinema watches of 2018. But, I absolutely love disaster films. As you can see, these two things don’t really compliment each other in regards to Greenland - a disaster film featuring Gerard Butler. So with that in mind, I approached Greenland with a mix of excitement and trepidation.   Within minutes Greenland had already scored a massive plus for me in that my other half was watching it. A strange thing to say you might think, however my other half has zero interest in films and rarely consents...