Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Aug 17, 2007Killer with a Hyper-Acute Sense of Smell
An extraordinary Tom Tykwer film starring Ben Whishaw as an 18th Century man who has a hyper-acute sense of smell
Ben Whishaw
The Tempest (2010)
Jul 10, 2011Shakespeare Adaptation
Version of the Shakespeare play that gives us a female Prospero (Helen Mirren) but is otherwise surprisingly faithful. Director Julie Taymor opens the play up with considerable visual extravagance
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Oct 24, 2012Cross-Historical Epic
A cross-historical epic from The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. An uneven film driven more by its determination we view it as an epic. Surely a studio publicist's nightmare, it grasps at the meaning of it all yet eludes telling audiences what it is about
The Zero Theorem (2013)
Aug 3, 2014Dystopian Future/The Meaning of It All
This is Terry Gilliam largely going back to revisit Brazil, albeit having been updated to the 2010s and the era of the internet. A renaissance of many Gilliam themes, nevertheless this feels like one of his slighter works
Paddington (2014)
Jan 17, 2015Talking Bear
From the awful slapstick-heavy trailer, the prospects for this seem dismal – less Paddington Bear than a reprise of the live-action Yogi Bear. The finished result confounds expectation and the story of a small unassuming bear at large in the world comes full of considerable charm
Spectre (2015)
Nov 14, 2015James Bond Film
The fourth Daniel Craig James Bond film welcomely resurrects one of the great nemeses from the series past – only to fall flat on its face. This is a Bond film severely hampered by a director unattuned to the classical elements of the series and the need to cripple everything by giving Bond backstory and character development
The Lobster (2015)
Oct 10, 2015Future Where Everyone Must Be in a Relationship/Black Comedy
Yorgos Lanthimos makes a deadpan black humour SF film set in a future where one is forced to find their perfect romantic partner or else be turned into an animal
Paddington 2 (2017)
Mar 18, 2018Talking Bear
Sequel to the 2014 film based on the much loved children's books … This comes with exactly the same mix of silliness, overblown slapstick and sweetness that made the first film work – albeit on a more elaborate budget – and succeeds with the same winning charms
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Mar 22, 2019Flying Nanny Frolics
Mary Poppins was one of the greatest of all Disney live-action films, made with nonsensical charm and has become a much loved favourite. As part of the ongoing firesale that involves resurrecting almost all of their properties, this is a sequel. Its an exacting replication/homage to the original but that is the problem - it is a recapturing rather than seems to create its own sparkle
Little Joe (2019)
Sep 12, 2021Body Snatching Plants
A modestly effective variant on the body snatchers theme with a scientist developing new plants coming to the realisation that the plants are taking over people’s minds
No Time to Die (2021)
Nov 19, 2021James Bond Film
Daniel Craig’s swansong as James Bond but it no longer seems a Bond that Ian Fleming would recognise leading to the question of whether James Bond still has any relevance in 2021
Paddington in Peru (2024)
Feb 21, 2025Talking Bear
Third of the Paddington series, this has more of an adventure film feel as it takes Paddington and the Browns to Peru in search of a lost city