Treasure Island (1999)
Apr 7, 2010Surrealism
Unrelated to Robert Louis Stevenson, this is a bafflingly surrealist parody of a 1940s thriller
Nick Offerman
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
Nov 14, 2009US Army's Psychic Warfare Division Comedy
Film based on the supposed Psychic Warfare Division of the US Army. Based on a non-fiction book, this is played by director Grant Heslov as a broad farce and sits on an uncertain line as to whether the powers are real
The Lego Movie (2014)
Feb 7, 2014Animation/Adventures in the Lego Universe
How much fun can a film based around Lego characters be? A film that overflows with cleverness, wit and energy. The most fun is in the film's creating a madcap mix-up of characters from different franchises
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
Jan 23, 2016Animation/Famous Monsters Comedy
I had little enthusiasm for this, I tend to like my classic monsters serious rather than defanged - these Hotel Transylvania films are so watered down, Dracula doesn't even get to drink blood
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Sep 9, 2016Animation/Prehistoric Talking Animals
I hate the Ice Age films and their tediously extruded adventures. The opening sequence here and its ignorance of even basic science is the most inane thing in the entire series
Sing (2016)
Apr 3, 2017Animation/Talking Animal Singing Competition
I have lowered expectations of animated films these days but was surprised what an effortlessly engaging film this is. Essentially a version of American Idol but recast with talking/singing animals, it is a film that bursts with confidence and its own natural energy from every pore
The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
Mar 23, 2019Animation/Adventures in the Lego Universe
Sequel to The Lego Movie. This time the idea of the Lego universe, the crossovers and fourth-wall breaking gags are not as fresh but this still gets good mileage out of them
Devs (2020)
May 2, 2020Computer That Can Predict the Future
Alex Garland directed-written tv mini-series that grasps at big ideas about the meaning of it all concerning a computer that can track every particle and predict past and future. This emerges as one of the finest SF work of the last few years
Sing 2 (2021)
Jan 21, 2022Animation/Talking Animal Stage a Musical
Sing had the cute idea of American Idol-like competition conducted with talking animals. This equally likeable sequel expands the scale of things and takes the show to the talking animal equivalent of Las Vegas
Candy Cane Lane (2023)
Dec 16, 2023Christmas Film
Eddie Murphy – one of the funniest talents of the 1980s – has been largely absent for much of the 2010s. He returns here with a Christmas comedy in which he is the recipient of a curse given to him by an evil Santa elf
Civil War (2024)
Jun 8, 2024US Social Collapse
Alex Garland is one of the most interesting creative names out there in the genre at the moment. Here he offers a frightening depiction of a near future USA collapsed into civil war
The Life of Chuck (2024)
Aug 8, 2025Stephen King Adaptation
A Mike Flanagan adaptation of a Stephen King story, this received a great deal of acclaim, but comes with a very peculiar story structure that opens out into a series of unfolding revelations
Smurfs (2025)
Sep 7, 2025Animation/Cute Blue-Skinned Creatures
An animated revival of The Smurfs. This was greeted with a very negative reception. With a massive celebrity voice line-up packed into almost any corner of the film the casting director can manage
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
Sep 13, 2025Spy/Action Film
The eighth of the Mission: Impossible films. The previous entry Dead Reckoning was a high point in the series and this is left wrapping up the storyline in what would appear to be Tom Cruise’s final outing for the series