Simon Magus (1999)
May 22, 2001Orthodox Jewish Village/Visions of the Devil
Film set in a small 19th Century Orthodox Jewish village struggling to deal with the modern world, featuring Noah Taylor as a fool troubled by visions of The Devil
Toby Jones
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Dec 6, 2002Young Wizard
The second of the Harry Potter films and better than its predecessor. Chris Columbus has his tendency to overblown effects more in check but that does leave the film more dependent on J.K. Rowling's contrived deus ex machina plotting
Finding Neverland (2004)
Jan 16, 2005Peter Pan's Creator Biopic
A biopic about J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan. The film received much acclaim at awards season but in reality is a simplistic work that rewrites J.M. Barrie's biography in favour of a fictional story about what happened
The Mist (2007)
May 25, 2009Creatures in the Fog/Stephen King Adaptation
Frank Darabont delivers one of the best Stephen King adaptations where the story of people at siege in a supermarket from unseen creatures in a mystery fog outside becomes a study in fear and prejudice. With one of the great unforgettable endings
City of Ember (2008)
Aug 13, 2009Young Adult/Underground City
Excellent Young Adult adapted work about teenagers in a vast underground city coming to an awareness of the forgotten surface world. The underground world is a production designer's marvel
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)
Nov 17, 2010Young Wizard
The penultimate chapter in the Harry Potter series surprisingly strips out most of the effects and is much slower, more character driven, while moving the saga towards an epic conclusion
Your Highness (2011)
Apr 15, 2011Epic Fantasy Comedy
The epic fantasy quest film is well due a parody, unfortunately this majorly unfunny effort written by its leading man Danny McBride only makes a beeline for the witless and vulgar
The Rite (2011)
Jan 29, 2011Demonic Possession and Exorcism/"True Story"
Full-blooded possession and exorcism that takes its Catholic cant seriously and emerges as dramatically gripping, with Anthony Hopkins delivering a tour-de-force performance. Supposedly based on a true story.
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Dec 20, 2011Animation/Comic-Book Character
Steven Spielberg makes a solid effort to bring Hergé's much loved comic-book character to life in this motion-capture animated effort. This plays free and easy with the original stories but generally gets the spirit of the comics right
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Jul 25, 2011Comic-Book Superhero
One of the more disappointing of the Marvel Comics adaptations. Despite all the elements assembled, this never comes to life in director Joe Johnston's hands and takes forever to get into action
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
May 31, 2012Adult Fairytale Adaptation/Epic Fantasy
The second of 2012's Snow White films after Mirror Mirror, this turns the fairytale into an epic fantasy. Well produced but ultimately a film that lacks anything unique nor pushes far enough into the dark fantasy it promises to be
Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
Oct 7, 2012Sound Engineer's Paranoia
Imagine Brian De Palma's Blow Out by way of Barton Fink. Set around the sound recording of a giallo horror, this mounts an impressive spiral down into claustrophobia and paranoia, even if it is never quite the horror film it keeps trying to be
Red Lights (2012)
Jul 9, 2012Psychic Debunkers
Strong, well-written film from Buried director Rodrigo Cortes about investigators of psychic frauds encountering a possibly real example. This takes a welcomely sceptical, rationalist perspective, has a great cast and fine build-up but alas falls apart in a lame twist ending
The Hunger Games (2012)
Mar 29, 2012Future Televised Human Hunting
A Young Adult box-office hit that does little more than competently shuffle around ideas from other SF films. Jennifer Lawrence makes an impressive showing but the film also soft-pedals the moral reality of its scenario
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Apr 5, 2014Comic-Book Superhero
Captain America's second solo outing feels more like a Mission: Impossible film or an episode of 24 than a superhero film. Lots of Marvel continuity and fanservice and you are taken aback at how political it is prepared to be
Tale of Tales (2015)
May 21, 2016Anthology of Fairytales
A trio of tales from the world's oldest fairytale collection – but quite different to anything you expect … While there is all the magic, ogres and princesses, this is a beautifully lush film made for adults and less about simple homilies that about fate and its cruel twists
Morgan (2016)
Sep 10, 2016Artificially Intelligent Android
A.I. film directed by Ridley Scott's son. The set-up seems awfully similar to Ex Machina – unfortunately, this sidesteps any of that fascinating questions about A.I. that film dealt in, while the latter half just becomes The Terminator before reaching a frankly unbelievable twist ending that sinks the film
The Snowman (2017)
Dec 24, 2017Norwegian Serial Killer Thriller
International production based on a series of books about a Norwegian detective. This flopped badly and was called confusing. Mostly, it is a serial killer thriller that fails to hold you gripped with its unfoldings
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Dec 1, 2018Genetically-Engineered Dinosaurs Amok
Fifth of the Jurassic Park films. Industrial Light and Magic do their usual excellent job but this time the film is just recycling the same thing as before with minimal change
Archive (2020)
Feb 26, 2021Mind Upload Into an Android Body
One of the better in the fad for Artificial Intelligence films we have had since the 2010s with Theo James trying to place his late wife’s consciousness into an android body
Infinite (2021)
Jun 19, 2021Reincarnation Action Film
High concept action film not dissimilar to Highlander with Mark Wahlberg discovering that he is a reincarnated soul engaged in a secret war through the ages
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
Dec 25, 2021Santa Claus Origin Story
Gil Kenan dips into motion-capture animation to make this charming and likeable Christmas film that in effect tells a Santa Claus origin story, one that works without drowning in saccharine sentiment
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Apr 21, 2023Edgar Allan Poe in an Occult Murder Mystery
Superlatively moody and well written film that winds a young Edgar Allan Poe into an occult murder mystery
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Sep 9, 2023Adventure Film
At age 80, Harrison Ford returns for what looks like being the last ever Indiana Jones film. It’s not perfect but when you compare to all the other contemporary franchises, this still has the good old adventure spirit
The Long Shadow (2023)
Sep 29, 2024True-Life Serial Killer
An exhaustive and very accurately detailed tv mini-series based around the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer who targeted prostitutes in the north of England between 1975 and 1981