Hugo (2011)

Hugo (2011)
Rating: ★★★★
Dec 15, 2011Children's Film/Georges Melies Tribute
Martin Scorsese’s venture into making a children’s film is a beautiful production but must have been a studio nightmare – while they try to sell it as a magical fantasy film, Scorsese wants to pay tribute to silent filmmaker Georges Melies

Spectral (2016)

Spectral (2016)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 29, 2017Soldiers vs Spirit Beings
Highly original piece that works as a supernatural version of Black Hawk Down with a unit of soldiers cut off in rebel territory and surrounded by spirit beings. Grippingly effective both in terms of the tension and a script that treats the phenomenon with scrupulous rationalism

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Rating: ★★
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

Relic (2020)

Relic (2020)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 24, 2020Mysterious Happenings in a House
A beautiful slow burn of a film that avoids almost any labels one tries to apply. It could be a film about dementia, it starts out seeming like a work about a haunted house but refuses to adhere to any of the tropes and instead heads for a remarkable and unique place of its own