For those not familiar with cult films, 'The Disaster Artist' is about the making of notorious box office flop turned midnight movie sensation 'The Room'; written, directed, produced and financed by eccentric man of mysteries Tommy Wiseau, who also starred in it. Wiseau allegedly spent around $6 million on the film, with an opening box office week of $1800, and kept it in two theatres for 2 weeks to qualify for the Academy Awards...without success, in case you were wondering. 
According to most, 'The Room' isn’t just a bad film: it’s the worst film ever made, and/but 99 minutes of non-stop laughter. This earned the film an Audience Award in New York, and it later turned a profit through the Midnight movie circuit while reaching cult status. And nearly 15 years later, it’s still playing regularly in theatres such as the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, in case you’ve missed it until now ('The Disaster Artist' actually begins with various film personalities-JJ Abrams included-talking about this phenomenon more than 10 years on). ​

Based on the book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made written by Tom Bissell and Wiseau’s co-star and friend Greg Sestero, 'The Disaster Artist' tells the story of Wiseau and Sestero, from their first meeting during a scene class in San Francisco, up to the film’s Hollywood premiere. With James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow and Zac Efron in the cast, I went in expecting pure comedy from start to finish. And the film has plenty of hilarious moments, starting with James Franco’s first appearance as Tommy in a hysterical rendition of A Streetcar Named Desire, part Frankenstein’s Creature, part 40-something hipster-Goth-90s-rock (ie 120% Wiseau). Franco’s commitment to the part is spectacular, and completely fitting to Wiseau’s own “just let it go” philosophy.

Against Dave Franco’s self-conscious all American Greg, we have a classic comedic pair from the get go. But what keeps us involved in the story is something else. Franco’s commitment goes beyond walking around a film set directing his cast literally butt naked (except for some penis covering pouch. What was that?) then filming a bafflingly ridiculous sex scene during which he seems to be making love to his co-star’s navel. Franco also shows Tommy’s cracks. Ok, very bad timing. I DO NOT mean his butt crack. Well, that too (you’ll see…). But there are also the cracks that allow the light to get in, as Franco’s Tommy is also vulnerable, sensitive, dark, generous, childlike, tyrannical, exasperatingly stubborn.... It’s all there, making the character larger than life comedy gold, and yet completely 3-dimensional and believable. Even moving at times.

Similarly committed are Dave Franco’s Greg, whose mounting frustration with his friend (yet love for him) is equality anchored; and Seth Rogen’s Sandy Schklair, Tommy’s dead pan script supervisor for 'The Room', who remains true to himself and his view of Wiseau to the very end, unlike many others which will have demanded some sort of bonding moments between Tommy and Sandy. 

This fantastic balance between comedy and drama is also thanks to a great by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (who also penned '500 Days of Summer' and 'The Faults in Our Stars') and to Franco’s overall direction. (The only time the film lost me was early on due to a choice of guerrilla style camera movement that felt quite jarring, but it didn’t last very long at all.) ​

After 26 years one of my all time favourite films returns to cinemas. And not just that, but we are being treated to a polished version with pristine picture quality that will rival anything out today and James Cameron threw some 3D on top of it. What else do you need?

In short: a ticket! Cos you won't want to miss this. Especially if you've never seen 'Terminator 2' on the big screen - or never seen it at all (yes, I found proof these people do exist!). For all the lucky sods who get to experience the brilliance that is now merely known as T2 for the first time, let me give you a rough idea what it is about. Everyone else, topple your furniture and give me some chinups!

After dispatching the Terminator at the end of T2's predecessor, Sarah ended up in a mental institution. Her son John, the last hope of mankind in the fight against Skynet (a computer which has become aware and taken over the world), is now a teenager and has to live with uncool foster parents; and lo and behold a new Terminator is on its way from the future to deal with this nuisance of a human to ensure Skynet's survival and world reign. But a new saviour is also on its way. Who will get to John first? Does that even matter as we can just make numerous attempts at this scenario until we get the desired result? Time machine, hello! Does that mean endless Terminator films?

The time travel paradox will make your head hurt so better forget about this altogether and enjoy one of the best sci-fi action films ever made. Arnie returns as the famous T-100 and he gets to have even more fun with this role than the first time around. Linda Hamilton is back, better than we could have ever dreamed of (her transformation still wows me). We get to see young John Connor and his transformation as he realises his mother isn't crazy and has been training him for a good reason. And then there are the first few steps towards creating Skynet. Oh, and did I mention a new, even more badass Terminator makes an appearance? This one is made of liquid metal. The effects were ground-breaking in 1991 and still look fantastic today. It can't be said of many FX films with 26 years of age that they hold up against the current fare of blockbusters. But this one does. 

The script is tight. No fat to be found here. Everything is set up for easy digestion and builds upon the story of its predecessor nicely. The character choices make sense and everyone grows throughout the film. Something that doesnt seem to be standard procedure  anymore nowadays. The performances are great. Nuanced. Layered. The characters interesting and relatable. And the action is top notch! This is a James Cameron film after all.

The newly added 3D doesn't really add much to the film in my opinion. And that's not a bad thing. There are no jojo effect gimmicks (thank god) even though I half expected the metallic finger might be protruding towards the viewer. Instead we get a 3D treatment the way I like it, giving the picture depth as if you were truly seeing it with your own eyes. Does that make for a more immersive experience? I'm not sure as I have always found the film engaging and did again this time (plus surfing on a huge wave of nostalgia). It's not the 3D that makes the film and it wasn't the reason I was so amped up about seeing this version. Getting to see T2 on the big screen is the highlight here, not the 3D. Technically very well done - I was sitting off centre and didn't experience any halo effects around shapes as is sometimes the case in more recent productions - I would have never thought the 3D was done in post. Other than some scenes that would have been obviously framed differently if shot for 3D, it all worked well together and makes T23D THE version of T2 you should make sure you see. Fighting for the future of the human race has never looked better.

Benefiting from being an already (dys)functional unit, the cast are on equally charming form as in the first. Each of them taking their fair share of the spotlight and enough memorable lines for the audience to quote over the coming months, no matter the personal favourite of the bunch. Though Drax (Dave Bautista) and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) again prove themselves the standouts in terms of laughs. The biggest - and most surprising - impact, however, stems from the increased focus on Nebula (Karen Gillian) and Yondu (Michael Rooker), whose layers are peeled back to reveal new facets and endearing depths to their characters.

Such is the greatest accomplishment in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. Though it is as standalone from the rest of the MCU as you could possibly get, it doesn't simply refresh and repeat. In the spirit of all truly great sequels, it refuses to rest on its laurels. It takes what was already there and was already great - both in terms of the world and the characters - and expands upon it. Rather than give the characters fresh wounds to deal with and explore, it merely delves deeper into the ones established in 'Vol. 1'. Be it Drax reflecting further upon the family he lost, Peter reconnecting with the Father he never knew, or Rocket coming to terms with and reconciling the conflicting aspects of his nature. All the while strengthening the bonds between the characters, but between them and the audience as well.

This mix is the film’s greatest strength: unlike Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell, many of us know people like Michèle and her circle of friends. Thanks to Isabelle Huppert’s multilayered, internal yet transparent performance, we get drawn to her as if she were (like L’Avenir’s Nathalie) an everywoman protagonist, yet with the simmering fear she might be leading us on. And even as the end credits were rolling, I was sitting still, unable to get up and clueless as to what had just happened.

The supporting characters are also essential to this quasi mid-life crisis drama / thriller hybrid. For example, Michèle’s work environment is filled with employees who have something against her. Enough resentment for tasteless bullying, but not to reach full blown thriller level. Again, many of them look like the computer geeks and startupers we run into daily.

The same can be said of Michèle’s lover, of her neighbours, of her son... Each disarmingly normal, each with a chilling Shadow Self. This could happen next door. Unlike many thrillers, here there is no distance between us and them. This is also thanks to great casting and wonderful performances across the board (though Anne Consigny, Jonas Bloquet and Laurent Lafitte were particularly impressive. I only knew Lafitte from 'Les Petits Mouchoirs' and now hope to see more of his work).

Though 'Elle' often flirts with thriller clichés like an homage to the genre’s classics, the details and the reality it creates put the film apart from a great many, and also put it in the coveted position to take its audience to unsafe territories. Whatever it was I was expecting to see from the film, 'Elle' definitely took me somewhere else and a thousand shades darker. Darker definitely, but with heart nonetheless.

On the other side of things the Marine Life Institute is played off somewhat neutrally. Whilst when push comes to shove the movie seems firmly set in the idea that animals should be free rather than in cages (or tanks in this instance), it’s not heavy handed with this message and the humans are never portrayed as the villains of the story.

On the negative it’s not as tight as the original, some of it feels a little needlessly rambling and the new characters perhaps aren’t as well rounded and interesting as say the shark support group or the dental offices fish tank inmates from the first movie. That being said the finale is perhaps an even bigger emotional experience than the original even though the build up might be a little slow to really hook you.

​“This is storytelling. This is cinema. Hacksaw Ridge is utterly brilliant!”

Gibson does a remarkable job telling the tale of Desmond Doss. Most biopics I have seen usually get a bit checklisty, jumping from one major event to the next, killing the flow of the narrative. Not so in 'Hacksaw Ridge'. The story progresses at a nice pace from Doss’ early years all the way to the event that made him famous. Gibson takes his time to introduce the characters. No unnecessary bits, no fat to cut. And that at 140 minutes running time is impressive. While the film definitely racks up in intensity once the battle starts, the more tranquil earlier bits are just as captivating and not without conflict and Gibson even manages to work in several funny moments. They are the perfect counterweight to what is to come.
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With the soldiers ready, naval artillery ploughs the battlefield and everyone in the audience is right there with them, feeling every single shot. The soldiers advance quietly, someone screams, and all hell breaks loose. The noise is deafening, the chaos complete. Everyone is staring at the screen in utter disbelief as to the carnage we are seeing. Gibson doesn’t hold back. War is brutal. War is chaotic. War is death. The cinematography is stunning. Intimate and grandiose in equal measure, finding the beautiful moments amongst chaos and destruction. We see numerous people mowed down within seconds by bullets we didn’t even see, but hear. It is an assault on the senses. Overpowering. The sound design is phenomenal. Explosions shake your body. You hear bullets whistling past. You hear them impact, FEEL them impact. You hear, before you see, someone step on a decomposed body. The squishy sound making you nauseous now that you know what it is. This film is a disgusting experience of the horrors of war. In all its gutsy, gritty, brutal and chaotic splendour.
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But overall it is a film about faith and principles. We see Doss endure hardship due to his beliefs, but he soldiers on. We witness him stumble, lose faith upon a friends’ death. He is lost without his faith and only the cry for a “medic” snaps him out of it. Fuelled by his reaffirmed faith he runs into the thickest chaos to help others, with no regard for his own life.

Well this is an odd one. Documentary filmmaker Patrick Shen goes on an existential quest to understand the concept of silence and peacefulness and how it may apply to the chaos of modern life. He speaks to experts on the subject of silence (yes, there are experts on the subject of silence), analyses the historical significance of silence in prayer and meditation as well as some of those customs that still take place, including a look at John Cage’s famous composition 4’33” which still inspires artists today.

As a concept this probably sounds kind of dull and as a movie it’s pretty far from exciting, in fact it’s basically about the pursuit of a lack of excitement, a lack of anything, but oh my God I cannot get this movie out of my head. I was utterly transfixed even when nothing was happening, and there are large portions where arguably nothing is happening, and the message of the movie has stuck so deeply in my brain that I find myself altering the way I perceive the world as we know it.
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Honestly, I don’t think a movie has ever inspired me to change the way I live my life before but this one has certainly made me stop and think. Let me sell it to you, because I’m aware it’s doesn’t sound that interesting.

First of all, yes it’s slow paced and completely lacking in thrills. This isn’t the story of a serial killer or obsessive fan or one of those documentaries with an engaging narrative, this doesn’t really have a narrative at all. It probably is everything you fear it will be, I’ll just be upfront about that. What it is though is a complete look at something you’ve never really thought about but which affects you’re life every second of every day in ways you never bothered to consider.

It’s easy to think of the world in a visual way, and in that regard the film is beautifully shot in parts, but equally if not more so we are audio-centric beings. We are always hearing the world all of the time, we receive much more audio input than visual and the film sets out to explore that. This isn’t purely about “inner peace” there’s a genuine health concern about the noise that affects our lives. Before this film I had no idea that the World Health Organisation lists excessive noise as one of the most serious health risks in the modern world, just behind air pollution. We take for granted how much sound we consume every day and somehow assume that it wouldn’t have a lasting effect on us because it’s basically invisible.