Available on DVD June 29th!

A decade in the making, and two decades overdue, Peter Anthony brings to the screen both a revelatory character portrait and an incredible story. Turning the traditional documentary format on its head, potentially creating a whole new genre unto itself, 'The Man Who Saved The World' is a film that is an equal blend of real-life, then present day footage and dramatised reconstruction. The former telling the story of a forgotten man, broken by time and circumstance rediscovering the love that exists in the world. And the latter of which, featuring fluid editing and an amazing score, is captured with the kind of cinematic flair more becoming of a Hollywood blockbusters of the famous faces Stanislav encounters, as he embarks on a tour across the United States which he delivered from utter anihilation. Posing and giving voice to some extremely important social and political questions and insights along the way.

Armed not with a gun or super-strength but with heart and compassion, Peter Anthony has placed the name of a real-life hero - of Stanislav Petrov - amongst the fictional likes of John McClane, Iron Man, and ninety-nine percent of Arnold Schwarzenegger characters. As well as, simultaneously, crafting a truly stunning and accomplished film around him, demonstrating that truth really is stranger than fiction and true heroes do exist, even if they themselves fail to see it and the world fails to realise. A film that, in the modern climate, offers concerns more troubling and carries a message that is more poignant than ever. A verdict made all the more impressive and inspiring given the fact that this is the Danish filmmaker's directorial debut.

Out now!

Let me just start by saying that this film is okay, not great but okay. I realised as I was writing what you are about to read below that I was getting hung up on one element and one character that I think I dislike so much it has tainted every element of the film for me. As a positive thought crept up all I could think about was this glaring fault and even though it is not the main focus of the movie I kept coming back to it. In fact if that problem alone was solved it’s probable that I’d be giving this film a higher rating. Anyway, I’ll explain further in the review proper, I just wanted to make this point here as my review was feeling a little judgemental.

'The Final Haunting' introduces us to Lily (Pearl Chanda), an emotionally disturbed young woman plagued by nightmares that appear to depict some traumatic past experience. She seemingly has no family and her only friend is an elderly blind lady who used to work as a psychic and as we meet her she is advising Lily on how to keep out the evil spirits (dare I say demons?) that plague her dreams.

We’re then dragged into a bizarrely needless plot thread about her meeting Chris (Paris Wharton), a charmingly awkward young man who stumbles around trying to ask her out in the park. The two of them then proceed to clumsily dance around each other and eventually become a couple, but feel free to forget that as it’s basically pointless despite taking forever. I’ll come back to that.

More importantly, Lily is on a job hunt that is not going well until she spots an advert in an agency window for a babysitting job and she jumps at the chance. The job, it transpires, is in a big house in the middle of nowhere where a creepily overly attached mother, Samantha (Bella Heesom), and her frustrated husband, Tom (Josh Burdett), live their bleak unhappy lives. Tom practically drags Samantha out of the house but not before setting out the rules of the job, such as don’t go into the cellar and don’t touch the creepy painting hanging over the stairs, because he seems to be one of the few characters aware that they are in a horror film.

In cinemas now!

It’s enjoyable. It’s good. Fine. Dinosaurs are cool. But what’s wrong with Jurassic Park is what’s wrong with modern cinema. And what’s worse is, it knows it. Dr. Ian Malcolm said it all the way back in 1993: “I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here, it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you wanna sell it.”

In cinemas June 3rd in the USA and June 19th in the UK!

The jokes and humourous situations come thick and fast, but unfortunately they fail to land as frequently or strongly as was probably hoped and intended. On some occasions, a knowledge of the show would probably help, adding context to the moments and dialogue. But other times, and over all, it feels inorganic and suffers from a mentality that feels at least a decade out of date. As though the writer is clinging to a by-gone era and that the majority of scenes are inserted for the sake of comedy, rather than the comedy emerging naturally from the various, supposed arcs. The same can also be said for brief attempts at more dramatic and poignant moments, shoe-horned in to create a faux-redemptive sense of brotherhood, and lacking from any substantial build-up. Although, one such recurring story does serve to give supporting cast-member, Rex Lee, some great and hilarious moments. As well as leads to, without a doubt, the funniest and most organic of their trademark celebrity cameos.

In cinemas June 19th!

Slipping just shy of the ninety-minute mark, 'Natural Resistance' is a far more compact beast, opting to focus more solely on the individual rather than global. Taking the majority of the responsibility upon himself, including operating a handheld camera, and with few in the way of technical flourishes, Jonathon Nossiter has created a film that feels personal and intimate in a way that so few are in this day and age. What the audience receives can, essentially, be described as little more than beautiful, serene images of various Italian vineyards and a collection of conversations.

That is where, unfortunately, the film falters as well as flies. Though already compact, it could have actually benefited from a stricter editing process and a keener eye on the narrative flow. There is a message at the core than serves as both the connective tissue and the driving force, but there is little variety in the ways it can be expressed before it becomes repetitive. Frustratingly, that moment emerges only a little way into the run-time. Nossiter does his best to combat this, making wonderful use of footage from vintage films, no doubt drawing a parallel between the way the corporations hinder the homegrown farmers and the effect Hollywood is increasingly having on independent filmmakers and their work. But, whilst it serves to expand the scope of his ideals and make it relatable to a wider audience, it also has the unmistakable aura of padding, added in order to turn something that could have been expressed in a video-blog or podcast into a film for no other reason than to be a film.

In cinemas June 12th!

As a man who has literally never taken any kind of interest in sports I’m always impressed by a sports movie that can draw me in. I’m not captivated by the spectacle (no, not even of “the beautiful game”), I’m not invested in the world and I don’t care to see how everything works behind the scenes. However, this in no way reflects my choices when it comes to movies and there are powerful stories to be told in the world of sport as there are dull and lifeless ones. If this seem like stalling it’s because 'Shooting for Socrates' sits in that awkward middle ground where I genuinely can’t think of anything all that interesting to say about it.

It’s not so terrible I can bash it or so amazing I can praise it. It was good but all very much made of nothing. Unfortunately, and ultimately this is a fault of the film, I’m keenly aware that this movie wasn’t made for me. If you’re a big football nut then you’ll probably like it. If you’re Irish and interested in a little slice of your culture and history, you’ll probably like it. If you’re Irish, interested in a little slice of your culture and history and you’re a big football nut then maybe this is the greatest movie ever made, I don’t know, but I don’t think you’ll love this movie unless at least some of that is true.

All in all the film feels kind of hollow. The front line that is the streets of Belfast makes for a lot of tense set ups, but nothing really happens. In Brazil despite explicit orders from Billy the squad sneak out for a drink and a bit of late night chicanery, but nothing really happens. Tommy turns ten and his dad fulfils a promise to him that he has been waiting for the whole movie, it’s a sweet moment, but nothing really happens. We have two comic relief characters who sell everything they own to go to Brazil and support the team, but again they don’t really do anything or serve a purpose, so … yeah … nothing really happens.

This film is a whole lot of nothing really happening, we have Campbell joining the team and the lead up to his first ever match for his country, and although he mopes about a bit because he can’t get the managers attention straight away he pretty much fits in and we don’t spend enough time with him to really feel his angst. Even if you don’t know the story in advance it’s clear that he’ll eventually be allowed to play otherwise what’s the point... In addition whilst Ireland in the eighties is a fascinating backdrop for any story the film clearly doesn’t want to be about that and so never commits to any kind of political or philosophical thinking despite how much it insists that it’s making a statement in the third act.

In cinemas May 8th in the UK!

Writer and director Céline Sciamma has stated that she did not want to make a film where the audience peers through the looking glass at a world seemingly removed from our own. There is a danger, especially when writing a story that is not a life the writer themselves have lived, to delve into an almost nature documentary-like quality, poking into the forest and observing with wonder the creatures that emerge. Sciamma has avoided this trap, instead writing characters we all know and recognise in a story trenched in reality and humanity. It is, in essence, a classic coming-of-age story in a modern setting.

In cinemas May 22nd!

The old-school theme continues when we are brought into the futuristic new world. There is something distinctly evocative of Hanna-Barbera’s 'The Jetsons' in this world, right down to the 1960s Sci-Fi costumes. In fact, when we first step in, there is something almost unnervingly 1960s airport about the whole thing. Casey is welcomed with open arms, everyone seemingly expecting her and so calm and smiley that the majority of the English audience, at least, will find themselves very untrusting of the situation in the way that they are when someone in a supermarket wishes them to “Have a nice day now!”. I’ll be honest, this part grated on me a little. Luckily, there is a reason for this intense cheesiness, as explained later in the film, so it is worth gritting your teeth and sidling past it.

In cinema's now in the UK and June 26th in the USA!

In the forested mountains of Finland thirteen year old Oskari (Onni Tommila) is about to embark on a quest to find his manhood, an ancient rite of passage all the people of his community go through whereby a boy goes out into the wild alone to hunt and kill the first thing he comes across and thus comes back a man.

Meanwhile the president of the USA (Samuel L. Jackson) is on a fairly typical diplomatic visit when Air Force One comes under attack from a small terrorist group, led from within by his personal bodyguard Morris (Ray Stevenson). He is thrown into the escape shuttle and dropped into the forest below as Morris takes out the rest of the security team and the plane before parachuting to safety to meet the terrorists and hunt down the president. This isn’t a spoiler by the way, it happens within the first twenty minutes and I’m pretty sure it’s given away in the trailer.

Oskari is drawn into this conspiracy as Air Force One literally crashes down on top of him, destroying the forest and sending the young boy running for his life. As a result, and unfortunately for Morris and the terrorists, Oskari finds the president first and they form an unlikely duo as the conspiracy unveils and they must fight for their lives. I won’t give away any further details of the plot other than to say that it’s kind of weird that we never really find out what the big conspiratorial plan really was. Despite coming in at under ninety minutes, which is a rarity in the cinema these days, 'Big Game' manages to feel slow and drawn out. That might be giving away my opinion too early but I’m sorry, 'Big Game' just doesn’t work.

In cinemas now!

After quite a long break from our screens, the Moomins finally return in the form of a feature film. ‘Moomins on the Riviera’ sees Moomin (Russell Tovey), Moominmamma (Tracy Ann Oberman) and Moominpappa (Nathaniel Parker), along with Snorkmaiden and Little My, head off for a sea adventure. Out at sea they are caught in a great storm and lose their way before landing on a desert island, but before long they head back out to sea to try and find their way home. However they instead find themselves landing on the French Riviera, much to Snorkmaiden’s delight. As the family try to adjust to their new surroundings their loyalties and family ties are tested through the glitz and glamour, new friendships, romance, and creating a feeling of home.

In select cinemas now!

The truth of the story is an incredibly powerful thing, even if as a westerner my country comes across as unfeeling at best and criminally corrupt at the worst. The story is more than compelling enough to hold together what is, if I'm completely honest, a somewhat shaky production, and I find myself moved by a plight I was largely unaware of before. This is an important piece of film that needed to be made about people who deserve to go down in history for their convictions and determination. Thoroughly recommend for any documentary fan.

In cinemas now!

But despite my criticism it’s hard to deny that I don’t know the last time I saw movie mass destruction this compelling, exciting or just plain gorgeous looking. The film is all the poorer every time we have to cut away from the thrill and watch the actors stumble through the predictably awful script. On a side note the film also features Paul Giamatti in what is possibly the most pointless role to ever appear in a movie. He literally plays the science guy who knows everything because at some point during production the writers realised they needed a science guy who knew everything because disaster movies always have a science guy who knows everything. He genuinely shows up to tell us there are going to be lots of earthquakes after the earthquakes have already started in a movie about there being lots of earthquakes. He never interacts with Ray’s storyline, which is by far the main focus of the film, and whilst his story arch does involve hacking into the news network (which is complicated and dramatic for some unclear reason) and broadcasting a warning message to the people of San Francisco (which helps for some unclear reason), we never really get to see the point of all this we’re just told it was a good thing to do at the end of the film despite all the death and destruction we have witnessed. Supposedly he helped with the evacuation but buildings were falling down, were people not already evacuating? And how many people were really sat watching TV at this point?