Film Reviews 2025

 

Drama

General

Best: Conclave - Better than the book as no clues (Prime)
Soundtrack: Tornado – Nasty Tim Roth and gang chase girl to retrieve gold. Does not end well. Ace music by Budapest Art Orchestra (Prime)
Magical realism: The Son of a Thousand Men - Fisherman longing for a son finds connections to other misfits in this Portuguese offering based on a book (Netflix)
Classic: This is England - Everyday tale of skins in 1980’s Britain. Strangely our first watch (Film 4)
Scenic: Train Dreams – Logger helps clear land for railway across America, prettily filmed at golden hour (Netflix)
Quirkiest: When You Finish Saving the World - Social work mum struggles to connect with teenage son. Funny and quirky directorial debut by Jesse Eisenberg (Netflix)
Low budget: Greyhawk - Blind army vet searches council estate for stolen dog (Prime)
Social issue: The Old Oak - Syrian refugees win hearts of Durham ex: mining villagers in gooey Mike Leigh film (Netflix)
Romance
Emily - Imagined affair of Emily Bronte, quite dark in places then they all died, ha, ha! (Netflix)
Action/Thriller

Best: The Accountant 2 - Wolf and brother solve missing family case, rescue trafficked kids. Clever, enjoyable sequel (Prime)
Close second: Dirty Angels - Crack female team rescue girls kidnapped by ISIS. Manic and graphic in places (Prime)
Twistiest: Exterritorial - German woman gets trapped in US consulate (Netflix)
Daftest: Fast X - Jason Momoa hilarious as the camp baddie in this tenth ludicrous outing for Vin and crew. Shut the front door’! (Netflix)
Stunts: G20 - President Viola Davis foils terrorists. Imaginative stunts (Prime)
Fun: The Critic - Ian McKellan hams it up as nasty critic with fatal results (Prime)
So bad it’s good: Left To Die - Rich people dump victims on island to harvest organs. Bad but fun (Prime)
Pedestrian: Relay - Lily James seeks protection from ex: employers (Prime)
Maddest: Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell as fake gambling lord in Macau (Netflix)
Disaster: The Bullet Train Explosion - Bomb on Japanese bullet train means it can’t stop or slow down. unoriginal and overlong but entertaining and perp not who you’d expect (Netflix)
Adventure: Beyond the Mask - Former East India Co mercenary thwarts evil uncle and wins fair maiden while aiding Franklin to establish independent US (Netflix)

Bio
Best: Minamata - Photojournalist Eugene Smith (J Depp) investigates chemical poisoning in Japan. Excellent (Prime)
Close second: The Way Back - Prisoners escape Siberian Gulags, walk to India (Prime)
Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance reflects on grim early life. Would be inspirational if he’d turned out decent (Netflix)
Crime: The Order - FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) hunts white power supremacists led by nutter Bob Matthews (Nicholas Hoult) in 1980’s Pacific Northwest (Prime)
British: Bank of Dave 2 - The Loan Ranger - See what they did there? Gentle, funny, entertaining (Netflix)
Political: Words of War - Human rights journo Anna Politkovskaya (Maxine Peake) reports on horrific events in Chechnya. Unauthorised version of true events (Prime)
Grim: Sound of Freedom - Ex: FBI agent foils traffickers and rescues kids. Grim but good (Prime)

Disappointing omission: Sing Sing - Convicts seek rehabilitation through the arts. Mainly non-actor cast. Would have been better if the actual play was included, as the comedy Hamlet clips were hilarious (Prime)
Educational: Experimenter - Psychologist Sydney Milgram is maligned for ‘evil’ experiments (Prime)
The Promised Land/Bastarden - Mads Mikkelson as man who battled the odds to cultivate Jutland helped by Tater people (BBC iPlayer)
Royal Tales: Margrete, Queen of The North - Danish queen unites Nordic countries, long-dead son returns, or does he? (BBC iPlayer)
Grace of Monaco - Nicole Kidman as the princess and Tim Roth as Rainier, navigate tricky times with France (Prime)
Jeanne du Barry - Woman becomes lover of Louis XV (an amusing J Depp). By and starring Maiwenn (Prime)
Religious: Jesus Revolution - Intriguing story of the hippy Christian movement (Netflix)

Romance: Priscilla – A life with Elvis. Girly but okay (Netflix)

 

Spy

Inheritance - Woman follows dad in globe: trotting spy larks (Prime)
Chief of Station - Agent whose wife is killed uncovers dastardly CIA twisty doings (Prime)

Crime

Grimmest: Red Riding Trilogy – Part 1, young journalist uncovers corruption in 1974 in this classic telly film, excellent cast, grim, depressingly not much changed since; Part 2, set in 1980, at time of Yorkshire ripper, just as cheery; Part 3, in 1983, best of the lot. Based on David Peace’s Yorkshire Noir books.  (Netflix)

Action: She Rides Shotgun - Ex: con tries to protect daughter from nasty supremacist gang. Good acting and action, if predictable (Prime)

Convoluted: The Minute You Wake Up Dead - Convoluted series of murders, including sheriff Morgan Freeman. Entertaining (Prime)

British: The Thursday Murder Club - Old poshos solve crimes in gently comedic fashion (Netflix)

Low budget: Irish Ashes - Man returns to inter mum’s ashes, uncovers family’s gangster past. Superior acting to most cheapies (Prime)
Mystery: The Woman in Cabin 10 - Journo Keira Knightly gets to bottom of mysterious doings on bellend’s yacht (Netflix)

Prison: Animal Factory - A wiry Willem Dafoe befriends a young Ed Furlong in the pen (DVD)
Locations: Equalizer 3 - Denzil creates mayhem in Italy. Good locations, Italian dialogue required subtitles (Netflix)
Heist: Goodland - Men plan bank heists in smalltown Kansas, slow and relaxing till it all kicked off. Reminiscent of spaghetti westerns (Prime)
Den of Thieves- Pantera - Grumpy Gerard Butler infiltrates heist gang. Flash with funny bits (Prime)
Sequel: Inside Man- Most Wanted – Crew rob Nazi gold from Federal Reserve. A touch of the Money Heist (Netflix)
Crime Musical - Emilia Perez: Mexican cartel boss recruits lawyer to help him transition. Odd Oscar-winning French opera libretto do, amazing choreography. (Netflix)
Crime Comedy: See How They Run - People planning a Mousetrap movie get bumped off in theatre. Nice locations and décor (Film 4)
Spoof: Hooligan Factory - Hilarious Brit hooligan film spoof, despite a disappointing lack of footie (DVD)
Stupidest: Clue - Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd in old caper based on the game. Daft but a laugh (Netflix)
Mediocre: Death Pursuit - Vinnie Jones in predictable, mindless mayhem (Prime)
Riff Raff - Ex: crim’s old family come visiting. In a great cast, Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde) the funniest (Prime)
Most dragged out: Wake Up, Dead Man (A Knives Out Mystery) - Benoit solves murder of priest, fun and entertaining but overlong (Netflix)

War

Iraq: Warfare – ‘Honest’, real-time telling of US Navy seal operation gone wrong (Prime)

WW1: 1917 - Overdue rerun, lots of running, massive sets, awesome sound (DVD)

WW1 Bio: Britannic - Titanic sister ship comes a cropper (Prime)

Company K - Rare tale of Gis in trenches. Cheap and hokey but interesting (DVD)

WW2: Sisu - Finnish gold prospector foils Nazis (Netflix)

Bio: The Captain - Mad true story of deserter Willi Herold pretending to be a decorated captain, overseeing executions in last days of war. Artily made, clever juxtaposition with modern Germany during end credits (Prime)

The World Will Tremble - Jews escape first Nazi death camp to tell the world. Not cheery but very good (Prime)

Comedy: The Wipers Times - Soldiers at Ypres produce satirical paper (Prime)

Grimmest: The Painted Bird – Abandoned boy crosses Poland, encountering violence and abuse from locals and Nazis alike. Grim but good (Prime)

Field Post - German soldiers on eastern front at bitter end of the war escape from Soviets. An accidental Christmas film (Prime)

Romance: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Writer visits said society post-war, falls in love (BBC)

Western

Best: Place of Bones - Heather Graham and daughter eke out living in wild west while besieged by men (Prime)

Horror: Ghosts of the Ozarks - Young doctor encounters eerie goings on in remote post-civil war community. Cheap, creepy, good (Prime)

Sci: fi: Bad Land- Road to Fury (aka Young Ones) – Drought-stricken farmer hangs on for water. Echoes of Power of the Dog (Prime)

Sci-fi

Best: Civil War - Journos traverse a near-future dystopian warring US to find despot president (Prime)
Fast-paced: Terminator- Dark Fate - Second viewing of this excellent romp. Linda Hamilton amusingly sarcastic (Netflix)
Time-travel: Our Times - Mexican couple travel from 1960’s to 2025, minds blown by tech and social changes (Netflix)
Animation: Beneath - Explorers below ice on Titan face danger. So-so story, good CGI (Prime)
Music: Helix - Cop in post-apocalyptic Vancouver uncovers mistakes in governing computer system. Mediocre but good music (Prime)

Mind-bending: Bonded by Blood – (Spoiler) Cloned boy turns out to be killer (Prime)
Hypnotic - In a world of constructs created by ‘hypnotics’, a cop teams up with agent to solve mystery of missing daughter. Interesting (Prime)
Baffling: Ultrasound - A confusing tale of intertwined lives and weird experiments (Prime)

In Vitro - Aussie cattle rancher clones wife. Motive oddly unfathomable (Prime)
Riverworld - Deceased from different ages are reborn in mysterious land. Pilot of unmade series based on Philip José Famer saga. Great riverboat (Prime)
Lockdown: Portal - People in various locations investigate alien doors. Anthology of 4 films, made amidst covid lockdowns (Prime)
Glasshouse –South African cultish family sheltering in greenhouse from airborne virus take in injured outsider. Inspired by and filmed during the pandemic. Weird (Prime)
Low budget: The Artifice Girl - AI created to hunt paedophiles gains awareness (Film 4)
Out of Time - LA detective hunts down escaped aliens (Prime)
European: Brick - Mysterious wall traps German couple in apartment (Netflix)
Religious: Fair Rain - After the rapture, resistance protect holy book from evil government. Different (Prime)

Horror

Best: Frankenstein - Gullermo Del Torro’s brilliant telling of the old classic, faithful to the book, great sets and locations (Netflix)

Creepiest: A cure for Wellness – Sinister goings-on in Swiss sanatorium (Netflix)

Modern times: Locked - Thief gets locked into expensive car by rich owner (Prime)

Interesting: The Offering - Hasidic Jewish undertakers battle demons (Netflix)

Low budget: Interlopers - No-budget Brit flick in 3 parts, made during weekends over 3 years round Manchester (Prime)

Underwhelming: Holland - Nicole Kidman in seemingly idyllic community suspects husband of affair (Prime)

Christian: The Remaining - Apocalyptic and scary telling of the rapture trope (Netflix)

The Devil Conspiracy - Satanic bio-tech clone Lucifer, or is it Jesus? Bonkers (Prime)

Exorcism: The Ritual - Al Pacino plays real-life Fr. Theophilus Riesinger exorcising Emma Smidt/Anna Eklund, documented 1928. Spooky! (Prime)

The Pope’s Exorcist - Russell Crowe as Fr. Gabriele Amorth expels demons (Netflix)

Exorcist The Beginning - Prequel reveals origins of the evil. Well thought-out, spookily convincing, unlike The Exorcist Believer (the fourth instalment) which was slow and unscary, Ann Dowd (aka Aunt Lydia) the highlight (Netflix)

HP Lovecraft: The Whisperer in Darkness - Sceptical prof uncovers monsters in Vermont. Effectively filmed in fake old-style by HP Lovecraft History Society (Prime)

Call of Cthulhu - Old silent film based on HPL story. Good monster (Prime)

Stephen King: 1922 – Man’s written confession of wife’s killing, adapted from S. King’s novella in Full Dark No Stars (Netflix)

Vampire: The Last Voyage of the Demeter - Vampire tale based on a chapter from Dracula (Prime)

Zombies: Herd - Couple mystifyingly go camping amidst zombie apocalypse. Some good ideas (Prime)

Road Wars - Low rent Mad Max effort with rabid zombies (Prime)

War Horror: Ghosts of War - GIs hold a French chateau occupied by Nazis in 1944. All not what it seems, takes an odd turn (Prime)

Sci-fi Horror: Osiris - Marines run around shooting, get sucked up to spaceship, run around shooting aliens with unconvincing Russian Linda Hamilton (Prime)

Comedy                                             

Best: Barbie - NOT a kid’s film in my opinion. Hilarious (Prime)

Freaky Tales - Lives collide in 1980’s Oakland, lots of period detail, very entertaining (Prime)

The Wrath of Becky - Orphan seeks revenge on men who killed those she loved. Very funny (Netflix)
Silly: Mindhorn - Apparent IOM serial killer will only speak to fictional detective. Silly fun (Netflix)
The Killer’s Game - Hitman Dave Bautista takes out contract on himself, changes his mind, bedlam with madcap fight scenes ensues (Prime)

Head of State - Idris Elba and John Cena get stuck after Airforce 1 crash. Amusing mayhem (Prime)
Zoolander 2 - Daft model Derek goes in search of his son. Bonkers (DVD)
Get Duked - Lads on DOE mission come across undead old people. Amusing in places (Prime)
Touching: Dough - Jewish baker employs young refugee from Darfur, suspicion turns to friendship. Touchingly funny (Prime)
The Problem with People - Irish man gets Yank cousin to go meet dying dad (Prime)
Self Reliance – Man recruited to dark web reality show thwarts assassins (Netflix)
Indian - Ek Chata r Naar (A Clever Woman): Young woman gets the better of corrupt men (Netflix)
Action: The Nice Guys - Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe team up to rescue missing girl (Prime)

Back in Action - Ex: agents Jamie Fox and Cameron Diaz drag their kids into action (Netflix)

Bio: Nonnas - Grieving man recruits grans to cook in Statton Island restaurant (Netflix)

Misbehaviour - Women’s Lib founders disrupt Miss World 1970. Full of amusing cliches (Netflix)
Sci-fi  - Asteroid City - Wes Anderson nonsensical amusement (Netflix)                                                                                                                                       
Crime - Deep Cover - Bent cop Sean Bean recruits improv comedians to infiltrate drugs gang (Prime)
Horror - Boys from County Hell - Northern Irish take on the vampire tale based on belief that the legendary evil dwarf Abhartach inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Prime)
Death of a Unicorn - Man and daughter on way to meet millionaire Richard E Grant run over unicorn, attempts to harness magic power, come a cropper (Prime)

The Menu - Chef reveals dark side to restaurant diners on remote island. Surreally satirical, like an updated Luis Buñuel (Film 4)Musical: The Return of Captain Invincible - Disgraced hero returns to save world from evil Chris Lee, in 1983 Aussie romp, echoing Rocky Horror (Prime)
Historic: Anonymous - Roland Emerich imagines Shakespeare isn’t the real playwright (DVD)
Stockholm Bloodbath - Entertainingly told tale of power struggle between Denmark and Sweden 1520 (Prime)
Spoof: Cunk on Life - Philomena expounds on life’s mysteries, bigger budget spent on unnecessary globe-trotting and odd meta segue into Black Mirror, but still funny (Netflix)
I’m Still Here - Joaquin Phoenix does bad hip hop, director Casey Affleck denies it’s a mockumentary (DVD)

Musical

Bio: Bob Marley One Love - Biopic of the legendary Marley, good singalong (Netflix)

Maria - Last week of Maria Callas’ life with flashbacks. Dreamy, pretentious, clever, Angelina Jolie amazing (Netflix)

Kids: Wonka - Timothe Chalamet as the eponymous character in this jolly prequel (Prime)

 

YA:

Historic: Born to be Great- Alexander of Macedonia - Watchable telling of Alexander’s early life (Prime)

Sci: fi: The Electric State - Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt in a land of robots (Netflix)

Fantasy: Damsel - MBB foils evil royals. Ace dragon (Netflix)

 

Fantasy

Best: Aquaman and The Last Kingdom - Colourful mayhem (Prime)

Low budget: The Hallowed Knight - Knight runs away from losing battle to spooky forest. Arty black and white, good music. Apparently made for the grand price of £3k (Prime)

Visuals: In the Lost Lands - Witch Milla Jovovich and hunter David Bautista team up. Long-winded but good visuals (Netflix)

Weirdness: The Show - Alan Moore oversees strange goings-on in Northampton. Weirdly entertaining, mad soundtrack (Prime)

Needless spoiler: The Rats: A Witcher’s Tale - Dolph Lundgren joins the gang in this season 4 prequel. Starts with needless spoiler (Netflix)

Comic

The Old Guard 2 - Charlize Theron & co fight original ‘immortal’ Uma Thurman, or is she? Perplexing, possibly set up for part 3 (Netflix)

Dampyr - Son of ‘Drac’ becomes vampire hunter during Balkan wars. Based on Italian comic, more planned (Netflix)

Hellboy: The Crooked Man - Comic character goes questing. Moderate amusement, good music (Prime)

 

Arthouse

Arthouse/Fantasy: The Book of Vision - Dreamlike mystery flitting between present day and 18^th century (Prime)

Melodrama: Helen of Four Gates - A long overdue watch, literally silent, amusing pathos (BFI)

 

Documentary

The Thinking Game - Creation and evolution of AGI Deep Mind, quite interesting, Not Sci: fi as the blurb said! (Prime)

 

Christmas

War/WW2: Winter in Wartime - Dutch boy hides British pilot from Nazis. A repeat watch for this excellent story (DVD)

Documentary/AI: A Very Pagan Christmas - Explains links between pagan traditions and modern-day customs such as Christmas tree, Santa, illustrated by AI graphics (Prime)

Horror: The Wolf of Snow Hollow - Alcoholic cop pursues serial killer in small mountain town (Prime)

Crime/Romcom: Jingle Bell Heist - Shopworker teams up with sacked employee to con boss. Romcom masquerading as heist film (Netflix)

Film Reviews 2023

Drama

Best: Saltburn - Oxford fresher obsessed with posho gets invite to country pile inhabited by amusing Rosamund Pike and bumbling Richard E. Grant (Prime)

Social issue: Noise - Mexican woman seeks lost daughter. Powerfully sad (Netflix)

Equal Standard - NY cops embroiled in needless shootings; well-told anti-racism message from Ice-T (Prime)

Working Man - Codger goes back to work in closed factory, other join for novel ‘work in’, main ally not what he appears (Prime)

End credits: White Noise - Started as a potentially scary road trip, disappointingly turned into mediocre family story. Billed as funny and terrifying, it was neither except supermarket choreography to New Body Rumba by LCD Soundsystem during end credits which was fab (Netflix)

Crazy: Waiting For The Barbarians - Mark Rylance and Johnny Depp cross swords in imaginary edge of empire world. Odd do based on book by J.M. Coetzee (Prime)

Formulaic: Creed III - Latest in the franchise, okay (Prime)

Cinematography: The Devil To Pay - Nasty goings-on in The Appalachians with a Nazi Martha Stewart, rednecks, heathens, ace music and lovely photography (Netflix)

Different: The Card Counter - Professional gambler revealed to have dark back-story (Netflix)

Dreamkeeper - Young Lakota man accompanies grandpa to his last pow-wow, stories and visions intersperse road trip (Prime)

Historic

Best: Seven Kings Must Die - Final chapter of The Last Kingdom series, fab battle scene, moved rather fast but at least it had a proper end - but did Uthred go through the door? (Netflix)

German: The Lives Of Others - Stasi bug theatre-types in 1980’s Berlin. Excellent (DVD)

Low-budget: Royal Deceit - Youthful Christian Bale impressive in the old Danish tale which inspired Hamlet (Prime)

Twisty: The Pale Blue Eye - Young Edgar Alan Poe helps detective solve murder of West Point recruits, with daft hats and a twist (Netflix)

Grim: Black 47 - Deserter returns to 1845 Irish potato famine (Film 4)

Bio: Emperor - Runaway slave joins abolitionists for exciting action (Prime)

Queen Marie - Romanian queen stands up for her country after WW1.  Good sets and costumes (Prime)

Elizabeth/Elizabeth The Golden Age - A double-bill re-watch. Eclectic cast, great locations, ace costumes (DVD)

Medieval - Bohemian hero Jan Zizka fights for freedom. Nice to see a film made in Prague concerning that part of the world (Netflix)

 Action/Thriller

Anticipated: John Wick - Long overdue viewing of the first one, less bonkers than 2 and 3 but a large body count over a stolen car and dead dog! Entertaining fun (Prime)

John Wick: Chapter 4 - Globe-trotting mayhem involves even greater body count. Enjoyable if over-long (Prime)

Spy: Heart of Stone - Gal Gadot as relentless as the action (Netflix)

Thriller: Old - Tourists at posh resort get trapped on beach, age rapidly. Very Ballardian (Netflix)

Mystery: The Most Assassinated Woman in The World - Actress fakes actual death to escape theatre (Netflix)

Supernatural: Red Lights - Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy try to debunk psychic De Niro (DVD)

Fun: Plane – Pilot Gerard Butler force-lands on unwelcoming Philippine island for battles with pirates (Prime)

Silly: Hidden Strike - Jackie Chan in predictable mayhem. A touch of the Mad Max (Netflix)

Mr Car and the Knights Templar - Polish Indiana Jones, odd but enjoyable (Netflix)

Action shots: Extraction 2 - Chris Hemsworth recovers from falling off bridge, recruited by Idris, extracts woman and kids from prison. Amazing long action shots (Netflix)

 Biopic

Best: The Edge of the World - English man becomes king of remote Malay area (Prime)

Adventure: The Lost City of Z - Percy Fawcett goes exploring in Bolivia (Netflix)

Grim: Kursk (The Last Mission) - Russians refuse international help to save sub-mariners. Bizarrely also shown on BBC 4 in the week the mini-sub sank (Prime)

Dark October - depressing Nollywood tale of tribal lynch-mobbing. Sign the petition to end Jungle Justice! (Netflix)

Educational: Argentina, 1985 – First prosecutions of Gualtieri and Junta pals by beleaguered lawyer and team of youngsters (Prime)

Scandal: Judas and The Black Messiah – Black FBI guy infiltrates Black Panthers (Prime)

Effie Gray - Young woman marries weirdo John Ruskin (BBC iPlayer)

The Devil Has A Name - Californian farmer sues oil company who poison his land. Disgustingly still happening (Prime)

Pain Hustlers - Drug reps get fentanyl prescribed for all pain relief (Netflix)

British: Profile - Journo sets up fake profile to hunt down ISIS recruiters, ends up with a fatwah (Netflix) 

The Mercy - Man fails to sail non-stop round the world, presumed dead at sea (Netflix)

Uplifting: Rustin - Story of man who organised huge Washington rally leading to US equality laws (Netflix)

A Million Miles Away - Son of Mexican migrant farmers follows dream to be an astronaut (Prime)

Mahalia - Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson becomes first to crossover into mainstream. Enjoyable despite low budget and lack of family endorsement (Netflix)

Worst Soundtrack: Belfast - Branagh's tale of growing up during The Troubles marred by dreadful Van Morrison crooning (BBC iPlayer)

 

War

Best: There Be Dragons - Journo uncovers story of his dad’s long-life relationship with JoseMaria Escriva who founded Opus Dei. Interesting take on Spanish civil war (Netflix)

Ukraine: Sniper: White Raven - Ukrainian pacifist hippy turns Russian soldier in Donbas (Prime)

Afghanistan: 12 Strong - Slow start but kicked into tale of secret operation against Taliban using cavalry. T.E. Lawrence would approve! (Film 4)

Bosnia: The Load - Truck driver takes mysterious cargo from Kosovo to Belgrade. Grim (Prime)

Vietnam: Ambush - GIs go down tunnels in to retrieve a file. Odd (Netflix)

The Last Full Measure - DOD coffee-cupper helps Vietnam vets get their mate a posthumous medal of honour. Moving (Netflix)

Korea: Devotion - Story of black American airman. Good if sentimental, ace end-credit photomontage (Prime)

WW2: Plan A - ‘Nakam’ (Jewish avengers) foiled plot to poison post-war Germany’s water supply (Prime)

American Traitor-The Trial of Axis Sally - Mildred Gillars survives wartime Germany, returns to US, tried for treason (Prime)

Narvik - Couple embroiled in only battle on Norwegian soil and Hitlers’ first defeat. Beautiful scenery (Netflix)

Filip - Jew escapes Warsaw ghetto, works in fancy Frankfurt hotel. Great ending with Nazi jazz dancing (Netflix)

Operation Seawolf - Ageing Dolph leads U-boat mission to invade New York. For him, the war wasn’t over! (Prime)

Echoes Of The Past - Max Von Sydow not playing a Nazi in his last film, recalls destruction of his Greek village (Prime)

Spooky: White Tiger - Russian arises from dead, trials new tank to fight mysterious Nazi White Tiger (Prime)

Small cast: Spitfire Over Berlin - Cheap Brit flick from the team who brought us Lancaster Skies, by and featuring half a dozen people (Prime)

War Western: Red Ghost - Russian spaghetti western with Nazis. Very funny in places (Prime)

YA: Sniff The Dog: The War Hero - Boy raises dog to hate Friesland’s Nazi occupiers, teams up with Jewish girl to foil them (Netflix)

Documentary: Warsaw: A City Divided - How the Nazis split and eventually ruined Warsaw. Included previously unseen amateur footage (Prime)

Western

Best: Surrounded - Recently freed from slavery, ex-soldier woman disguised as boy gets mixed up with robbers. Unexpected end: ‘the bigger boys did it!’ (Prime)

Bio: Hostile territory - Man presumed dead in civil war searches for his children in dangerous lands (Prime)

Australian: The Furnace – Aborigines, colonials and subjects cross paths in search of gold. Nice ending (Prime)

Horror: Skinwalker - Idiots unleash tribal demon. Does not end well (Prime)

Civil War: Terror on the Prairie - Couple fight off confederate losers seeking vengeance (Prime)

 Crime

Best: Luther: The Fallen Sun - Feature-length mayhem from Idris. Entertaining but some silly bits. Set up nicely for Luther: Special Agent (Netflix)

Creepy: Mindcage - Psycho John Malkovitch on death row, ‘helps’ cops find copy-cat killer. Surprising (Prime)

Imaginative: Wasteland (aka The Rise) - Young Leeds man comes up with plot to rob WMC (Netflix)

Noir: Chicago Overcoat - Last gangster in town has final flourish. Enjoyable, proper, old-fashioned noir (Prime)

Pretentious: K__.ller - Cliches, style and Morrisey aplenty but little substance in Guardian-approved assassin flick (Netflix)

Complicated: Reptile - Cop Del Torro investigates murder (Netflix)

Odd: Southern Cross - Chilean mine-owner Malcom McDowell comes back from the dead (DVD)

Clever: Char Nigel Ke Bhaga – This Indian film ingeniously twists from romance to heist to hijack (Netflix)

Heist: Wing women - Amusing French heist film (Netflix)

Fight scenes: Gangs Of New York - Cheesy bits, funny bits, silly clothes, composite characters, ace sets and fight scenes; what’s not to like? (DVD)

Gangs of Lagos - Everyday Nollywood of gang crime and corruption. Great fight choreography (Prime)

Daft: Nobody - After his home is burgled, ex FBI ‘auditor’ Bob Odenkirk goes on rampage with gun-toting codger dad Christopher Lloyd. Ridiculous but entertaining final scene (Netflix)

Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre - Statham doing his stuff and outlandish characters in Guy Ritchie effort (Prime)

Cast: The Little Things - Codger cop Denzel and versatile Rami Malik pursue serial killer. Unexpected end (Prime)

Renegade - Veteran SAS pals get revenge on murdering gang-lord. Ensemble cast includes Lee Major, Ian Ogilvy, Stepanie Beecham and Patsy Kensit (Prime)

Old man dancing: The Boondock Saints - FBI agent Willem Defoe pursues vigilante serial killers and dances (Prime)

Disappointing: The World We Knew - Crims hole up in creepy house. Disappointingly unscary (Prime)

Bio: Lansky - Writer employed to write crime boss’ biography embroiled with FBI (Netflix)

Bandit - Prison escapee robs Canadian banks. A cheeky chappie from the east end of Detroit! (Prime)

British: Three Day Millionaire - Fishermen plan stupid heist to save Grimsby trawlers (Netflix)

The Fall of the Essex Boys - More doc-style and informative telling of the infamous foot soldiers story (Prime)

The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan - Young man embroiled in dangerous gangster dealings (Prime)

Dead in a Week (or Your Money Back) - Assassin convinces suicidal young man to pay him to do him in, capers ensue. Good turn by Christopher Eccleston (Prime)

 

Sci-Fi

Best: The Matrix: Resurrections - Long-awaited return of Neo and Trinity. Meta but very enjoyable (Prime)

Rebel Moon Part 1 - Planet-hopping rebels versus baddies. Good but over-long (Netflix)

Remake: Dune – Rather less interminable than the original. Good visuals (Prime)

Dystopian: Paradise - In a Berlin-set future, the poor sell the rich years of their lives (Netflix)

Nowhere - Pregnant woman escapes evil regime, gives birth in shipping container. A Spanish Children of Men (Netflix)

Cerebral: The Frame - Man and woman watch each other on telly. Which is real? (Prime)

Mr. Earth - Man chosen at random to speak for humanity on another planet. Thought-provoking (Prime)

Allegory: Night Raiders - Native Canadians protect their land from alien drones (Prime)

Brit: The Quiet Hour - Dakota Blue Richards tries to protect brother and farm from aliens and thugs in post-apocalyptic world (Netflix)

Australian: Chronical 2067 - Imaginative, interesting premise and great imagery (Prime)

Futuristic: Reminiscence - Memory-miner/PI Hugh Jackman uncovers twisty secrets of woman he fell in love with. Reminiscent of PK Dick, cleverly filmed in 1940’s noir style (Prime)

Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man - Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson in Easy Rider-style adventure set in the near future of the late nineties! (Prime)

AI/Robots: T.I.M - Couple trial AI robot, does not end well (Netflix)

Delete - Singularity takes over, lots of twists and turns (Prime)

JUNG-E - Korean company creates ace AI robots from dead people’s brains (Netflix)

Mousa - Egyptian student builds robot to wreak vengeance. Echoes of The Terminator (Netflix)

Crime: The Initiated - In a Colombian future of acid rain, the rich conspire to own all the fresh water (Prime)

Horror: Bird Box Barcelona - Seers try to convince others the mysterious suicide-inducing force is angels. Hints at a third film (Netflix)

Comedy: Robots - Idiots make illegal robot copies of themselves. Silly but some funny bits (Prime)

 Fantasy

Best: Mayday - Young women at war with men, nice turn from lesser-seen Juliette Lewis (Prime)

Comic: The Suicide Squad - DC mayhem, very silly but fun (Prime)

Myth: Troll - Norwegian troll awakens from mountains. Fun King Kong trope (Netflix)

Pungo: A Witch’s Tale - Woman descended from real witch Grace Sherwood hires burnt-out navy Seal and emotionally damaged firefighter as handymen in rural Virginia. Cheap silly time-travelling goings-on ensue (Prime)

Video game: Monster Hunter - Milla Jovovich crosses world to fight monsters. Ridiculous fun (Netflix)

Weird: Three Thousand Years Of Longing - Story-teller Tilda Swinton unbottles Djinn Idris Elba (Prime)

Daft premise: The King’s Daughter - Louis XIV‘s Illegitimate daughter befriends mermaid and falls for ship captain (Prime)

Horror

Best: El Conde - Pinochet and Thatcher turn out to be vampires in this novel and amusing satire (Netflix)

Cult: The Wicker Man - Genius (DVD)

Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things - Funny bad, sometimes hilarious ‘cult classic’ from 1972 (Prime)

The Exorcist - Weirdly a 25^th anniversary edition, in the 50^th anniversary year ((DVD)

Odd: Malignant - Woman has evil parasitic conjoined twin (Netflix)

Spooky: Widow’s Walk - Atmospheric tale of woman and son at Suffolk seaside (Prime)

Twisty: Last Night in Soho - Young student has visions of stabbings and ghosts from 1960s London (Netflix)

Creepy: In My Mother’s Skin - Filipino girl does deal with flesh-eating fairy to save her ill mum. Odd (Prime)

Predictable: Run Rabbit, Run - Aussie film in vein of Babadook (Netflix)

Effects: Depraved - Modern reworking of Frankenstein. Cheap but imaginative effects (Prime)

Daft: Studio 666 - Foo Fighters record album in creepy house, Grohl possessed by demon, bloodbath ensues. Very silly but good soundtrack and hilarious Lionel Richie cameo (Netflix)

Funny: The Conference - Swedish coffee-cuppers team-building in holiday village encounter psycho; bloody mayhem ensues (Netflix)

Christian: Immanence: Odd tale of people on boat experiencing strange goings-on (Prime)

Prey For the Devil Young nun becomes first woman to perform exorcisms in 700 years (Netflix)

Zombies: The Final Days - Post-pandemic marauding zombies leap on apartment blocks (Prime)

Werewolves: Viking Wolf - Cop investigates wolf attacks in Norway. Predictable (Netflix)

It Be an Evil Moon - Ex-scientist uses wolfbane to grow hair, becomes werewolf. Funny in places (Prime)

 

Comedy

Best: Another Round - The Excellent Mads Mikkelsen and fellow Danish teachers experiment with staying mildly drunk at all times. A sad demise for one but ultimately uplifting (Film 4)

Bio: The Burial - Funeral homeowner hires rich ambulance-chaser to take on the big boys. Good turns by Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx (Prime)

Rom-com: Persuasion –A delightful Richard E. Grant and innuendo aplenty in Jane Austen update (Netflix)

Satire: Competicion Official - Cruz and Banderas in wry Spanish story of rehearsing for a film (Netflix)

Operation Nation - Meathead Polish Nazis and lefties in hilarious capers (Netflix)

Nazis: Blood and Gold - SS on hunt for gold in tiny village. Hilarious spaghetti western (Netflix)

Cult: The Disaster Artist - Second viewing for this madcap true tale about making cult movie The Room (Prime)

The Ruling Class - Peter O’Toole bought the rights to act the shit out a of part made for him in this madcap 1970’s Brit lark. Sadly, cap-doffing has not lessened in intervening decades (Prime)

Silly: The Dictator - Daft but enjoyable Baron-Cohen effort (Netflix)

Crime: The Kill Room - Crim Samuel Jackson gets gallery owner Uma Thurman to launder money with comical results (Prime)

Finding Steve McQueen - True tale of plan to steal Nixon’s secret money. Really good (Prime)

Gold Brick – Factory workers get even with family who control their small town. Imaginative heist (Netflix)

Killers Anonymous - Killers support group, where could that go? Hint: huge shoot-out finale (Prime)

Buba - German man believes he’s fated to horrid life so his brother can have a nice one, joins fake Albanian gang (Netflix)

Shotgun Wedding - J Lo and groom getting wed on Philippine island, embroiled in kidnapping. Madly funny (Prime)

 Music

Musical: The Phantom Of The Opera - Enjoyable rewatch of the classic (DVD)

Bio: Straight Outa Compton - The rise and disintegration of NWA. Good but curtailed music left me hankering for 2Pac! (Prime)

Arthouse

Golden Ophelia - In a world where suicide is permitted, man falls in love and changes his mind (Netflix)

Shorts From Another Dimension - Michael Jackson in salami coat the high spot in this Pan-European anthology (Prime)

Wes Anderson collection (Poison, The Swan, The Ratcatcher, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) - film quartet based on Roald Dahl stories. Short mainly due to insanely fast talking (Netflix)

Christmas

Christmas Chronicles - Kurt Russel as streetwise Santa. Very amusing and enjoyable (Netflix)

Candy Cane Lane - Silly Eddie Murphy offering. Some funny bits but rather complicated (Prime)

Your Christmas or Mine 2 - Predictable family mix-up in Innsbruck (Prime)

Withnail and I - Forgot how funny it is with memorable moments such as don't mix your drinks and the Camberwell carrot, but why do we consider it a Christmas film? (DVD)