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Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is a deliberately underwhelming affair

The thing about diminishing expectations is that after a certain point they cease to be worth meeting.

After almost two decades on and off the TV, Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan’s most popular creation, has made his way to the big screen.…

RED 2 is a perfectly good geri-actioner

Do you remember my review of A Good Day to Die Hard, all the way back in the mists of time?

There’s no reason for you to, but in it I aired my complaints with what has become of the series that gave Bruce Willis a career beyond Moonlighting.…

The Wolverine: a Western-Samurai-superhero mashup with claws

After four years in the wilderness, the X-Men’s hairiest, surliest associate is back with his own feature film. And good news: it’s not X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

There was a lot to feel hopeful as The Wolverine approached. Even with the original director, Darren Aronofsky, having dropped off the project, there was still the Chris Claremont/Frank Miller source material in place – the cool Japanese milieu, Wolverine as a ronin (samurai without a master) – and, of course, Hugh Jackman, who is to the 20th Century Fox X-verse what Robert Downey Jr.…

The World’s End is business as usual for the Cornetto bunch

My, haven’t we grown?

It’s been six years since Hot Fuzz blasted onto our screen, John Woo-style, both guns blazing, and a further three since Shaun of the Dead introduced us to arguably the foremost British comedy duo in cinema today (sorry Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan).…

A Field in England is a work of esoterica to be treasured

“These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us.”

— William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I, Scene ii

Wind rustles the dry grass; in the distance the shriek of cannonade, the resounding boom of cannonballs in dirt.…

Pacific Rim stands on the edge of being a halfway decent film

We’re roughly half way through the summer season with Man of Steel and World War Z recently past and Elysium and The Wolverine shortly approaching (among others).

As such, a little $190 blockbuster about giant robots vs. giant aliens could well pass under the radar: less superfluous than Disney’s The Lone Ranger but by no means a guaranteed money-maker, it makes sense that fantasy horror legend Guillermo Del Toro would be asked to bring some much-needed credibility to the project.…

Renoir is a sumptuous, sun-drenched picture that harnesses the beauty and power of its subject’s work

With its overwhelming presence in our everyday lives, it’s easy to forget that film – in fact, media in general – is a medium still in its infancy.

It’s been less than 120 years since the first motion picture was displayed before an audience.…

There’s no real trick to Now You See Me

I’ve always been slightly puzzled when people talk about the magic of cinema.

Sure, cinema can amaze and enthrall – Orson Welles called it a ribbon of dreams – but, unlike magic, it needs to be explicable.

However much The Prestige went on about the final act, the denouement, being the most important, it only works if it feels like what’s preceded has built up to it.…

Stories We Tell is a minor miracle of documentary film-making

“Why would anyone care about our family?”

In the case of a family other than filmmaker Sarah Polley’s that might well be a valid concern. Polley’s relatives, however, are such an engaging, lively, immensely likeable bunch that it’s a pleasure spending time in their company.…

The East is a timely thriller well worth heading to the cinema for

Has there ever been a better-timed tagline than the one for The East: “Spy on us, we’ll spy on you.”

With the NSA scandal over warrantless surveillance still playing out in the US, a lot of people are pretty pissed with the government intelligence agency and the corporations that aided them.

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