REVIEW: Early Man

Aardman Animations’ latest sends comedy back to the Stone Age… but not in the way you might hope.

We open, according to a subtitle, on Neo-Pleistocene Earth, tracking away from a furiously erupting volcano. Dinosaurs tussle up on a ridge; a tribe of primeval persons are exuberantly beating the tar out of one another; all of which are expertly made of plasticine.…

My 15 Best Films of 2017 (& 5 of the Worst)

Well, it’s that time of the year again, namely the end; a time for rundowns and summations, a time for best ofs and worst ofs, when the generally indifferent just slips away.

2017 has, on the whole, been an exceptional year for film or at least the type of films I tend to enjoy; which is to say, ones about with sensitive characters experiencing lots of little feelings.…

REVIEW: The Emoji Movie – sad face, poop emoji, poop emoji, fuck this shit

Now I usually enjoy giving a terrible film a booting as much as the next reviewer, but there’s something about The Emoji Movie that’s so utterly dispiriting that it even takes the joy out of that.

Rather than simply being utterly misjudged in the way that, say, Batman V Supermanthat redoubtable object of loathing for me, was misjudged – The Emoji Movie gives no impression that anyone ever sincerely expected it to be good.…