filmsExaminer

This is a clever mix of several genres - Psychological thriller - Dark comedy - Murder mystery. The film centres on Stephanie, a charming, sweet and innocent single mum Vlogger. She strikes an unlikely friendship with Emily a glamorous and mysterious femme fatal from the social elite. Emily suddenly disappears, Stephanie strives to find out what happened, her Vlog develops from silly home hacks to detecting unsolved mysteries. Though I was amongst a mostly female audience, I think blokes will find this clever, twisty plot entertaining with a satisfying conclusion. 8/10

Fantasy adventure set in the 1950's. Film inspired by the 1970's novel. Film in the manner of Harry Potter. It features a young boy, Lewis, whose parents have passed away and who goes to live with his eccentric warlock uncle and his neighbour who is a witch - they are constantly bickering and digging at each other. Lewis and his uncle immediately hit it off, Lewis's magic training commences. Together they search for a clock that can be heard ticking but hidden somewhere in the magical house. The clock can bring about the end of the world. Lewis wants to bring his mother back to life with a book taken from a forbidden cabinet but accidentally resurrects an evil warlock who wants to end the world after seeing the horrors of the Holocaust. To do this he also needs the clock. Be careful, this might be a bit scary for a very young audience. Perfect casting - The actors all have great chemistry. Some humour. I enjoyed this. Recommended 8/10

Documentary drama, based on actual events. This film is a reconstruction inspired by the 2015 Hatton Garden (£300 million) jewellery robbery, the biggest robbery in UK criminal history. With a stellar cast from the cream of English acting royalty, who carry out the heist of a lifetime! After a successful robbery, dividing the booty makes them greedy, they constantly argue over who gets what. Pretty soon they're caught using modern police techniques, with CCTV, DNA and alike. Once the investigation tracks down one of the gang, they follow a clear path with their intelligence to the rest. The film is good for an older audience and could do well in UK, but I feel won't have global appeal. 7/10

Romantic comedy. This is a love story, set mainly in Singapore, with glamour, opulence, rich plastic people and some funny moments. An 'ordinary' girl meets and falls in love with a 'mega rich' guy. He calls himself 'comfortable' - this is how crazy rich people describe themselves when they're JP Getty rich. They're on their way to Singapore to attend a wedding. The plot hangs on the girl not knowing he was rich until they get on the plane and travel first class. This point develops further and further (probably more than it needed to) She meets his family and there's some predictable conflicts. The plots gets better about half way and after we've got to know all the characters. They fall out of love, they fall in love again - He proposes towards the end, arhhh! The film proves that love conquers all and that you can make a tourist advert for Singapore out of a cliché film. It was OK Nothing special. 6/10

Horror, fantasy, action adventure. Apparently the predator creature has evolved into a bigger, badder hunter killer from DNA harvested from the best (baddest) beings from around the universe. This visit they want Mckenner's autistic son's DNA! But there's a rouge predator with a 'gift' for humanity, though if delivered immediately when he crash landed would make the film 20 minutes long. The rag tag team who fight the predators are damaged (though like-able) individuals who meet on a bus on their way to the loony bin, and helped in their conflicts by a sexy female scientist. There's many familiar elements from the original film including the background rhythmic sound effects. There's lots of humor in the manner of recent Marvel releases. *************************************************************************** The 'gift' is a 'predator killer suit' revealed at the end - in the manner of a grand Marvel reveal ***************************

Gritty action adventure. Based on the British 1980's TV drama. Denzel Washington plays the mysterious Black Ops veteran with O.C.D. Denzel works as a taxi driver this time, listens to his passengers, fixes their problems. Denzel plays the customary 'father figure' to a talented teenage artist who he meets, who is in with the wrong crowd and being led astray, so he helps him with advice 'it takes talent to make money, but it takes brains to keep it' - basically 'stay in school and work hard'. Revenge and brutality are frequent themes in the multitude of plots, but it's Denzel who carries the film throughout. Not great but better than the original, starts well, but goes a little downhill from the hurricane scene towards the end to the end (15 minutes) 7/10

Coming of age drama, set in the early 1990's. The lead protagonist (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a gay youth, who is actually 21 years old but still looks like her 14 year old character. She gets caught intimately in the back of a car with her best-friend (girl) and is consequently sent to a gay conversion camp. The camp treats teenagers who are struggling with SSA (same-sex attraction). The high pressure therapy involves reading from the bible, praying a lot and forcing the 'disciples' to be what they're not in an attempt to 'reprogram' them in as much as illustrate that homosexuality is a sin, heterosexual is normal and the conventional family unit is vital, they are forced to live in shame until they are eventually 'cured' by the process. The film is intimate and compassionate with many erotic scenes that are tastefully done. 8/10

Documentary drama, BBC Films / B.F.I. production. Set in 1970's & 80's Jamaica and London. The protagonist ('D' or Dennis) is traumatised by his brother's murder, can he forgive or avenge the killer? 'D' is sent to London to deliver a 1KG bag of cocaine. The film had moments of excellence, though I imagine that was due to accomplished editing rather than talented directing. Some of the Rasta dialogue was hard to understand, but stick with it - you'll generally get the gist. This is an effective commentary on the current state of violent in London / UK. The themes explored are crime, revenge, family, drugs, and black culture. Worth a watch. 6/10