Not much was expected of this take on Stephen King’s horror. Could anything beat the 1990 miniseries? The answer is a screamed yes. The child actors are superb, and as for Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise, well, we were too scared to think of Tim Curry once.
How do you make a sequel to a youth-culture film and not have it look crusty? If you’re Danny Boyle, you embrace ageing. The now 40-somethings are still disastrous people, but they’re a helluva good time.
Wonder Woman is funnier and more action-packed than the DC films before it. Bats and Supes are now playing catch-up.
Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan’s best movie, and also his simplest. The drama of the Dunkirk evacuation is told in what is effectively one long action sequence that punches you right in the feels. There is no let-up and by the end you’ll likely be weeping, and in need of a long lie-down.
If you’re not won over by the opening number that turns a motorway into a massive dancefloor, it won’t be for you. If you are, though, what delights await. It’s a time-old story told in a way that combines the colourful dazzle of old-school musicals with just a sprinkle of modern indie grit.
This one might just sneak the Best Picture Oscar from some far bigger films. All the passion, lust, fear and joy of first love are told with overwhelming feeling by Luca Guadagnino. Once you’ve seen it, you’ll never look at a peach the same way again.
Moonlight is a quietly devastating film about discovering who you are, making sense of the world and how you fit in it. It’s told with lyrical simplicity by relative newcomer Barry Jenkins, with very little dialogue. It doesn’t need words to deliver its message loud and clear.
To make a sequel 35 years after the original is a bold move. Blade Runner 2049 is more than worthy of its predecessor because it has kept its spirit and built on it, echoing the first film but in deeper, more mind-expanding ways. It’s so gorgeous you could watch it with the sound off and have a lovely time.
Edgar Wright’s crime caper is an instant cult classic. The action sequences are dazzling, and the whole film drips with a very American kind of cool. A showy performance from the now-disgraced Kevin Spacey is the only blemish on this cinematic thrill ride’s flawless chassis.
Get Out takes on the topic of race relations in America and turns it into a riot of
a horror movie, full of creeping scares and big laughs. It makes its audience ask themselves tricky questions in a way no other film has this year.
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