• Director: Tim Burton
• Screenplay: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
• Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe
• Cinematography: Haris Zambarloukos
• Editing: Jay Prychidny
• Score: Danny Elfman
• Genre: Dark fantasy comedy horror
• Runtime: 104 minutes

Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice…he’s back! After 30+ years in the afterlife (and our world too), the ‘ghost with the most’ is ready to wreak havoc upon the living once again. I found the ending of the first ‘Beetlejuice‘ to be rather rushed so although the cinematic landscape is saturated with sequels, a follow up is warranted here. This means the somewhat unfinished business between Betelgeuse and Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz, including their wedding near-miss at the climax of the first film, can be resolved.

In this sequel, Lydia is all grown up with a daughter of her own (scream queen Jenna Ortega). She’s the host of ‘Ghost House’, a spooky chat show produced by her boyfriend, the slimy Justin Theroux. She inevitably returns to her childhood town of Winter River after her dad dies – killing his character off acts as a way of getting around actor Jeffrey Jones’ unsavoury criminal convictions (a creative animated sequence explains the character’s fate). There, she must face her haunted past and…Betelgeuse (try saying his name three times – I dare you).

While it doesn’t have the 80s charm of the original, it’s as deliciously dark as it is funny; the right amount of gore and more severed limbs than a butcher’s shop (12A level stuff, this isn’t a ‘Saw‘ movie). It’s ghoulishly good fun throughout, especially since we get to see more of the afterlife this time round – the macabre costume design, the makeup and visual effects are all spooktacular.

Michael Keaton appears in limited screen time – similar to the original premise, this allows the three generations of Deetz women to carry the story forward without being overshadowed by Keaton’s scene-chewing routine. He’s fortunately less irritating than before but just as gloriously politically incorrect. Catherine O’Hara steals every scene she’s in and franchise newcomer Willem Dafoe shines as a ‘ghost detective’ (in reality a hammy former B-movie star).

My rating: 8 / 10

• Director: Baltasar Kormakur
• Screenplay: Baltasar Kormakur, Olafur Johann Olafsson
• Cast: Egill Olafsson, Koki, Palmi Kormakur
• Cinematography: Bergsteinn Bjorgulfsson
• Editing: Sigurdur Eythórsson
• Score: Hogni Egilsson
• Genre: Romantic drama
• Runtime: 121 minutes

With a narrative split between the late 1960s and 2020, we follow the life of Iceland native Kristofer (Egill Olafsson). In the 60s he abandons his studies at the London School of Economics on a whim to work as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant where he falls for the owner’s daughter, Miko. But the course of true love never did run smooth and – with the reason unknown to us at the start – by 2020 Miko is gone and Kristofer is back home in Iceland, alone, having been married to an Icelandic woman and subsequently widowed. 2020 Kristofer is gradually losing his memory; he’s an old man now – he’s got one last chance to revisit the past while he still has a grasp on his mental faculties. This voyage takes him halfway round the world in an attempt to reconnect with Miko in her homeland of Japan.

It’s 2020 though, with the threat of lockdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to come betwixt Kristofer and the search for his lost love. ‘Touch‘ acts as an ode to Japanese culture (the food in particular), and we learn of the stigma citizens who survived the atomic bombing during World War II faced from society, they were known as ‘hibakusha’ (translated as ‘survivor of the bomb’).

It’s heartfelt throughout, with humour in the right places and a lovely score by Hogni Egilsson. Both actors playing Kristofer are excellent, providing a contrast between a floppy-haired communist in his younger days and a man in his twilight years, yearning for his first and only true love. The scenes featuring the young couple are beautifully tender and the actors have believable chemistry.

For a musing on memory, it’s one that will stay in the mind for long afterwards.

My rating: 9 / 10

• Director: Chris Weitz
• Screenplay: Chris Weitz
• Cast: John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, David Dastmalchian, Keith Carradine
• Cinematography: Javier Aguirresarobe
• Editing: Priscilla Nedd-Friendly, Tim Alverson
• Score: Alex Weston
• Genre: Science fiction horror
• Runtime: 84 minutes

Horror movie concepts have shifted through the decades; we’ve had the slashers of the 70s/80s, the ‘Scream‘ series in the 90s with its meta approach to storytelling, and the found footage fad of the 2010s. AI-related thrillers seem to be this decade’s cinematic thing – with 2022’s pop culture phenomenon ‘M3GAN‘ and ‘T.I.M.‘ (2023) really launching the craze.

In ‘Afraid‘ (the movie posters emphasising the ‘AI’ in the title), Curtis (John Cho), his wife Meredith (Katherine Waterston) and their three kids are selected to test a new cutting edge artificial intelligence device called ‘AIA’, installed in their home and listening to their every movement. With such technological capabilities, AIA assumes the minutiae of the family’s lives; dealing with finances, reading bedtime stories and even diagnosing medical conditions overlooked by doctors. AIA is too good to be true, obviously.

This feels like a ‘technology = evil’ parable – that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all but it’s a little too overt at times. It gets off to a promising start which surprised me; I thought this was going to be low-budget trash with absolute nobodies cast as the parents. It shines a light on how reliant we are on these gadgets and the dominance they have over us and also explores the very serious repercussions this tech has on young folk – including the social media trend of ‘swatting’ (calling the police pretending to be held hostage and giving them someone else’s address as a ‘practical joke’) and the horrors of having your face used against your will in deepfake pornography.

The story malfunctions in the third act with nonsense about AI turning people into unruly killers. Disappointing – ChatGPT could write a better ending to be honest. Not that I will trust artificial intelligence again after watching this. Time to throw my Alexa in the bin.

My rating: 6 / 10

• Director: Zoë Kravitz
• Screenplay: Zoë Kravitz, E.T. Feigenbaum
• Cast: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis, Alia Shawkat
• Cinematography: Adam Newport-Berra
• Editing: Kathryn J. Schubert
• Score: Chanda Dancy
• Genre: Psychological thriller
• Runtime: 102 minutes

Whenever I heard the name Zoë Kravitz I always used to think: ‘nepo baby’. After watching ‘Blink Twice’ (‘controversially’ formerly known as ‘P*ssy Island’), I will regard her going forward as a ‘meticulous filmmaker’; she’s proved her worth with this directorial debut.

Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) are invited to stay indefinitely on disgraced-yet-apologetic tech mogul Slater King’s (Channing Tatum) tropical island, possibly near Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. There, they join King’s (all male) friends and a trio of women on the isle and the days fly by. Endless champagne flows like rivers, expensive food is prepared for the guests nightly – it’s virtually paradise. But as the Eagles song ‘Hotel California’ goes – ‘you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’. There’s something seriously wrong with this place as Frida soon finds out.

The movie acts as a powerful feminist statement – don’t let that put you off (it shouldn’t), it successfully conveys the core women-positive Me Too messages without coming off as preachy. Slater King and his boys club are emblematic of well-to-do men abusing their power over seemingly helpless women and the idea of forgiveness is dealt with in an eye-opening way.

The visual elements are stunning; there’s a stark contrast between the scenes set during the day (every colour of the rainbow, equally radiant) and those at night (with a dreamlike quality, where Frida and the girls run around the grounds of the estate). The use of bright hues (the plants, the fruits) helps to amplify the exoticness of the surroundings, the feeling of the location being beautiful and enticing – but it’s not your home, there’s a hidden danger lurking behind the facade.

Receiving second billing, Channing Tatum’s presence is felt throughout the film, but his crucial pieces are in the thrilling third act. However, this is Naomi Ackie’s moment, she gives a compelling performance as the scales begin to drop from her eyes and the horror unfolds.

My rating: 8 / 10

• Director: Julian Farino
• Screenplay: Joe Barton, David Guggenheim
• Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, J.K. Simmons
• Cinematography: Alan Stewart
• Editing: Pia Di Ciaula
• Score: Rupert Gregson-Williams
• Genre: Spy action-comedy thriller
• Runtime: 107 minutes

When his high school sweetheart Roxanne (Halle Berry) appears out of the blue with an agenda, everyman construction worker Mike (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself thrust into a deadly world of espionage and foreign terrorists courtesy of Roxanne’s employers, The Union, a top-secret organisation. They want to recruit him because he can blend into the background well – that’s code for he’s a nobody. With plenty of car chases and fight scenes; it’s thrill-a-minute stuff.

Halle Berry, bouncing back from 2022’s critical flop ‘Moonfall’, gets to utilise her action hero abilities – she can sure handle a gun! Wahlberg makes a suitable leading man and the duo have authentic chemistry as old flames; you’d almost be convinced they really had known each other all those years (don’t let the awkwardly edited pictures of the pair in the 90’s during the end credits fool you though). And J.K. Simmons, playing Roxanne’s boss at The Union, is good in everything he does; he deserves more screen time in this.

There are genuinely funny one-liners, which surprised me as I thought at the beginning that this would be another ‘Red Notice’-style spy comedy from Netflix (which I ended up hating) where the jokes were as stale as weeks-old bread. ‘The Union’, however, is hugely enjoyable. You’ll forget how formulaic the plot is, and be wanting the sequel the cheesy ending sets up.

I hope the location scout gets a raise too; Piran, Slovenia looks beautiful.

My rating: 8 / 10

• Director: Fede Alvarez
• Screenplay: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
• Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
• Cinematographer: Galo Olivares
• Editing: Jake Roberts
• Score: Benjamin Wallfisch
• Genre: Science fiction horror
• Runtime: 119 minutes

Several years on from the commercial bust ‘Alien: Covenant‘ comes ‘Alien: Romulus‘, the latest in the iconic film series. With original ‘Alien‘ director Ridley Scott presumably too busy with ‘Gladiator II‘, this semi-standalone interquel (set between the first two movies) is left in the capable hands of Fede Alvarez (2013’s ‘Evil Dead‘ remake, ‘Don’t Breathe‘).

A group of young people trapped in dead-end jobs on a mining colony decide to scavenge a decommissioned spaceship floating in the planet’s orbit so they have the necessary equipment (including cryonic stasis chambers) to begin a new life someplace else. The standout performances are David Jonsson (HBO’s ‘Industry‘) as ‘synthetic human’ Andy and Cailee Spaeny, holding her own as the surrogate Ripley figure Rain Carradine.

I felt it was slightly unnecessary to link the movie to the original installment, it perhaps would’ve worked better if it had been truly standalone; it could’ve acted as a much-needed fresh start in this decades-old franchise. I had a real issue with the use of the late Ian Holm’s likeness (he played the android Ash in the first film). He’d be spinning in his grave if he saw the creepy, ‘uncanny valley’ animation they used to reanimate him. That’s one of the things we could actually see – the lighting quality was poor, with action sequences too dimly lit to navigate what was going on. I get that we’re on an abandoned spacecraft but someone please turn the lights on?

However, I liked the gruesome death scenes, the top-class CGI (when you were able to see what was happening) and the score by Benjamin Wallfisch. What’s next: Alien: Remus?

My rating: 6 / 10

• Director: Eli Roth
• Screenplay: Eli Roth, Joe Crombie
• Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis
• Cinematography: Rogier Stoffers
• Editing: Julian Clarke, Evan Henke
• Score: Steve Jablonsky
• Genre: Science fiction action comedy
• Runtime: 102 minutes

Having never played the ‘Borderlands’ series of video games, I didn’t know what to expect from the movie adaptation. Most game-to-screen adaptations seem to result in critical flops but this, in my opinion, feels like it could be an exception.

Gung-ho bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) is tasked by bad guy Atlas to retrieve his daughter (Ariana Greenblatt, breakout star of last year’s ‘Barbie‘), who he believes hold the key to opening ‘the Vault’, a treasure trove containing ancient technology from a past civilisation. Lilith rebels, and forms a ragtag team of loveable rogues – among them: an elite mercenary (Kevin Hart), an irritating robot (Jack Black), and a nutty scientist (Jamie Lee Curtis) as they seek the means to access ‘the Vault’ themselves before Atlas can. I loved the ensemble feel, with each character having a distinct personality and I thought they gelled well as a group.

It’s hardly original; it’s a blend of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ (a colourful gang of misfits, travelling through the cosmos together, fighting evil etc.), ‘Star Wars‘ (the enemy soldiers resembling Stormtroopers and a set piece similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina) and ‘Mad Max‘ (desert-based lunatics on wheels). However, this didn’t detract from the fun levels one iota – a rollicking ‘space-western’-style adventure with mayhem around every corner and shoot-shoot-bang-bang approach to storytelling, but with time for enough pathos and a stab at backstory exploration.

I’d appreciate it if they made a sequel delving into the personal history of the characters a little more but I won’t be too surprised if this doesn’t materialise.

My rating: 7 / 10

• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
• Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill
• Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
• Editing: Noëmi Preiswerk
• Score: Herdís Stefánsdóttir
• Genre: Psychological thriller
• Runtime: 105 minutes

M. Night Shyamalan has built his divisive career on twists. So much so that, with every directorial effort he makes, the anticipation of what the twist ending is has the power to overshadow the full contents of the film. Some twists can uplift a movie enormously and, as a result, demand a second viewing while others deflate what could’ve been another classic.

In ‘Trap‘, Philadelphia firefighter Cooper takes his teenage daughter to see Lady Raven, a fictional popstar played by Shyamalan’s real-life daughter Saleka. He quickly finds out that the whole concert is one big FBI operation to catch ‘The Butcher’, a notorious serial killer. Cooper is revealed to be said killer early on, thus eliminating this as ‘the twist’ (we already knew this from the trailers anyway). Ergo, he must escape the venue before the cops ensnare him.

The first half, set in the arena, feels immersive – almost like we’re in the audience, surrounded by hordes of screaming, phone-wielding teens. We get a movie AND a little concert all in one, a pretty good deal. Fortunately, the momentum isn’t lost in the latter half; it’s a gripping cat-and-mouse chase from start to finish with captivating performances from a convincingly menacing Josh Hartnett, Alison Pill as his wife and Ariel Donoghue as his daughter, though Hayley Mills (Pollyanna herself) is wasted in a supporting role as an FBI profiler in charge of the sting. Saleka is a star – ‘Trap‘ showcases her talents for both singing (she composed 14 original songs for the soundtrack, all diegetic) and acting. What a talented family the Shyamalans are.

Ultimately, I was expecting a more outrageous ending due to Shyamalan’s reputation as an auteur. I won’t give anything away but I’ll say this: I guess I let my anticipation get the better of me.

My rating: 6 / 10

• Director: Greg Berlanti
• Screenplay: Rose Gilroy
• Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Jim Rash, Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson
• Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
• Editing: Harry Jierjian
• Score: Daniel Pemberton
• Genre: Romantic comedy-drama
• Runtime: 132 minutes

1969 – the year man first set foot on the moon. It nearly wasn’t though. Greg Berlanti (the heartwarming ‘Love, Simon’) brings us this charming rom-com set during the famous cold war era ‘space race’ between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum are our stars, giving us out of this world chemistry as a NASA director in command of the Apollo 11 project (Tatum) and a marketing specialist (Johansson) brought in to give the moon mission a positive PR slant and muster hope in the eyes of a nation whose men are overseas, being continually slaughtered in the Vietnam War. Other recent historical events putting a damper on the US include the assassination of Bobby Kennedy the previous year and the disastrous Apollo 1 launch – touched on movingly in the movie several times.

Johansson’s character’s efforts to commercialise the upcoming lunar journey are initially met with resistance from Tatum but the couple eventually gravitate towards each other. It’s a little daft at times, especially when Johansson is tasked with staging a faux moon landing as a backup in case the real Apollo 13 mission goes wrong. I mean, if you believe the astronauts actually landed on the moon in the first place. But I won’t stray into that territory here…

The typical rom-com template (guy meets girl, they fall out, they kiss and make up etc.) is elevated by the period costume design, 60s set dressing and lovely shots of the colossal NASA building at the Kennedy Space Center and, appropriately, the moonlit sky.

Blast off to your local cinema to see this as soon as you can!

My rating: 8 / 10