Pete’s Dragon

Director: David Lowery Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Oona Laurence, Isiah Whitlock Jr Written by: David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks, (based on a screenplay) Malcolm Marmorstein, (based on a story) Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field Running Time: 103 mins Cert; PG Release date: 12th August 2016 Disney continues their…

Finding Dory

Director: Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Hayden Rolence, Kaitlin Olsen, Ty Burell, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Sigourney Weaver Written by: Victoria Strouse and (also original story) Andrew Stanton Running Time: 97 mins Cert: U Release date: 29th July 2016 When Finding Nemo was released…

Eddie The Eagle

Director: Dexter Fletcher Starring: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Jo Hartley, Keith Allen, Mark Benton, Tim McInnerny, Christopher Walken Written by: Sean Macaulay and (also story) Simon Kelton Running Time: 106 mins Cert: PG Release date: 1st April 2016 Who would have thought that the biggest joke of the 1988 Winter Olympics would become the basis…

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

Director:  Kirk Jones Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Elena Kampouris Written by: (also based on the characters created) Nia Vardalos Running Time: 94 mins Cert: 12A Release date: 25th March 2016 Back in 2002, a very small, low-budget romantic comedy, produced by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, came out of…

Danny Collins

Director: Dan Fogelman Starring: Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Garner, Bobby Cannavale, Josh Peck, Melissa Benoist, Nick Offerman Written by: Dan Fogelman Running Time: 106 mins Cert: 15 Release date: 29th May 2015 If you were going to cast an actor to play the part of an aging rock star, you’d probably have…

Pitch Perfect 2

Director: Elizabeth Banks Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins Written by: Kay Cannon and (based on the characters created) Mickey Rapkin Running Time: 115 mins Cert: 12A Release date: 15th May 2015 The surprise smash of 2012 was a small-scale comedy about a cappella groups. Now, the…

Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story Of Dream Alliance

Director: Louise Osmond Written by: Louise Osmond Running Time: 85 mins Cert: PG Release date: 17th April 2015 There are some films you go into with low expectations, not really looking forward to sitting through it. Dark Horse, a film about my least favourite sport, horse racing, did not excite me one bit. Sometimes you…

Cinderella

Director: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgard, Nonso Anozie, Derek Jacobi Written by: Chris Weitz Running Time: 105 mins Cert: U Release date: 27th March 2015 Who would have thought it? Who would have thought that a cynical, middle-aged film critic would be so utterly charmed by…

X + Y

Director: Morgan Matthews Starring: Asa Butterfield, Ralf Spall, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsden, Jo Yang, Martin McCann, Jake Davis, Alex Lawther Written by: James Graham Running Time: 111 mins Cert: 12A Release date: 13th March 2015 Back in 2007, documentary film maker Morgan Matthews made a film about the International Mathematics Olympiad (yes, there is such a…

Paddington

Director: Paul King Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Ben Whithaw, Julie Walters, Nicole Kidman, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent. Written by: Paul King and (based on the books) Michael Bond Running Time: 95 mins Cert: PG Release date: 28th November 2014 Having spent the year in utter despair at the quality of populist entertainment produced by…