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Amazing images in a stunning setting, with snatches of clarity in an otherwise wandering, occasionally fantastical, often quite funny patchwork of moments and scenes. Centrally concerned with a couple who are amicably separating and attempting to figure that out while doing right by their kids and each other, I found this engaging on the surface but lacking in insight - apart from one moment of profound wisdom from a very unlikely place.

A Wes Anderson action thriller, where the main character says "actually I feel very safe" in the most perilous moments.
Despite the stacked cast list, this is really a three-hander between Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera, all of whom are excellent, and Threapleton in particular gets Wes's deadpan requirements to a tee.
This is hilarious - arguably a bit less substantial than Asteroid City or French Dispatch, but no less delightful.

Such rich and dense storytelling, packed with memorable characters and moments. Layers that build to a very moving conclusion, and a great love of cinema running through the whole thing.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 15, 2025.

This is documentary as urgent, relevant response to still-unfolding events. Really good, and to be honest essential watching in a world where mainstream news media resists nuance and depth at every possible turn.

At GFT on 70mm. Everything I've always loved about this film is just bigger and better on the big screen.
Not sure if my son was fully convinced by my 'this is the template for all the Cruise/McQuarrie Mission Impossible movies' chat, but I'm just delighted he had such a good time with it.
Can't wait to watch it again, to be honest.

According to Letterboxd I haven't watched this since I started logging films here, which is over 12 years - surely some mistake! I'm a pretty faithful film logger, so the mistake is all mine - I really should watch this hilarious masterpiece more often.
The thing that I picked up on this time was the use of recurring gags - the regular references to swallows, and the number of characters who are almost dead but are actually going to be okay, to name two - it takes intelligence to be this silly.

This is still brilliant. Alicia Silverstone gave one of the iconic performances of the 90s, and it remains a thing of comic wonder. Dan Hedaya and Wallace Shawn also do perfectly-pitched work here, Amy Heckerling knew exactly what she was doing when she cast them. The way Dan Hedaya says "get outta my chair" gets me every time.
Incredible 90s soundtrack, endless quotable lines and so joyously silly.
Plus that political argument Cher gives about why it is right to make room for the Haitians feels more prescient, relevant and apt every time I watch the film.

Consistent chuckles all the way through this, and I liked the occasional (light) dips into deeper thinking about books and writing. Fun and sweet.

Watched on Thursday May 1, 2025.

Very moving Loachian drama - and similar to some Loach it's not the most sophisticated of storytelling. But the lead performance by Posy Sterling is so raw and powerful, the director's choice to remain on her for so much of the film is always the right one.

This review may contain spoilers.

There is a lot to enjoy in this movie - perhaps most of all the sense of watching a confident cinema storyteller completely in control of what he wants to do. That's not to say that some of the turns and shifts of tone don't feel, for a split second, like they're about to derail the whole thing into utter silliness, but more that Ryan Coogler knows he can land those wild turns where he wants to - and he can take us with him.

I loved this - the complete immersion in a convincing period story for the first 45 minutes, complete with a magnetic lead performance from Michael B. Jordan and even better from Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku - to be honest I could have taken a whole movie that stayed in that ; I'd love to see Coogler's take on Boardwalk Empire. But then we wouldn't get all the amazing melding of music performances and supernatural goings-on, and that really works too. Then the turn to full-bore vampire action is the icing on the cake.

Having said all that, I do have some issues with the film - some are just minor niggles, like I hated the use of digital red dots in the vampires eyes (tacky and overkill) and I thought when the score swerved into rock opera it was probably the most naff thing I've heard all year (apart from perhaps the new Bon Iver album).
But more significantly I think Coogler is not disciplined enough in his storytelling to give us a clear sense of what the film is really, substantially, about. There are many great themes touched on, but none are developed enough to the point where you go away from the film with that satisified sense of 'wow that was an amazing blockbuster and it really said something too!' I think that rather tacked-on coda where Stack (or Smoke, I forget) kills all the Klan guys is quite representative of that lack of discipline. It's cool and cathartic, but it maybe doesn't need to be in this film.

More power to Coogler though, and I can appreciate that his approach in making this may have been 'I'm only gonna one shot as big as this, so I'd better throw in everything I've ever wanted to put in a movie'. Fair enough, although something tells me he's gonna get at least a few more shots now.

Ok i've read all your reviews about why this is great, but it just didn't work for me. Too many of the scenes reminded me of Police Squad! (in Color), and as much as I love that series, I don't think that's what Friedkin or Pacino were going for.

Never seen this in the cinema til now. The opening song, Hang Me Oh Hang Me, as performed by Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis, immediately transported me. As with every Coens film, the attention to every little detail makes this film feel so lived-in and memorable. And the way it captures such painful truth about art and creativity, with a fine streak of self-aware critique, is remarkable. Quite a film.

Glad I finally caught this after missing it at several festivals last year - thanks MUBI!
It's a really enjoyable film experience, although I can't really say what it amounts to in of meaning or emotional resonance (perhaps not that much?). Great imagery, and very evocative Conrad-esque jungle river storytelling - though it steers away from the kind of madness these stories usually veer towards. The present day documentary footage didn't really do much for me, but I liked that the narration of the 1917 story continued through it. It's never less than interesting, and really compelling all the way through. The touch of fourth-wall-breaking at the very end was great.

Delightful and hilarious to revisit this one - it would be great to see Pegg and Wright write something together again. We watched the outtakes afterwards, and they are quite instructive in letting you see that pulling off the balance of tone in the way they do so masterfully here is no easy task. A lot of precision went into making this work as well as it does.

Seeing this in the cinema with a big audience of all ages just brought home the brilliance of Spielberg's storytelling. And John Williams' score! Oh man that music with those images is close to a divine encounter.

Okay so the gags are hit and miss, but there's so many of them! I think some of the genre parody is spot-on too, like the way all the characters ire the hero ('he's so complex!') and the whole sequence leading up to Dead Meat's er, death.
I loved this when I was 13, very fun to enjoy it with my kids (and long-suffering wife) now.

Lovely family viewing - with a nice diverse bunch of contributors. Human beings can be really great!

I can see that this is conceptually good, but the execution doesn't quite hit the target. There are obvious budget limitations that Akerman doesn't really lean into enough to convince that she's totally aware of their effect. Also while the targets of the film's critique are obvious and welcome, the plot and dialogue are not particularly sharp or focused - it feels very scattershot both in of humour and characterisation.
But it's always fun to see an arthouse director do a musical, and it's interesting to see another side to Akerman.

This film is absolute garbage. But me and my daughter had a great time watching it: predicting every turn of the pointless plot, repeating back the endless lines of inane self-serious cod-spiritual dialogue, chuckling every time one of these 'photorealistic' characters 'smiled', wistfully singing the word 'Melele' every time a character said it (at least 200 times I reckon). What a blast.

But you have to laugh, as otherwise you would cry at the realisation that Barry Jenkins put his name to this steaming pile of box office friendly, streamer-optimised, soulless crapola.

Seriously Mr Jenkins, there are a hundred hacks who could churn out this guff and nobody in the audience would care whose name appeared at the end. You have a unique ability to catch human truth in beautiful cinema - please don't waste that talent on any more of this drivel.

I think this has a lukewarm reputation, and while I loving it in the cinema, I hadn't been back to it. Getting the chance to watch it again on the big screen reminded me why it's actually brilliant.
It's an exemplary adaptation, really engaging with all the key things the book is about - and it's also an incredible cinematic experience. The cinematography here is just stunning.
We seem to have left the era of good adaptations of literary fiction - but this is a great reminder of how good they got. Ang Lee, total master.

Watching this so soon after Fallout, several things become clear: the script is working overtime to justify putting all these set pieces together, and the effort shows in some very laboured talky scenes that demonstrate just how finely they'd perfected the balance of exposition and action in the previous instalment. But - Cruise's performance gets better with each movie, more precisely tuned to deliver exactly what the movie needs in every moment - both in of line deliveries and physical action.
While the car chase in Rome is a series highlight, this film only really truly flies in its last hour - but from the moment the train gets on the tracks, this is absolutely amazing stuff.

Like its title character, this film is overwhelmingly beautiful, and never less than a pleasure to watch. I enjoyed Sorrentino's episodic trip through Parthenope's life of looking and being looked at, despite an increasing sense that he was reaching for some meaning that remained beyond his grasp as the film progressed.

Almost documentary-like in its commitment to just telling the story of this one race, arguably there's not really enough story here to make a satisfying film. But it's an interesting approach: the racing feels very real, and there are some really great editing choices. And McQueen was a real cool guy.

Amazing watching this on the projector with my son as he continues his love of all things blur. Damon Albarn's genuine love and affection for everyone throughout this concert is really touching. And I could listen to Graham Coxon's beautiful guitar tones all day.

Bit of a case of great setting, shame about the story. The colours, imagery and atmosphere are pretty amazing - I don't think sex has ever been dingier or less erotic than it is here. But the central story is uninvolving - it kind of toys with neo-noir and dabbles in Lynchianism, but doesn't land anywhere definite. Still, those colours.

I appreciate Lorcan Finnegan's commitment to making weird twilight zone-esque feature films. He's not quite perfected it yet, and this one has some weaknesses, but the set-up and style are strong. Kept me entertained and - for the most part - curious, and Cage is great value as ever.

My goodness what a breath of fresh air this film is - how brilliant to see a father-daughter relationship portrayed with real complexity, and in a way that keeps you asking questions throughout, rather than spelling out precisely how these characters relate to each other from the get-go. The film is also a worthy addition to the American outdoors mini-genre, complete with beautiful score and lovely cinematography. Amazing lead performance from Lily Collias - this is a film where the smallest change of expression on a face speaks to a world of deep emotion. See it, and see it in a cinema - it’s one of the year's best.

I liked this, then I didn't like it, and after a bit of mulling I quite like it again. But the weird sex gymnastics club that Mackenzie Davis goes to is really very silly.

Watched on Tuesday April 1, 2025.

This is only the second of Akerman's features that I've watched, but having seen quite a few of her shorts that feature herself, I loved that continuing theme here; the fact that she is so willing to put her physical self right in the centre of her filmmaking, right in the thick of it. Her character here moves from central subject to amused observer to ionate scene partner, and in each mode she's fascinating. While this is a film dealing with deep and heavy feelings (ones that other reviewers on here have responded to in much more personal and insightful ways than me), for me it was Akerman's playful notes that resonated most.

From that first scene where the unnamed mother is ominously chopping whatever it is she's chopping, Bong has you on edge. What follows is like finest Hitchcock, with added slapstick. This is one of those films that will hang around your mind for years.

Wow, this is so weak, and quite rubbish really, compared to the first one, and in fact most other Disney films of the past 10 years.
Just no effort to do anything interesting. No new ideas, just blatant rehashing of scenes and situations from the first one, with lame rip-off versions of the first one's great songs. It doesn't even have a real plot, it's like a Moana sketch show, and the emotional impact is at about that level.
Honestly this is absolutely the definition of content that's been created to fill space on a streamer platform. The fact that it was a huge box office hit is crushing.

Ooft that hurt my heart.

This was my third time watching, and the first time I've really loved it. After a bit of a too slow start this gets going and just doesn't stop - I love all the dark twists, the music, the shot of s McDormand that shifts from the bar to her bed in one unbroken move, and the Coens' unfailing eye for unique details.

A hothouse of cinema, politics and sex, shot through with classical storytelling tropes and references. I can see why people reach for the 'pretentious' complaint with this, but I had a good time with it - I love a bit of barefaced (heh) pretension.

This is a lot fun taken on its own broad, blunt - as a satire it's more silly than sharp, but just because a target is obvious doesn't mean you shouldn't still make fun of it. I laughed a lot.
Robert Pattinson does fantastic work here, ensuring there are real moments of poignancy - we feel for Mickey even as Bong delights in making him suffer. It is a bit of a fine line, I wonder if the film enjoys the cruelty to Mickey a touch too much.
The ing cast is a total delight, each one making an impression. I wanted more of Happening's Anamaria Vartolomei, as her character just disappeared after seeming to be developing in an interesting way.

My son has recently got into Blur in a big way, which was unexpected but great - he sought out this doc about their 2009 reunion which I had never seen either. It's really good - tells the history of the band in their own words alongside amazing footage of their fierce reunion shows.
Also it took me right back to that moment in 1997 - hearing Beetlebum and Song 2 for the first time - realising that Blur had just become one of my favourite bands - brilliant.

Curious film. Starts kinda dull, gets really gripping mainly thanks to intriguing camerawork and editing, then takes some laughably awful plot turns and becomes a nonsensical shooty men film. Not for me thanks!

Never noted until this watch that this was produced by Jonathan Demme and shot by his regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto. Very wise choice of collaborators for your debut, Tom Hanks! Not to take away from Hanks's consistently great choices as writer and director here - this is such a smart, funny and entertaining watch. Tom Everett Scott is perfectly cast, and if he actually played those drum parts he's also an awesome drummer.
And that song!

All the films we've watched at Food & Film night since beginning in 2018.

• Sorcerer
• The Big Lebowski
• The Double Life of Véronique
• Shutter Island
• The Maltese Falcon
• John Wick
• Murder by Death
• Halloween
• Touch of Evil
• Unforgiven

...plus 49 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My Top 10 of the year is here, these are my 44 next best - all very much worth your time.
Further thoughts on each film in the specific diary entries.

• About Dry Grasses
• All We Imagine as Light
• American Fiction
• The Apprentice
• Bird
• Challengers
• Close Your Eyes
• Crossing
• The Dead Don't Hurt
• Dune: Part Two

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My criteria is that the films have to have had a general UK release this year.
You can find some thoughts on why I love these films in my reviews on individual entries, and you'll find my picks of a further 44 films I would class as my favourites of the year here.

1. Perfect Days
2. Anora
3. Poor Things
4. The Beast
5. Bye Bye Tiberias
6. A Different Man
7. The Outrun
8. La Chimera
9. All of Us Strangers
10. Origin

Felt like a great TIFF this year. Obviously I only saw a fraction of the films there, but what I saw made me feel excited about the next 6 months for programming GFT. Lots of good films coming up that I think people are gonna have a great time with.
This is everything I saw in the order I saw it (more thoughts on individual entries). If I'd had time I would have also rewatched Anora while I was there - just seeing it in the programme made me wanna be back experiencing it again.

• The Salt Path
• I'm Still Here
• Millers in Marriage
• Kill the Jockey
• Carnival is Over
• The Room Next Door
• Hard Truths
• The Fire Inside
• The Penguin Lessons
• Nightbitch

...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Here's all the films I watched at Cannes this year. The top 3 are my top 3, the rest are in alphabetical order. Some further thoughts on individual entries.

• Anora
• Bird
• Elementary
• The Apprentice
• The Balconettes
• The Brink of Dreams
• Caught by the Tides
• Emilia Pérez
• Everybody Loves Touda
• The Hyperboreans

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These are the next 40 that just fell outside my top 10. In alphabetical order as I generally try and resist ranking wherever possible. These are all very good films!

• Alcarràs
• Anatomy of a Fall
• The Beasts
• Beyond Utopia
• Blue Jean
• Broker
• Close
• A Dog Called Discord
• Earth Mama
• Eileen

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Going strictly by UK cinema release dates (or streaming date if they byed cinemas).
It's notable to me that there are no British films in my top 10. I know there are good films coming out of the UK at the moment, but nothing that, for me, had the sophistication, artistry, depth or originality of stuff that was coming from other parts of the world.
I already know this won't be the case in '24, as All of Us Strangers is guaranteed a slot in my top 10 next year (if there are 10 better films released next year, it will be a sensational movie year).

1. The Eight Mountains
2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
3. Saint Omer
4. May December
5. Women Talking
6. Asteroid City
7. One Fine Morning
8. Killers of the Flower Moon
9. Return to Seoul
10. TÁR

My favourites of the many 'old' films I watched for the first time this year.
Numbers 1 and 2 were also two of my best cinema experiences of the year.

1. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
2. Stop Making Sense
3. Variety
4. Smiles of a Summer Night
5. Faces
6. Thelma & Louise
7. New York, New York
8. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
9. Sunday Bloody Sunday
10. Porco Rosso

• The Worst Person in the World
• Parallel Mothers
• This Much I Know to Be True
• Flux Gourmet
• Compartment No. 6
• Small Body
• My Old School
• Happening
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Triangle of Sadness

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The North Water
• The Underground Railroad

My favourites of all the 2021 UK cinema-released films I've seen. I left out Licorice Pizza as it's not officially released until 2022, but it would be troubling my top 3 if it was allowed here.

1. Sound of Metal
2. Drive My Car
3. C'mon C'mon
4. Petite Maman
5. First Cow
6. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
7. Minari
8. Nomadland
9. The Green Knight
10. The French Dispatch

...plus 45 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

'Old' in this context equals pre-2000

• The Young Girls of Rochefort
• Grey Gardens
• After Life
• Chungking Express
• Apur Sansar
• Beauty and the Beast
• Red Desert
• American Graffiti

This is a fool's errand, but I just felt like giving it a shot, having just rewatched Inside Llewyn Davis. (Note: I've never seen their The Ladykillers)

1. Fargo
2. No Country for Old Men
3. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
4. Inside Llewyn Davis
5. True Grit
6. The Big Lebowski
7. Raising Arizona
8. The Man Who Wasn't There
9. Miller's Crossing
10. Barton Fink

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Everything after the top ten is equal 11th place!

1. If Beale Street Could Talk
2. Marriage Story
3. Transit
4. The Souvenir
5. Knives Out
6. The Irishman
7. For Sama
8. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
9. So Long, My Son
10. Island of the Hungry Ghosts

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. The Florida Project
2. Heal the Living
3. Manchester by the Sea
4. I Am Not Your Negro
5. Dawson City: Frozen Time
6. A Ghost Story
7. Call Me by Your Name
8. Your Name.
9. Thor: Ragnarok
10. The Big Sick

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Still ongoing so I might need to boot something off before the year is out. In some ways, I hope so!

1. Dekalog
2. Sweet Smell of Success
3. Three Colours: Blue
4. Vivacious Lady
5. La Strada
6. Monterey Pop
7. Babette's Feast
8. Two Women
9. Only Angels Have Wings
10. The Flowers of St. Francis

Based on UK release dates

• Hunt for the Wilderpeople
• Spotlight
• Mustang
• Julieta
• Embrace of the Serpent
• Room
• Love & Friendship
• Son of Saul
• I, Daniel Blake
• Arabian Nights: Volume 1, The Restless One

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Selma
2. Dreamcatcher
3. 45 Years
4. Love & Mercy
5. The Salt of the Earth
6. Inherent Vice
7. Brooklyn
8. Carol
9. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
10. Whiplash

This is my top 10 for 2013 - all films that went on release in UK cinemas in 2013. What a great year for movies!

1. Captain Phillips
2. Before Midnight
3. Django Unchained
4. Gravity
5. Blue Jasmine
6. Zero Dark Thirty
7. The Gatekeepers

   Here's my review from The List: film.list.co.uk/article/49147-the-gatekeepers/

8. White Elephant

   Here's my review from The List: film.list.co.uk/article/49128-white-elephant/

9. The Great Beauty
10. Good Vibrations

    Here's my review from The List: film.list.co.uk/article/49477-good-vibrations/