Gag-tastic guffaws guaranteed for fans of the series. — When I first saw Despicable Me, I enjoyed it, but I didn’t expect it to spawn two more sequels, two spin-offs, and a Clockwork Orange-esque cosplay cult that has recently been banned in certain UK cinemas. The indomitable popularity of the series reigns supreme and is doubtless met with many…

Which of these ten archetypes best describe your film viewing persona? — In my many years as a film buff, I’ve learned an expressed interest in movies can mean many things. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll see eye to eye with the person making the claim. As such I’ve discovered, broadly speaking, there are ten categories of cinemagoer. Here they are, listed…

Sexually repressed nuns go insane in the Himalayas. — That subheading may sound like shameless clickbait, but it’s an accurate summary of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 masterpiece, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Every serious cineaste has their favourite film from this legendary pair of British filmmakers: A Matter of Life and Death for some, The…

A journalist investigates a tech company manufacturing nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. — Previous Parts: Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five I awaken on a gurney in the back of an ambulance looking into the street outside Paddington station. A blur of blue police lights glitter in the distance. There’s a bandage on my head. A man, presumably a paramedic, notices me wake…

Austin Butler stuns as the King in Baz Luhrmann’s flamboyantly entertaining biopic. — Baz Luhrmann films are often divisive, provoking a Marmite-style love/hate divide. I am firmly in the former category. Romeo + Juliet is astounding. Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge! are among my all-time favourites. His much-derided take on The Great Gatsby is also massively underrated, in a Baz-Luhrmann-remix sort of way…

A personal choice of the best fights, battles, vehicular pursuits, and other special effects-y goodness in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. — In my recent trilogy of articles answering the prompt set by Sir Paul Combs (Knight of the Dillon Empire), in listing a favourite film from each year for every year I’ve been alive, I did not once include a Marvel Cinematic Universe feature. I expected this would incur the displeasure…

The Dillon Empire undertakes its monthly quest for Medium Holy Grails. — I, Reginald the Rigorous, Secretary to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Simon Dillon, have now been officially appointed by the Dillon Empire to oversee Dillon Picks on a long-term basis. …

A scary Ethan Hawke shines alongside his younger co-stars in Scott Derrickson’s gripping but flawed child abduction ghost story horror. — Scott Derrickson is a director who fascinates me, because I never quite seem able to praise him to the hilt in the way I would prefer. An immense talent behind the camera, as evident from horror films like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister, and the odd blockbuster like…

A journalist investigates a tech company manufacturing nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. — Previous Parts: Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four ‘Naturally, we’re all very upset about Sandra Williams.’ James Windrush, the tall, grey-haired Chief Executive Officer of Astral, sits across from me at a desk in his large top-floor office, wearing jeans and a hoodie, as though he were a trendy “tech bro” of…