Film Review: Shape of Water

Good film with some great cinematography and music. The love story is somewhat far fetched however this is quite acceptable in a fantasy premise. I would have liked to have seen more backstory on the creature since the viewer is left largely ignorant of its history and capture. Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon Dir: Guillermo del Toro "A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times" Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Film Review: Fifty Shades Freed

Better than the last installment with more interesting drama. Story is rather shallow but the story flicks around enough to keep the interest. Ultimately nothing overly special however the film delivers on what you expect e.g. bondage, alpha male behaviours and tension between Mr and Mrs Grey. Much of the feedback on IMDB is simple snobbery, and there is more credit here than portrayed by some of those reviews. Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eric Johnson Dir: James Foley "Mrs. Grey will see you now" Genre: Drama

Film Review: The 15:17 To Paris

Drama looking at the American friends who took down a terrorist attempting to slaughter people on a French train. As the real action was over in a few minutes, Clint Eastwood has filled the hour and half with backstory on how the friends came to together, how they knew certain pieces of information e.g. medical and combat training, and why they were on the train. At times this feels overly stretched The fact that the story is told with the real people leads to some acting feeling a bit amateurish. Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone Dir: Clint Eastwood "A true story. The real heroes." Genre: Action, Drama

Film Review: Phantom Thread

While this film, about a dress maker in the 1950's is beautifully made, with great acting (Daniel Day Lewis, Vicky Krieps) and cinematography, the film is just bland. Although I can see why there's a chance of an Academy Award for DDL's acting, it is somewhat absurd to consider this for 'Best Picture'. These people need to watch more movies!! Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson Genre: Drama, Romanance

Film Review: Den of Thieves

Good old cop and robbers story with a bank (check), car chase (check), a bad guy (check) and a cop who breaks the rules (check). Nothing to lift it to greatness but some of the twists and turns are nice. Personal plea to film makers, can we have a successful cop who isn't going through, or has gone through, a marriage breakdown? The plot is somewhat tired now. Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson Jr. Dir: Christian Gudegast Genre: Crime, Drama

Film Review: Downsizing

This film had so much potential however lost its focus part way through to ultimately deliver mediocre. The first third of the movie was fun and we see the logic and build up to the shrinking process, however after Matt Damon is reduced to 5" tall, the story turns into an adventure story with absolutely no relevance to his size. I would like to have seen the downsizers face new and unique challenges e.g. insect, and use their new viewpoint to solve problems in inventive ways. But no. The environmental and poverty issues addressed in the story are exactly the same as faced by full size humans. Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau Dir: Alexander Payne "We are meant for something bigger." Genre: Adventure, Sci-fi

Film Review: Winchester

Ghost story with a bit of a difference i.e. not just simple haunted house. Acting and script are good, with plenty of jumpy moments. Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Finn Scicluna-O'Prey Dir: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig "Terror is building" Genre: Horror