Chimpomatic

All Is By My Side

Vague Hendrix biopic with an impressionistic turn from Andre 3000 and a few nice moments.

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25th Sep 2015

A Most Violent Year

Classy, intense, small-scale crime epic from J.C. Chandor. Great automobile art direction too.

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22nd Sep 2015

Black Sea

Old-fashioned submarine thriller. Well put together with a great cast, but hardly full of surprises.

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19th Sep 2015

The Family

Forgettable comedy-drama from a long-past-his-prime Luc Besson. Light on comedy and drama.

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9th Sep 2015

Smashed

Solid indie, from a convoluted premise. Light on jeopardy, but a decent turn from Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

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7th Sep 2015

Revenge of the Sith

Utterly bloated sequel, clumsily squandering the most anticipated lightsaber duel of all time.

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6th Sep 2015

It Might Get Loud

Stylish, but ultimately bog-standard guitar doc. You might rearrange your heroes after watching.

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30th Aug 2015

Side Effects

Taught, unpredictable thriller. Well played and masterfully directed by Steven Soderbergh.

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30th Aug 2015

Toy Story 3

Note-perfect sentimentality from Pixar, perfectly capturing the joy and pain of childhood.

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30th Aug 2015

Attack of the Clones

Brutally incompetent, all-Easter-egg sequel that only makes the @StarWars universe smaller.

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29th Aug 2015

Hyena

Despite the clichéd plot, a top cast and stylish direction elevate this violent UK cop pic out the doldrums.

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28th Aug 2015

Interstellar

Impeccably stylish but deeply flawed, sci-fi with some of the worst pacing ever. Someone reign Nolan in.

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25th Aug 2015

Men, Women & Children

Thoughtful, high-spec indie from Jason Reitman. Nicely put together, but a little high-concept.

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16th Aug 2015

The Phantom Menace

The most disappointing sequel of all time has only got worse with age. Only Darth Maul redeems.

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15th Aug 2015

Return of the Jedi

Lazy re-hash, adequately directed but saved by outstanding art direction and big set pieces.

Halliwell says: More expensive fantasy for the world's children of all ages, especially the undemanding ones.*

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11th Aug 2015

The Empire Strikes Back

Classy, emotional, unpredictable sequel. Head and shoulders above the other 5 at every turn.

Halliwell says: More exhilarating interplanetary adventures, as mindless as Star Wars but just as enjoyable for aficionados.**

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10th Aug 2015

Grease

Out of context this 50s set (70s style) high school musical starring late 20s actors is almost unwatchable.

Halliwell says: Amiable 'period' musical for teenagers: a highly fashionable explotation of the new star John Travolta, its commercialism was undeniable, and it carefully built in appeal to older age groups.**

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7th Aug 2015

Star Wars

Dated, clunky, clumsily directed nonsense - that still manages to capture the worlds imagination.

Halliwell says: Flash Gordon rides again, but with timing so impeccably right that the movie became a phenomenon and one of the top grossers of all time. In view of the hullabaloo, some disappointment may be felt with the actual experience of watching it... but it's certainly good harmless fun, put together with style and imagination.***

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7th Aug 2015

The Skeleton Twins

Up-market indie with a decent cast putting in solid performances.

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1st Aug 2015

3-10 to Yuma

Badass, emotional modern western - a perfect storm of plot, script, acting, direction and photography.

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31st Jul 2015

Minions

Canny animated prequel, upping the tech style while cashing in on the banana-obsessed stars of the original.

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25th Jul 2015

Rounders

Over-rated cult hit with Damon and Norton, floored by the never-ending dullness of poker on film.

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25th Jul 2015

The Double

Sub-Gilliam Kafka-esque twoddle. It's all intentional, but just ends up looking like an 80s student film.

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24th Jul 2015

'71

A decent premise and classy art direction aren't quite enough to elevate this Troubles pic into greatness.

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23rd Jul 2015

Mad Max Fury Road

2 hours of utterly unmotivated nonsense, interspersed with OTT wacky races. But I was never a fan.

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21st Jul 2015

The Lion King

1990s re-imagining of Bambi. Equally scary for kids in places, but lacking a certain charm.

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16th Jul 2015

The Imitation Game

Solid, safe wartime biopic from the British-Oscar-hopeful template.

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11th Jul 2015

Ant-Man

Efficient Marvel shrinking antics in which that Paul Rudd that you like gets a cool suit from Michael Douglas.

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9th Jul 2015

Joe

Well meaning indie that doesn't hit the mark, despite Nic Cage's most serious effort in years.

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3rd Jul 2015

Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Luscious outlaw drama. Malick aspirations, hampered by pretensions and clumsy pacing.

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1st Jul 2015

Fury

Stylish but muddled war clone, lacking the clarity of the classics. Star power pastes over the cracks.

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28th Jun 2015

Entourage

Lazy rehash of the uglier side of the hit TV show. Jim Robinson guest stars

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25th Jun 2015

Boyhood

There's less novelty the second time round, but this unique film benefits and even seems less contrived.

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20th Jun 2015

Kagemusha

Slow 80s samurai doppelganger pic from Akira Kurosawa, which seems all the more epic in the post-CGI world.

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19th Jun 2015

Clear and Present Danger

Despite the Twitter-unfriendly title, this old fashioned 90s thriller holds up well.

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18th Jun 2015

Downfall

Powerful and impressive, but the chamber-piece presentation creates an Abigail’s-Party-for-Nazis vibe.

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17th Jun 2015

The Counsellor

Indecipherable monologues from Hollywood's A list, shot by a director with a dismal success ratio.

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13th Jun 2015

Lucy

Nonsensical, badly cast Euro-Actioner, from a director long past his brief prime.

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12th Jun 2015

The Art Of Flight

Great cinematography and snowboarding meet the contrived jeopardy typical of 'The Apprentice'.

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9th Jun 2015

Begin Again

Cookie cutter big budget 'indie', with a bland take on the power of music. Ruffalo should know better.

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8th Jun 2015

The Departed

Scorsese's remake makes up for its lack of subtlety through pure bombast. Di Caprio's career highlight.

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6th Jun 2015

Bad Neighbours

Auto-pilot anti-frat comedy, lacking the necessary heavyweight ensemble cast.

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6th Jun 2015

All This Mayhem

Paranoid, one-sided documentary showing an ugly slice of the 90s skate scene.

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5th Jun 2015

Another Girl Another Planet

Thoroughly pretentious, thoroughly enjoyable 90s PXL-Vision hipster indiefest.

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4th Jun 2015

Aloha

Emma Stone playing a half-Chinese/Hawaiian local is the least of this confusing Cameron Crowe washout's problems.

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3rd Jun 2015

The Equalizer

Classic Denzel.

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3rd Jun 2015

The Woman In Black

Classic gothic ghost story. Thin, but well crafted with plenty of shocks.

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31st May 2015

Alan Partridge Alpha Papa

Mildly amusing feature adventure for Coogan's defining character. Plenty of one liners.

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30th May 2015

Fifty Shades of Grey

Like a badly written, cast, acted and directed double episode of Dynasty. Utter shite.

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29th May 2015

Beyond the Edge

Engaging, if workhorse, docu-drama about the first ascent of Everest. Spoiler alert - they make it.

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29th May 2015