The Cynical Cinephiles

Director: Peter Segal Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, Milo Ventimiglia Romantic comedies used to be considered a dying breed but over the last couple of years, the genre has witnessed a resurgence with films like The Big Sick  (2017), I Feel Pretty (2018) and a host of Netflix originals such as All the Boys I've Loved Before and Set it Up (both 2018). This year's contribution to the revival is Second Act , a film with echoes of Working Girl and Jennifer Lopez's very own Maid in Manhattan -  but does it establish its own identity and forge a new rom-com classic? On her 40th birthday, Maya (Lopez) is denied the opportunity to become the manager of a superstore where she has been working for 15 years because she does not have a college degree. To improve her career prospects, her godson creates Maya a fake social media presence and applies for a cosmopolitan job as a consultant at a skin care company in her name. After impressing the bo...

Director: Wash Westmoreland Cast: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson, Denise Gough, Aiysha Hart Based on the most famous female French literary writer of the 20th century, Colette tells the story of a woman whose voice is quashed, merely on the basis of her sex, but defies all societal and gender conventions to have her words be heard - and it's a story that resonates to this day. After marrying charismatic novelist Willy (West) and moving to Paris, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Knightley), later known simply as Colette agrees to ghost-write a series of semi-autobiographical noels. They soon become the toast of Paris but Colette and Willy's unorthodox marriage is tested as Willy places greater demands on Colette and she requests rightful authorship over her work. Keira Knightley is no stranger to roles that require her to don a corset or other variations of a period costume but with Colette, she treads new ground and gives one of the most measured performances...

Director: M. Night Shyamalan Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Samuel L. Jackson Celebrated (and admonished) for his films that boast shocking twists, M. Night Shyamalan pulled off his biggest one to date in the final moments of 2016's Split  when he revealed that Kevin Wendell Crumb exists in the same universe as the characters from Unbreakable (2000). Three years later and Shyamalan has returned to conclude this long-gestating trilogy -  but was it worth the wait? Following 'The Horde's' (McAvoy) evasion from authorities, David Dunn (Willis) assumes his vigilante persona to give The Horde his comeuppance. During a showdown between the two, they are apprehended by Dr. Ellie Staple (Paulson) and placed in a psychiatric hospital where the maniacal genius Elijah Price a.k.a Mr Glass (Jackson), Dunn's nemesis, is also institutionalised. Within the film's first half an hour, Dunn and Crumb's 24th personality 'The Beast...

Director: Jon S. Baird Cast: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly Wholesome, hilarious, adored. They're just three adjectives that could be used to describe the comedy double act Laurel & Hardy but will the biopic Stan & Ollie, detailing the final period in their illustrious career, incorporate all of these qualities and simultaneously pay respect to the duo's incredible legacy? After years of reigning supreme as the world's greatest comedy duo, Stan Laurel (Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (Reilly) eventually struggle to hold on to their Hollywood stardom. In an effort to raise their profile and get their comedic adaptation of Robin Hood made, they embark on a tour of variety halls in Britain but past tensions and Hardy's ailing health threaten to jeopardise their partnership. Baird's last directorial outing was with 2015's aptly titled Filth based on Irvine Welsh's novel of the same name. The vulgarity of Filth could not be more contrasted by Stan & Oll...

Director:  Felix Van Groeningen   Cast: Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy stars Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet as a father and son whose relationship is pushed to its breaking point by Nic's spiralling drug addiction. It's a very sensitive subject matter and the viewing experience proves to be suitably wrought and resolute. 18 year-old Nic Sheff (Chalamet) is a creative and talented student with aspirations of being a writer. However, when Nic's alcohol and crystal meth addiction seizes hold of his life and threatens to destroy it, his father David (Carell) does whatever he can to save his son and heal his family. Following on from his star-making year in 2017 with Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird,  23 year-old Timothee Chalamet delivers yet another stellar performance. Even though we seldom see Chalamet as a sober Nic, flashbacks and the actor's nuances leave...

Director: Josie Rourke Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, David Tennant, Guy Pearce Rich drama provided by a real-life period in history. Sumptuous costumes and set-desing. Stunningly regal locations.  Mary Queen of Scots is an actor and filmmaker's dream. But have all of these qualities coalesced into an equally satisfying viewing experience? Mary Stuart (Ronan) returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. However, both Scotland and England fall under Elizabeth I's (Robbie) leadership and the two women are fearful of the power that one another hold. Their rivalry extends beyond politics to love and they must also navigate the interferences of male advisors and their own personal desires. While punchier and feeling thoroughly more modern than most period films, Beau Willimon's script races through history and makes the piece a slightly disorienting temporal trip. The events of the film feel as if they take place in a matter ...

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn Following the international successes of 2015's The Lobster and 2017's The Killing of a Sacred Deer, visionary director Yorgos Lanthimos provides us with another absurd and erudite feature,  The Favourite , a scheming period comedy-drama. In the early 18th century, Queen Anne (Colman) occupies the throne. Due to her mental fragility, ill-health and political ignorance, Anne's close friend Lady Sarah (Weisz) governs the country and tends to her every whim. When a new servant, Abigail (Stone), arrives and is taken under Sarah's wing, she capitalises on her increasing proximity to the Queen to try and return to her aristocratic roots. In part due to its impressive cast, The Favourite is director Lanthimos's most mainstream and audience-accessible of all his work to date without sacrificing any sense of artistry or his auteurism. The film possesses the same other-w...

Director : James Wan Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Willem Defoe, Dolph Lundgren, Yaha Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman After a muted introduction in Justice League (2017), Aquaman receives his first solo outing in the aptly titled Aquaman. Having received an enthusiastic response from fans and staggering box-office returns, the film is certainly making waves - but is it for all the right reasons? Half-Antlantean, half-human Aquaman (Momoa), aka Arthur Curry, is beckoned to the underwater city of Atlantis when his half-brother King Arm (Wilson) forms a plan to conquer all of sea's kingdoms and the surface. With help and guidance from warrior Mera (Heard) and royal counsellor Vulko (Defoe), Aquaman must retrieve the missing Trident of Atlan and embrace his destiny. After Aquaman's very underwritten and underwhelming presence in the hot mess that was Justice League, the character thankfully comes into his own and establishes a more layered personality in his...

Director: Rob Marshall Cast: Emily Blut, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep 54 years after Mary Poppins captured the hearts of a generation (and every one after), the Super-Nanny returns to delight us again and brighten not only the Banks family's darkest days, but ours, too. In 1935 London, an adult Michael Banks (Whishaw) learns that his home will be repossessed unless he can pay back his bank loan in 5 days. Michael and his three young children are at a loss until Michael and Jane's (Mortimer) former childhood nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) arrives at 17 Cherry Tree Lane and whisks that Banks family on an unforgettable adventure. Clearly aware of the immense legacy that Mary Poppins has left on cinema and the millions of people that subsequently adore it, director Rob Marshall and the team behind the long-awaited sequel have smartly paid suitable homage to the qualities that made the 1964 musical so beloved. Mary Poppins Returns r...