STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
12 (Lucasfilm)
At times the latest addition to the Star Wars saga feels like someone has taken a stencil of A New Hope and just used different colours. However, this is no bad thing as it guarantees pleasing Star Wars fans with PTSD from The Phantom Menace. Despite some apparent plot holes, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an epic leap into the new trilogy, complete with a fantastic soundtrack, intense battle scenes, twists, turns, lightsabres and camp robots. LOB
THE REVENANT
15 (20th Century Fox)
Leo finally did it. He got the Oscar and now everyone can shut up and get back to their lives. ‘Inspired by true events’ The Revenant is superbly shot, with incredible performances by all of its cast. A tale of survival, this is a film that gets your pulse racing following the story of an abandoned and severely injured frontiersman as he seeks revenge. This is one of the top films of the past decade, so some historical inaccuracy can be overlooked I feel. LOB
JERUZALEM
15 (Matchbox Films)
Oh look, another found footage film. Most of the time these films follow a very strict formula and come across as the horror version of mad libs. In this one two stereotypical American girls go for a holiday in Israel (Cancun must have been fully booked) but things turn nasty as it turns out to be the end of days. Woops! Luckily they film it all on one character’s smart glasses. Bad characters abound in this Biblical bollocks. LOB
HK: FORBIDDEN SUPERHERO
18 (Manga Entertainment)
Easily one of the weirdest films ever, but still very funny. The son of a policeman and a dominatrix, Kyosuke finds that he has powers when he wears women’s pants on his head, which he does to hide his identity when saving his love interest from bank robbers. Yep. He then becomes Hentai Kamen (Pervert Mask) and fights crime in the streets of Tokyo. Extremely funny, very self-aware, and surprisingly well written. LOB
THE LADY IN THE VAN
U (Sony Pictures Classics)
Dame Maggie Smith is the star of this true story of a woman, Mary, who spent her life living in a van, until an English playwright saw life through her eyes and gave her his endless generosity. This one is a tear-jerker with snarky British humour. Mary is frail one minute and boisterous the next. This is the touching tale of her important past and present. KG
TUMBLEDOWN
15 (Starz Digital)
Hannah is a writer; she is also trying to come to terms with her husband’s death when she meets Andrew. The cocky New Yorker shows Hannah a side to her husband she didn’t even know existed, the two then decide to work together to bring out the late musician’s true life story. Avoiding many of the typical cliché rabbit holes that romance films now seem to fall endlessly into, Tumbledown creates the perfect balance of realism with the sweet optimism that everyone secretly thrives for. KG
SON OF SAUL
15 (Mozinet)
Winning best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars this year, Son of Saul, perfectly captures the horror of Auschwitz in 1944. The film follows the story of a man who is forced to burn the corpses of his people. But he soon finds a purpose with a young boy he finds in the flames, who he then begins to care for as his son. This film focuses on the choices, we as humans, can make for humanity. KG
SISTERS
15 (Universal Pictures)
Directed by Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect), two sisters who are summoned back to their family home before the house is sold, decide to relive the good old days. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in this comedy with everything you expect from these two; witty humour, pop culture references and relatable experiences making it a whole lot of embarrassing (for them) fun. KG