The Death of Stalin (2017)

Following Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, members of the dictator's Central Committee, who have names but are otherwise indistinguishable in appearance or by their garbled political motivations, gather and swear and call each other 'turd coils' for nearly two hours, in this headache-inducing and laugh-free "hilarious comedy of terrors".

★☆☆☆☆

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The Witness For The Prosecution (2016)

Fans of the 1957 film starring Charles Laughton, which was thrilling and funny, will be wary of the changes made to Agatha Christie's plot in this grim 2016 BBC TV miniseries (for example the inclusion of two grubby sex scenes, the absence of Laughton's cantakerous, cigar-chomping Sir Wilfrid Robarts who is replaced by Toby Jones's poor, unhappily married solicitor with a tragic backstory, not to mention a very unexpected second trial for the murder of Kim Cattral's Emily French), but as things proceed it becomes clear these deviations are not simply changes for the sake of change - this is not an update but a tv miniseries adaptation and purists will come to appreciate and will be kept on their toes by the clever embellishments.

★★★★☆

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Birdman (2014)

What we tell ourselves and what our critics tell us, what the truth is and whether or not we or them or anyone else really gives a sh*t are the ideas tossed around in this "talky, depressing, philosophical bullsh*t" about a superhero movie celebrity trying to open a Broadway production, anxious about how it will be received.

★★★★☆

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Oblivion (2013)

There is something ho-hum about this sci-fi action and it isn't just that Tom Cruise is playing a character named Jack for the third time in his career - a serviceman, he trawls around a desolate future Earth (like the one in Elysium complete with a tetrahedral spacestation hanging in its sky) fixing stuff (like a live-action Wall-E) until one day the woman quite literally of his dreams falls to Earth, raising questions about his past and memories and launching him into a battle for freedom under the command of Morgan Freeman (in dark glasses, looking very much like Morpheus in The Matrix).

★★☆☆☆

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