Knives Out (2019)

Not as effective a homage to the Agatha Christie murder mystery as it is a homage to the parlour game thriller stage plays of the likes of Ira Levin and Anthony Shaffer, director Rian Johnson nods to Sleuth with his mystery novellist's mansion setting crammed full of unusual murder mystery objects (including a prominent Jolly Jack Tar figure) and Deathtrap is brought to mind watching this movie's twisting, changing thriller-, not mystery-, plot and, really, this mostly fun, mostly well-plotted movie is in fact at it worst in its messy third act and attempts at a detective dénouement - Agatha Christie was never so longwinded. 

★★★☆☆

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Gifted (2017)

An uncle wants his niece to have a normal childhood playing with friends her own age while his mother wants to harness the child's maths genius by enrolling her in a school for the gifted, and their very well-acted, plainspeaking back-and-forth plus some dry humour makes for an engaging family drama, even if some of the more dramatic moments are tricksed.

★★★☆☆

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The Iceman (2012)

This account of the career of real-life crime figure Richard Kuklinski, a hitman-for-hire active in the 70s, is more concerned with the gory techniques he used for his murder-for-profit than with his psychology, and so there's little of interest beyond that very briefly generated by David Schwimmer's turn as the Iceman's killer colleague.

★★☆☆☆

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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

You'll need a degree in Marvel to follow exactly the whos and whys and whats of this busy sequel which has enhanced twins - a freakishly fast moving boy and a mindwarping witch girl, both boring - wreaking havoc with the Avengers, causing each of the umpteen of them to experience worrying visions including of the world destroyed by an artificial intelligence; the answer, unbelievably, is for the Avengers to increase their number even though there are already too many of them to really be able to care much about their burgeoning romances (wooden), family lives (corny), backstories (meaningless) and idiosyncracies (no longer funny).

★★☆☆☆

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Scary Movie 2 (2001)

The especially sober moments in this laugh-free horror movie spoof are any of the scenes featuring Chris Evans as the repulsive-looking manservant of a haunted house, and the scenes in which the homosexuality of Shawn Wayans' character is repeatedly offered up sans comedic effort because apparently this is a hilarious thing in itself.

☆☆☆☆☆ (No stars)

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

This superhero action thriller on a mega-scale makes a couple of mistakes: 1) teaming the hero, Captain America alongside team mates with abilities that seem to one-up his own, and 2) ending with a glimpse of what is to come in the next inevitable instalment, leaving viewers exhausted at the thought of the whole tumultuous thing happening all over again, only with villains with a different skin...but, still, this is a very good superhero action from Marvel.

★★★☆☆

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Snowpiercer (2013)

In Director Bong Joon-ho's first English language cinema release - a sci-fi action movie set entirely within the confines of a futuristic train - absurdity and solemnity, lofty pretentions and humour mix in a way only Bong Joon-ho can successfully manage; the result, a story of an uprising in segregated communities of haves and havenots, is a ridiculous and audacious, enthralling and hilarious political allegory.

★★★★☆

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Scott Pilgrim VS the World (2010)

Gamers and comic fans will go berserk for the gaming references and game level structure of this movie which pits a young "Mario" against a succession of super evil ex-partners of his "Princess Peach", but other viewers will tire quickly of these "boss encounters" and will want to declare game over by level three or four (of seven).

★★★☆☆

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