Masquerade (1988)

The plot is the stuff of old-school gothic romantic thrillers of the Daphne Du Maurier kind with an heiress to an immense fortune (Meg Tilly) not realising how much danger she is in as she falls in love with a gigolo (Rob Lowe) but fails to notice the childhood friend-turned-policeman who vies for her heart, but the acting is often terrible and the characters paper-thin, giving this romantic thriller a perfunctoriness that no amount of sweaty Body Heat-style sex, nor Rob Lowe's glistening torso, and not even a fleeting partial glimpse of Lowe's manhood can make up for. 

★★★☆☆

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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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Big Trouble In Little China (1986)

1986 was a big year for Chinese mysticism in LA with this fantasy adventure released in quick succession with The Golden Child - both feature rather disconcerting sfx sequences but where The Golden Child crosses its fantasy elements with a Beverly Hills Cop-style police procedural, Big Trouble In Little China, directed by John Carpenter, is full of John Carpenter horror-lite and features Mortal Kombat-style streetfighters, sewer monsters weird and wonderful and thrilling to a kid in the 80s, and the fabulous Kim Cattrall long before Sex And The City was a thing - watching it back today, though, it really isn't very good at all.

★★☆☆☆

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Sex and the City 2 (2010)

A lot of criticism is levelled at this - for its racism, lack of plot, and for Carrie's doe-eyed girly girl act more irritating than ever now that she is forty-something - but it is a suitably mellow swansong for the beloved series, not without laughs as the women head to Abu Dhabi for no good reason, and while undeniably tired and now much more forced in tone compared with previous instalments, it is pleasant enough, undemanding viewing.

★★★☆☆

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The Ghost Writer (2010)

A satisfying, moody thriller from Roman Polanski about a man, Ewan McGregor, who takes over the task of ghostwriting an ex-Prime Minister's memoirs after the former ghostwriter tasked with the job mysteriously dies.

★★★★☆

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