Xstal

It's a role which you might find yourself assuming, as the toll of age looms large and starts consuming, with a chance to halt the rot, recapture something that's forgot, an elixir of youth, to start you blooming. But there's a price you have to pay to reverse time, it involves a split and suck as well as slime, plus there's teamwork, partnership, and some rules you cannot skip, if you're not careful parts may age - well past their prime. But what the hell, the road to wrinkles can't be worse, the path that's taking you away rides like a hearse, you'll make the call and overhaul, bits will stand proud and you'll stand tall, let's put this growing old thing back, into reverse.

Two wonderful performances from the two leading ladies in a macabre tale that may leave you slightly bruised at the end.

It's a shame, but you need to take a break, have it cast and settle back to sit and wait, take the view over the yard, of disaffected and those scarred, with Lisa Freemont overlooked, rear views you take. People come and people go, events take place, you observe where once was someone now's a space, where has she gone, where could she be, suitcase packed is what you see, has the lady in the bed left the rat race? You're convinced that something awful has occurred, you're enraged, but they all think you are absurd, you must enlist their help to find, there is a murderer behind, the windows, sometime clear, but often blurred.

It's a typical James Stewart role, playing himself to aplomb, and it's a little bit dated, but it still has a style seldom matched.

It's fair to say that made in heaven your marriage isn't, there's no dynamic or indeed great coefficient, although there is a correspondent, that your wife is rather fond of, and it's got you feeling somewhat, insufficient. So you've decided to curtail her time on earth, to inherit all the things she has of worth, a cunning plan has been concocted, and is soon to be adopted, once you've found someone with little, or no worth. What could possibly go wrong, everything's covered, it's something around the neck rather than smothered, the cops won't have a clue, you've covered everything right through, the key to your motives, won't be discovered.

Ray Milland is out of this world as the hateful husband, intent on making the call.

Of a time when there had earlier been war, and the wounds were still unhealed, open and sore, as a people came to terms, with the lessons no one learns, and secrets gather dust, wait to be learned. In a village a young woman and her aunt, partially rescued from a life to which she'll grant, all she does, and all she'll be, before that happens she'll come to see, a history, forever to lament.

Some of the most incredible cinematography and framing, a gallery of art and perspective to take your breath away, beautifully captured in monochrome, encapsulated through two outstanding central performances by Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska, that leaves the viewer overwhelmed by the trauma and torment of war past, present and future - incredible.

A holiday overseas with wife and daughter, leads to friendship (with another family of three) when out on a sunny saunter, back at home a card arrives, come and see how well we thrive, spend a night or three within, our bricks and mortar. You take up the invitation and set off, unaware of just how this couple like to trough, or indeed how they behave, and the trinkets that they crave, if you did, it may just cause a might scoff. It's fair to say that your encounter's like no other, it doesn't end in the same way as Danish brother (or sister), which is a shame as that was better, it was unshackled and unfettered, leaving the viewer with more than, drainpipes and a gutter.

James McAvoy is brilliant, alas the ending isn't - watch the Danish version for that.

Imagine what you'd do, you're abducted by some thugs, no idea what they're after, they seem to recognise your mug, taken to a place unknown, a large house someone calls home, questioned, pushed, pestered and hounded, a little later drunk and floundered. As the nightmare then continues, as you sober from all the booze, trace your way to The Assembly, where a dagger makes an entry, pursued and chased and then embraced, on a train that makes great haste, before too long your being dusted, there's nobody, that can be trusted.

Of all of Hitchcock's films, this stands the test of time better than most, and Cary Grant is perfectly cast in the role of Roger Thornhill.

It's fair to say this cast of actors deserve better, because this film is quite a very low bar setter, where the script is so inept, poorly sequenced, and poorly stepped, any belief you had is well, and truly beggared. What on earth went through the mind of poor Cate Blanchett, she must have known this would be everything but a hit, perhaps she fancied dipping toe, into a sci-fi film or show, but instead she's just been covered - it rhymes with quit. As for the absolutely dreadful CGI, it's not too long before you start to squirm and cry, and that annoying load of Claptrap, makes you want to take a long nap, all in all, the kind of film, to mortify.

There's a word the title rhymes against quite well, it encapsulates the whiff, the pong, the smell, of a film that's truly awful, over your eyes I will not pull wool, avoid at all costs, are the words that I would yell. The acting is awful (Lady Raven is exquisitely awful) and the script is so dire, the story is daft you will want to retire, as you shout at the screen, building into a scream, this is such an incredible botch and misfire. It's as if the events that unfold have been set, through a sequence of hoaxes, and exotic bets, unelaborate turns, make you twist, cringe and squirm, walk away, make escape, or you'll end with regrets.

Sadly, the director has become quite accomplished in flattering to deceive.

Receiving sentence, there's no trial to make your case, the jealous have you interred at great haste, you've lost your love, forfeit your life, solitary conflict wrapped in strife, withered in a cell, with years laid out to waste. But there's hope, as you find out, you're not alone, as a pair you set to work chiselling stone, scraping, digging day and night, in the search for a new sight, rocks fall - and then your future is resewn. You acquire your ex partners wealth and riches, it allows you to acquire the finest britches, plus a title and some land, revenge can now be mapped and planned, all because of nimble hands, and threaded stitches.

A perpetually enduring tale, well performed and presented, albeit with poetic license, but there are better versions available.

You're a bright and rather cocky kind of youth, a silver spoon nestles against each wealthy tooth, you command all that you see, with your friend who's cowardly, commit a crime that can't be solved, by any sleuth. The scene now set, you start to welcome several guests, knowing none of them could ever make a guess, or discover what is hidden, from events that truly sicken, that are buried in the bowls, of dining chest. But the absence of a friend grabs folks attention, and the parents of deceased ratchet attention, as they leave you bind pretense, with a lash of evidence, not long after comes the price of recompense.

Time's a passing, and there's a shelf that's where you're head, it's a lonely place, only room for one in bed, but from the gloom a prince does come, you break from shackles and you run, into arms that lift you up, close to the sun. A marriage made in heaven, well not quite, a relationship that's soon beset by blight, trust is lost and doubt encroaches, as he takes, and steals, and poaches, it's not too long before you're filled, with dread and fright. Convinced the end is rather closer than desired, that your time in this domain's soon to expire, you're quickly driven round the bend, anticipate, your mortal end, from the cad, the scoundrel, bounder, who set your fire.

Allegorically, and quite unintentionally, this is the continuing saga of a virus; ignorantly released its only aim is to destroy us, with the wheels reset in motion, it's quest resumes with veined corrosion, a perpetuation that can't be undone, and no where's safe, you cannot run - from the evolutionary transformations, variations and mutations, the prequels, sequels and un-equals, to come - and gone.

What's not to like, an intriguing and innovative re-entry into the world of chest busting, face hugging, acid bleeding Xenomorphs, that may have parallels with organisms created in laboratories today, all policed, promoted and protected through intelligence of insincerity too.

Now here's a film that has minimal plot twist, at the end you will not even find a sentimental kiss, but from the start tensions start swirling, vortex, eddies, maelstroms turning, as the characters are drawn, towards a gyre they can't resist. While it's shallow in the depths of where it burrows, tunnels, delves - and doesn't really say a lot, of how we view ourselves, the dizziness does capture, intense passions cause enrapture, as those tossed into the whirlpool become one, combined and meld. An experience that's best when taken in an IMAX zone, where you'll feel all of the gusto that the makers seed has sown, a lot taller than it's wide, it doesn't matter I'll confide, just sit back, enjoy the crack, and watch the isobars collide.

It's not easy getting older on your own, a widow, and you're family has flown, although Daniel stays in touch, this grandson loves you so much, means you're inclined to help him out, when fraught, he phones. Alas, the caller isn't who you think he is, and not long after you find out that you've been whizzed, ten thousand dollars has been taken, something inside starts to awaken, a plan's made to get it back, you won't forgive. With the help of an old friend who's disinclined, on a scooter, one in front and one behind, you track down the evil fiends, will halt the wrongs that they have schemed, bringing down the clockwork orange, mastermind.

It's not that engaging, but it passes the time, and the performances are fine.

Now here's a film that may just get you thinking, and once you've done that it may then get you drinking, as you try to unwind, all the words that you find, the actions of those, with dedication unblinking. The presentation's obscure and the concepts quite odd, in the first there's a boss who behaves as a god, the next one you will shiver, after cannibal liver, in the last R. M. F., makes return to his bod(y). It's the brainchild of one who's films come as a tangent, whose previous works would have left quite an indent, with a cast on repeat, you may not keep your seat, and walk away from the scene, agitated, malcontent.

Now here's a film that's the third one of three, ends what you might call triple X trilogy, Maxxxine Minx at its centre, you may be a dissenter, or you may grasp the thread, and enjoy it with glee. As expected there's plenty of in your face gore, dismembering torsos and blood in galore, it's violent and vicious, some folks are pernicious, if it's your kind of movie, you'll be begging for more. But the best thing about it is the great Mia Goth, as with most of her films she presents as the boss, she'll go on to great things, she'll develop her wings, a Hollywood legend when she makes it across.

There's a gift that gets delivered on your birthday, in a box replica sits has little to say, but the effect is quite disturbing, as parent becomes unnerving, and the beast reveals itself, ready to slay. It's a process that repeats based on some dates, conjured by albino Joker who just hates, he's a rather twisted soul, you would think he's not quite whole, there's a connection with a Motel, name of Bates. As you wander through this film you might just wonder, why the lambs are being silenced by this punter, is there method in the madness, from the sadness and the badness, you may conclude, perhaps like me, it's worthless blunder.

It's fair to say that certain types will stick together, come hell or higher tide or stormy weather, and they might cause a little friction, with their image and depiction, rubbing up those who take umbrage with their measure. It's a scene that's been repeated over time, on this occasion it's a motorbike they climb, with an attitude that hangs, there is a leadership of gangs, that gets challenged on occasion, like a feud. At its heart there is desire to control, not just machine but all the followers enrolled, like an army on two wheels, cross their tracks, there's no appeal, as the seasons turn, the novices get bold.

Not quite as engaging as you'd have liked - and why can't American folks play American roles? Perhaps they can't do the accent.

Take a moment to consider all the outcomes, all the futures that are likely plus extreme ones, how those prospects might unfold, all the stories yet untold, and the possibilities, with legs that could run. Here the baton is picked up by red haired Lola, as she runs us through three tricks and cards that she's drawn, taking paths that ebb and flow, the tides of time affect her flow, further actions that unfurl, events they then spawn.

A fantastic and imaginative piece of filmmaking that gets the viewer reflecting on the impossible number of events that brought them to where they are today, knowing that the future is uncertain at best and, unlike with Lola, only set for a single take.

Now here's a film you need to view several times, but even then once you're through, you'll find the bell hasn't chimed, that the penny won't drop, there are parts you can't cop, you can look down the list, but answers you won't find. That all said, it's a pleasure enjoying the torment, a dislikeable man who with guns likes to outlet, a torturous soul, kind of scores an own goal, as his past catches up, and to hell he is sent.

Comprising fine performances for a low budget flick, you'll wonder what on earth you've missed when you get to the end and try to reform what you've witnessed into a whole - which you probably won't, as the numbers are irregular and don't add up.

In a world where those with voices can't be heard, where discords remove your choices - summon the herd, that comes down against dissent, filled with anger and revenge, culling all upon detection, truth is blurred. It's a fight that's waged and raged throughout our time, when upper hands take their advantage, grasp and climb - despots, tyrants and dictators, oppress , control, remove contesters, against the minds who'd seek to challenge - dogma that's blind.

A fantastic piece of filmmaking that parallels the persecution suffered by so many over the years, and the way the oppressed have found to stay concealed and fight for what they believe is worth fighting for. Great performances all round, especially Lupita Nyong'o who is sublime.

A night out alone for a Spanish immigrant, in a nightclub drinking shots she meets some guys she may lament, as they grab her by the hand and in one take she is enraptured, everything that she then does is caught on film, one piece all captured. On the streets over two hours where the past recalls a debt, a modest bank transaction to acquire, seek out and get, best laid plans do not turn out to be effective or thought through, it's not long before the state is chasing, running, lights on blue.

Wonderful performances all round, in a film that takes your breath away with what it seeks to achieve, and ultimately does spectacularly.

There's a world where those with voices can't be heard, where noises remove choices - summon the sword, that comes down against dissent, filled with anger and ferment, culling all upon detection, once they're stirred. It's a battle that has raged throughout our time, when upper hands, take their advantage, as they've climbed - despots, tyrants and dictators, oppress , control, remove contesters, against the minds who'd seek to challenge, their fixed line.

A wonderful piece of filmmaking that parallels the persecution suffered by so many over the years, and the ways the oppressed have found to stay concealed and fight for what they believe is worth fighting for. Great performances all round.

Let's be clear, for this, you can't be faint hearted - you will need a strong constitution, when this gets started, interpretation is the key, as without, you may just flee, missing out on what the maker wants imparted (although absorbing to the end there's a good chance you won't make head nor tail of what's going on). In a future where the world's run by machines, with intelligence they interact like fiends, Gabrielle gives them an ear, bathing in liquid not clear (tarlike in fact), she is taken to a world that's made of dreams. There she interacts with someone that she loves, the scenarios are there to give a shove, to remove adoring bond, of the one that she is fond, and extract her hand from fitting, in the glove.

Both Léa Seydoux and George MacKay are quite spectacular, and so are you if you can connect all the dots.

A film about a lass who gets abducted, although her mother does her best she is obstructed, in a world dystopian, acquires a new custodian, loses her voice, as over time, she is corrupted. But as she grows she takes her chances and excels, in this world that's comprised of living hells, fighting for chance to escape, a wonder woman without cape, but with a passion and a fury to compel. The CGI is overwhelming and immense, the story quite intriguing - sometimes tense, the acting as expected, you may find yourself connected, on occasion there's a hint of taught suspense - but the editing is a bit rubbish on occasion.