When family complications see sisters Satsuke and Mei relocate to an old and mystical country home, an unusual and enrapturing world of adventure opens up before them. Absorbed by their new woodland surroundings, the girls soon discover a magical hive of extraordinary creatures who take them on an enchanting quest. As new found companion Totoro guides them on their journey, he also teaches them to understand the realities and struggles of life.

“An otherworldly tale of childhood and a definitive work of imagination.” (Empire)

“Despite the cuteness, there’s little in the way of icky sentiment – indeed the spectre of death hangs over the story – but it’s a captivating world you won’t want to come home from.” (Guardian)

“Remains an animated achievement almost without parallel.”

The wise-cracking, foul-mouthed superhero returns for a third go-around. This time he teams up, trepidatiously, with a very familiar, claw brandishing X-Man, in this violent comedy caper.

Six years after the events of Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is living a quiet life, having left his time as the cocky mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA)—a bureaucratic organisation that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline; you’ll know if you’re keeping up with those Marvel TV shows—pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins an even more reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, reluctantly accepting a fat paycheck) on a mission to stop this threat and prevent all the multiverses from collapsing.

Silly and convoluted story aside, this a violently raucous film, with enough nods to other Marvel characters, and even fourth-wall breaking jabs at Marvel and Disney as soulless, money grabbing corporations. Yes, it doesn’t make sense to see Jackman back yet again, after he hung up his claws for the last time with 2017’s affective Logan, but he’s still a blast to watch.

Everyone knows Henry VIII had six wives — but as far as filmmakers are concerned, it’s wife No. 2, Anne Boleyn, who has always been the main attraction.

With Firebrand however, it’s all about the king’s relationship with his sixth and final queen, Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), who is presented here not as the pious nursemaid, but as a rebellious reformer who struggled to save England from tyranny. Jude Law outrageously steals every scene as the horrendously unwell and bloated king.

Henry is away in France with his army and Catherine takes the opportunity to ride off for secret meetings with Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), a childhood friend who is now preaching revolt against a new law that has banned English-language Bibles. But then Henry returns earlier than expected, whereupon Catherine’s status plummets.

Jude Law is horribly scary and funny as a cruel, paranoid ruler, cheerily belittling everyone around him. Neither Catherine nor any of the courtiers can escape from his mood swings. With the plague sweeping through London, the royal advisers have moved to a castle in the countryside

It’s a delectable piece of faux history, with Law giving a grotesque and wonderfully entertaining performance.

Eddie Peng is a directionless ex-con who teams up with an unwanted mutt in Guan Hu’s warm-hearted, uplifting drama.

Lang (Eddie Peng) is a changed man since coming out of prison. You’d never guess that he was once a beloved entertainer who played rock music and rode motorcycles in the local circus. But when he returns to his small hometown in China’s Gobi Desert, there’s nothing waiting for him except bad vibes. His father is drinking himself to death, his neighbours resent him for his perceived crimes, and his town is overrun with rabid dogs. It’s with one of these wild animals that Lang strikes up an unlikely companionship.

The film is, at its heart, a tale of redemption of a man who finds himself on the periphery of society, and a dog who finds himself feared and misunderstood. But it’s also a story that draws from Chinese mythology.

Achieving a delicate balance between drama and deadpan comedy, Guan’s approach gives the scenes of violence or tragedy a certain antic, Buster Keaton quality, which is enhanced by both Peng’s expressive performance, and that of his adorable canine co-star.

An Icelandic widower searches for long lost love in this sensitive drama.

Kristofer (Egill Ólafsson) lives a lonely life on the chilly seaside of Iceland since the death of his wife years prior. Worried about slight memory problems he’s been experiencing, he visits his doctor only to learn he’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and must get his affairs in order before it’s too late. This becomes the catalyst for a journey of a lifetime.

Told primarily through flashbacks to Kristofer’s earlier life as a student (Palmi Kormakur) studying economics in London, who eventually decides to quit school and work at a Japanese restaurant. There he meets the boss’ daughter, Miko (Kōki) with whom he forms a relationship. Back in the present, he decides to track down Miko (Yoko Narahashi) before the journey becomes impossible. Both the past and present occur in parallel as Touch cuts between Kristófer and Miko’s whirlwind romance and the story of their (potential) reunion 51 years later.

Kristófer is not trying to reclaim his youth, get an apology or even an explanation. He just wants to see Miko again.

Glass Onion meets The Menu - as Channing Tatum hosts a creepy party - in this daft yet ludicrously entertaining psychological thriller.

Zoe Kravitz’s debut as director, which first made headlines for its provocative original name—Pussy Island, though that title has, understandably, since been changed, sees tech billionaire Slater King (Tatum) inviting cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) as well as slew of other guests (including Christian Slater and Adria Ajorna) to his private island. As the “dream” vacation unfolds, strange and unsettling things begin to unfold, and Frida is forced to question her perception of reality as the guests begin to forget parts of the night, all the while King is documenting the strange events with his polaroid camera.

The concept was born from Kravitz's frustration around the treatment of women by powerful men in Hollywood, and you can tell she’s having fun here with a serious subject matter. Much like what Jordan Peele did with Get Out, Blink Twice is a sharp, sexy, funny, yet terrifying satire with razor sharp wit and a nasty edge. This is one party you won’t want to miss.

The ever reliable Kate Winsliet is commanding as Lee Miller, who went from fashion to war photography, in this biographical drama.

This all begins with Lee who lives a life of luxury with her artist lover Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård) before becoming a war correspondent during World War II and a highly celebrated photographer for Vogue Magazine. While travelling through war-torn Germany, Miller works alongside the Jewish New York journalist David Scherman (Andy Samberg) who assists her in capturing the atrocities that are occurring. While the daring photographer initially struggles to get her images out to the world because of stubborn US politics, the images she captures soon become some of the most recognizable and haunting photographs to come out of the war, showing the world the injustices and sheer hatred that was taking place in Nazi Germany.

Andrea Riseborough plays her editor, the actor once again fully disappearing into her character, and one of the more interesting wrestles in the film is between what Miller thinks people need to be aware of and what Vogue magazine thinks is acceptable. Lee is a captivating and thrilling drama

It’s a testament to the lasting impact of Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi horror that, 45 years later, we have filmmakers who grew up on the original now leaving their mark on the franchise.

And what a mark Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) has left. After a couple of disappointing entries with Scott’s own Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, we’re going back to the lean, stripped back roots of the original masterpiece, putting true horror front and centre once again, and breathing new, horrific life into the titular creature.

Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, a group of colonial twentysomethings (including Cailee Spaeny - the film’s “Ripley”, and an android played by David Jonsson) have fallen on hard times. They receive the ticket of a lifetime when they get a chance to scavenge the contents of a derelict space station. Lo and behold, this ship is abandoned for a reason, and it’s not long before our old friends come crawling out of the air ducts.

Simplicity is the key here: have a basic premise, build tension, then unleash hell. It worked then, and it works wonderfully now. Do not miss.

This criminally overlooked entry in the Batman film franchise stands tall with the best of them, just because it’s animated doesn’t mean it doesn’t qualify as one of the greatest.

Batman (the late, great Kevin Conroy) is pitted against a mysterious figure who is rubbing out Gotham’s most dangerous criminals, and who many believe is the caped crusader himself. Bruce Wayne is about to get married to Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), who helps him recover from his need to avenge his parents' murder -- meaning that his crime-fighting days may be numbered.

During the peak of the ‘90s animated series, this was conceived as a standalone tale; it tells a surprisingly heartfelt and character-driven story of lost love and, indeed, the veritable flip-side to Batman's own vengeful vigilante persona. The film leans into the show’s retro-future aesthetic and doubles down on its fondness for the hard-boiled 1940s detective era that birthed Batman in the first place.

Remarkably mature and cinematic in its non-linear narrative structure, and rich in its understanding of its source material and the superbly drawn characters, Mask of the Phantasm is top tier Batman, and absolute classic for any age

(Subtitled)

Two Japanese milk-truck drivers help a restaurant owner learn how to cook great noodles in Juzo Itami’s iconic comedy.

What is it about food that brings out the best in filmmakers across the globe? From slicing garlic with a razor prison style in Goodfellas to the Big Kahuna burger in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, food on film has provided some of the most visceral, most memorable big screen moments.  

Itami’s classic is no different when it comes to mixing culinary and cinematic pleasures. It has the irresistible freshness of a recipe that many have tried to copy and none have matched. Every aspect of life is filtered through the prism of food. Its rituals of preparation and consumption, its role as a social unifier or divider, its many healthy uses and perverse abuses.

With a wonderful cast, Tampopo is a film that celebrates food, celebrates films, celebrates sex. In short, everything that pleases the senses. And when trucker Goro and his sidekick first saunter into widow Tampopo’s struggling noodle shop, what unfolds is a funny, affectionate celebration of all of these things and their broad, lasting influence on both Japanese and Western culture.