Is cinema dead? That’s the big question everyone is asking today and to be honest we don’t know. Certainly Netflix – and the dozens of streaming services that followed it – changed forever how we watch films. Gone are the day of cinema and then the wait – sometimes for years – to see a film again. Now it can be streamed into your home within hours of its release. The Big Screen may soon only be the home for films that demand the big screen experience – massive, Marvel-style franchise entries. Smaller films are increasingly finding a home in the corners of streaming. Let’s see what happens eh?
2020
 | Another Round – four depressed teachers decide to reinvigorate their lives through drinking. Mistake perhaps? | Director: Thomas Vinterberg Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang |
 | The Assistant – an office worker in a Hollywood Production office has to turn a blind eye to the studio head’s behaviour | Director: Kitty Green Cast: Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen, Makenzie Leigh |
 | Calm with Horses – a former boxer works as an enforcer for an Irish gang, but begins to doubt his choices | Director: Nick Rowland Cast: Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Niamh Algar |
 | The Dig – an amateur archaeologist uncovers Sutton Hoo – leading many to reflect on life and legacy | Director: Simon Stone Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, Lily James |
 | The Father – a man suffering from Alzheimers struggles to know where and when he is | Director: Florian Zeller Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell |
 | Judas and the Black Messiah – the FBI forces a man to inform against Black Panther leader Fred Hampton | Director: Shaka King Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons |
 | Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – a jazz musician records a session while her trumpeter dreams of fame | Director: George C Wolfe Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Glynn Turman |
 | Mank – gorgeous film about the history of Citizen Kane, impossible to enjoy without a love of the original | Director: David Fincher Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance |
 | The Midnight Sky – after an environmental catastrophe, a scientist remains on Earth to warn a space mission | Director: George Clooney Cast: George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo |
 | Minari – autobiographical film: in 80s America, a Korean family try to make a farm selling Korean food a success | Director: Lee Isaac Chung Cast: Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Youn Yuh-jung, Alan Kim |
 | Misbehaviour – the 1970 Miss World competition is disrupted by protests in this engaging social issues comedy | Director: Philipa Lowthorpe Cast: Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley |
 | Nomadland – a woman moves from job-to-job in this soulful and poetic Best Picture winner | Director: Chloé Zhao Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn |
 | On the Rocks – a father ‘helps’ his daughter investigate her husband’s possible infidelity | Director: Sofia Coppola Cast: Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans, Jessica Henwick |
 | One Night in Miami – Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown share thoughts one night | Director: Regina King Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Leslie Odom Jnr, Eli Goree, Aldris Hodge |
 | Promising Young Woman – a young woman provokes men to try and date rape her, to expose their vileness | Director: Emerald Fennell Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown |
 | Rebecca – lush but empty remake, that completely misses the point and fails to provide Gothic chills | Director: Ben Wheatley Cast: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott-Thomas |
 | Rocks – a black teenager struggles to hold her family together in inner-city London | Director: Sarah Gavron Cast: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D’angelou Osei Kissiedu |
 | Sound of Metal – a drums player suddenly goes death and searches for an answer | Director: Darius Mardur Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff |
 | Summerland – a misanthropic writer during WW2 takes on a refugee and finds herself opening up | Director: Jessica Swale Cast: Gemma Arterton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Penelope Wilton |
 | Tenet – a secret agent is hired by a secret organisation, in this undefinable mix of Bond and time travel | Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh |
 | The Trial of the Chicago 7 – solid, crowd-pleasing film about the trial of Democratic activists in 1968 | Director: Aaron Sorkin Cast: Edjie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt |
 | The White Tiger – a poor Indian works as a chauffeur for a rich couple and is asked to take the blame for their mistakes | Director: Ramin Bahrani Cast: Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra Jones, Rajkummar Rao |
 | Wonder Woman 1984 – unfairly criticised sequel, in many ways more fun and engaging than the first | Director: Patty Jenkins Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristin Wiig, Pedro Pascal |
2021
 | After Love – a Muslim convert, finds out after her husband’s death that he had a second family; poetic tearjerker | Director: Aleem Khan Cast: Joanna Scanlan, Nathalie Richard, Talid Ariss |
 | Being the Ricardos – difficulties pile on top of each other during one week of the making of I Love Lucy | Director: Aaron Sorkin Cast: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, JK Simmons |
 | Belfast – a twelve-year old Branagh in 70s Belfast, is unable to understand why his parents are considering leaving | Director: Kenneth Branagh Cast: Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds |
 | Black Widow – half-hearted prequel, that exists to give its star a payday in the sun and introduce her replacement. | Director: Cate Shortland Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz |
 | Boiling Point – one terrible night of service comes to a head in a restaurant in this superb one-shot film | Director: Philip Barantini Cast: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham |
 | The Courier – true-life drama as a Russian spy and his British courier work to save the world from Cuban Missile crisis | Director: Dominic Cooke Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan |
 | Don’t Look Up – a meteor heads towards Earth – but the politician don’t want to hear about it: shrill satire | Director: Adam McKay Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep |
 | Drive My Car – a mourning actor stages a multi-lingual production of Chekov and bonds with his driver | Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tōko Miura, Masaki Okada |
 | Dune: Part One – superbly atmospheric adaptation of a dense, pompous sci-fi novel, light years ahead of previous versions | Director: Denis Villeneuve Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac |
 | Eternals – God-like Aliens have guided mankind for millennia – but what if they are the baddies? Complete mess | Director: Chloé Zhao Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie |
 | The Eyes of Tammy Faye – a Christian evangelist in the 80s gets wrapped up in scandal in this bog-standard biopic | Director: Michael Showalter Cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones |
 | House of Gucci – broad true-life crime drama which doesn’t quite become the cult classic it could be | Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto |
 | King Richard – Richard Williams pushes his daughters to better themselves by becoming tennis superstars | Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green Cast: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton |
 | The Last Duel – in Medieval France, two men fight a duel after one is accused of raping the other’s wife | Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck |
 | Licorice Pizza – in the 1970s two young people fall in love, but won’t admit it because of an awkward age gap | Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Bradley Cooper |
 | The Lost Daughter – on holiday in Greece, a woman is forced to confront her failures as a mother | Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson |
 | The Matrix Resurrections – a failed attempt to relaunch the franchise, although much better than the other sequels | Director: Lana Wachowski Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II |
 | Mothering Sunday – self-consciously arty film about post-WW1 grief: outstays its welcome | Director: Eva Husson Cast: Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth |
 | Munich: The Edge of War – Neville Chamberlain flies to Germany to make peace in this so-so spy drama | Director: Christian Schwochow Cast: George Mackay, Jannis Niewöhner, Jeremy Irons |
 | Nightmare Alley – a mesmerist is tempted into dark schemes that corrupt him further | Director: Guillermo del Toro Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara |
 | No Time to Die – final Craig Bond, a mixed bag of action, world-building and self-importance, way too long | Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga Cast: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek |
 | The Power of the Dog – thought-provoking, challenging but engrossing drama about a bullying rancher with a secret | Director: Jane Campion Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee |
 | Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – the estranged son of a war lord, searches for answers about his family | Director: Destin Daniel Cretton Cast: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Tony Leung |
 | Spencer – naive and sentimental biopic of Princess Diana, focusing on one disastrous Christmas c. 1991 | Director: Pablo Larrain Cast: Kristin Stewart, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins |
 | Spider-Man: No Way Home – fabulous Marvel crossover event, heartwarming fun | Director: Jon Watts Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch |
 | Tick… Tick… Boom – Jonathan Larsen worries his chances of making his mark are fading, in this loving musical tribute | Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús |
 | The Tragedy of Macbeth – glorious, imaginative and compelling version one of the best Shakespeare films | Director: Joel Coen Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins |
 | West Side Story – vibrant and dynamic remake that places Puerto Rican culture more at its heart | Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist |
2022
 | Aftersun – mesmeric, thought-provoking, film as a woman remembers holidaying with her father 20 years ago | Director: Charlotte Wells Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowison-Hall |
 | All Quiet on the Western Front – impressively made but tells the same message in the same style, as other films | Director: Edward Berger Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl |
 | Amsterdam – whimsy and indulgent politics abound as 30s conspiracy unsuccessfully meet Jules et Jim | Director: David O. Russell Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington |
 | Avatar: The Way of Water – belated sequel, a huge success, but way too long and short on new ideas | Director: James Cameron Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver |
 | The Banshees of Inisherin – two friends fall out on on a 1920s Irish island in this striking universal metaphor | Director: Martin McDonagh Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan |
 | The Batman – another relaunch, Batman as a PI chasing down a serial-killer in a rain-soaked, noirish Gotham | Director: Matt Reeves Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright |
 | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – grief is central here, a Marvel film strongest when dealing with Boseman’s death | Director: Ryan Coogler Cast: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira |
 | Blonde – exploitative, pretentious biopic of Marilyn Monroe that doubles down on the misery and salacious gossip | Director: Andrew Dominik Cast: Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale |
 | Corsage – Empress Sisi struggles with expectation in this eccentric film that doesn’t completely succeed | Director: Marie Kreutzler Cast: Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharine Lorenz |
 | Death on the Nile – second big-budget Branagh Poirot, better than the first but with some of its Operatic flaws | Director: Kenneth Branagh Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening |
 | Decision to Leave – brilliant Vertigo-ish drama as detective is drawn to the chief suspect in a murder | Director: Park Chan-wook Cast: Tang Wei, Park Hei-il, Lee Jung-hyun |
 | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – cross dimensional light horror; fails to deliver on its promise | Director: Sam Raimi Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams |
 | The Duke – cosy true-ish crime caper: an eccentric Brit steals a painting of Wellington for his social campaign | Director: Roger Michell Cast: Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead |
 | Elvis – biopic of the most famous man of the 20th century, told in Luhrmann’s explosion of style with sensitivity | Director: Baz Luhrmann Cast: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson |
 | Empire of Light – a relationship flourishes between a troubled cinema worker and a young man in a flat film | Director: Sam Mendes Cast: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, Colin Firth |
 | Everything Everywhere All At Once – all realities are going to end: and only a disillusioned woman can save it | Director: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan |
 | The Fabelmans – Spielberg explores his childhood in this rich film in love with the movies | Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano, Michelle Williams |
 | Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – the franchise enters its death throws in this anaemic final offering | Director: David Yates Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen |
 | Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – murder mystery turns real in Johnson’s second fun Agatha Christie tribute | Director: Rian Johnson Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe |
 | Good Luck to You, Leo Grande – a widowed woman hires an escort; theatrical but not enlightening enough | Director: Sophie Hyde Cast: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack |
 | Jurassic World: Dominion – very, very tired retread of a host of ideas from the other films | Director: Colin Trevorrow Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum |
 | The Lost King – terrible Ealingesque comedy about the search for Richard III that’s all about settling scores | Director: Stephen Frears Cast: Sally Hawkins, Steve Coogan, Harry Lloyd |
 | The Menu – a chef unleashes revenge on the super-rich in this intriguing mix of genres | Director: Mark Mylod Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult |
 | Nope – horror, science fiction and media satire combine in Peele’s distinctive but not always satisfying film | Director: Jordan Peele Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea |
 | The Northman – a Viking warrior goes out for blood-soaked revenge in this distinctive twist on Hamlet | Director: Robert Eggers Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy |
 | Operation Mincemeat – failed wartime spy drama, bogged down in fake details and a love triangle | Director: John Madden Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald |
 | The Quiet Girl – stunning, low-key but very moving drama as an unloved child finds care for the first time | Director: Colm Bairéad Cast: Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett |
 | See How They Run – studenty and not-funny-enough murder mystery spoofing Agatha Christie | Director: Tom George Cast: Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody |
 | She Said – recounting of the New York Times investigation into Weinstein, more earnest than dramatic | Director: Maria Schrader Cast: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson |
 | Tár – a conductor is wrapped in scandal in this mesmerising film, open to multiple interpretations | Director: Todd Field Cast: Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant |
 | Thirteen Lives – the astonishing rescue of a group of boys from caves in Thailand brilliantly dramatised | Director: Ron Howard Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman |
 | Thor: Love and Thunder – smug, unfunny, self-satisfied adventure, takes all the wrong lessons from Ragnorak | Director: Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale |
 | Top Gun: Maverick – Tom Cruise flies again in this much-better-than-the-original sequel | Director: Joseph Kosinski Cast: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller |
 | Triangle of Sadness – rather obvious satire on the super-rich, as a yacht cruise turns into Lord of the Flies | Director: Ruben Östlund Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon |
 | The Whale – dishonest, disingenuous, manipulative, sentimental – a dying obese man tries connect with his daughter | Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau |
 | The Woman King – warrior women in 1820s Africa fight to protect their kingdom in a punchy action epic | Director: Gina Prince-Bythe Cast: Viola Davis, Thusu Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega |
 | Women Talking – admirably well-meaning feminist drama, but it doesn’t succeed as well as it might | Director: Sarah Polley Cast: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckely |
Movie Musings 