(dir. Shao Yihui 邵艺辉) This is a comedy-drama focusing on the lives of a single mother, her daughter, and her neighbour in Shanghai. Song Jia 宋佳 should win every award going for her driven and hilarious performance as the mother, Tiemei, but Zhong Chuxi 钟楚曦 is also excellent as the neighbour. The script, written by the director, is witty throughout and there are some genuinely funny scenes–the noodle dinner with the ex-husband and the new boyfriend is a particular highpoint.

The ending leans a little too much into cliché and sentimentality for me, but Shao is clearly hugely talented and has made one of the funniest Chinese films in years. ★★★★☆

(dir. James Hawes) This film is based on Nicholas Winton’s role in the rescue of children from Czechoslovakia in 1939. The recreation of occupied Prague is impressive, and Johnny Flynn’s performance as the young and awkward Winton is very appealing. Anthony Hopkins as the older Winton is–as you might expect–well-judged, and the script gives him room to portray the complex feelings that came from saving six hundred children from the Nazis, but failing to save many more. It may not be especially original as a film, but the story it tells deserves to be told over and over. ★★★★☆

(dir Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) I have mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, I appreciated its beautiful cinematography and glorious early Technicolor, and admired Roger Livesey’s performance as Clive Wynne-Candy all the way from the Boer War to the Second World War. I was less impressed, however, at the argument it seems to be making about the failure of “gentlemanly warfare” in the face of the Nazi threat (it seems self-deception to pretend there were any “gentlemen” in these twentieth century wars), and was disappointed the film did not take the opportunity to develop the post-war resentment of Anton Walbrook’s Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorf into support for Nazism.

Perhaps a more self-critical film could not have been made in Britain in 1943–it was still criticised for the mild critique it did offer–but it does not go far enough for me in 2025. ★★★★☆

(dir. Josh Margolin) This is a sweet comedy about a ninety-three year-old (played by June Squibb) falling victim to a scam and vowing to find those responsible. The script is funny throughout and the gentle spoofing of Mission: Impossible action scenes adds to the pleasure. I think anyone with an older relative will relate to Thelma’s determined resistance to being patronised (and her struggles with computers!). ★★★★☆

(dir. Alexandre Espigares) This is a breath of fresh Yukon air compared to most animated films for children–no rushed plotting, comic-relief characters, talking animals, or mediocre songs. It’s beautifully animated, tells an interesting historical tale, and is a perfect eighty-five minutes long. After suffering through the entirely unnecessary Mufasa in the cinema yesterday, watching this with my five year-old today was sweet relief. ★★★★☆

(by Gene Wolfe, published 1980-1983)

I read the four main volumes of the series: The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch. Particularly impressive is that the four novels are quite different, and that the Severian of Citadel feels a long way from the protagonist of Shadow.

Wolfe’s use of first-person narration to control what we understand about “Urth” of the far future is excellent, with Severian at points taking things we do not understand for granted, and at others not understanding things that seem obvious to a reader. This creates a constant interpretative puzzle for the reader–and even with the help of the sleuths of the Internet I’m afraid you will still have to make decisions about what you think is happening (or has happened, or will happen) to this world.

I don’t generally much enjoy fantasy, so when I give this only four stars it is a testament to how much better I think it is then most in the genre (Pullman’s celebrated His Dark Materials would get three stars from me, for example). I’ll admit to being a bit baffled by those who hold it as literary masterpiece of the twentieth century, though. ★★★★☆

Age has withered my interest in online multiplayer, so it was the talk of this game’s single-player campaign that attracted my attention. Credit to the designers for aiming to bring in some brief open-world elements to change up the pacing, and even greater credit to them for the Control-influenced supernatural horror sections. It’s not quite as inventive as its influence, but the production design is impeccable and the game is always fun to play (thanks, too, frequent save-points!). This is the game-equivalent of a good Mission Impossible film. Silly, but entertaining. ★★★★☆

Yes, it’s long, but the endless sewing and rate negotiations do give a sense of what life is like for the people working in the clothing workshops in Zhejiang. It will make you look differently at any Chinese-made clothing you have in your wardrobe! ★★★★☆

After the non-character that Ethan Hunt was in the first two movies, Tom Cruise finally realizes he should turn on the charm and make us like the protagonist. With that improvement together with the nastiness of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance, this Mission Impossible succeeds. ★★★★☆

Gloriously fun, with continued brilliance of animation and music. ★★★★☆

Not quite Airplane! but there’s still enough ridiculous jokes to make this extremely (re)watchable. ★★★★☆

It’s not Fury Road but still a hugely enjoyable action spectacle. ★★★★☆

A dull plot, and Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is still a non-character, but John Woo’s fun action choreography and stylistic touches elevates this into an entertaining action oddity. ★★★★☆

It’s surprising how unlikeable Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is in this one, but it’s a highly-effective spy thriller. ★★★★☆

What begins as a stylishly-shot detective mystery slides into hallucination and confusion as the detective fails to make proper sense of 1990s China. Director Wei Shujun 魏书钧 clearly intended to leave the puzzle unsolved and it was never dull watching Zhu Yilong 朱一龙, though some might find it all a little portentous.★★★★☆

The plot is standard anti-imperialist fare, but the fighting is exceptional. Jackie Chan at his physical best: lightning-fast, acrobatic, and funny. Special mention also to Anita Mui, who is hilarious as Fei-Hong’s stepmother. ★★★★☆

It’s too long, the plot is silly, and the dialogue is awful, but it’s got a great final third. Some very good work also by Lorne Balfe on the score. ★★★★☆

Mad Max 1 is a curio, but this is really the film in which George Miller’s dystopian imagination revs all the way up. Villians Wez and Lord Humungus are ridiculous but also terrifying, and the leather fetish aesthetic is taken to glorious excess. This still stands up as a great action movie. ★★★★☆

It’s a game about killing large monsters that makes you regret killing the monsters and resent the protagonist. Mood and music are perfect, and the climbing mechanic generally works well. I wouldn’t have minded a few less colossi to beat, as I felt the game was a slog by the twelfth or so, but nevertheless, a unique achievement by the creators and a game that is still well worth experiencing today. ★★★★☆

I loved about 75% of this game–the exploration and gradual increase in your powers is deeply satisfying, and the smoothness of movement and jumping is a pleasure. What brings it down for me are the bosses and the odd section where the difficulty spiked and it wasn’t clear how I should fight certain enemies. I resorted to walkthroughs a number of times to avoid wasting long chunks of time flailing around not knowing how to do damage. It’s a good game, but I’m not desperately waiting for Remastered 2 or Prime 4. ★★★★☆