The Christmas period saw the release of two trailers that make 2017 a big year for Ridley Scott. The legendary film maker is returning to two genre defining universes that he helped to create. Firstly with Alien: Covenant, the follow up to 2012's Prometheus, in which Scott will continue to chart the creation of the 'Xenomorph'. As a fan of the Alien movies I was very excited about Prometheus, which upon viewing I found to be very underwhelming. I shall reserve judgement on Alien: Covenant for now, but given how good the Alien movies are (the first two at least) do we really need another prequel? Or are we drifting into Star Wars prequel territory? The second trailer is for Blade Runner 2049, Scott handed directing duties to Denis Villeneuve in order to make Alien: Covenant however he's still on board as a Producer. Set thirty years after Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) disappeared, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling) makes a discovery that sends him in search of the missing B...

2017 promises an excellent line up of movies, will they live up to expectations? Only time will tell. These are some of my most anticipated movies of 2017: Assassin's Creed - 1st January I know it's in cinemas already but it deserves a place on this list. In what could possibly be the first truly successful adaptation of a video game, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the memories of his ancestor Aguilar - a member of a secret society of assassins - thanks to Abstergo, a Templar controlled corporation and their revolutionary technology that unlocks 'genetic memories'. Live by Night - 13th January Ben Affleck directs and stars in this crime drama about organised crime in Prohibition Era America and the hunt for the 'American Dream'. Lion - 20th January The true story of an Indian boy who loses his family and is adopted by an Australian couple. Years later he uses Google Maps to find his village and make his way home to his f...

For many, Christmas has come early with the arrival of 2016's most anticipated movie, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The events described in the opening crawl of A New Hope have been brought to life by British Director Gareth Edwards. Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is recruited by the Rebel Alliance to find her father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), the man responsible for designing the Death Star in an attempt to secure a copy of the plans for the super-weapon. Backing her up are a Rebel Intelligence Officer, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his reprogrammed Imperial Enforcement Droid, K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), as well as warriors Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) and former Imperial Pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed). Ben Mendelsohn plays Orson Krennic, Director of Advanced Weapons Research, the Imperial Officer overseeing construction of the Death Star and the one trying to prevent the theft of the plans. For the first time ever, the word 'prequel' can be applied to a S...

In 2003 Bad Santa was a surprise hit. It was crude, rude, hilarious and mildly festive making it a Christmas movie like no other. Conmen Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox) pose as Santa Clause and his little helper in a different shopping mall every year in order to rob the place on Christmas Eve. Now thirteen years later Marcus gets out of jail and approaches Willie about pulling off one last job. This time round Willie's mum Sunny (Kathy Bates) is in on the caper and his special friend Thurman Merman is along for the ride. When movie companies wait over a decade to make a sequel you have to wonder why they bothered given that what they come up with isn't usually very good. Unfortunately the results here are no different. Bad Santa 2 isn't a bad movie, it's funny - in some cases just as funny as Bad Santa - but it doesn't bring anything new to the table. The formula is the same as the original, in fact it's basically the same movie w...

In order to put together our Advent Calendar of Christmas Movies I have watched many movies from several decades. I have made lists, debated over said lists  (that's a nice word for argued right?) , made new lists and argued...I mean debated some more. The point is, it wasn't an easy task whittling down the list to the final 25 - well 27 but who's counting? In order to do it I've had to watch some challenging movies, and by challenging I don't mean intellectually. It's a miracle I made it through some of them. Two such gems of varying quality are 'The Night Before' and 'A Merry Christmas Miracle' A.K.A. 'A Merry Friggin' Christmas'. The Night Before reunites the team that brought us 50/50. In December 2001, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) lost his parents in a car accident. Every Christmas Eve since then his friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have taken him out partying so he's not alone on Christmas. But ...