When contemplating how I might rate director Claire Dennis’ latest film, I was hit with an odd conundrum. How could I judge this piece of drama as a ‘film’ in..

Predator fans have been treated cruelly by its sequels. Predator 2 lost the quotable dialogue and tight pacing in a faintly ridiculous futuristic LA. Then there was the Alien vs. Predator films, whose tagline– whoever wins, we lose – may as well have been a review. So when producer Robert Rodriguez said that Predators would be to Predator what Aliens was to Alien, fans dared to hope that Predators may be the sequel they had been waiting for. So is it as good as Aliens? Inevitably no, and the weight of Rodriguez’s promise weighs heavy on a film that doesn’t know whether to break new ground or simply retread the original.

“Abandon all hope ye who enter here”. Such reads the sign that confronts Queen Lillian and King Harold as they approach the unfriendly terrain of Rumpelstiltskin’s land in the opening scene of Shrek Forever After. 93 minutes later and you are left wondering who the words were really directed at. Beneath the fireworks of what has been celebrated as the the final chapter of a universally adored franchise lies an apology for an exit that is more dogged than triumphant.

Whatever happened to SatC’s spark? The programme’s USP was originally its progressive approach to modern women with modern sex lives, but at what point did someone think that ‘Cynthia Nixon getting them out’ constituted a sociosexual statement?

Generally speaking, romantic comedies fail to deliver on at least half their remit. So when you find a film which genuinely makes your heart ache as much as your stomach, it’s worth celebrating. Heartbreaker is just such a film.

The vampire has become so well integrated into popular culture it is hard to imagine a time when a romance didn’t come with fangs, and their recent resurrection can be attributed to one film: Twilight. With one brooding scowl from R-Pattz the world was divided into two groups: swooning squealing Twi-hards and, well, sane people. Yes, as you may have guessed I am not exactly what you’d call a fan. I have never read the books and anything that makes a teenage girl scream like a banshee in my vicinity was always going to provoke feelings of intense hate from me. However, even I can admit Twilight is not without its good qualities.

Thanks to the tag-line “Ein Zwei Die!”, it was love at first sight for me and Dead Snow, a Norwegian zombie film in which a group of fine young things find themselves conveniently isolated from rescue in a snug, wooden ski cabin.

Morgan Freeman lends his hypnotic, rasping voice (is it wrong that a seventy-three year old man can make me go weak at the knees?) to yet another screen classic, as he..

At the 2009 Cannes film festival, Antichrist was released onto the world to sneers of disgust. Its graphic portrayal of sex and violence left even the most steely of critics gaping in disbelief.  There is no doubt that Antichrist is monstrous, leaving the majority of audiences reaching for their torches and pitchforks, but like most monsters, Antichrist has been criminally misunderstood.

In Tetro, we are given a fascinating and absorbing insight into a family plagued by regret, paralysed by rivalry and past betrayal. Unfortunately, though using highly personal material makes Coppola’s film shine, it also holds it back from real achievement.