Charismatic wanderer Stanton Carlisle (played by Bradley Cooper) torches his old life and joins a carnival . . . where he learns the secrets of mentalism. Guillermo del Toro has treated us to various horror fables over the years from Pan’s Labyrinth to the fabulous The Shape of Water, but this is slight change of pace . . .

Two single women, two babies, lies, death, art & sex . . . it’s the latest from Pedro Almodóvar. Janis (Penélope Cruz) and teenager Ana (Milena Smit), meet in hospital and become friends. As they leave with their babies, nothing will ever be the same again as their lives become entwined . . .

It’s August 1969 and the troubles in Northern Ireland are just starting . . . a nine-year-old Buddy is coming to terms with life, love, religion, growing up and the prospect of leaving his home for a better life in England.

It’s 1925, and two brothers George (Jesse Plemons) & Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) have a successful business in Montana. When George marries Rose (played Kirsten Dunst), Phil decides to distance himself from George, Rose and her son Pete (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee).

It’s 1973, it’s California, it’s hot . . . and a teenage actor called Gary Valentine asks 25-year-old Alana Kane out on a date, sparking a difficult friendship, business partnership, and possibly something more . . .

This is a true story of an eccentric British illustrator called Louis Wain (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), who gave the world strange cat paintings and helped us to adopt these felines as pets . . .

Leda Caruso (played by Olivia Colman) is a professor on a solo holiday in Greece. She finds her past life unearthed after the arrival of a difficult family, in particular Nina (played by Dakota Johnson), a very unpredictable young mother . . .

Ok . . . let’s pretend you don’t know the story . . .

Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galaxy. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and dashing Captain Han Solo (Harrison Ford) together with Chewbacca and the robotic duo of R2-D2 & C-3PO help to rescue the princess and restore justice in the Empire . . .

Ageing Spanish filmmaker Salvador Mallo (played by Antonio Banderas) is invited to an anniversary screening of his 1980s hit film ‘Sabor’. The event brings him into contact with his difficult lead actor – Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia) who fell out with him during the original production. This meeting forces the director to look at his past . . .

It’s 1978, and Patrizia Reggiani (played by Lady Gaga) meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the heir of the fashion dynasty. Maurizio isn’t interested, but Patrizia has other ideas . . . Based on 2001 book by Sara Gay Forden – The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, which is exactly what Ridley Scott’s film is . . .

When Callie’s (played by Carrie Coon) father dies, he leaves her a run-down house in the middle of nowhere. When her finances run dry, she has no choice but to move in with her children, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace). Phoebe soon discovers her grandfather was Ghostbuster Egon Spengler and that the ghosts haven’t gone away . . .

It’s Christmas Eve and Princess Diana (played by Kristen Stewart) arrives late at Sandringham for festive celebrations with the Royal Family. Her marriage and mental health are in crisis, and she is clearly not in the mood for a party . . .

In a galaxy far, far away . . . an intergalactic empire runs on a substance called Spice. When the family House of Atreides is sent to the desert planet Arrakis to oversee the Spice production – Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) senses a trap . . .

Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) moves from Cornwall to the capital to study at the London School of Fashion. After arriving, she starts to have night-time visions of Sandy (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), a beautiful starlet from the 1960s whose dreams of making it big lead her down a dark path . . .

The French Dispatch is a homage to literary magazines, in particular the New Yorker in which the film is dedicated to. A well-constructed movie with detail, comedy, technical invention. Exquisitely controlled filmmaking with a great sense of fun.

It’s all about the popcorn this week . . . Wonder Woman 84 has been out for a while, but it’s a perfect family film for the half term break.

It’s fifty years since this film first appeared, and it’s still as gritty & tough with a fabulous central performance from Gene Hackman. So much so . . . that he grabbed the best actor Oscar in the 1972 academy awards.

So here we are (at last I hear you cry) several years after this film was completed, we finally get to see it . . . but was it was worth the wait?

Aretha Franklin (played by Jennifer Hudson) had extraordinary musical talent, but her career was slow to start as she struggled to define her own sound, under the influence of her father and her domineering husband.

It’s 2020 and we’re in the midst of an unnamed pandemic . . . a scientist called Martin Lowery (played by Joel Fry) and park ranger Alma (Ellora Torchia) set out on a trek through the woods to deliver equipment to former colleague of Martin’s – Dr Olivia Wendle (played by Hayley Squires). Aware of the evil spirit – Parnag Fegg that lives in the forest, they decide to ignore it . . . big mistake!