Comedy is hard, making something funny is perhaps the hardest thing in film, absolute gems like Knives Out and Jojo Rabbit show what you can do if you take it seriously and use humour to tell a proper story.

But even films that seem fluffy can get it really right, last years Instant Family and Fighting with my Family had so much heart to them they were wonderful.

But they are rare and let’s be clear, Like a Boss gets nowhere near them. I didn’t hate it but it is so predictable and formulaic, it’s a comedy you’ve seen 100 times before, a comedy about lifelong friends, something comes between them, friendship tested and well I’m sure you can figure out the rest.

The film isn’t without laughs and in Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish you have two excellent comedic actors who have both made much better things than this, but bring a nice central chemistry to proceedings, while they never manage to elevate it, I can’t think of a pairing who could’ve made it better, but certainly a few that would’ve made it much worse.

I am a huge fan of Rose Byrne and think she is an often ignored but hugely talented actor in both comedic and dramatic roles.

In the end Like a Boss is an inoffensive, occasionally funny, often bland comedy, Byrne and Haddish are an enjoyable watch and if you want a handful of laughs for 90 minutes on a wet afternoon this’ll probably do and then be quickly forgotten.

Although this was released in April 2019, I only saw it this weekend and what a surprising delight of a film it is.

What I’d expected was a fun and frothy comedy focused on our central character Kayla, who is coming to the end of her (miserable) time in middle school. However, that isn’t this film, what we actually get is a touching and heart warming struggle of a girl trying to make the best of what life is throwing at her, daughter of a single father, quiet, painfully shy and introverted. But she is also smart, funny, articulate and creative, trying to share this other her via her youtube channel, offering heart felt advice to her peers, but advice she struggles to follow herself.

The important part of the story though is she doesn’t let her reality define her, she never feels sorry for herself, she remains positive and forward looking, hopeful that high school will bring her the positive life she craves.

As a parent watching this it’s hard not to feel for Kayla, brilliant played by Elsie Fisher, you want to reach in to the screen, hug her and tell her it’ll all be OK. But she never wants that, she wants to grab life and make it better.

Her chance to step out of her Eighth Grade hell comes during a high school orientation day, which almost back fires

But in the end, this is a positive story, sensitively sharing the experience of growing up in an always connected world, but never judges that technology and accepts it as part of life.

The film never wallows and begs for sympathy and is always positive. Writer and director Bo Burnham has created a film full of heart and charm and something so much better than the teen comedy I was expecting, a truly lovely film, go seek it out.

A bit like with the recent David Copperfield adaptation, I’m not familiar with the source novel but I’m told this is a lot more of a traditional take on Austen’s early rom-com.

Not knowing the story certainly affected the first 30 minutes of the film, I spent much of it not really knowing, or much caring about the characters in front of me, but here’s the thing, as the story unfolded I was increasingly pulled in to Emma’s world. A world of privilege, entitlement, wealth and characters with little real responsibility meaning their world revolves around the trivia of matchmaking and gossip.

Emma is at the heart of it, a world she wants to influence and control, partly for entertainment, partly to help, while petty jealousy raises its head occasionally, it’s mostly innocent meddling in the love lives of friends and for Emma the need to bat away unwanted admiration.

Emma’s life is filled with innocent meddling, until it isn’t, her life starts to unravel as relationships don’t follow her grand plan and eventually she over steps a mark, with an arrogant unpleasant turn.

Although it started slowly, as I got drawn into the story the more I enjoyed its quirky sweetness and innocence. Anya Taylor-Joy was beautifully engaging as the titular character and was surrounded by equally enjoyable supporting performances, Mia Goth’s Harriet particularly and turns from Bill Nighy and Miranda Hart doing, well, Bill Nighy and Miranda Hart !

It’s beautifully shot and while it is unlikely to be discussed for its unique take on an Austen novel, it is more than enjoyable entertainment.

Up front, I think Margot Robbie is superb actress and has done some remarkable work and her Harley Quinn was the only bright spark in the rather dull Suicide Squad, so I went into Birds of Prey looking forward to it, sadly I was very disappointed.

The cast are fine, Robbie is as always hugely enjoyable and well supported by Perez, Winstead and Smollet-Bell, Ewan McGregor is entertaining as the villain, but and it’s a seemingly continual problem for many of DC’s attempts with their comic book stories, it’s dull, it doesn’t really know what it wants, caught between trying to have the fun violence of Deadpool and the exploration of the psyche offered by Joker, but gets nowhere near either.

Scorsese talked recently about how superhero films are not real cinema, now while this is nonsense what Birds of Prey shows is that there is truly a skill to doing this well, Marvel continually get it right, DC far too often don’t.

They have tried to be original with this, trying to make it more interesting, but it just seems to miss the mark, never funny enough to pull off the Deadpool idea and never going to explore Joker in the way Phoenix does and that’s the big problem, the tone of the film bounces all over the place and is a bit of a mess with a pace that is much too pedestrian to keep you fully engaged.

It’s a real pity that it doesn’t work, their was an idea in there to explore and Margot Robbie could pull off pretty much anything, but this unfortunately didn’t offer a clear enough target to hit and missed it almost completely.

Over the last few years I’ve made the effort to see all of the films nominated for the best picture Oscar, this year I competed the set with Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite, this is not an easy film to describe and not one to spoil as it is certainly best seen knowing very little.

What it is, is a mighty fine piece of work, original, smart, funny and tense. If you like good value from your cinema trips you’ll like this, it covers at least 4 genres over its 132 minutes, comedy, thriller, home invasion and social commentary to give you an idea of its diversity it evokes Oceans 11, the wonderful Knives Out and Jordan Peel’s Us, giving us a well crafted comedy inspired “caper” for one half which then becomes a dark tense multi-layered thriller that draws from that idea of the difference of those living above and below an imaginary “line”.

Centred on the story of two (or maybe three) families living in South Korea, one wealthy and successful, one although smart and resourceful is woefully poor, living in a miserable semi-basement, the two families are brought together via a series of cleverly crafted “cons” and here the film cleverly blurs the lines between right and wrong, our poor family are not nice people yet you find yourself liking them, our wealthy family seem friendly and loving, naive and gullible, but it’s not as clear as that.

In the middle of the film the con unravels and we get a twist that turns the film on its head, a twist has to be earned to make you go with it and Parasite thoroughly earns it. The film turns into something quite different, but still retains humour even if it’s ever darkening with a growing sense of foreboding.

The film goes full circle in its story and impresses throughout, filled with strong and nuanced performances with a smart script that weaves and balances the ever changing themes perfectly. The one thing that you don’t notice is the subtitles, performed in native Korean with English subtitles you remain absorbed by the film and forget you’re reading your way through it.

Parasite is an expertly crafted and told story and if it does win the best movie Oscar, I’ll be pretty happy with that.

As a UK viewer I was unaware of Fred Rogers or his effect on American popular culture, however if it is what this film portrays then the world needs more Fred’s.

This wasn’t the film I imagined, a dramatised look at his life based on the article written by Tom Kunod. What you actually get is a fictional story built on the idea that Rogers was once interviewed! Beautiful day is an often charming, often dark, often quirky story of heartache and anger caused by loss of a loved one and centres around Matthew Ryhs’ Lloyd Vogel an embittered investigative journalist given the task of writing a light pen profile of Rogers.

This introduces us to Hanks’ Rogers a character who appears too good to be true, a children’s TV presenter teaching children how to deal with life’s realities, loved by all, inspiring everyone to be a little better and this is where the film is at it’s strongest.

One of the things with Tom Hanks is he can’t help being Tom Hanks, he is so distinct it’s hard not to see him, but that’s his genius, he pulls you completely into his creation. His portrayal of Rogers is wonderful, drawing you completely in to this human sponge absorbing the hardest problems from those he influences and replacing them with something more positive, what Rogers does with what he absorbs is more difficult, the burden is hinted at but not fully examined, but then that’s not this film and doesn’t try to be.

Rogers loves people and wants to see them live their lives to their best he treats everyone as the most important person at any given moment and sees Vogel as a project, someone he can help.

Hanks is the standout part of the film delivering a performance only he really could. The film around him is sometimes formulaic but does have the odd surprise and a lovely payoff. It’s has and engaging emotional core and Hanks’s performance is joyous and there is enough quirky charm that makes you happy to be carried along.

It’s not perfect, but Hanks pretty much is and at his very best he is something to wholeheartedly enjoy.

There has been a lot of buzz around the Safti brothers Uncut Gems and to be honest I’m not sure it warrants all of it, that’s not to say it’s a bad film, it isn’t, but maybe not a great one.

What it is, is quite a ride, it starts at a frantic pace and seems to get quicker and more frantic as we go on. The story centres around Adam Sandler’s, Howard Ratner, a jewellery dealer, certainly with all the trappings of success, but one addicted to the gamble, whether its sports or business this film is all about the thrill he has in the chase.

Sandler is perfectly cast in the central role, capturing that high octane, unpredictable and somewhat dis-likeable character perfectly. Make no mistake, this is Sandler’s film he is on screen for pretty much all of its 2hr15 running time as you are dragged along his entire ride, the highs, the lows, the huge risks and potential rewards you feel all of this is as the film closes in around Ratner and those watching,

A phrase I’ve heard describe this film is “exhausting” and you can see why, its pace is unrelenting and the way it builds tension and stress throughout is impressive. Sandler is excellent in the central role and is a fine example of how you don’t have to like a character and make no mistake Ratner is not likeable, to go with a performance or a film. There are some good supporting roles, all of which pretty minor flying around Sandlers central whirlwind, however professional basket ball player Kevin Garnett holds his own impressively as a non-actor playing a fictionalised version of himself .

Where the film did win me over was the bravery of an unexpected turn in the story with a moment that I didn’t see coming, it would have been very easy to take a more predictable route but they choose not too and should be congratulated for that.

Your enjoyment of this will probably be based upon how you take the ride, it’s high paced and a little crazy, embodied by Sandler’s performance and if you can live with that there is a film that is original enough with a performance that is interesting enough to keep you entertained, if you can’t this probably won’t be for you!

While I’m not particularly familiar with the Dickens novel or character of David Copperfield a quick read up describes this as an addition to the growing body of work that is the “re-imagining” of a classic.

What does a re-imagined David Copperfield look like? In Armando Iannucci’s version we get a beautifully created Dickension world, we get a diverse cast (that seems to have upset much of the “political correctness gone mad” brigade) who all bring some fun and vibrancy to the screen.

A bit like my last cinema trip, Bombshell, what this film doesn’t quite deliver in story telling, is compensated by wonderful performances, Dev Patel is a fine screen presence and delivers a hugely enjoyable central performance, he is brilliantly supported across the film, Hugh Laurie the pick for me playing the confused Mr. Dick with wit, charm and heart. Tilda Swinton is excellent as Copperfield’s aunt and Peter Capaldi delivers an excellent “wide boy” Mr. Micawber again getting the balance between humour and heart perfect.

Copperfield didn’t completely grab me throughout and it felt longer than its 2 hour running time, but there was a lot to enjoy with some fine performances non more so than Dev Patel. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but entertained me enough.

In a week where Harvey Weinstein is in court, Bombshell looks at another sexual harrasment case that filed against Fox News head Roger Ailes in 2016.

Like many films focusing on the abuse of power much of it is spent in astonishment at how this was allowed to happen almost unquestioned and how this environment thrived not 25 years ago but in 2016.

The story is a powerful and complex one and there lies the films criticism, narrativly it is a bit of a mess, the film moves very swiftly through it’s timeline and bounces quickly between character arcs and to a non US audience this was a little confusing as we try to keep up with who’s who and what their part in the story is.

That said, there is much to enjoy in a range of excellent performances. John Lithgow does a great job of balancing Roger Aimes, it would have been easy to have him portrayed as nothing more than a lecherous pervert, but he shows a man who believes he is championing womens careers and always quick to help, support or advise.

But as with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Margot Robbie steals the show portraying a women who starts as ambitious and naive to the abused victim who eventually refuses to be defined by it, one scene in particular were her innocence is lost is brilliantly played as she fully displays the horror of the realisation of what is happening.

Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman provide excellent central performances meaning a film with some narrative flaws is compensated by quality performances across it.

By no means perfect but for all the narrative holes, the performances more than make it worth a watch.

I have to admit that I’m a sucker for a quirky, gentle story and if you film it literally around the corner from where I live, then I’m going to be well disposed to it.

Sometimes Always Never is that movie, based on Frank Cotteril Boyce’s own short story it follows Alan and Peter a father and son whose lives live under the shadow cast by the disappearance of son and brother Michael.

What plays out is a gentle and charming drama lead by Bill Nighy at his most Nighy, the definition of effortless charm and Sam Riley as his detached son as they search for a missing brother while ignoring the relationship that is in front of them. Alan is always thoughtful and attentive to everyone but his remaining son, he provides wise words to his grandson, daughter-in-law and strangers and keeps his mind active with a love of scrabble and words which provides his bridge to other relationships.

The strength of the film is the central father and son narrative that beautifully explores a strained relationship as well as the pain that comes with the loss of a loved one and unfulfilled hope.

Sometime Always Never isn’t going to change the world, but it is a well played, beautifully shot, gentle journey through human emotion and as I said, shoot a film around the corner from my house, make it quirky and gentle and i’m in and with this I was.