FILM: Daddy's Home (dir: Sean Anders, 2015)

"Oh no, you can't make a treehouse with a tampon, Brad."

Once again, the trailer for this film contains the best laughs, and there are only a couple more to be found in the whole film.  The re-teaming of Ferrell and Wahlberg is the strength of Daddy's Home, but this is a very meagre and thinly-written enterprise compared to The Other Guys.  After a promising opening that highlights the contrast between well-meaning stepfather Farrell and the total disdain in which he is held by the children, the film rapidly settles into a very insipid and sluggish grind towards the inevitable homely messages about families and fatherhood.  Everyone tries hard, but the overwhelming blandness of the film offers little that is truly engaging or memorable.

FILM: Star Wars - The Force Awakens IMAX 3D (dir: JJ Abrams, 2015)

"This thing really moves!"

Consider me thoroughly entertained - The Force Awakens is hugely enjoyable.  Thirty-two years is a long time to wait for a sequel, and here JJ Abrams deftly mixes the classic trilogy with modern blockbuster expectations in order to create a movie with energy, scale and - most importantly - narrative drive and real heart.  For those of us who have lived with this movie saga for nearly four decades, there are many small moments that pique the emotions, from the Lucasfilm logo shimmering onto the screen at the start to the simple turning on of a lightsabre, not least a massive shock moment that is pulled off terrifically at one point, and the blending of characters, craft and visual motifs old and new is masterfully done.  Strong performances abound, notably the Daisy Ridley/John Bodega pairing, Domnhall Gleeson and Adam Driver as effective villains, and Harrison Ford returns demonstrating considerable skill.  In IMAX 3D the film is ravishing to look at,and the dog-fights and action set-pieces work very well, fitting effortlessly within the filmic world Lucas created.  The film also delivers a very enjoyable thread of wry humour.  The Force Awakens is a very successful bridging of the old and new Star Wars tales, and clearly looking forward is a much better prospect than what was dished up with the retrospective prequels.

FILM: Sisters (dir: Jason Moore, 2015)

"Winter is coming, bitches!"

Sisters does what it says on the tin, as the approaching-middle-agers stage one last house party to recapture their lost youth, and it is is generally entertaining, sporadically very funny, and kept afloat by the long-established and reliable chemistry between Poehler and Fey, even if at times it looks as if the actors had more fun making the film than the audiences has watching it.  The script is also well-structured, with many successful pay-offs in the third act.  Look out for the smile-worthy out-takes and bloopers in the end credits.

FILM: Snoopy and Charlie Brown - The Peanuts Movie 3D 4DX (dir: Steve Martino, 2015)

"What are you doing?"
"Following in the footsteps of greatness."

The Charles M Schulz classic property was one that was long thought to be worringly ill-advised for a modern CGI/3D makeover, but Blue Sky's movie has clearly been made with a lot of love and respect.  Like the originals, this is a warm-hearted, simple and good-natured affair, albeit a bit pacier, and there are some nice nods to the much-loved animated specials along the way.  The story sweetly follows Charlie Brown falling in love with the new girl in town, intercut with Snoopy's Red Baron tales which have more in common with modern-day CGI-animated visual-storytelling, and regular characters are voiced faithfully by a new young cast - even Woodstock gets reasonable screen-time.  The 3D is handled well, with the characters sympathetically and carefully realised to create a fine balance between the old 2D hand-drawn cartoons and the three-dimensional settings, making this 2015 outing a pleasant and faithful experience.

FILM: Christmas With The Coopers aka Love The Coopers (dir: Jessie Nelson, 2015)

"I think you're funny 'cause you're sad."

Do not be put off by the initial worry that the structure seems to follow that of the recent spate of weak Hollywood actor-celeb cross-generational ensemble holiday-themed movies (Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve) - Christmas With The Coopers is a big step up from those films.  Yes, it has a cute dog as a ton of Christmas schmaltz (it is a Christmas movie after all!), but dig deeper and it is very thoughtfully-written in terms of dialogue, with some very strong on-screen pairings: Diane Keaton and John Goodman (at his most heartbreaking and funny) spar wonderfully, Seyfried raises her game to match Arkin, and a luminous Olivia Wilde works well with Jake Lacy.  There are some delightfully-handled cutaways and quick flashback moments, and even though the third act (when the Coopers all come together) feels brief and simplified, the resolutions are necessarily heartwarming and feel-good for this superior festive film.

FILM: Victor Frankenstein (dir: Paul McGuigan, 2015)

"Just an exuberant show of deranged lunacy!"

This is a very peculiar movie that certainly flies against early indications that it would be a fresh but serious take on the classic tale.  McGuigan's stint on TV's Sherlock has a clear influence on the style at times, as indeed does the latest film series' bromance of Downey Jnr and Law's Holmes and Watson, but it is undone by a sometimes oddly camp script and - rather like the creatures made up of a patchwork of parts - a range of scenes and performances that seem to wander in from different versions of the same film.  In a strong and surprisingly young British cast, Radcliffe tries hard and does a fair job, McAvoy is hugely entertaining (not always for the right reasons) as his performance becomes increasingly unfettered, and Jessica Brown Findlay has little to do as the single token female/love-interest role.  It does have a rousing if chaotically-presented finale in a beautifully-designed set with bizarre costumes, but it does not save the film from being an inconsistent and odd film to watch. 

FILM: Carol (dir: Todd Haynes, 2015)

"I love Christmas."

Carol is another carefully-wrought slice of superior melodrama from Todd Haynes, which is also one of the director's most successful and accomplished films.  Haynes knows exactly how to excavate the painful voids in the souls of his characters, and in Carol his use of visual placement, gesture and framing is exquisite.  Blanchett's brilliantly poised, experienced older woman contrasts beautifully with Mara's ingénue shopgirl as their lives collide and feelings deepen, and Sarah Paulson as Blanchette's best friend gets more out of a couple of scenes than most actresses manage in an entire movie.  Apart from the joy of watching exemplary performances, this is a stunningly-wrought movie that revels in its recreation of the early 50s in every respect, from Carter Burwell's score to Sandy Powell's costume design to Phyllis Nagy's gorgeously precise script from the Patricia Highsmith story.  Todd Haynes should enjoy major mainstream recognition for this fine piece of film-making.

FILM: The Good Dinosaur 3D (dir: Peter Sohn, 2015)

"Don't overthink it."

Whist not in the top flight of the studio's output, The Good Dinosaur is still another utterly charming winner from Pixar.  This one is a very simple tale indeed and is aimed firmly at the youngest end of the audience.   Typical themes of family and friendship are played out sincerely and effectively, with a lot of familiar and unsurprising story beats, and be warned: the typical end-of-first-act emotional gut-punch is here notably sharp and brutal in its impact.  In spite of the simplistic renderings of the lead characters to make them kid-friendly, there is a lot of technical ambition to be admired here, from successful 3D cross-fades to the stunningly-detailed settings and vistas. Overall, The Good Dinosaur is a cut above most other studios' animated output, but its simplicity means that it does not match UP! or Inside Out.  The accompanying near-dialogue-free short, Sanjay's Super Team, is a real cultural fusion that pays off beautifully. 

FILM: The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 3D (dir: Francis Lawrence, 2015)

"No more games."

This franchise finale is hardly the action-packed treat that we were promised following the book-splitting power-play-filled Part 1.  Instead, Part 2 is a curious product, as The Hunger Games does Full Metal Jacket in a very sombre, melancholy and often lethargic manner.  Occasionally, there are flashes of excitement, such as the Aliens-inspired sewer sequence, but the film is more concerned with being an earnest treatise on the effects of war and being a salutary lesson in truth being its first casualty, which it does quite strongly in the third act.  Once again, an unusually high-calibre cast delivers heavyweight performances from an adequate script, the effects work is very well realised, and 3D is unshowy and natural-looking.  Like The Return Of The King, it delivers a number of end-points, and whilst the emotional climaxes are a little muted, it can only be hoped that the franchise is allowed to rest at this satisfactory conclusion.

FILM: Steve Jobs (dir: Danny Boyle, 2015)

"That was cool."

Whereas 127 Hours was a true-life technical showcase, this biopic sees Danny Boyle in a much more restrained mode, here relying much more on interplay of characters and performances but still imbuing the film with his trademark energy and style.  Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay shows wonderful structure and economy, using the story of Apple as a mere backdrop to the people stories, and also provides dialogue that is whip-smart, precise and crackling with wit in noticeably extended on-screen scenes.  Fassbender yet again delivers an extraordinarily thorough, magnetic and convincing character portrayal, with terrific support throughout, notably from Kate Winslet and Jeff Daniels - indeed, one face-off between Fassbender and Daniels is probably the most thrillingly-played sequence of this year, and even Daniel Pemberton's Vangelis-styled score works very effectively.   Universal may have misjudged its American release by going too wide too soon - Steve Jobs is not general Friday-night-multiplex fodder - but this film is an absolute treat to be savoured by people who enjoy superbly-crafted film.