Sian Brett

The definitive Sci-fi film from 1968 was rereleased in cinemas in November. I saw it, for the first time, in Greenwich Picturehouse, sat in the front row as Strauss boomed and my mind was blown. The thing that struck me most about 2001: A Space Odyssey, was how it didn’t really feel like a film at all. The strange hum of machinery and unsettling camera angles all create an assault on the senses and made it feel like an art instillation, rather than a ‘movie’. By bringing you into the world of the spaceship and making it feel like...

When coming to university, and leaving home, I wanted to bring movies with me that would remind me of home, and that meant something to me. Here’s what I chose to take with me, and why. Singin’ in the Rain When I was younger I would watch this on repeat, enchanted by all the dance numbers and the friendship between the three leads. It reminds me of home and of my dad doing his impression of Lina Lamonte, in a silly high pitched voice, laughing to himself at – “I earn more than Calvin Coolidge; put together!” Frances Ha...

It’s perhaps the most anticipated children’s film of the year, and finally, just as Christmas is approaching, Paddington bear is awaiting a whole new generation, with a little tag around his neck asking to be taken care of. Paddington has arrived from Darkest Peru, on the promise of being welcomed by the explorer who once taught his aunt and uncle all about London life. It is in London that he meets the Brown family; risk analyst Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville), illustrator Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins) and their children Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Johnathan (Sam Joslin). After being taken in...

Santa has ended up in prison, his reindeers have fled and it looks like Christmas is going to be cancelled, unless he can rely on the help of young Tom (Kit Connor) and his dad, the recently released from prison Steve (Rafe Spall). Wanting only a Christmas with his son, who he has been apart from whilst locked away for two years, Steve finds himself going to extreme lengths to help save festive cheer, not only for his son but soon for everyone else that relies on Santa too. Christmas family films often use Christmas time as a barometer...