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 the real world, Kubrick is creating a feeling of claustrophobia, stuck in space, with only HAL for company. This film is particularly interesting in the world we live in now, 13 years after Kubrick’s imagined future. Siri can answer any question, and Stephen Hawking commented recently on his fears about artificial intelligence. Our knowledge of space is constantly growing but our fascination doesn’t stop – Interstellar’s recent success shows that. Gravity last year also used space as a metaphor for something bigger about humanity. Despite these films being 46 years after Kubrick’s foray into space, we as humans are clearly...

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 Frances Ha is a film about a twenty something year old, trying to make her way in a big city, with not enough money, and trying to find stay true to her creative nature. So basically, when moving to London to do drama it seemed like the right thing to do to take it with me. I first saw this in the oldest cinema in Dorset, The Rex in Wareham. Lovely. Annie Hall I first watched Annie Hall two years ago, and it was my first Woody Allen film. I was instantly enthralled by the cynical sense of humour, the...

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 and meeting their housekeeper Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) Paddington has to readjust what he thought he knew about London town and keep himself out of trouble – tricky for a bear being hunted down by a mysterious taxidermist (Nicole Kidman). Director and writer Paul King’s first film, Bunny and the Bull was a uniquely different and interesting look at one man’s relationship with the outside world. In Paddington King reverses his view and shows us how the world of London looks from the perspective of an outsider, in particular one little bear from Peru. It’s full of wonderful performances from...

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 for life – in It’s a Wonderful Life George’s bad Christmas is an example of just how bad his life is and in Get Santa it takes saving Christmas for the entire planet to properly reunite Steve and his son. This sentiment is one of the best things the film has going for it, and could play well with the parents taking their kids to see a film like this. However it’s let down by the poor character writing, and the odd choice of casting Rafe Spall as an ex-convict and getaway driver – it’s so unbelievable even in a...