Author: Joel Fisher

The year is 1938 and the Ratch family are trying to have a better time aboard the Queen Mary than society allows. Posing as first-class passengers when they could only afford third, David (Will Coban), Gwen (Nell Hudson) and their daughter, Jackie (Florrie Wilkinson) all enjoy a fine dining experience, the kind that they could only dream about.

In the present day, Anne Calder (Alice Eve) and her son, Lukas (Lenny Rush) are heading for the Queen Mary which has been set up as a tourist attraction. Hoping to get an idea of what a supernatural experience would be like, Anne meets her husband, Patrick (Joel Fry) who already works there. They send Lukas on his way as he excitedly joins the haunted tour and although Anne is worried, she has to understand that Lukas is growing up.

However, once Lukas goes off the tour and starts to wander, he realises that the reports of ghosts still haunting the ship may have more weight than he thought.

Haunting of The Queen Mary is a supernatural horror movie co-directed by Gary Shore and Rebecca Harris and co-written by Tom Vaughn. A ghost story with atmosphere, but the audience may get the feeling that something may have gone wrong during production.

That something must have occurred in the editing room. That’s because although there could have been a coherent story here as it parallels the experiences of two families nearly a century apart, it feels like the directors or writers wanted to do something more.

This may have also unfortunately led to a lot of things being cut out, things such as exposition and a semblance of plot. Because for the most part it feels like the audience are meant to be able to keep up.

Instead, Haunting of The Queen Mary feels like three different movies all at once with very little connection between the stories. Add to that a director’s flair for artistry which involves black and white scenes and a little animation and the result is a muddled mess. Haunting of The Queen Mary may look stylish, but nobody would blame the audience for getting bored and confused.

Bicycles have been around far longer than a lot of the inventions we take for granted like the car and the telephone. Whereas cars and phones have changed over the years, bicycles have more or less stayed the same albeit for a couple of innovations and adjustments as technology has improved.

They can be used for sport, fun and fitness and even used to generate power. Most people have had experiences with bicycles and it has touched our lives for centuries.

The Engine Inside is a documentary all about the humble bike, directed by Colin Jones, Darren McCollough and Darcy Wittenburg and co-written by Daisy Maddinson. Reaching out to people from all over the world, the documentary looks at people’s experiences and how they’ve all been affected by riding. Narrated by legendary cycling commentator Phil Liggett, The Engine Inside seems truly for the two-wheeled aficionados.

However, the success of how the documentary may affect the viewer will probably depend on what side they fall upon. Whereas most people have had experience riding bikes at one time in their lives, seeing it as a rite of passage, a lot of people don’t bike regularly let alone form an emotional attachment with them.

This is where The Engine Inside starts to feel a bit wobbly, because no matter how good the documentary may come across by highlighting certain issues, the bicycles tend to be a tenuous link at best.

However, this doesn’t seem to stop the documentary talking about women’s rights, indigenous injustice and even road safety. Whilst the latter may seem more relevant, it often feels like the issues that it tackles are more important than the bicycles themselves. Something which may lead the audience to suspect that the subject matter may not be quite as important as the documentary thinks it is.

This unfortunately makes The Engine Inside feel more like a parody of a documentary rather than one that makes a subject more interesting. A product of which may leave some people to laugh and scoff at, whilst others already converted may only be encouraged by their favourite mode of transport.

After a long year, two couples decide that they need to reward themselves with a trip away over the festive season. Brittany (Alicia Karami) and Randy (Jeffrey Hunter) have been together for a while and are nicely comfortable with each other, while Adrianna (Karri Davis) and Hunter (Adam Fair) still can’t keep their hands off each other, so they’re looking forward to an exciting break.

However, there are reports of a woman colloquially known as the Piglady who has been known to kill people and feed them to their pigs and it seems that they may have found some new victims.

Piglady is a horror movie directed by Adam Fair and co-written by Alex C. Johnson, inspired by the true story of Susan Monica who was said to have finished off her victims in the same way. However, despite its set up for a horror movie which would sound generic if it wasn’t based on fact, it still seems like Piglady doesn’t know how to deliver.

Something that may have been seen time and time again, the idea of an isolated, psychopathic hillbilly is nothing new. Although the way in which the movie depicts the Piglady may be somewhat unique. This is done by discussing the nature of the Piglady, suggesting their ambiguous gender identity and whether it really matters.

However, in doing so it does feel that raising the point of their gender only adds to the unknown, which may frighten some audience members further. Although, having the Piglady being shot mostly from behind with hair over their face does help with the sinister nature of the character, it may also inadvertently push forward the discussion of so called ‘gender criticism’.

If this aspect were removed, then Piglady would just be a more generic albeit enjoyable horror movie. The problem is that whilst it’s fleshing out its protagonist, it falls on the cliches of the gang trapped in a cabin in the woods.

Leaving some bored while it slowly builds up to its finale, it may be up to the audience to decide as to whether the blood-soaked finale was worth the wait.

Ciara (Nina Holland-Smith) has everything she ever wanted, she has a loving partner and a baby on the way and life feels like bliss. However, life has a way of doing things that we don’t expect, and soon she loses everything. Feeling lost and desperate, Ciara decides that it’s time to do something about it and after talking with a friend, she decides to take some extreme measures to make some money.

Meeting with Robin (Neizan Fernandez), a small-time arms dealer, Ciara expresses her interest in doing a job. All they have to do is deliver the merchandise, take the money and go.

It seems like an easy job, but once they meet Joseph (Grahame Edwards), they realise that this eccentric and embittered albeit enthusiastic buyer could cause them some problems. Not to mention that they have to wait a day until the money gets delivered.

Talking to Ghosts is a crime thriller written and directed by Ryan J. Smith. The kind of story which has a simple set up and may even be used for broad comedy in other hands becomes a nuanced and thought-provoking story with its writer/director.

Also, for a first-time lead Holland-Smith does an excellent job and has a great screen presence. Able to bring the tough, no-nonsense aspects to her character, as well as participating in the lighter tones that the film displays.

Perhaps something with more mainstream appeal than Smith’s previous film Lottery, Talking to Ghosts shows that he may have a bright future as a director. Showing an ability to be able to mix light humour with issues that are dark and potentially life changing, Smith deals with his characters like real people. Managing to do so by never undermining their innermost thoughts with contrivances of plot or an ulterior motive for romance between his leads.

There were many different paths that Talking to Ghosts could have taken and after a while, it does settle down whilst still being a compelling watch. Although the final act twist does change the tone somewhat, it’s director Smith who keeps it afloat while satisfying his audience.

Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madakwe) is obsessed with driving. He knows all the ins and outs of every car he’s ever driven and he feels like he could be as good as the professionals. The trouble is that Jann’s experiences outside of his own car have been playing Gran Turismo, the world’s most popular and accurate racing simulator.

Jann’s dad, Steve (Djimon Honsou) thinks he’s wasting his life, but on the other side of the screen there are people who are noticing his efforts and want to help him turn them into a reality.

Gran Turismo is a sports drama and true-life story directed by Neil Blomkamp. An unusual take on what could have been just another video game movie, Gran Turismo takes inspiration from real life and not pixels.

Jann’s life has everything that a young sports hero may want. He has a dream, the drive and the ambition, but he doesn’t have the outlet to get what he really wants. That’s where racing promoter Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) comes in and as with what happened in real life, a group of the best racers from Gran Turismo were invited to compete in order to take on the real thing. However, although the drama may be based on a true story, it feels like it cuts corners.

Starting out by showing Jann’s life, it puts the young teenage audience in the driver’s seat. Jann is exactly everything that they may want to be and he gets everything they may want to have, but there isn’t much else to him. That’s not down to Madakwe’s performance because he’s a likeable screen presence, the trouble is that the script tells the audience so little about him that he becomes a blank slate.

The movie also suffers from having too much and not enough simultaneously as the audience is shown everything that Jann has and what he could achieve, but most of that is shoved into the first half hour.

This unfortunately leads to emotional moments like his connection with his father being glossed over. It’s also worth noting that this is a Sony movie, and unfortunately the corporate sheen is quite obvious, particularly in an otherwise emotional moment with his mentor, Jack Salter (David Harbour) that’s undermined by product placement. Although a unique approach to the video game movie genre, Gran Turismo feels weighed down by the drive of selling power.