The Hatton Garden Job attempts to portray one of Britain’s most notorious heists in history £200 million of diamonds stolen from inside one of the most secure environments in the world.

Suspenseful…right?

Well, as fun as the film is, unfortunately in some respects it doesn’t quite reach that adrenaline rush you need watching a heist film, especially with a true story of such caliber.

£200 million of diamonds? Sure, why not!

A nameless leader slowly recruits all his old friends and colleagues for one last job – the heist to last a lifetime. They meet, predictably, in an old warehouse to hash out their plan. Apart from a few genuinely hilarious jokes, and some moments of artful foreshadowing, this film generally follows the vein of every other heist film in existence, which sadly doesn’t add anything new.

Monday night movie? Great. Saturday night? No way.

The only part of this film that genuinely seemed alive, creative and fun was the editing. It was the only part that was truly breathing – everything else was formulaic. It’s a good movie, but we have plenty of those. Show me a great heist movie to make my hair stand on end, to keep me on the edge of my seat – then you’ll have stolen my heart.

The Hatton Garden Job is in cinemas 14 April. Why don’t you go judge it for yourself?

Dirs. Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl.

This documentary is supremely researched, and its findings turn up a delicious pot of history for us to sink our teeth in to as we watch. It tells the dramatic and inspiring story of Gertrude Bell, who was at any one time:

a spy, an explorer, a dignitary, an archaeologist, a translator, and politician.

This woman has an incredible resume, especially for a female Briton at the turn of the 20^th century. And yet almost no one has heard of her.

This documentary changes that, and exposes the colourful and wonderful life of Gertrude Bell.

She’s described as an ‘orgy of independence’, a fiercely headstrong woman who rode in to the Middle East on camelback and never wanted to return to Victorian London. She was a friend and confidant to Arab people, and ‘most of all, to Iraq itself’. This female Lawrence of Arabia (who has her close friend and colleague) traversed the Arabian desert and found new water wells, languages and tribes – invaluable knowledge for Iraqis and colonialists alike.

The documentary shows glorious colour graded footage, nearly 100 years old at this point, giving us a sumptuous glance at the Middle East that’s a welcome detour from the current smorgasbord of violence and despair on our modern screens. Instead we were served images of a bustling high street, thriving businesses and smiling happy faces in the desert. This is a culture that is rich in history, family values, and ancient culture.

And yet the issues explored in this documentary are eerily current: foreign imposed rule, governmental instability, poverty and rebellious uprisings – Iraq’s history, while beautiful, is also frequently blemished with dark moments of difficulty and suppression.

Bell saw the country for all its glory though, and never once faltered in her conviction of its eventual blooming. She fell in love with Mesopotamia, and as well as drawing the modern borders of Iraq, she is also the founder of the Iraqi National Museum, opened after 10 years of diligent curation.

A friend and powerful ally to the Middle East, this story of Gertrude Bell is a beautiful exploration of primary sources and information that shed light on a new corner of history, that not only teaches us lessons of the past but also of the future.

This raw, uncompromising film feels less like a documentary and more like a genuine, prolonged observance in to somebody else’s life, as if the screen in front of us was a portal that allowed us to live and breathe along with someone else’s journey. Such is Gleason, the engrossing documentary which has two noble aims: to raise awareness about ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and for a man to connect with his unborn son. About 15 minutes in, we are introduced and then soon disregard that Steve Gleason was once a daring and well known NFL player, because while it’s necessary set up, it’s not the reason this movie was made.

Instead we struggle and strain with him through his unfiltered, upfront and painfully intimate video diary told to his son, who will be born knowing Gleason as someone entirely different than what he will see in these videos.

Gleason is intense – Steve and his wife Michel leave nothing out of this exploration in to their life and love. Weeks after his ALS diagnosis, the couple found out Michel was pregnant.

This movie is filled with such intensely bittersweet moments.

Gleason participates in a triathlon with his friends, but his gait has become awkward and protracted. Footage of his football days rolls right in to a scene of his wife feeding both him and their new baby. The wealth of the Gleasons allows Steve access to the best treatments possible, and the couple fights the good fight to provide other, less well-off sufferers with proper care as well – they develop a charity that fights to have ALS speech devices covered on Medicaid, and they sponsor struggling families to take vacations they could never have afforded.

The movie tries to put forward a positive message of love-conquers-all, and that’s true, however the inevitability of Steve’s disease naturally places the same note of intense hardship over the entire film. Gleason is inspiring, and filled with love, but at times tough to watch and at other times intensely sad. However, since it’s a documentary about life, as it truly is, I’d say it gets it just right.

Gleason is in cinemas on March 17.

Dir. Mark J. Blackman.

Bookended by two definitions of the title word, Animus is a short, straightforward venture in to finding the strength to do – to move, to say goodbye, to be honest. Sienna and Elliot quietly sit at his kitchen table, and discuss their break up and their lives apart. They forgive old wrongs and wipe clean the ‘bad blood’ – part of the reason Sienna is there…

The wide spaces and farmland around Elliot’s house taunt him with the freedom he doesn’t have – Sienna’s blue colour scheme separates her from Elliot’s green, indicating she has spread her wings and is unlocked; Elliot, trapped but happily resigned, laughs at the nature of fate while Sienna has actively rebelled against her.

This gently tragic drama has an undertone of optimism – motivation in the face of hostility. Perseverance in climbing the wall of Fate.

Mark J. Blackman is an award-winning Director of short films, music promos and hundreds of corporates and broadcast promos.

He has worked extensively all over Europe, the U.S, Asia and can occasionally be seen filming on the sides of mountains in Nepal.

Mark’s films have been praised for their stylized visuals, strong female characters, uncompromising tones and black humour.

His works have both screened and sold at film festivals around the world and he has picked up numerous awards from the likes of The New York Festival, Promax and Houston Worldfest amongst others.

Dirs. John Musker & Ron Clements.

I watched this movie right before I emigrated from my home country to the UK, literally the day before, so this tale of a girl going off to create her destiny may have entranced me more than normal. However, this movie is still objectively wonderful, and inspiring, and happy and another Disney success.

Total newcomer Auli’i Cravalho graces the screen as Moana, a wilful daughter of a chief (not a princess! Definitely not another Disney princess!) who aches to discover the world beyond her island’s reef. Her father forbids it, and she intuitively knows he fears something in her that may defy him.

Sure enough, her free-spirited, water dancing grandmother shows her an untold story of her tribe – they were once voyagers who sailed far and wide, unafraid and fulfilled with their true purpose.

After this discovery, brilliantly showed by shadow play on a cave wall, Moana’s mother gives her some food, she takes her pet rooster HeiHei (because every non-princess needs a dumb animal sidekick) and sets sail.

It’s actually an amazing Disney movie. The songs are incredible – who knew the Rock could sing? Is there anything he can’t do? (Yes, he can never button his cuff links but nobody’s perfect) Maui (Dwayne Johnson) is a demigod Moana finds to ask his help in delivering the heart of Te Fiti back to her island, the loss of which is causing a disease to spread throughout Polynesia. They face dangers along the way including Jermaine Clement as a giant coconut crab – his song is a fantastic David Bowie tribute – with a low point of the movie being sentient coconut pirates who briefly assault Moana and her crew. Lame, but it is still a kid’s movie I guess.

Moana is awesome – she is independent, kind and willing to ask for help and give her own generously. She will make a strong and wise chief to her people, and is a fantastic instalment for the next generation of Disney loving boys and girls to be inspired by.