What's On TV

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 22, 2020 Airborne comedy Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant is striving to recapture the deadpan silliness of classic 1980 spoof Airplane! Unsurprisingly, the jokes don't fly nearly as fast. Go to Full Review Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant (2015) - - 58%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 22, 2020 Nick Murphy has crafted an elegant haunted-house chiller that turns the screw of mystery and suspense with some cunningly judged surprises and scares. Go to Full Review The Awakening (2011) 64% 51%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 2/5 It's the hopelessly apologetic frat boys - led by Josh Brener's polite preppie - who actually prove much funnier than the film's nominal star as they tie themselves in excruciating knots of white guilt. Go to Full Review Where's the Money (2017) - - 44%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 Naomi Kawase deftly handles her themes of loneliness, social stigma and the joy of finding a purpose in life, and her story's resolution is bittersweet but uplifting. Go to Full Review Sweet Bean (2015) 84% 85%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 Miike brings his own distinct sensibility to the limb-lopping mayhem. True, the film's episodic pace flags once or twice, but Miike usually drops in some wry humour to keep us engaged until the next bout of bloodletting. Go to Full Review Blade of the Immortal (2017) 87% 70%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 3/5 First-time writer-director Jason Lew is heavy handed with his use of symbolism... But the two stars somehow make their overwrought characters work - and earn our sympathy to boot. Go to Full Review The Free World (2016) 56% 53%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 1/5 It's hard to decide what is most annoying about this cinematic botch: the ugly animation, the contrived story or the blatant product placement, or the fact that the filmmakers spoil almost every gag by underlining it twice. Go to Full Review The Emoji Movie (2017) 6% 36%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 1/5 The stars play the hands they've been dealt as best they can, but the script is so feeble that it's no wonder the film is a bust. Go to Full Review The House (2017) 20% 35%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 Franco recreates The Room's hopeless ineptitude, with spot-on re-enactments of some of its most notoriously dire scenes. But the big surprise is that the decidedly odd, bromantic friendship at the movie's heart should prove so touching. Go to Full Review The Disaster Artist (2017) 90% 85%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 Bent over and hunched, Sally Hawkins undergoes an astonishing physical transformation to play arthritic Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis... but what's really impressive about her performance is the spark and soul she brings to the role. Go to Full Review Maudie (2016) 90% 89%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 As disability dramas go, Breathe won't leave you gasping. But if it lacks The Theory of Everything's emotional heft, it remains an inspiring and affecting tale. Go to Full Review Breathe (2017) 67% 72%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 Shot in crisp black and white and running a brisk 71 minutes, this scathing intellectual farce may appear stagy but it positively zings with cinematic energy. Go to Full Review The Party (2017) 82% 62%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 Starts off slowly but becomes more scary and suspenseful as it goes along. Go to Full Review Annihilation (2018) 88% 67%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 5/5 Fizzing with vitality, brimful of empathy and insight. Go to Full Review The Florida Project (2017) 96% 80%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 3/5 It's all wildly contrived, but the classy and committed cast somehow make it work. Go to Full Review Custody (2016) 60% 44%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 3/5 How much you enjoy all this will depend on your attitude to latterday Woody Allen. You'll need tolerance for the heightened dialogue and contrived set-up... Get past these, however, and you'll be rewarded by Winslet's incandescent leading turn. Go to Full Review Wonder Wheel (2017) 32% 43%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 2/5 Scares and laughs are in fairly short supply. Go to Full Review Eat Local (2017) 21% 44%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 [A] terrifically engaging coming-of-age drama cum mystery thriller. Go to Full Review Jasper Jones (2017) 78% 64%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 4/5 This decidedly odd and kinky tale is evidently a passion project for writer-director Angela Robinson (maker of cheeky teen spy spoof D.E.B.S.), and she brings a sly wit and touching sweetness to her telling of it. Go to Full Review Professor Marston & the Wonder Women (2017) 87% 77%

Jason Best What's On TV Dec 20, 2020 2/5 They are no match for the Avengers when it comes to entertaining us. The Marvel bunch fizz with energy and wit. This lot are far too dark and brooding to be much fun, and they spend ages hanging around before we get to the action. Go to Full Review Justice League (2017) 39% 67%