Mad Max - Fury Road; predictably enough, it was pointless and added nothing that the original didn't already achieve. Millions of dollars, big name stars and slick production - kind of misses the point.

5/10

John Wick.

It seems that the genre du jour is old blokes coming out of retirement to wreak vengeance on people who done him wrong; in this instance, it's the theft of a classic car and the bludgeoning to death of a very cute puppy - by Theon Greyjoy as it happens, who seems to have recovered from the loss of his clock-weights.

I quite enjoyed this - it's just stylised enough to avoid disappearing up its own jacksie and the action was slick and well choreographed; switch off brain, forget the heady days of Bill and Ted and let the mindless slaughter lull you into a sense of numb anaesthesia.

7/10

The Martian.
7.5/10

I really enjoyed this, It's a bit of a mash up of Appollo 13 and Castaway, there was some good science in it and Matt Damon's acting makes it somewhat believable.

Aliens 10/10

Surprisingly I'd never seen it before, though it was released before I was born. Brilliant film.

This makes me happy; one of, if not the, greatest science fiction films ever made. Welcome!

One of the rare if almost non existent cases of the sequel surpassing the original

Unbroken (2014) an American historical biographic war-sports drama film, produced and directed by Angelina Jolie, and based on the 2010 non-fiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. The film revolves around the life of USA Olympian and athlete Louis "Louie" Zamperini, portrayed by Jack O'Connell. Zamperini survived in a raft for 47 days after his bomber was downed in World War II, then was sent to a series of prisoner of war camps.

8/10

Turbo Kid - a weird little French Canadian affair, which is essentially a dark future, post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie, delivered as homage to 80's culture and films, right down to an electro-snyth soundtrack and Michael Ironside as the big bad; which adds significantly to the 80's credentials.

Schlocky blood and gore, amateurish special effects and 'enthusiastic' performances - despite all that, this is a gem; if you like something a little off the beaten track and are a child of the 80's, give it a go; I really enjoyed myself!

Worth mentioning the female lead - Laurence Leboeuf - she's going to be big.

8/10

Man from U.N.C.L.E.

8/10

Loved this movie, very styalistic and done with a lot of panache.
The acting was excellent and the storyline brisk and fresh.
Lots of eye candy, high fashion mixed in with good but not over the top action scenes.

Looking forward to a sequel

Ex Machina - an intelligent study of the ethics and morality of AI, based around a reclusive billionaire tech genius, and a young coder, duped into carrying out Turing Tests on his latest creation.

Gripping, thought provoking and disturbing stuff - with excellent performances from everyone involved; well worth a watch.

9/10