James McAvoy

Director Bryan Singer helms a sprawling epic that’s merely cobbled together from familiar plot points and franchise curtain calls.

There’s no denying that the latest iteration of Mary Shelley’s classic is pretty terrible.

Adapted from an Irvine Welsh novel of the same name, Filth will be a frustrating watch for those familiar with the work, and a confusing watch for those without bias.

Though infused with an infectious anarchic energy, Filth confuses rudeness with rebellion. Even the gleeful excesses can’t save the film’s muddled script as it loses its narrative steam and plummets into melodrama. The wickedness feels less like provocation and more like a diversion to hide the wafer-thin story. In other words, Filth is all talk and no shock.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Written by Simon Kinberg Directed by Bryan Singer USA, 2014 It may be a slightly ominous sign that the best scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past features a totally new character to the infinite universe of mutants, who then all but vanishes from the rest of the film. Still, …

Real Name Charles Francis Xavier First Appearance X-Men #1 (September 1963) Nicknames and Aliases Chuck, Baldy, the Entity, Onslaught Powers and Abilities Xavier possess the foremost mutant mind on Earth, and is a telepathy of vast power and skill, including the ability to read minds and projects thoughts, even at great distances, take control of …

Anyone who watches Welcome to the Punch will, at some point, feel the unerring prick of realization running up their spine. In full, the film is technically original, but in its parts, the seasoned moviegoer will recognize a number of elements from pretty much every crime drama released in the last 30 years. We have a dogged, Javert-like cop looking for revenge for a past slight, a conspiracy that reaches far and wide both within the force and within the world of big-city politics, and the sleek silvers and blues meant to point out the inherent, Michael Mann-esque moodiness on screen.

Danny Boyle has yet to make a dull movie, but that appears to be the only consistency he’s concerned with. His new film Trance is as amped up, jittery, and stylistically charged as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and the rest of his filmography, but the story holds up to barely the most minor scrutiny. Trance’s inconsistencies go well beyond its script, all the way down to the various flourishes Boyle employs throughout the film, tossing them out as he deems them useless.

Trance Written by John Hodge and Joe Ahearne Directed by Danny Boyle UK, 2013 Danny Boyle’s return to the thriller genre is also a return to the three character piece nature of his debut feature Shallow Grave, albeit placed within the confines of a heist film set mostly within the human mind. This is bound …

Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class is approaching ever so quickly and they have found their Professor X. The guys at /Film have word that James McAvoy (Atonement and Wanted) has been casted for the role as Professor Charles Xavier to mentor the first generation of X-Men. McAvoy is a decent actor, but I can’t see …

The Last Station feels more like a stuffy old British play than actual history The Last Station Directed by Michael Hoffman The Last Station presents the fascinating last year in the life of Russian giant Leo Tolstoy, watered down by a cavalcade of coming-of-age story and biopic clichés. It’s too bad, because there is so …