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Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse
Throughout my whole adult life, there have always been X-Men films, so when the 20th Century Fox fanfare segues into the X-Men fanfare as it does every time, I can't deny I get a little thrill from it. There's something of the elder statesman about the X-Men franchise, now in its sixteenth year without any serious rebooting or recasting; in the same time frame, we've seen three Peter Parkers, two Clark Kents, two Bruce Waynes and two sets of the Fantastic Four family. Even the Great Marvel Cinematic Universe has only been going for eight years. →
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My 2015 film highlights
As usual at this time of year, I've picked 20 highlights from all the films I saw during 2015, this time from a pool of 227 candidates. The only rule I follow is that I saw the film during 2015, though this year there's only a bit of an overlap with 2014 so that probably isn't all that important. →
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Review of X-Men: First Class
Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class is a welcome return to form for the X-Men franchise after the risible X-Men: Last Stand and the sloppy Wolverine origins story. The '60s setting allows for a lighter tone than previous instalments but Michael Fassbender's intensity as Erik Lehnsherr takes the film to some dark places. →
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Review of Inglourious Basterds
It's hard to imagine how my expectations could have been any lower going in to Inglourious Basterds. Savaged by the critics and created by the man whose last film, Death Proof, bored me so much I resorted to fast-forwarding through entire scenes for fear of falling asleep, I only ended up seeing Basterds as I was on holiday and needed something to fill an evening with. →