Josh!

I was at the Newcastle show last night and they were electric. “Black Magic” and “Shout Out to My Ex” seemed like the audience favourites. I had so many highlights personally. I adored the rock remix of “Woman Like Me”, the “Touch” routine was awesome, Jade couldn’t even get the words out between tears on “Between Us”. It was perfect. I love that they Geordie-fied it for Perrie & Jade’s hometown too. Jade changed ‘boy’ to ‘lad’ in the opening line of “Sweet Melody”, and Perrie switched up “Salute” to lasses instead of women, haha. The above moment too of Perrie crying about growing up going to Newcastle College just round the corner and now here she is. Jade reassured her by saying ‘we’ve made it, Perrie’. They’re just so cute !!

Racket!

The quality of the queens on this season is insane!! Krystal Versace would’ve been eliminated by now if she was Spanish. That talent show could’ve feasibly had about 8 tops and I’d have had no qualms. I can’t believe Sethlas was literally a Transformer and switched from automobile to jumping into a split in one performance, lmaooo. Also, Hugaceo’s runway was everything! I wish we got more of the S1 queens too because what a cast.

:( react at 'final season' indeed. I hope Victor & Benji are endgame!

Get rid of Jujubee!! Complete waste of a bloody spot in the line-up.

Yay for the Yellowjackets representation Jay^. EVERYONE should be watching.

I'm sad with that outcome for Lemon. She was one of the queens I was most excited for from the line-up and I feel like everything she gave would normally be a very safe performance/runway. The US queens turning up with an air of superiority, throwing out the most mediocre performances and being rewarded with 'safe' is a p*ss take and their favouritism is going to get on my wick very, very soon. Juju gave the most basic entrance look, boring talent perfomance (which we saw in AS5? So why give only Lemon a 'we've seen it all before critique?!), and like 5th place pageant drag as her 'winner' runway. She didn't even give us funny confessionals which is what she's known for so why is she even there? At least Monique really served us an amazing runway. I'm rooting for Blu the most now! She's really grown since her season, has come into her own with her sense of humour and she just looks flawless every time on the runway. I've seen her twice live at gigs since her run on DRUK1 and she's so fun yet so polished. Anyone who has seen her Super Mario number will know how well her newfound sense of comedy translates. Crown her!!!

Hiya Jaf, Yeah, that ending had my jaw-dropped!! It just subverted all expectations you have based on those revenge thriller kind of movies. I've been dying to rewatch it actually when I get the time. Hahhahahha... I'm getting predictable with the MCU, aren't I? Watch out for Doc Strange, Thor or Black Panther this time next year :P Awkwafina is fast becoming a fave of mine. The Farewell was a top 5 EOY movie for me too!! Quite the track record for her, ey. Thanks Jaf, glad you enjoyed! x Hiya Dalek I'd recommend Scream for sure. The 355 is one of those movies you might watch on Netflix on a lazy Sunday, lol. Certainly not a must-see but I do love a star-studded cast. I'm hyped for Turning Red too! Pixar have been on such hot form recently with Luca, Onward & Soul. I can't wait to see what they do next. Cheers Dalek

Hi Dalek I'm glad you enjoyed some of my faves. Have you watched any movies yet in 2022? I'm with you on Eternals with it landing as my least fave MCU movie of the year. I'd place it near the bottom of my overall ranking too near to Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. I'm certainly not rushing to re-watch it. Thanks for your comments! Thank you for your comments along the way Chez. I think I was just having such a great time with LNIS, it was just gorgeous and felt timeless in a way. Predatory men have never felt so terrifying either. Definitely check out CODA, I can't recommend it enough. It's life affirming in the best way. I hope it gets some Oscars attention next month! Good job I spoilered a heap of that Spidey review, haha. You've done very well to avoid spoilers though, it's all I see on Twitter & Reddit. Even Facebook & TikTok are infiltrated, haha! Thanks again :heart:

and here's the final countdown! Thank you to everyone for their comments, debates and insights. I've appreciated them all!! 2021 01. Spider-Man: No Way Home 02. Promising Young Woman 03. Minari 04. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 05. Raya and the Last Dragon 06. The Suicide Squad 07. CODA 08. The Father 09. Ghostbusters: Afterlife 10. Last Night in Soho 11. Annette 12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage 13. House of Gucci 14. A Quiet Place Part II 15. Black Widow 16. Eternals 17. Luca 18. Malignant 19. Space Jam: A New Legacy 20. The Power of the Dog 21. Free Guy 22. Cruella 23. Tick, tick… BOOM! 24. Old 25. Encanto 26. Boxing Day 27. The Last Duel 28. Roald Dahl's The Witches 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way 51. The Colour Room 52. Halloween Kills 53. Nobody 54. King Richard 55. Ron's Gone Wrong 56. The Matrix Resurrections 57. The Green Knight 58. F9 59. The Croods: A New Age 60. Spencer 61. Those Who Wish Me Dead 62. Another Round 63. Sound of Metal 64. He's All That 65. Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 66. Nomadland 67. Godzilla vs. Kong 68. The Guilty 69. The Addams Family 2 70. The King's Man 71. Pieces of a Woman 72. Gunpowder Milkshake 73. Supernova 74. Candyman 75. Dear Evan Hansen 76. Red Notice 77. A Boy Called Christmas 78. Respect 79. Don't Breathe 2 80. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins 81. Pig 82. The French Dispatch 'til next year!

05. Raya and the Last Dragon directed by: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada starring: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong I had put off watching this one for ages due to premier access and not wanting to fork out - BUT after seeing this, it was probably worth my money all along. It's just so nice to have a proper Disney animation after a bit of a wait since Frozen 2 (which wasn't really one of their very best). I just absolutely adored this. It felt like such an adventure! My favourite part was the Divergent-esque factions and exploring all of those different worlds throughout the film. The villains turning people to stone was interesting too, those parts reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia. Sisu first flying reminded me lots of Harry Potter riding Buckbeak too, lol. Also the plot was very reminiscent of the search for Infinity Stones in the MCU. All of those fun similarities/references wrapped into one film made it such an exciting quest. Sisu was probably my favourite character. Awkwafina is great at creating that goofy loveable character (and it was exciting seeing what powers she'd get from touching the stones too). Shoutout to the adorable conman baby as well, she could rob me any day and I'd let it slide. 04. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung As someone who went in a bit sceptical of such an unknown character being the star of a solo movie, this has truly won me over. As far as the one goal of origin movies goes, I cannot WAIT to re-enter this world. One of my main highlights were the action scenes. They brought a really cool dance-like choreographed combat style to the MCU that we haven’t seen before. The original fight between mother/father in the forest was like watching a performance - totally captivating! The Asian setting made for some awesome animal character design too. Each creature was like a Pokémon brought to life! I want to reach out and touch/pet/ride them all. Loved all the women as per usual. It was like Black Panther in that sense where the titular character is charming enough but the females are the main badasses. Shang-Chi’s sister and aunt totally stole the show with their powers & outfits. Awkwafina was just as delightful as ever too with her excellent comedic timing. I loved the scene of her ripping into him for changing Shang to Shaun whilst on the run. However, the main source of jokes came from Ben Kingsley’s return. He had the whole audience chuckling - my favourite gag being him playing dead in the battle sequence. I wish I’d actually seen Iron Man 3 now so that had been even more impactful (guess I’ll have to catch-up, lol). It ends with The Ten Rings will return… Tell us when & I’ll be there opening night!! Also, it holds up on re-watch, 100%. The bus scene with Razor Fist & the fight sequence on the scaffolding are two of my favourite action scenes in 2021. I love, love, love Awkwafina. She is THE highlight. 03. Minari directed by: Lee Isaac Chung starring: Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton Everything about this was just so delicately produced and made with such care. The scenery was beautiful, the attention to character detail was immense, and the relatability of it all made it hit home so much. Saying that, I think a lot of this reminded me of growing up with Italian immigrant grandparents and the process of getting to know them as much as possible. A lot of the scenes with the grandma really stuck with me, and made me nostalgic for my own childhood. What a standout performance from ‎Youn Yuh-jung - she had me close to tears with emotion at times, as well as smiling from cheek to cheek at others. Little David was absolutely adorable. I can see why he took the awards season by storm. Those little cowboy boots little made me broody, bless him. That final 15 mins or so too. Phew! Proper heart in mouth moment. 02. Promising Young Woman directed by: Emerald Fennell starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Connie Britton Super thought provoking stuff. Been reading up all evening about different interpretations of the plot, and that's always the best kind of film. Carey Mulligan aced it too, she had that perfect balance of being somewhat dead inside, but still getting a buzz from that one that keeps her going. Really vibrant colour palette & fun soundtrack as well - bonus points for using Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind" during an entire scene. 01. Spider-Man: No Way Home directed by: Jon Watts starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Iconic of Disney/the MCU to actually pull this off. Every cameo and reference you've ever dreamed of in one movie. It's like an amazing fan-fiction come to life! Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus are such classics. They really steal the show here. It's almost impossible to pick the highlights. Tom Holland is perfect in every way. Shout out to Zendaya's MJ too. That last scene On rewatch I was just thinking 'Wow, they actually revisited Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin so fantastically here'. It’s the perfect swan song for both Molina’s and Dafoe’s depictions.

10. Last Night in Soho directed by: Edgar Wright starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg I was so pleasantly surprised by this!! I thought it'd be quite run-of-the-mill but I was really, really hooked. I loved the sense of humour throughout too. The first 30 mins or so were basically a comedy, lmao. I need a Mean Girls-esque spin-off starring Jocasta ASAP. I adored the 60s scenes and how gorgeous the cinematography was especially. I found Eloise's wide-eyed naivety really endearing, and I felt much the same way when watching the first flashback scenes. It was enthralling to see her spiral as her idealistic dreams of London began to sour. What's scarier than a ghost horror? A ghost horror about predatory men. The first scene of the creeping cab driver helped set the unnerving tone from the outset. 09. Ghostbusters: Afterlife directed by: Jason Reitman starring: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Bokeem Woodbine, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver This is a franchise that has really benefitted from a remake bringing it into the 21st century with this one. I loved the focus on the younger generation - it gave me major It: Part One/Stranger Things vibes. Perfect balance of new meets old & the nostalgia helped to make this a successful follow-up. What a stellar cast. McKenna Grace has the makings of a star. She was so adorable and dorky and she really carried the movie. Carrie Coon was iconic too. Loved how ‘over it’ her attitude was to begin with and then she was camp af when Shout out to Paul Rudd for being such a professional too and so damn likeable. As someone who disliked the original 1984 movie, this really blew it out of the water for me. It had comedy that actually landed (the mini Stay Puft marshmallow men were GENIUS!) and really cool action (it was nice to see the iconic monsters revisited with much stronger CGI as well). A super likeable cast and the perfect amount of fan service. Kudos! 08. The Father directed by: Florian Zeller starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams What a hard-hitting film. Those final few scenes set in the care home got me close to tearing up. A huge testament to the directing this film that enables you to empathise so much with Anthony in the film, even if you have no experience with dementia yourself. You feel a similar sense of confusion and frustration as a viewer due to the way the scenes are shot and edited together (It was a really interesting direction to take, I thought). Wow at the acting performances too. There were plenty of zoomed in close-up shots of the actors which means every little reaction was given extra importance. Hopkins put together a flawless performance, the shower of awards he has received speak for themselves. Colman was brilliant too, lots of notable scenes with wet eyes where she tries to hold it together for her family but is beginning to struggle under the immense pressure she faces - it's her character that helps to bring a human touch to the film, and is the one that most viewers can probably relate with as well. 07. CODA directed by: Sian Heder starring: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin One of those life-affirming movies where you go away thinking about family and making the most of life. It had everything going for it really. It was humorous ('you've got to put the helmet on your soldier'!!). It had some brilliant acting on show. Plus, it really showcased some struggled that I didn't know much about beforehand so it has educated me in a way too. What more can I ask of a film. Perhaps it was wrapped up a little too neatly in a nice bow, but sometimes we deserve happy endings - right!? I would love to see both Matlin and Kotsur nominated at the Oscars this year. Matlin telling her daughter she wished she'd be deaf at birth was such a Oscar clip moment. The closest I came to tears was when her father was feeling the vibrations of her singing from the diaphragm in that intimate moment after the show. I was all choked up there. 06. The Suicide Squad directed by: James Gunn starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi Hugely enjoyable movie from start to finish. I was also a fan of the Suicide Squad that came before it to be honest, but I can see how this was an improvement. My favourite new characters being King Shark (definitely the one who provided the most laughs), TDK (he had one of the funnier powers, lol) and Peacemaker (can’t wait to see more thsi year!). I was a little gutted that they I also loved the way the title cards were designed alongside the scenery. The film had such a fun artistic flair throughout, & I felt that this really added to it. The action scenes too were brilliant mainly. Not often you see a giant starfish tearing down a city but it did feel very threatening still, and the millions of tiny babies shooting out at full speed added to the sense of dread. Re-cap: 06. The Suicide Squad 07. CODA 08. The Father 09. Ghostbusters: Afterlife 10. Last Night in Soho 11. Annette 12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage 13. House of Gucci 14. A Quiet Place Part II 15. Black Widow 16. Eternals 17. Luca 18. Malignant 19. Space Jam: A New Legacy 20. The Power of the Dog 21. Free Guy 22. Cruella 23. Tick, tick… BOOM! 24. Old 25. Encanto 26. Boxing Day 27. The Last Duel 28. Roald Dahl's The Witches 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way

15. Black Widow directed by: Cate Shortland starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz Coming out of thise, I did absolutely love it. I remember being a little worried going into this that it would feel like a step back as we're so used to huge galaxy-ending action from the movie side of the MCU recently. However, there was plenty of action to keep us entertained and the final act still managed to feel somewhat large scale. Florence Pugh's addition to the cast was my highlight. She's like Marvel's very own version of Villanelle. I couldn't believe how much her performance reminded me of Jodie Comer!! In hindsight, it does just feel a bit too little too late for this movie. If it was released in 2013 then I'd have been obsessed but there's little here to make me go running back to it. I am so happy with the secondary characters it did introduce to us. Long live the Yelena Belova era. 14. A Quiet Place Part II directed by: John Krasinski starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski My heart rate STILL hasn't slowed down. Literally on the edge of my seat for an entire 90 minutes that it was an actual relief when the end credits rolled. So many scenes where my heart was literally in my mouth. The bear trap was this film's version of the nail through the foot scene from the first. I loved the back and forth storytelling of the final act too. It's rare for me to care equally about two storylines, but I was rooting for them all so much that I appreciated seeing how the two were linked & how both sides of the family were dealing with the monsters in real time. Any scene involving the little baby has me soooo uneasy. Give us a Part 3! 13. House of Gucci directed by: Ridley Scott starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino I was really worried about the runtime of this before watching but I had such a camp old time and I didn't think it felt that long at all really. Plenty of jokes to keep me entertained and then heaps of deceit and melodrama as well. Gaga being front and centre of it all really stole the show. She was by far the highlight. So engaging and it was just such a killer role (literally!). Some of her scenes were proper Oscar reels, especially her being told about the divorce outside of the school. Leto was a fun time too but I'm not sure whether it was actually good, or just a laugh. I do agree with the criticism that it would've benefitted from being a more fleshed out TV series instead. It seemed to go from them meeting, to marriage, to having a toddler, to plotting murder quite suddenly - and I'd have preferred to see those decisions stew a bit more without the time constraints of a movie. It wrapped up really quite quickly with the epilogue of the court room and then the closing title cards too. 12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage directed by: Andy Serkis starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Woody Harrelson Just as fun as the first one I thought. Far from a perfect movie but the runtime was the right length to keep me continuously entertained, and the jokes kept coming which kept things light-hearted. Proper popcorn fun! And it was nice to see it in an almost full post-lockdown cinema screening. It reminds me of those 00s comic book movies that aren't afraid to be almost too silly (along the lines of the first two Fantastic Four which I'm also a huge fan of, hehe). Venom himself was the best thing about it, of course. He’s like a loveable uncensored teenager mixed with the cookie monster. The internal dialogue that him and Eddie Brock are priceless and they’ve still not got old. Him noping out when he realised Carnage was one of the red ones was hilariously timed, haha. Shout out to Naomie Harris’ Shriek too who I thought was a good side character. I love a wailing sonic scream and her character design looked cool on screen. The eye make up & sound wave effects were some of my favourite visuals in the movie. 11. Annette directed by: Leos Carax starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Devyn McDowell I've certainly never seen anything quite like this before. I think that's what made me appreciate it so much. Telling a story of greed, fame, parenthood etc. but with a level of absurdity that nobody has dared to reach for before. It balanced hard-hitting emotion with laugh-out-loud humour extremely well. The scene where Driver tells the story of tickling his wife to death was just so outrageous, and also expertly delivered (that was one of my favourite scenes). On the other hand, realising that Annette has been a literal puppet by both parents... as a torture mechanism (from Mum) and an exploitation device (by Dad), until she is able to get her own agency at the end and free herself from their toxicity. Loved it, and I've appreciated it even more since reading up on it further after the film! The Annette doll itself was a thing of nightmares. The absolute Chucky of it all!! Also, that birthing scene took me right back to the musical episode of Grey's Anatomy, lol. Re-cap: 11. Annette 12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage 13. House of Gucci 14. A Quiet Place Part II 15. Black Widow 16. Eternals 17. Luca 18. Malignant 19. Space Jam: A New Legacy 20. The Power of the Dog 21. Free Guy 22. Cruella 23. Tick, tick… BOOM! 24. Old 25. Encanto 26. Boxing Day 27. The Last Duel 28. Roald Dahl's The Witches 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way

Massively insane, haha. I wish it was possible to experience it for the first time again tbh. Cheers Jack! Wow, thanks for all the in-depth comments Jaf! Love a good movie discussion ALWAYS. I think you've hit the nail on the head with Eternals. It just feels a bit too late in the game now to be introducing these God-tier characters that have been here all along supposedly. I guess we're asked to suspend belief all the time with comic book movies though and I still had a good time watching it the first time. I'm just not rushing back to it for repeat viewing like I normally am with the MCU. The casa was perhaps my favourite thing about Encanto. I'd love to visit a recreation of it at a Disney land or something if they eventually do something like that. I'd recommend Luca though if you're looking for some gorgeous animation. When it comes to Dune, I think I was one of those you're talking about that was a bit too dumb to get it first time lmao. I'm dying to re-watch it actually now that I do know more about the world and things. I'll definitely do it before we get the part two. Gorgeous film-making for sure though and Villenueve always delivers on that side of things. Cheers Jaf. I enjoyed reading all of your comments here x

12 Little Mix ~ No 10 Olivia Rodrigo ~ Jealousy, Jealousy 08 PinkPantheress ~ Just for Me 07 Dua Lipa ~ We're Good 06 United Kingdolls ~ UK Hun? 05 Neiked, Mae Muller and Polo G ~ Better Days 04 Mimi Webb ~ 24/5 03 Fred Again.. and The Blessed Madonna ~ Marea (We've Lost Dancing) 02 Ariana Grande ~ Test Drive 01 SZA ~ I Hate U

12 Sigala and Rita Ora ~ You for Me 10 Camila Cabello ~ Don't Go Yet 08 Willow ~ Transparent Soul (feat. Travis Barker) 07 Saweetie ~ Best Friend (feat. Doja Cat) 06 Olivia Rodrigo ~ All I Want 05 Amaarae ~ Sad Girlz Luv Money (feat. Moliy) 04 Taylor Swift ~ Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor's Version) 03 Bella Poarch ~ Build a Bitch 02 Sabrina Carpenter ~ Skin 01 Coldplay and Selena Gomez ~ Let Somebody Go

20. The Power of the Dog directed by: Jane Campion starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy I've never been known as a Western fan before, but throw in a bit of homo-eroticism and I'm there for it! In all seriousness, this really wasn't what I was expecting going into it. I think Jane Campion does a good job with her direction by foreshadowing with little clues throughout. Every lingering shot or focus on something small comes back to mean something more later in the film. I really enjoyed that aspect of her direction. I'm glad she's getting so much praise for it. There were occasions when I was a bit on the bored side but the cinematography kept me going through those. Cumberbatch was brill! Smit-McPhee was great too - he really suited the role of skinny, awkward Peter (but so calculated too!). Dunst puts in a solid job as well. This wasn't as high as it is here in my draft rankings but I just have not been able to stop thinking about it and that's the sign of a great movie, ey. 19. Space Jam: A New Legacy directed by: Malcolm D. Lee starring: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, Zendaya What a RIOT! I'm a sucker for all things fan service & pop culture and this provided that in spades. I genuinely had such a fun time watching this from start to finish. I was a little worried that I'd be bored as someone who doesn't care basketball in the slightest but it was like watching an action movie - so entertaining! Loved seeing the different art styles from traditional cartoon, to 3D animation, to 2D comic style. It was just such a showcase and celebration of all things Warner Bros that it was impossible not to watch it with a big fat grin. The opposing team were really cool creations too and made for some really jaw-dropping moves. Despite being the whole third act, I felt like I could've even watched more of the actual basketball scenes still! The only downfall was the human side of things really with some shoddy acting from LeBron James, and a disappointed father figure storyline that's been done to death thousands of times before. I've not seen the original Space Jam but I almost wish they'd pushed it even further with the remake. I imagine this is pretty close to the original, when the film we really wanted is to have the Warner Bros All Stars fantasy team of Hermione Granger, The Wicked Witch of the West & Catwoman (rather than have these properties just appear as side gags or background easter eggs). Maybe if we get another sequel in 25 years, lol. 18. Malignant directed by: James Wan starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michole Briana White Kind of hard to discuss this without spoilers, lmao. This was NUTS. I would love to re-watch this with more people who don’t know what to expect, This may just be an October spooky classic for me I think. 17. Luca directed by: Enrico Casarosa starring: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful animation. Just wanted to reach out and touch everything - Luca's hair, the SEA, the pasta... all of it was just so wonderfully designed. The film itself was really rather lovely too. I loved how Italian it was. Every little one-off Italian phrase or street sign felt so authentic to my family and trips I've had there. I thought the concept of the sea monsters was really cool too. I was so on edge for the first two acts thinking they're playing it bloody risky and wondering when the first person would see them when they're wet on land. But it made me smile, and the companionship between the three kids definitely felt earned at least. I think this is a tie with 'Onward' for my favourite Pixar film since 'Inside Out'. 16. Eternals directed by: Chloé Zhao starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie Really appreciated how large in scope this was. The vast history of the eternals throughout time & universes was really interesting to explore. The final act on the beach was really gorgeous too - it reminded me of some of my favourite shots in Rogue One. As with most of Marvel, the cool characters and powers is where the film truly peaks. I thought Makkari was the MVP, and I wish they’d utilised her more throughout. Druig was my second favourite so I hope they’re a power couple who appear more frequently going forward, lol. At the end of the day though, it falls on the more boring side for the MCU and I'm not rushing to re-watching like the others. Re-cap: 16. Eternals 17. Luca 18. Malignant 19. Space Jam: A New Legacy 20. The Power of the Dog 21. Free Guy 22. Cruella 23. Tick, tick… BOOM! 24. Old 25. Encanto 26. Boxing Day 27. The Last Duel 28. Roald Dahl's The Witches 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way

Right?! Such a fun concept. I've not seen any anyone with the same opinion as me either haha so yay for us.

24. Old directed by: M. Night Shyamalan starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott I was a bit weary going into after reading so many mixed reviews but I genuinely had quite a fun time watching & for that it deserves praise. The concept was actually pretty cool, and it was engaging to watch the characters age before our very own eyes. Props to the make-up and hairstyling department here for making it really realistic at times. There were plenty twists and turns along the way to keep me entertained. A few bits here and there that brought the film down a little. Some of the acting was really shoddy, and one liners felt forced in places. Additionally, their reactions to death were often pretty blasé which made the tone of the characters feel a little odd. 23. Tick, tick... BOOM! directed by: Lin-Manuel Miranda starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Judith Light, Vanessa Hudgens This was made for the musical theatre gays! Andrew Garfield - what a performance. I really wish he was getting all the awards attention this year. He was so charming, and witty, and clever... he made for a really captivating lead. You really sensed that a star was being born in Jonathan Larson. I loved the songs too. I didn't know about the story or the musical beforehand (I know 'Rent' fairly well but that's about it) so I was surprised at how familiar all the songs sounded. I guess that's due to the familiar writing style of Larson that is recognisable from his 'Rent' songs too. "Boho Days" was especially a joy to watch and I was just left wishing it was longer. I'm glad this has made aware of a musical theatre legend that I was otherwise unfamiliar with beforehand. It was the perfect amount of true story mixed with 'made up bits by Jonathan' as it jokes at the start, haha. 22. Cruella directed by: Craig Gillespie starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mark Strong Still WOWING at the costume design. Despite being spoiled in the trailer, the burning dress reveal is already iconic. My favourite was the binmen truck reveal, that dress was just gloriously overdramatic. Emma Stone was a delight - I hope we get to see her reprise the role in the future. Emma Thompson was very fun doing her best Miranda Priestley impression. And even Horace & Jasper were really fun side characters. Usually I find those kinds of bumbling companion characters really annoying but these had plenty of laughs too, and the whole audience seemed to enjoy them. 21. Free Guy directed by: Shawn Levy starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, Taika Waititi Very fun! I’d defo watch a franchise of this like, give me Free City 3! Ryan and Jodie were the most fun, they had loads of charisma. I loved Jodie’s in-game outfit, she looked like a bad bitch. She was hilarious when she found herself falling in love with an NPC as well. And then her blossoming relationship with Joe Keery was really sweet too (I was invested!) Re-cap: 21. Free Guy 22. Cruella 23. Tick, tick… BOOM! 24. Old 25. Encanto 26. Boxing Day 27. The Last Duel 28. Roald Dahl's The Witches 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way

Haha, I think my Cineworld Unlimited card makes things a bit easier. Me and my boyfriend go most weeknights when there's nothing much else to do lol. Hope you find some recommendations for things to catch up on at least!! Thanks Herbs! :D

Is there a way to watch this in the UK?

28. Roald Dahl's The Witches directed by: Robert Zemeckis starring: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Jahzir Bruno, Codie-Lei Eastick, Kristin Chenoweth Such family fun!! The witch character design was genuinely quite terrifying. I could never have watched this a child without having nightmares. Their Joker-esque smiles and gruesome toe-less feet were so cool to my adult eyes, lol (my sister did seemed to love it though, haha). Octavia Spencer was a delight to was, as ever. She's just so lovely, I want to be her friend in real life. The final shots of her on tour reminded me of the Ma memes last year where she was photoshopped into movie posters, ahaha. She knows she's a queen. Anna Hathaway was CAMP in this too. So over-exaggerated - it has to be one of the most over-the-top roles I've seen in my life. I thought Emma Thompson in Cruella was serving but this was a new level, lmaooo. 27. The Last Duel directed by: Ridley Scott starring: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck Wow, this got me really hooked towards the end. Everything from Jodie's truth onwards made for a perfect movie. I was so attached to her character by then that my heart was in my mouth when she had to make the decision between speaking out or facing the consequences. The final battle made for such intense viewing when you knew what the stakes were. I didn't know of the real story either so I just didn't know which way it'd go. It was interesting to see medieval battle styles on film too as it's not something we get to see much nowadays with all the superheroes and fast cars. The moral of the story is men are trash... and that message rings true whether it be 1386 or 2021. 26. Boxing Day directed by: Aml Ameen starring: Aml Ameen, Aja Naomi King, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Tamara Lawrance This was so much more iconic than it had the right to be, lmaooo. When it turned into Feud Season 2: Leigh-Anne Pinnock vs. Aja Naomi-King! Wow - I was hooked. Sooooo many cast highlights that it’s insane. The sister/bestfriend was my absolute fave for being a queen and always looking flawless. Naomi-King was so relatable and likeable - we’ve all been the odd one out at a family party. Leigh-Anne’s vocals were so strong in her some of her numbers. The mother was serving. The younger bro was super cute and personable too that I didn’t even mind his side story (even though it didn’t add much to the overall storyline). Just loved the whole family… drama aside, I’d love to go to a Christmas there. It looked so much fun and put such a smile on my face. 25. Encanto directed by: Jared Bush, Byron Howard starring: Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero, Wilmer Valderrama So vibrant and colourful that it puts an easy smile on your face. The house itself was almost my favourite character - I loved its little quirks and hints of personality. I’d wanna live there so bad!!! Whether I had a power or not, haha. Mirabel was a really engaging lead character and will be a great addition to our existing Disney princesses/leading ladies. She was just really cute and had a glass half full attitude always… despite being the only one with no power, and her family constantly sh*tting on her. Some of the songs were fab too. My main highlights being “We Don't Talk About Bruno" and “What Else Can I Do?”. I especially adored the latter as it was just so gorgeously animated on-screen. The splashes of colour and paint whilst exotic cacti and palm trees sprouted left, right & centre was a delight to watch. A bit thin on plot at times and everything seemed to wrap up pretty neatly and quickly at the end. Especially the Abuela character who does a huge positive character U-turn literally seconds after her house crumbles? That felt like it came a bit out of nowhere. This was so cute the second time watching it too. I think watching it alongside my family at Christmas made it hit a bit harder. Thank God for subtitles as well, haha. I actually got to enjoy 'The Family Madrigal' this time because of how fast those final few verses are! Re-cap: 25. Encanto 26. Boxing Day 27. The Last Duel 28. Roald Dahl's The Witches 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way

Yeah, I wasn't that impressed with the lead actor either really. It was the female characters were the film really peaked! Certainly better than Dear Evan Hansen though, lmao. Thanks Jaf!

33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie directed by: Jonathan Butterell starring: Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, Sharon Horgan, Richard E. Grant Aw, I had a lovely time with this :’) Mainly for the iconic sweetheart women!! I want a Ray, Pritti & Margaret New in my life. No wonder he turned our gay xx I always have a good time with musicals, there’s just something uplifting about it all, ain’t there? I low-key think “Work of Art” was my ultimate favourite, haha. Something special about a homophobic complete bitch of a teacher listing art & culture references in a Vogue-esque catwalk banger. Makes me want to go see the West End show now. They should’ve cast Michelle Visage in the film version to really up the campness tbh. 32. Judas and the Black Messiah directed by: Shaka King starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne, Martin Sheen I was finding this a bit difficult to follow at the very beginning but it was completely captivating once it got going. I'm glad I watched this after seeing 'Trial of Chicago 7' too, as the similarities and cross-references helped me to understand this a lot better. I didn't know much about the Black Panther party going into this but I'm grateful this exists for bringing such an important part of history to the forefront. I've spent a good hour since I got home from the cinema scrolling through multiple sources discussing the true story of Hampton and O'Neal. The shootout was especially harrowing to read about and although hard to watch - I'm glad it wasn't tamed down in the film adaptation to highlight just how insane the multitude of police bullets vs just one from the Panthers really was. Reading that the real Deborah Johnson/Akua Njeri was on set to oversee the filming of that scene makes it feel so much more authentic. 31. The Night House directed by: David Bruckner starring: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin, Vondie Curtis-Hall Phwoar, this is one of those movies where you let out such a deep breath once it’s over. Such an overarching sense of uneasiness lying in the pit of my stomach the entire time. It all came together to make you feel so uncomfortable - I felt sick! I also think Rebecca Hall is such an icon. She plays blasé disinterested snarky bitch so well. I could watch her on repeat. 30. Being the Ricardos directed by: Aaron Sorkin starring: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J. K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, Clark Gregg I wasn't sure what to expect from this as I'm not really familiar with Lucille Ball or 'I Love Lucy' at all. I should've trusted that Sorkin would deliver though as he's always consistently good. The dialogue here being just as snappy as ever, and sprinkled with some humorous one liners. I enjoyed Kidman's performance a lot, especially when she switched the character of Lucy on during the stage performances. Those were some of my favourite little moments where we got to see the show come to life. Bardem was so charming too and it was impossible not to warm to him. I appreciated the old Hollywood vibe of it, the plot had plenty going for it, and both Bardem & Kidman had some really vibrant performances. Bravo! 29. West Side Story directed by: Steven Spielberg starring: Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Rita Moreno, Rachel Zegler Expertly made indeed, but feels somewhat unnecessary when a perfect original exists. This was clearly made from a place of love by Spielberg, and he does a phenomenal job really. Everything is rather breathtaking - from the choreography, to the cinematography, to the set design. It’s almost impossible to find fault really… It’s just that it came second. Ariana DeBose was my cast highlight. Impossible to take your eyes off of her during her brightest moments (“America” especially). Anita has always been my fave character though so perhaps I’m a little biased. The final act remains as gut wrenching as ever. I don’t know how I get so invested every time in this two day romance but it still gets me. :’) Re-cap: 29. West Side Story 30. Being the Ricardos 31. The Night House 32. Judas and the Black Messiah 33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie 34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 35. Cinderella 36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday 37. The Lost Daughter 38. Passing 39. In the Heights 40. Jungle Cruise 41. Help 42. Dune 43. No Time to Die 44. Stillwater 45. Run 46. The Woman in the Window 47. Don't Look Up 48. Titane 49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway 50. Single All the Way