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Long shots, with little to no editing during scenes - the perfect way to relate the art of film to the art of theatre which it depicts, where crew and cast get one chance as they are live, Birdman captures its scenes continuously, amazing us at how a whole crew and cast have achieved such perfect sequences. Then somehow special effects are thrown into the mix, and we're left wondering "how?". I had to watch again just to admire the film production techniques, as appreciating both these and the story presented seemed too much to handle in one viewing.

Birdman is also clever in its combination of imagination and reality, showing us the action and what must be a daydream of sort, with no separation so we don't know where to draw the line. All we know is that this is how Riggan (Michael Keaton) sees it, and that is the only perspective we need, allowing us Riggan's internal point of view in a way normally exclusive to novels. On my second viewing, I found myself questioning even more, what "actually happened" in the film.

Birdman tells us the story of Riggan, an actor who formerly played a superhero, trying to adapt, direct and star in a play, in a career revival attempt. During this story, we are invited back stage where Riggan has to manage his business and personal lives, involving a challenging co star, daughter, ex partner, and lawyer, all of whom have demands he must cater to for his show to happen. Everyone has their moment, and all the characters stand out as some point, with Riggan's central story sometimes retreating and serving as a vessel for theirs to happen around his. Expectations are not met, and some moments of this film will cause complete disbelief, as each character reaches an extreme in their arc.

Unique in its subject matter, production techniques, it is rare for a film to be so different from everything else and still be this good. Nothing I, or anyone can write, will do the film justice, You have to watch it, must watch film.

A film that lets us use our imaginations, draw our own conclusions, in a crowded market of exposition, narration and over explaining. The viewer is respected by things not being spelt out to them. A bold choice, but leaving a film asking questions about it at least tells us it's given us something to think about.

Character driven, The Guest is about a former soldier who arrives to empathise with a grieving family, and solve their problems, preferring violence, all the while approaching situations with a slightly arrogant dark humour. Equal to his military combat ability, is David's charm, used to worm his way into family life and the teenage daughter's social circle.

Entertaining throughout, The Guest moves at the ideal pace. The formation and development of relationships is key, with the mother liking David straight away, and him having to win the rest over when he can. Complementing this is his ability and the story's necessity for him to switch from the charming family friend into a cold-hearted soldier with a mission, and we realise, that in all situations, he is a man of solutions.

With The Guest seemingly being made on a low budget, we'd hope that a second instalment is offered without budgetary restrictions, as one can only imagine the film that could have been made.

The Guest is tense, and dares to be different, enhanced by its 80s feel. Never a dull moment.

If You enjoyed this, I'd recommend Stoker, fairly similar and also about a man moving in with a family due to some connection to a deceased relative.

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Everyday Cage wakes up and has to re earn the support and trust of his comrades, as well as remember what went wrong last time round on the battlefield. Similarly to 50 First Dates, we see how a first impression with a stranger can change a relationship, and with teamwork essential in battle, this is Cage's primary challenge. Rita (Emily Blunt) and Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton) are particularly unforgiving and difficult to win over.

Similarly to Butterfly Effect, each time he changes approach, the effect he wants carries the risk of side effects.

This film combines time travel and action more effectively than anything I've seen before. The 2 exist in perfect harmony, in contrast to say, the Terminator series, which will always pop up as an all-time great for time travel action films, but uses the time travel only in its openings, then leaves the rest of the films to be action films.

Edge of Tomorrow sees Cage (Tom Cruise) repeatedly attempt to win a battle, during which, if he dies, he is re awakened and given another chance. It has right amount of humour to entertain briefly, then let us focus on the serious mission the characters are engaged in.

We are cleverly left wondering what we've missed, as the film isn't clear how many attempts at this day Cage makes - what happens on the days in between, has he tried this before, what happened last time he tried? All the while, we also see notable, gradual improvements to Cage's combat skills, thanks to the help of the film's other hero, arguably the "real" hero, Rita, in turn improving the film's action. We feel the film has done well to pace out his training along with the character's development.

Emily Blunt's performance drives the film, her toughness and focus being a perfect match for her counterpart, a character who begins as a poor soldier. Her no- nonsense approach to Cage is somehow humorous, while simultaneously serious, in terms of achieving the mission objective.

Disappointment will be our lack of knowledge of the enemy - the humans don't tell us much about their enemy except that they are at war, and the name they have given them - mimics. The film opens with news reporting the attacks - I would rather have seen the mimic attacks myself than hear about it secondhand from the news reporters, and maybe seen them out of action more than we did.

We are also left feeling the character is at little risk - if Cage dies, he starts again, similar to a video game with infinite lives. Less risk can mean less reason to care if he gets it right this time.

Must watch movie!

Michael Newton

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