MOTHER ! (2017) : Darren Aronofsky
Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer

a little Polanski, slices of Kubrick but mostly MOTHER ! is Darren Aronofsky at his twisted, nightmarish best – those who knock the creativity on the big screen then take a good look, admire and be blown away by this original slice of movie making, the big screen was made for this. Javier Bardem is great as the mysterious husband but who would have dreamt up Ed Harris & Michelle Pfeiffer as a married couple? Aronofsky did and let’s thank the gods, they ooze chemistry, drip intrigue and look so bonkers together it’s unreal. Overall Mother! is a powerful, emotional and stunning piece of original movie making – the star of the movie is Jennifer Lawrence who is in my opinion one of the screens modern great film stars, she captivates her audience with boundless energy, natural beauty and raw emotion – she truly does give Aronofsky’s Mother! it’s heart ★★★★½

WIND RIVER (2017) : Taylor Sheridan
Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal

WIND RIVER is directed by the talent that is Taylor Sheridan the filmmaker who penned Sicario and Hell or High Water – the film is based on a true story and covers the dark, terrifying subject matter of the disappearance of young women in an indian reservation town in Wyoming – although Taylor Sheridan deserves the plaudits for his smart script & direction kudos must also go to Ben Richardson for his photography that captures the harshness of the terrain and simplicty of each character – this is Jeremy Renner’s best performance since Hurt Locker, he really is a quality actor who gives a towering display playing this humble, loss driven wildlife tracker who finds the body of a girl in the snowy terrain – Renner is backed up onscreen brilliantly by the impressive, natural Elizabeth Olsen who once again demonstrates her ability to inhabit a character making it believable to us the audience, her FBI character is one of determination and will stop at nothing to uncover the truth – Wind River is a haunting, gutsy thriller ★★★★

IT (2017) : Andy Muschietti
Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard

I absolutley loved Stephen King’s IT and was a huge fan of the 1990 mini-series so when I heard that Andy Muschietti was bringing it to the big screen and the fabulous talent of Bill Skarsgard was playing Pennywise the Clown I was intrigued, excited and pretty much beside myself counting down the months to opening – well having now seen the movie I can honestly say that Muschietti has delivered the goods, not only does the film do justice to King’s novel but it will scare the holy moly out of you, it’s more brutal, uncompromising than the 90’s mini-series, it’s also jam packed full of typical King humor, great music and some inspired casting in the form of the Losers Club – for me Skarsgård deserves some award love for his dark, twisted portrayal of Pennywise the dancing clown, the menace of his vocals and his terrifying appearance certainly scared me and was actually pretty acurate to the book – I was also blown away by the lovely Sophia Lillis who is destined for greatness, her Beverly was played like a John Hughes character, sweet, aluring exterior with a gritty tough interior – them difficult scenes with her onscreen dad and the bloody bathroom were handled with a self assured maturity that will no doubt make her a huge star in the future and I must also mention the young Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard who was dynamite as Richie, his expressions and funny one liners erupted the cinema in laughter on several occassions, he was so good – overall IT is a refreshing R Rated Horror Movie that will give you night terrors as you eagerly await it’s sequel ★★★★½