What’s it about?
The life and times of renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and long-time wife Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), including his scientific breakthroughs and their struggles with his motor-neurone disease.

What did we think?
Dominic Barlow says: Redmayne’s lead performance is far and away the highlight, not only for being so transformative but also for finding deep warmth and humour beneath the mask. Jones is lovely as his faithful wife, and the film uses some nice visual touches to bring certain moments to life, like Super-8 footage and images of deep space. For the most part, though, it’s a bog-standard biopic that taps off the milestones of Hawking’s life without having a distinctive view of its own.

What’s it about?
Colin Firth is Harry Hart. A super spy from an elite, covert team of self-funded do gooders. He offers an opportunity to a street wise youth to become a better person… who also kills bad guys.

What we thought
Dan says: If the kids from Grange Hill were being trained to kill, and one of their lecturers was Roger Moore you have something that wasn’t Kingsman exactly, but was advertised in the same comic books on the page with X-ray specs and the “fart noise” device.

This is a camp action adventure that glorifies comic book action and violence. It has a great cast of people who look like they’re having a blast. Cinematography, performances and visual effects are all very playful. Best action/comedy since True Lies.

What’s it about?
In the days after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) decides to use his clout to establish voting rights for blacks who have been systematically disenfranchised and intimidated, using the town of Selma as his battleground.

What did we think?
Elizabeth Best says: It’s almost as if the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr himself came down from the heavens to inhabit the body of Oyelowo for this performance. The fact that he missed out on an Oscar nomination for this is frankly astounding. Selma is a searing and engaging portrayal of a pivotal time in the fight for civil rights that highlights how far we’ve come at the same time as declaring nothing’s changed.

What’s it about?

Cheesy TV host Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer (Seth Rogen) are coerced by the CIA to kill Kim Jong-Un during an interview.

What did we think?
Elizabeth Best says: If you ban it, they will come. In terms of finding a following, the Sony hack was probably the best thing to happen to this film. The Interview is dumb. It’s irreverent. It has Franco mugging his ass off like… well, like Franco. But it still manages to squeeze more than a giggle or two from an audience probably too ashamed to admit it. So take that, North Korea.

What’s it about?
Mark Schultz, under tutelage from wrestling fanatic and all around creeper John duPont, finds himself caught striving for perfection while training athletes in a bid to sweep Seoul Olympics and maintaining a weird bond with his sponsor.

What did we think?
Nick Bleeker says: Pacing issues aside, this is a rather disturbing affair with grand performances from Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, but doesn’t give Ruffalo’s character enough time to develop. It’s a very muted film, that relies on less on its dialogue and more on the physical performances from everyone. Bennett Miller shoots it extremely well and precisely, but you can’t help but walk out feeling like it’s missing a soul.

What is it about?
Damaged woman Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon), braves the long hike along the Pacific Crest Trail to reconcile her past, and change her future.

What do we think?
Alistair says: I left this movie wanting to start hiking immediately. It is based on the real life adventures of Cheryl Strayed, played convincingly by Witherspoon. It’s never boring watching Cheryl walk from southern California to the edge of Canada, across deserts and snowy mountains, transforming from determined novice to seasoned hiker. The scenery is often epic, and frequent encounters with the passers-by along the way range from the sinister to the sentimental. But the stand out is a roadside encounter with an expert on all things hobo. There’s also a kid who is so sickly sweet, you’ll want to throw away your birth control. Flashbacks slowly reveal the events that got her here, including the pivotal relationship with her mother and troubles with her ex-husband. It’s a road movie, except it’s about walking (so let’s call it a walk-movie). Go see it and then take a hike.

What’s it about?
Bradley Cooper plays Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in US history. American Sniper follows his four tours of duty while weaving in his personal struggles adjusting to home life.

What did we think?
Nick Bleeker says: Cooper carries this film. American Sniper might be better if it focused squarely and only on Kyle’s tours or his struggle adjusting to civilian life. The short gaps for his civilian life serve more as a means to an end rather than a significant shift of circumstance for his character, and in doing that the film sacrifices Kyle’s humanity. Director Clint Eastwood captures the tension of tours really nicely, though, and Cooper’s performance is excellent; it’s just a shame that the rest of the film doesn’t quite reach the same heights.

What’s it about?

Dylan and his father are both stuck in a rut, searching for some sort of escape from their demons. When Dylan discovers a flair for paper plane construction he’s encouraged to participate in the national paper plane heats.

What we thought

Dan says: You’ve seen this film before with ice hockey (Mighty Ducks), lawn bowls (Crackerjack), golf (Tin Cup), karate (Karate Kid), the list goes on and on. I’m a sucker for this tale no matter how many times it’s told and so it was that I was disappointing to find myself checking my watch only thirty minutes in. The writing and the filmmaking is below par and feels like the very worst episodes of Secret Valley. The actors flail through the woeful dialogue as best they can but there’s little chance of saving it. Deborah Mailman and David Wenham are criminally underused.

You’ll find yourself rolling your eyes more than once and the worst part is that there’s some really nice moments hidden away here. Ed Oxbould and Sam Worthington do a beautiful job and a few more rewrites could have picked this up and out of the mud.

Appropriately, his film has wings, but no steering.

What’s it about?
Unbroken follows the life of Louis “Louie” Zamperini, from running at the 1936 Olympic games at Berlin to being interned at a Japanese prison camp during  World War 2.

What did we think?
Unbroken opens strong with a thrilling dogfight. The speed of the plane, the sudden sprays of bullets and the massive drop to the ocean below are almost palpable. It’s a shame that the rest of the film doesn’t follow this lead. Hamstrung by an uninspired script (despite being co-written by the Coen Brothers) director Angelina Jolie focuses on Zamperini’s physical torment, namely his being punched in the head many, many times. It makes for a grueling film that fails to reward the viewer. Any attempt at exploring Zamperini’s internal life or the moral complexities of war are studiously avoided. The prison warden, for example, is an offensive cliché of the inscrutable and effeminate Asian man.  Unbroken may be Jolie’s love song to Zamperini, who died this year, but in its reluctance to describe the mental and spiritual tolls of war, the film’s messages about self-belief and forgiveness lack impact.  

What’s it about?
Several of your favourite fairytale characters find their happy ever after, before everything gets sent to hell in a handbasket once they realise that fairytale endings aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

What did we think?
Susan Hetherington says: At times laugh-out-loud funny at others “where’s-my-tissue” sad, this is a grown-ups fairytale with a strong message about being careful what you wish for and whether happily ever after is possible with someone you have known for 2.5 seconds.

Fans of the stage show may shed a tear that the adaptation has dropped the second double act between the Charming prince brothers (Agony, the over-the-top duet which included just about every cinematic cliché was the funniest point in the film) but overall it was a very satisfying translation from stage to screen. It would be nice to think Into the Woods the film will springboard composer Stephen Sondheim into the musical theatre limelight alongside the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It probably won’t. In fact the 15 minute opening overture will probably be enough to ensure some never again give a musical a try. But anyone who can see past that will see an intelligent tale that’s been well told and extremely well acted. They will almost certainly also have the Into the Woods earworm in their head for some time to come.