Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Sally Owens ( Nicole Kidman , left) and her older sister Gillian ( Sandra Bulloc k, right) reunited for the sequel, ' Practical Magic 2 ', adapted from Alice Hoffman 's 2021 novel, ' The Book of Magic ' by Akiva Goldsman , Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel and directed by Susanne Bier . Still courtesy of Warner Bros . For those who remember Danish director Susanne Bier as the woman who, working with writer Anders Thomas Jensen, engaged audiences with the moral dramas Open Hearts , Brothers and A Second Chance , that auteur is entirely absent from her sequel Practical Magic 2 , an adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel, ‘The Book of Magic’, the fourth and final book of her ‘Practical Magic’ series. Admittedly, there is a character in a coma brought about entirely by a young woman’s love, but the Susanne Bier of Dogme 95 would have focussed on whether the woman, witch’s daughter Kylie Owens (Joey King) should release the comatose Gideon (Xolo Maridu...

  In the past, I have complained that female directors have never got to make sequels to their commercial successes. Catherine Hardwicke was removed from the Twilight series while Sam Taylor-Johnson was replaced by James Foley for the follow-ups to 50 Shades of Grey . One writer-director who has proved the exception is Britain’s Debbie Isitt, who has helmed four films in the Nativity series. Now, I know what you’re thinking: just how many times can I watch the baby Jesus being born? It’s not that nativity, exactly. All four films, Nativity (2009), Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger (2012), Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey (2014) and now Nativity Rocks! (2018) – subtitle ‘This Ain’t No Silent Night’ (I hate double negatives) – are set in St Bernadette’s Primary School in Coventry, where the new teacher is tasked with putting on the nativity play, which is important for spurious and frankly irrelevant reasons. Isitt casts well-known television actors in the leading roles - a...

  Pictured : Waiting to receive unholy orders, Lord Sir Jimmy Crystal ( Jack O'Connell , how's that) in a scene from the horror sequel, ' 28 Years Later - The Bone Temple ', written by Alex Garland and directed by Nia DaCosta . Still courtesy of Sony Pictures International. The Marvels and Hedda director Nia DaCosta might have seemed a left-field choice to helm the fourth film in the British ‘28’ horror franchise, 28 Years Later – The Bone Temple but the American delivers the series’ most impactful sequel to date. Filled with specifically British references - the Teletubbies, British Rail, Duran Duran and Jimmy Savile – the film blends an unrelenting sense of dread with leavening humour. At its heart, the film sidelines the threat from the infected – zombies, if you will – to chart the inevitable clash between tracksuit-wearing cult leader Lord Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and iodine skinned doctor Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), introduced in the 2025 film, 28 Year...

Pictured (left to right): Eleven-year-old Abby ( Piper Rubio ) is protected by her brother Mike ( Josh Hutcherson ) and family friend Vanessa ( Elizabeth Lail ) in the horror sequel, 'F ive Nights at Freddy's 2 ', written by Scott Cawthon and directed by Emma Tammi . Still courtesy of Universal . The most financially successful film directed by a woman released in 2025 is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 , grossing $222,430,104 worldwide as of 30 December 2025, $121,162,630 domestic (source: Box Office Mojo). Outside of the franchise’s fan base, the film is unlikely to figure on ‘Best of the Year’ lists or even to be remembered. You can tell an audience’s investment by the number of times they pop out for a bathroom break or a drink – perhaps both – which was plenty at the screening I attended. Written by Scott Cawthon and produced by Jason Blum, it can’t truly be said to be a film authored by a woman, but director Emma Tammi, who helmed the first film, released in 2023, has b...