Simon Morris

Simon Morris checks out three female-led films, and wonders if the Bechdel test for substantial female characters in movies still applies. From the USA, Eleanor The Great, starring June Squibb and… Audio

The Smashing Machine tells the true story of Mixed Martial Arts pioneer Mark Kerr and his struggles with drugs and depression. Starring Dwayne Johnson/The Rock (Fast and Furious) and Emily Blunt (The… Audio

Play Dirty sees writer-director Shane Black (Predator, Iron Man 3) bring pulp fiction favourite Parker to the screen. Robber/gunman Parker (Mark Wahlberg) is roped into a billion dollar heist by… Audio

Steve, starring and produced by Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is the story of a troubled teacher holding a 1990s English reform school together by sheer will-power. Featuring Tracy Ullman… Audio

Simon Morris looks at three movies about people who break the rules. The Rock gets out of his comfort zone in The Smashing Machine, about a pioneer of the no-holds-barred MMA…. Maverick director Shane… Audio

One Battle After Another sees a retired revolutionary forced to rejoin the struggle when his daughter is captured by an old enemy. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia), it stars Leonardo… Audio

French film Holy Cow tells the story of a teenage ne'er do well who decides to turn his life around by winning a cheese-making gold medal. A multi award-winner for both director Louise Courvoisier and… Audio

The Teacher Who Promised The Sea is a Spanish-Catalan real life account of a teacher who falls foul of the fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Featured at the recent International Film Festival, it… Audio

One Battle After Another sees a retired revolutionary forced to rejoin the struggle when his daughter is captured by an old enemy. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia), it stars Leonardo… Audio

Kangaroo has all the right elements for a feelgood, family movie - small-town outback Australia, a big city idiot and a teenage girl both looking for redemption, and an awful lot of kangaroos… Audio

Simon Morris is seduced by some undeniably charming stars - Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell in A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey, indigenous Australian national treasures Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair… Audio

Prime Minister is the story of Jacinda Ardern's eventful five years leading Aotearoa New Zealand. With previously unseen footage shot by Ardern's partner Clarke Gayford, it's not just a biopic of a… Audio

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey features Colin Farrell (In Bruges) and Margot Robbie (Barbie) being drawn back into their pasts by magical rental car! Directed by Kogonada (After Yang) and featuring… Audio

Splitsville sees the International Film Festival comedy about open marriages get a general release. Essentially a millennial version of a Sixties hit, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, with added (male)… Audio

Simon Morris finds himself on the wrong side of history - or at least the general, critical opinion of the new Stephen King movie, The Long Walk, and millennial sex-comedy Splitsville. Though he… Audio

The Long Walk, based on Stephen King's first novel, is set in a dystopian future where 50 young men compete to be the last one standing. If they slow down they're shot. Directed by Francis Lawrence… Audio

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is the third and final Downton movie, we're told. It features all the old favourite characters - and, frankly old favourite plotlines. With added Noël Coward, and… Audio

How To Make A Killing sees Laure Calamy (Call My Agent) caught up in a tangle of gangsters, refugees, a big bundle of money - and a gigantic black bear. French farce at its most farcical - and French… Audio

The Roses is a gentler remake of the pitch-black Eighties divorce comedy The Ear Of The Roses. But stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch turn out to be worthy successors. Directed by Jay Roach… Audio

Simon Morris looks at three films that use comedy in different ways to make a point - the divorce comedy The Roses, a film about a traumatic event, Sorry, Baby, that uses humour as a healing tool and… Audio