James Michael Smith

Fluffy and light, and has a pretty strong, inspirational core to it that advocates a golden mean between conformism and narcissism. Reese Witherspoon achieves self-realisation by helping others. And she can still wear pink if she wants. Win-win! It’s not the most tightly-plotted, nor the most hilarious comedy ever made, though it does have some witty set-pieces, but as girls sleepover fare goes, probably essential.

Shamelessly nerdy, for a certain kind of beardy history buff, just a technically wizardrous adaptation of masculine storytelling. These days feels like a collection of anecdotes to get the testosterone pumping. The attention to detail, the sweat, the dirt, the rain, the noise, makes it an immersive experience; not necessarily a cathartic narrative.

A film you only watch once, for once you know the outcome, it’s not necessary to sit through all that palaver and all those red herrings, despite the excellent performances and the Prince of Darkness. Your eyes are on the screen though. Harrison Ford doesn’t say “my wife!!” enough times for my liking.

One of those movies your dad will watch on a plane. If it wasn’t Mel, it’d be Bruce Willis, on a revenge rampage whilst talking in a deep voice. A script Helgeland could probably write in his sleep, but actually with some nice baroque smokey and greasy cinematography. People get punched and shot a lot.