The most charming aspect about Lady Bird is the idea that there is no great twist or typical structure to the movie, but instead is a catalogue of engaging moments. Greta Gerwig's directorial debut is a refreshing blend of her quirky, indie roots and commercial, mainstream familiarities which is roughly based on her own story. Yet Lady Bird is also a film that everyone can relate to and enjoy whether they are male or female and regardless of age. The brilliant Saoirse Ronan plays Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson, a teenager growing up in Sacramento in 2002. Throughout the movie we follow her journey through the late stages of a Catholic school, her first exploits with the opposite sex, and her general coming of age growing up in a family struggling financially. Most importantly though, we are introduced to the incredibly strained relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf), summed up in the opening scene of the movie. It is this relationship that is the backbone of the movie, and Metcalf is the perfect counter to Ronan's punchy character. It seems like it will be a shootout between Metcalf and Kristin Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour) for Best Supporting Actress. Special mention must also go to Tracy Metts who plays Lady Bird's gentle, depressed father. Gerwig tells this story so genuinely and honestly that it is so relatable for so many people who would have had similar struggles at that stage of their lives. Yet there is a quirky teenage charm to it all that is very much down to her and the movie's cast who are all on top form. Lady Bird guarantees laughs and tears, but will leave you with an overwhelming feeling of melancholic warmth. @SceneItMovie

Just take a moment to think about how much time you spend on your smartphone. Think about how much of your week is spent on social media, scrolling through the endless amounts of selfies and filtered pictures. Do you ever get envious or judge people based on what they post on social media? Wish that picture of you from Friday night got more likes on Facebook or that you had more followers on Instagram? Well this is Ingrid cranked all the way to maximum and the poignant message in the dark comedy, Ingrid Goes West, is of how social media promotes an illusion of connectivity which is currently being cast on a generation in today’s society. This movie comes so close to homing in on that warning but cops out right at the end when all of its good work comes undone and any caution about the perils of social media evaporate literally within the last 20 seconds of the film. Ingrid is played by Aubrey Plaza who fits the role of the main character perfectly. The 33 year-old has come a long way in a short space of time since Parks and Recreation and here she plays an unstable social media stalker. We get an understanding of just how media obsessive she is at the start when she pepper sprays her friend at her wedding for not inviting her only to discover that the bride wasn’t a friend but had once commented on one of Ingrid’s Instagram posts. After recovering from that episode, Ingrid then decides to move to LA to track down Instagram expert, Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen), who she had come across and begins to fixate upon. Through a series of creepy acts, she tricks Taylor into befriending her and the pair begin spending time together before it all falls apart when Ingrid’s dark secrets are revealed. None of the characters in the movie are particularly likeable and therefore make the film a rather uncomfortable experience all round. Just think how annoying it is being out with your friends when everyone is staring at their phones or taking selfies – now think how annoying that would be just to watch unfold. The one aspect of relief is Dan (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), Ingrid’s landlord in LA and Batman fanatic who offers a number of laugh out loud moments to the proceedings and the only one who has any concept of reality. The devastating twist at the end should have been where the movie ended and landed its knockout blow of a message. But where 99% of the film is about the dangers of social media obsession, the remaining 1% is the closing sequence to the film that completely obliterates any positive message it was trying to promote. It ultimately lets down what is otherwise a poignant, contemporary movie.

It’s been a pretty good week for the creators of ‘Paddington 2’. Firstly, the movie received sparkling reviews upon it’s release last Friday, and then news emerged yesterday that the movie has severed ties from the much maligned Weinstein Company after the North American distribution rights were nabbed by Warner Bros. Paddington, our furry little hero from Peru, is a timely ray of shining generosity and love in this the second edition of his tale. The sequel to 2014’s first instalment is just as charming, amusing and uplifting and includes an extremely talented and extremely British cast. We return to the life of Paddington (brilliantly voiced by Ben Whishaw), who has now settled with the Browns, and has made friends with many in the community. With his aunt Lucy’s birthday coming up, he plans to find the perfect present for her which turns out to be an old pop-up book of London that he finds in an antique shop. In order to pay for the book, he tries saving money by working in a barber shop and as a window cleaner which both carry their own comical bout. Just as he is on the brink of having enough saved, the book is stolen from the antique shop and worse yet, Paddington is framed for the robbery. With the help of the Browns as well as those he inevitably makes friends with in prison, Paddington attempts to devise a plan to clear his name and retrieve the book. Given how much of a pleasant surprise the first Paddington film was, it was certainly going to be a tough task for the second to live up to expectations. But it exceeds them thanks to some more brilliantly put-together comedy sequences, some fine casting and more general joyful, feel-good movie making. It bears (excuse the pun) reiterating again the brilliance of Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington, who has that soft, friendly tone that so seamlessly goes along with the CGI’d character. It’s difficult to believe that Whishaw was drafted in at the last minute to voise the bear but thank goodness he was. He heads another incredible cast in the second instalment as Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent and Peter Capaldi all return. This time joined by Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson with cameos from Richard Ayoade, Joanna Lumley, Ben Miller and Jessica Hynes. It’s a brilliant British cast where both Grant and Gleeson are absolutely on top of their acting game. Grant in particular, who plays the failing actor and main villain, Phoenix Buchanan, has certainly resurrected his career and this can be considered as one of his best comic performances. Grant is just one of the many brilliant comical elements of the movie which playfully rolls by with a number of visually funny gags as well as plenty of witty remarks and jokes. With that said, director and writer Paul King includes plenty of peril and tension in the movie beneath the comedy, none more so than the climactic underwater escape sequence. As a result of this layer being including in a movie primarily designed for children, Paddington 2 is an all round treasure of a film, rather than just worthy of a few laughs. But at the centre of this delightful watch is a character who offers a humble message of love and kindness, albeit sometimes in the most calamitous of ways, leaving Paddington 2 a hugely entertaining and charming watch throughout.

At a runtime of two hours, Justice League is a short film in comparison to director Zack Snyder’s previous efforts. That said, it’s two hours too many for this shambles of a comic book movie. It’s a mystery Snyder is still allowed anywhere near these projects given the mess he has already caused in the DC Universe, which has so far been severely disappointing. It’s difficult to describe the plot given there isn’t really much of one, but simply put, Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Ben Affleck) sets out to put together a team of super-humans to fight an alien enemy, headed by the unsubtly CGI’d Steppenwolf. Batman’s team compromises of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). The movie picks up where last year’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice left off, both narratively and in terms of quality or lack thereof. Snyder clearly hasn’t learned his lessons from the critical response of his previous effort as this is just more of the same loud, over CGI’d and poorly written nonsense that we had to endure last year. The entire film is just one over-egged fight or explosion after the other, much like we have come to recognise with Snyder’s movies. There is absolutely no attention to character detail and there are far too many moments in the movie that leave questions unanswered and the whole thing makes absolutely no sense. There was a shining light for the DC Universe with the entry of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman which added a bit of colour and charm to what was a bleak cinematic franchise. And you can’t help but feel sorry for Gal Gadot who doesn’t deserve to be in such a mess of a movie after her efforts earlier this year, as she is by far the best thing about Justice League (though that’s not saying much). Ben Affleck has already discussed leaving the franchise and it’s clear to see in his performance that he isn’t keen on staying there too much longer. Little can be said for the other characters in the movie, as we’re either not offered a a full understanding of them or they are just plain annoying. This obviously isn’t helped by the shoddy writing of Snyder who is less concerned about making sense of the movie and instead wants to make a giant spectacle of shouting, fighting and blowing things up over and over again. The dialogue is also incredibly poor and nonsensical, again reiterating what a dour job of writing these DC movies Snyder has done. Yes, Justice League is a superhero movie and therefore shouldn’t be over-analysed, but the Dark Knight movies, along with every Avenger movie, has proved that comic book movies can carry substance and portray more than a vast spectacle. But when a director like Snyder is at the helm, unfortunately that is exactly what we have come to expect and that is what we get from Justice League. Once again, he produces a boring mess of a superhero movie which deserves so much better. @SceneItMovie sceneit3.wordpress.com