A one-line spoiler-free review of everything I watched in the cinema in November 2024

I’ve ditched the usual blurb about “not being a movies person, but anyway…” because since I started going to the cinema regularly in 2022 I’ve turned into the kind of guy who downloads the London Film Festival brochure and meticulously plans what to see. You can find all my one-line spoiler-free reviews here.

Heretic (2024), Scott Beck and Bryan Woods – This of course entirely hangs on a brilliantly creepy performance from Hugh Grant and didn’t quite end up where I expected it to, but it was enjoyably disturbing getting there. And all the plaudits for Grant are probably eclipsing that great performances from Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher were also required to make it work as a believable three-hander.

[Sophie Thatcher (L) and Chloe East should not be overlooked in Heretic]

Frankenstein vs Baragon (1965), Ishirô Honda – One of the screenings in Token Homo’s Atomic Origins series of apocalyptic sci-fi movies that followed in the wake of the atom bomb. This has quite a thoughtful first act, but finishes with about 20 insane minutes of a man in a loin-cloth wrestling with a man in a dinosaur costume on a tiny forest set designed to make them look mahoosive. Bravo! I’ve also written specifically about how great these screenings are.

Paddington in Peru (2024), Dougal Wilson – Has had a lukewarm critical reception compared to the high bar of the first two movies, but was more than fine, hitting a sweet emotional spot if you are old enough to remember Paddington as a kid, your kids enjoyed the first two Paddington movies, and now they are much more grown up and not interested in seeing the third one with you, and you are in the process of letting go, which is what the movie is about …

No Other Land (2024), Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor – Directed by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli film-makers and journalists this looks at a community struggling to stay on land farmed for generations by their families in the face of demolition orders from the Israeli government, brutally enforced by the army. I recommend you watch it. My Guardian colleague Julian Borger spoke to the makers about it here.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Wes Craven – Quite incredible for essentially being nearly two hours long, the tension constantly ratcheting up, and yet not having a single character you could be sympathetic to except a pair of dogs. And even one of them is arguably a doofus.

[A very good boy]

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007), Seth Gordon – This was being put on as a charity screening in honour of the much-missed Seb Patrick but sadly due to Saturday’s Leyton Orient FA Cup match over-running because it was UTTERLY MAD I didn’t make it. Seb was a football fan. He would have understood.

[Goalkeeper Josh Keeley celebrates scoring an improbable equaliser which also prevented me going to the cinema]

Read more of my one-line spoiler-free reviews of everything I’ve watched in the cinema because the match went into extra time.