TheRetroCritic

The Best Picture winner at this year's Oscars, Spotlight pretty much set the tone for that particular awards ceremony as it talks about a serious issue as earnestly as possible. The film follows a group of Boston Globe investigative journalists as they try to shed some light on systemic sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests in the early 2000's. Based on a true story, the main goal of Spotlight seems to be to celebrate the hard work and determination of these reporters while reminding the world how easily that kind of recurring problem can be covered up. With a solid cast that includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Rachel MacAdams and Stanley Tucci, the film is well made and the performances are all very strong so it's easy to see why it did so well at the Oscars. Another great thing about it is it doesn't glorify its characters too much as most of them are flawed in some way and sometimes even get in the way of the investigation. Unlike Z

Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo star in Foxcatcher , the Oscar-nominated film based on the shocking true story of an Olympic wrestler and his brother's destructive encounter with bizarre multimillionaire John E. Du Pont. After Tatum's wrestler Mark Schultz is called in by the wealthy entrepreneur (and avid bird watcher) to his vast estate, he is promptly hired to train for Du Pont (Carell) as part of the Foxcatcher team in the hope that another Olympic win lies ahead. Unfortunately, Du Pont's strange behaviour becomes something of a problem as it becomes quite clear that he's not quite the talented wrestling coach he painted himself out to be. Add to that a drug problem, an odd relationship with his mother (played by Vanessa Redgrave) and some altogether inappropriate behaviour and you've got yourself one awkward training environment for Schultz to say the least. Things take a turn for the worse when Du Pont hires Mark's brother David (Ruffalo

Movies about magicians aren't exactly a prolific bunch. After The Prestige and The Illusionist brought back the notion that this type of movie could be done well, it's been a relatively slow and bare track record for the topic ever since. Then comes Now You See Me , easily one of the most random movies to come out this year so far, with its all-star cast and its silly premise and, after an impressive performance at the box-office, it looks like magic is most definitely back in business. I blame Arrested Development 's fourth season. Speaking of which, this is essentially "Gob Bluth: The Movie" : it takes itself somewhat seriously (as a heist thriller at least) and thinks it's super clever but it's just so ludicrous that chances are it'll generate more lols than genuine, intentional laughs. The film sees Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg and Dave Franco play magicians, each with their own area of expertise, who all meet through a