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worldwide and for years as well it has taken so long to get a film adaptation made for the big screen. Though the character was featured in the weak X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the appearance of him wasn't considered worth it as his appearance had been altered and wasn't given the proper character treatment to win over the fans. Finally, after years of development hell. Ryan Reynolds reprises Deadpool in the way that sticks true to it's source material and the results are worth the ticket price and time to watch.

I won't give away too much on plot details but it does play out as both an origin story and a revenge plot that breaks away from the traditional 'superhero' movie. It charts the beginning of Deadpool as a wise-cracking, foul-mouthed and really abstracted anti-hero, showcasing how he had earned his powers and what made him become this figure. I think the plot itself is great and it doesn't drag itself once in the film and best of all it doesn't take a whole movie to establish the main character's origin unlike a certain film from last year (coughing "Fantastic Four").

In terms of acting, there are solid performances throughout but the best of the bunch would definitely be Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. This is possibly his best performance in film to date, though I have watched Reynolds in other great films such as The Change Up, Safe House, The Voices and even Buried but this role in particular is often seen and considered a 'redeeming role' as previously he had played the role of Deadpool before in XMO: Wolverine and of course the cheesy but bad Green Lantern for DC. His delivery on humour is present throughout and when things get slightly serious he does what he does best and lightens the moment. The supporting cast handle themselves as well as Reynolds, with 'Game of Thrones' actor Ed Skein, 'comic refief' T.J. Miller, 'the more tougher female than Ronda Rousey' Gina Carano and the lovely Morena Baccarin giving their best to keep the story's characters great. Only minor negative to say was the film's villain wasn't given enough polish as to show why he was bad (though we are shown why he's a threat to Deadpool and was just as powerful as he was) but we aren't given a true purpose villain that wants to dominate the world but thankfully Skein does give his best throughout in both terms of acting and stunt work.

Direction is strong from first time director Tim Miller, he keeps the film moving along in a decent pace that's not rushed and the production value set for the film is quality assured as costume design, visual effects and make up are all worthwhile and it's script is pretty polished throughout with humour, exciting action set-pieces and the best 4th wall breaks/ meta humour I've seen in years (the knocks at both Wolverine, GL and even the trouble to get a Deadpool movie made are hilarious in particular) .

Overall, Deadpool is a blast of a movie that packs action, comedy and superhero cliché's into one and even pokes fun of not only itself but breaks the 4th wall in wonderful ways. Only a fault with its villain in terms of character development, Deadpool will leave you leaving the cinema in the most awesome way possible and stick around after the credits for a cool surprise.

It hasn't been far already into 2016 and there's already a fantastic film that captivates your mind, body and even spirit to break or even open further; and that film to be labelled as a 'Top Film' is The Revenant.

I won't go into much of the film's plot but I'll keep it brief; inspired around the famous Hugh Glass (who has been labelled as history's toughest survivor) it tells his deep and yet engaging adventure that see's him fighting not only for himself but his quest for justice when he is left for dead by an emotionless, careless and even cowardly member of his crew.

What makes The Revenant so amazing is that it's directed by both award winning and critically acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro G Inarritu with his style of storytelling, themes and character that make the silver screen shine. There is so much to take away and grip from this so I'll try to give my best of it all without spoiling it for you; firstly the film's themes include 'Survival of the human spirit', 'revenge' 'God and spirituality' and they help to keep the audience not only intrigued to the plot but the way the characters are seen from our eyes. Importantly, with Leo's character (Hugh Glass) we are shown that he's not only a tough human but he's battling his own demons that push him to be as strong yet broken in his path for revenge. Leo has played many great roles in his acting career but I think that this role is his best and truly toughest to play, it's bound to get him award nominations again as like other years but this is indeed something that the Oscars should deeply consider for him to receive. Tom Hardy is fantastic as well; his character is truly a monster that is emotionless, heartless and really driven for the audience to despise.

Cinematography was outstanding throughout and the locations where the film takes place are 100% real and really captures the realism of the story's setting from wet forests, raging rivers, snowy mountains and isolated trails. So much detail and thought has been put into this and the efforts from both the cast and the crew behind the camera make it seem so believably strong. Sound mixing and editing is strong too, with sounds of birds, winds and even breathing that makes it sound so beautiful but it's is composed soundtrack that makes it seem so emotional and yet captivating, from Glass's visions to even seeing him survive the harsh environment make these worthy candidates for Oscars and further awards in technical achievement in film. Again, we see camera shots that seem a 'one shot take' and even in one sequence we switch from one character to another. The violence is brutal, bloody and well executed and it can be confronting for some.

Overall, The Renevant is a breathtaking, captivating, and brutal but beautifully shot film that has so much to grasp but it will take an open mind to get it's themes and character development. This is indeed on my list (and the first entry) of best films for 2016.

Having been a big lover and fan for Quentin Tarantino's films since witnessing Reservoir Dogs back in the early 2000's, we come have reached to his 8th feature film in his amazing career and now he returns to another 'Western' based film but not a direct sequel to Django Unchained but as an epic, 3 ½ hour presentation called 'The Hateful Eight'. Jay and I (along with some of our friends) had taken the opportunity to watch this in the glorious Ultra Panavision 70mm print that Tarantino had used when filming this movie (he calls it the 'Roadshow version') and features an overture and intermission segments that appear in this version but the digital release (that's due for release on January 21st) will be altered down to a less wider screen size and loses some of the shots that don't appear well on standard digital formats but most of the plot will still be intact but runs at a shorter running time of 167 minutes compared to the 187 minute version. What makes it so 'glorious' is that the picture format is bigger, wider and the vintage camera system used produces a sharper and clearer image that suppresses today's HD format. The result is an amazing experience that will impress but can be seen at only exclusive cinemas that have his format, so fingers crossed if this does surface on the Blu-Ray release later this year.

The plot is simple and easy to follow in five chapters, we first meet Major Marquis Warren stranded with three dead bounties being transported to Red Rock and hitches a ride with the well-known bounty hunter John Ruth and his prisoner Daisy Domergue who he plans to see hanged for her crimes in Red Rock. John is suspicious for anyone trying to steal Daisy for her substantial bounty from him, and along the trip they also meet Former Lost-Causer militiaman and the supposed new 'Sheriff' of Red Rock Chris Mannix who convinces John to hitch a ride to town in his coach. Having a wild blizzard fast approaching behind them, they stop for the night to get shelter from the blizzard at Minnie's Haberdashery, where other unknown lodgers reside from the blizzard; Bob (the caretaker of the Haberdashery while the owners are on leave), Oswaldo Mobray (the hangman of Red Rock), Joe Gage (a quiet cowboy on his way to his mother's) and Sanford Smithers (a former Confederate general of the Civil War). A suspicious Ruth disarms all but Warren, but it becomes a long night of suspicion, deception and whom to trust for all these eight strangers as who is really telling the truth.

The first act of the film is more of a character build up, where the audience is introduced to the eight strangers where they state where they come from and what is their purpose to the plot. The casting here is well chosen, with Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madson, Demián Bichir and Bruce Dern each playing the leading 8 characters while there is a small supporting cast that handle themselves easily and don't overthrow the leads. The best performances are a tough to pick as all the leading cast gave solid performances, but I give high approvals to Jackson, Russell Leigh, Goggins and Roth for making their characters believable and kept it going throughout the five chapters. The second act of THE picks up more on the brutal, over the top and bloody violence that occurs in Tarantino's films while resolving the plot and getting closer to the climax that gets bold and suspenseful, the results are great but there are moments where it could you make you feel uneasy and quench in your seats. The plot overall is great and carries the spirit of a Western film and as well a stage play but on the screen, but it can be long and dull ride for those who hate dialogue driven films as the violence plays out more in Act 2 but I thought each of the characters were given solid moments of seriousness, establishment and at times humour when needed.

The cinematography is as beautiful and detailed throughout like the recent acclaimed film 'The Revenant', having watched the 70mm print we can see that Tarantino's camera work captures not only the characters on-screen but the snowy and yet detailed environment of the mountain scenery and cabin location (as most of the film is set inside of the cabin after we are introduced to each of the eight characters). The music score here is composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone (known his musical scores for other westerns such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and other excerpts used in Tarantino's previous films) has composed an entire original score that mark not only new work in recent years but the very first film for Tarantino that uses an original score than having to used licensed music and scores from various films. The music plays out as mysterious, engaging and yet at times feels like a horror film but it suits to the film so well that it won not only a Golden Globe for Best Original Score but an Academy Award nomination in the upcoming 2016 Oscars (due for air on February 28th) alongside with nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson).

Overall, The Hateful Eight can be seen by some as the weakest work from Tarantino as Django, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and even Reservoir still have a huge following and acclaim from fans and citric alike or seen as a great form of film but not as strong as the previous films. I however think that this is a solid presentation that keeps me hooked with character development, plot and the Tarantino quality that I have known of and earns a spot on my list of top films for 2016, alongside The Revenant.