MEGAN ELLISON

WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE (2020)
Starring Cate Blanchett, Emma Nelson, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne, Troian Bellisario, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, James Urbaniak and Claudia Doumit. Directed by Richard Linklater.

Bernadette Fox is a Seattle woman who had it all – a loving husband and a brilliant daughter. When she unexpectedly disappears, her family sets off on an exciting adventure to solve the mystery of where she might have gone.

REVIEWS Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Cate Blanchett mystery isn't entirely what's on the label

HUSTLERS (2019)
Starring Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, Mercedes Ruehl, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Julia Stiles, Trace Lysette and Mette Towley. Directed by Lorene Scafaria.

A crew of savvy former strip club employees band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.

BOOKSMART (2019)
Starring Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Mason Gooding, Skyler Gisondo, Victoria Ruesga, Billie Lourd, Molly Gordon, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte. Directed by Olivia Wilde.

On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends suddenly realise that they should have worked less and played more. Determined never to fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.

REVIEWS Booksmart - Say hello to the next great voice in female filmmaking

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (2019)
Starring Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Dave Franco, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach and Aunjanue Ellis. Directed by Barry Jenkins.

A love story set in 1970s Harlem, New York. After her fiancé is framed for a crime, a young woman races against the clock to prove his innocence while pregnant with their first child.

REVIEWS If Beale Street Could Talk - Love is a many splendid thing indeed

PHANTOM THREAD (2018)
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Richard Graham, Vicky Krieps, Camilla Rutherford, Jane Perry, Pip Phillips, Jason Redshaw, Michael Gabbitas and Sarah Lamesch. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock and his sister Cyril are at the centre of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love.

REVIEWS Phantom Thread - An exquisite and delicious delight for the senses

DOWNSIZING (2017)
Starring Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Sudeikis, Alec Baldwin, Margo Martindale, Laura Dern, Bruce Willis and Joaquim De Almeida. Directed by Alexander Payne.

'Downsizing' imagines what might happen if, as a solution to over-population, Norwegian scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall and propose a 200-year global transition from big to small. People soon realise how much further money goes in a miniaturised world, and with the promise of a better life, everyman Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in Omaha in order to get small and move to a new downsized community - a choice that triggers life-changing adventures.

REVIEWS Downsizing - Honey, I shrunk my ability to be a decent human being

DETROIT (2017)
Starring John Boyega, John Krasinski, Will Poulter, Anthony MacKie, Algee Smith, Jason Mitchell, Hannah Murray, Jack Reynor, Ben O'Toole and Jacob Latimore. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Set against the backdrop of the devastating Detroit riots that took place over five days in the Summer of 1967, after police raided an unlicensed bar in the city’s Near West Side. The confrontation between the police and citizens quickly turned violent, to the point where the Governor was forced to call in the National Guard. When the riots were all over, 43 people were dead, hundreds were injured, thousands were arrested, and many of the city’s buildings had been destroyed. As a result, the riots are widely known as one of the largest citizen uprisings in the United States’ history.

20TH CENTURY WOMEN (2017)
Starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Lucas Jade Zumann, Billy Crudup, Alia Shawkat, John Billingsley, Thea Gill, Alison Elliott and Laura Wiggins. Directed by Mike Mills.

The story of three women who explore love and freedom in Southern California during the late 1970s.

REVIEWS 20th Century Women - A gentle and magical lesson on growing up

SAUSAGE PARTY (2016)
Starring Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Paul Rudd and Salma Hayek. Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon.

One sausage leads a group of supermarket products on a quest to discover the truth about their existence and what really happens when they become chosen to leave the grocery store.

REVIEWS Salma Hayek - Turning 50 only enhances the allure of Salma Hayek
Sausage Party - Uninvite me

JOY (2015)
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Édgar RamÍrez and Isabella Rossellini. Directed by David O. Russell.

The emotionally compelling and often comedic journey of a woman who triumphed over personal and financial challenges by inventing the Miracle Mop, which she sold on QVC and went on to become a hugely successful entrepreneur.

REVIEWS Joy - Jennifer Lawrence shines in otherwise lacklustre film
Joy - Two hours about a mop

FOXCATCHER (2015)
Starring Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Michael Hall, Sienna Miller and Vanessa Redgrave. Directed by Bennett Miller.

How paranoid schizophrenic John DuPont befriended Olympic wrestling champion brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz, before murdering Dave in 1996.

REVIEWS Foxcatcher - Of men deep into the heart of darkness
Foxcatcher - Delivering powerhouse performances

HER (2014)
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Rooney Mara and Chris Pratt. Directed by Spike Jonze.

Theodore Twombly is a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet “Samantha,” a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other. Her is an original love story that explores the evolving nature - and the risks - of intimacy in the modern world.

REVIEWS Her - Together in electric dreams

AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013)
Starring Christian Bale - Melvin Weinberg, Bradley Cooper - Jimmy Boyle, Jennifer Lawrence - Rosalyn Rosenfeld, Amy Adams - Sydney Prosser, Jeremy Renner - Carmine Polito, Robert De Niro - Victor Tellegio and Michael PeÑa - Paco Hernandez. Directed by David O. Russell.

When cocky conman Melvin Weinberg is caught pulling a sting by FBI agent Jimmy Boyle’s unit, he agrees to become an informant. Together, Mel and the FBI mastermind an infamous sting operation, employing a fake Arab sheik and a host of other cunning tricks to implicate a number of high profile players in the conspiratorial building of Atlantic City casinos. As the lies pile up and more criminals become entangled in the increasingly intricate plot, Mel isn’t sure who to trust anymore and the FBI worries that they’re being set up. Set in the underbelly of New York City, this is a fast paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the operation that severely crippled organised crime.

REVIEWS American Hustle - Comb-overs, cons & J-Law, oh my

ZERO DARK THIRTY (2013)
Starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Kyle Chandler, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Duplass, Scott Adkins and Jennifer Ehle. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Zero Dark Thirty is a military term meaning half past midnight – the timing of the actual mission to locate and eliminate the world’s most dangerous man, Osama bin Laden. The term also refers to the secrecy that surrounded the decade long mission to track him down.

REVIEWS Zero Dark Thirty - Into the heart of darkness
Zero Dark Thirty - History as a grand jigsaw