Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

We first met Enola Holmes (2020), younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, as she investigated the disappearance of their mother on Enola's sixteenth birthday. Shenanigans of course ensued, and now-independent Enola has decided to capitalise on the experience by setting up her own detective agency. It doesn't quite go to plan. Prospective clients are aghast …

The Ghosts of Greenglass House – Kate Milford

"Frost was pretty much the worst." Do you need something to cosy up with for the quietest Hogmanay ever? I thoroughly recommend this book - for children of all ages! I utterly adored Greenglass House, which introduced us to Milo and his hotel-running family just as a group of shifty strangers arrive seemingly to spoil …

Enola Holmes (2020)

Turns out Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes had a much younger kid sister, at least according to this movie and the books it's based on. Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) has been raised in relative isolation by her bohemian mother (Helena Bonham Carter) - who goes missing on the youngsters sixteenth birthday. So there's our underlying mystery …

Artemis Fowl (2020)

Artemis Fowl (Ferdia Shaw) is a 12-year-old genius, who's about to find out that his father (Colin Farrell) might not be all that he seems. Can he use his over-sized brain to rescue Fowl senior when he's kidnapped? More to the point, can he do so when it turns out dad's stories of fairy folk …

A Princess of Mars – Edgar Rice Burroughs

"I am a very old man; how old I do not know." I have mixed feelings about classic sci-fi. It's good to know the roots of your favourite genre, but it doesn't always age so well. The Barsoom books, however, can be taken more as adventure stories that happen to be set on a fantasy …

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Adaptations of video games rarely go well, and even less so when the game itself didn't really have a plot to speak of. Still, I have fond memories of my Sonic-playing days, and if nothing else, the disastrous first attempt at a look for the blue speedster piqued my interest. So, in need of something …

Onward (2020)

Once upon a time, there was magic in the world, a world populated by elves and pixies, mantacores and unicorns. But magic was hard, and folk found a way to make things easier - things like electricity, and the combustion engine. On Ian's (Tom Holland) 16th birthday, his mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gives him and his …

The Call of the Wild (2020)

Based on the classic novel (which I've not read - yet!) by Jack London, The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck, a pampered pooch who is kidnapped and sold into a sled team in the frozen wilds of the Yukon in the late 1800s. The book gives us Buck's voice and viewpoint, …

Dolittle (2020)

Following the death of his beloved wife, Dr John Dolittle has no heart left in him to continue treating the animals to which he can speak. Locked away in his home-come-nature reserve, surrounded by animal friends, what will it take to bring Dolittle back into the world? I had very little interest in seeing this …

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Here we are. 42 years since Star Wars (aka Episode 4, A New Hope) hit the big screen and created a cultural phenomenon. Now we finally reach the 'end', of the so-called Skywalker saga, at any rate, with Episode 9. It's been a rocky path. Few people loved the prequel trilogy, and this final trilogy seemed to …