The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

What's it about? Part 3 in what will be a 4-part film series, based on The Hunger Games trilogy. Dystopian Young Adult Fiction. The Hunger Games take place in a future where the US has been ravaged by war and hardship and is now renamed "Panem", separated into the haves (in the Capitol) and the have nots, who live in a series of Districts, where they labour and toil for the good of the Capitol-dwelling wealthy elite. Children are chosen from each district to fight to the death in a deadly arena, all for the Capitol's entertainment and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) has competed in those Hunger Games across the first two films. As we catch up with her in Mockingjay Part 1, we transition into a very different type of film. No longer concerning ourselves with arena warfare, we are now in the realms of political machinations, propaganda, control of the airwaves and the battle for the hearts and minds of people. Katniss is not sure if she wants to be a propaganda puppet, but as she sees the brutality inflicted by the Capitol, her position changes and her resolve hardens.

What's it like? Not as effective as the first two films, but definitely worthwhile for fans of the franchise. If you haven't seen the first two films, you are unlikely to start here, but if you've come this far, there is much to enjoy. Much less action-packed but just as thought-provoking, Mockingjay Part 1 confronts us with inequality of power, a yearning to be free and the grey areas occupied by propaganda wars. Jennifer Lawrence continues to carry the franchise on her back through another effective, subtle and nuanced performance, at once brittle, resolute, toughened and tender. A seemingly irreconcilable bundle of contradictions effortlessly held together by a young actress of phenomenal ability. The late great Philip Seymour Hoffman and an always-reliable Julianne Moore give great support and if some of he rest of the cast don't make quite such an impact, the overall effect of the film is engaging.

Should I see it? It's not quite a "must-see" and for my youngest it wasn't as interesting as the previous two films. There are a few scenes of injured people that won't go down well with younger more delicate children, but the scenes are far from gratuitous, showing the impact of a brutal regime and giving rise to a righteous anger on the part of Katniss. Consider carefully what you consider suitable for your children , but otherwise enjoy the ensuing conversations about politics, class struggles and control of the airwaves!

Interstellar (2014)

What's it about? Ostensibly a science-fiction film about a desperate mission to find an alternate habitable planet for mankind, after the Earth becomes uninhabitable due to crop blight, Interstellar is as much about life, love and family as anything else. Matthew McConaughey's former pilot, now farmer, must leave his family behind to join a mission that will travel through a nearby wormhole in order to find a new home for mankind. The planets they find need to be assessed for suitability for starting over, while fluctuating gravity fields wreak havoc with the relative passage of time, not only for the mission compared with life on Earth, but also between the people on the mission itself. McConaughey's everyman Cooper wants the mission to succeed but more than anything he wants to keep the promise he made to his daughter Murphy that he would return.

What's it like? Phenomenal, but not to everyone's taste. In its final third it very much moves into the fiction part of the sci-fi genre, which is fine, but the plot developments will have to be accepted on their own terms if you are to come out of the cinema feeling satisfied. The visuals are imaginative and stunning, the alien worlds plausible and breath-taking and the passage through wormholes, black holes and frozen atmospheres thrilling. For a film-maker like Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige) who has always brought a strong element of veracity to his film making, this is his most fantastical venture yet, but it also has perhaps the strongest heartbeat of any of his films to date, the unbearable heartache of Cooper and his daughter as he leaves her behind being among the film's most resonant and affecting scenes, despite being one of its quietest. All of the acting performances are top-drawer, especially McConaughey and Mackenzie Foy, who plays the youngest iteration of Murphy. Many will have wished that Nolan had finished on a more open-ended note (like Inception) rather than something a lot more neatly wrapped up (like The Dark Knight Rises), but that is the film-maker's prerogative - they get to choose the film they make and thankfully this one is ace.

Should I see it? It certainly is a big screen experience, given the spectacular visuals, but if thought-provoking, mind-bending sci-fi isn't your thing then you might want to save some pennies. Although the film carries a 12A certificate, there's is relatively little violence, no sexual content and very little bad language, so in terms of taking children it is more a question of what they can understand and make sense of, rather than a concern over inappropriate content. At over two and a half hours, there's quite a lot to take in.