Rnz: At The Movies

Simon Morris investigates the dark art of casting - which gives you the best value for money, a star, a real actor or a trendy celebrity? He checks three contrasting films - Alien: Romulus, a little indie comedy-drama Ghostlight, and a celebrity-dotted action comedy on Prime Video, Jackpot!

It Ends With Us is based on a romantic novel that went viral a couple of years back. The film version may do even better, thanks to a star performance by Blake Lively (The Shallows). It's directed by, and co-stars, Justin Baldoni (TV's Jane The Virgin).

Bookworm is about an 11-year-old girl's quest to find New Zealand's mythical Canterbury Panther with the unwilling help of her long-lost father. Directed by Ant Timpson (Come To Daddy) it stars Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) and star-in-the-making Nell Fisher (TV's Stranger Things).

Here's a B-movie video-game adaptation with an A-List cast - Jack Black and Kevin Hart (Jumanji), Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once) and, playing her first inter-planetary bounty hunter, Cate Blanchett (Tár).

Simon Morris checks out three films that depend on a star to lift their game. Two succeed - a romance with a sting in the tail called It Ends With Us and an endearing Kiwi road-movie called Bookworm. But video game Borderlands defies even an eight times Oscar nominee…

Simon Morris goes to the first French version of The Three Musketeers in 30 years, and another film involving Parisian duels, The Edge of the Blade.

Another French swashbuckler, The Edge of the Blade tells the true story of feminist and occasional duellist Marie-Rose Astié as she joins forces with a fencing master for justice and honour. Written, directed and featuring Vincent Perez (An Officer and a Spy).

Trap finds serial killer The Butcher trapped with 10,000 teenage fans at a pop concert. Stars Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down) and Hayley Mills (Pollyanna). Directed by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense).

The first part of The Three Musketeers - D'Artagnan, is a fresh take on the biggest-selling book after the Bible! Stars Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), Romain Duris (Eiffel) and Eva Green (Casino Royale).

Simon Morris realizes there are several worlds of movies around this week - from Marvel's Multiverse in Deadpool & Wolverine to the popular French hits, typified by The President's Wife with Catherine Deneuve and Mr Blake at your service with John Malkovich.

Deadpool & Wolverine sees two Marvel Comics mavericks combine to save Disney's beleaguered MCU. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are joined by a dazzling array of cameos, including Emma Corrin (The Crown's Princess Diana), Matthew McFadyen (Succession), Channing Tatum, Blake Lively and Wesley Snipes.

French hit Mr Blake at Your Service sees John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons) play a British businessman (entirely in French!) who takes a job as a butler in a French stately home. Also starring evergreen French star Fanny Ardant (8 Women).

The President's Wife sees the unstoppable Catherine Deneuve (Belle de Jour) portray another force of nature - Bernadette Chirac, wife of President Jacques Chirac, who became more popular than her husband among the French public.

Simon Morris wonders if genre is always a good guide to a movie's quality, just because you usually like that sort of film.

Longlegs is a hugely popular, serial killer horror film. A sensation on social media, it's reignited the career of Nicolas Cage as the titular villain - with a voice inspired by his mother! Also stars Blair Underwood (TV's Elsbeth) and Maika Monroe (It Follows).

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is a typically epic Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves) western - at three hours it's not even halfway finished apparently. Written, produced and directed by Costner, it also features Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road), Sienna Miller (American Sniper) and Sam Worthington (Avatar).

From the French Film Festival, Divertimento, based on a real-life young woman from the Parisian projects who became one of France's great woman conductors. "Divertimento" is the name of Zahia Ziousani's own orchestra.

Simon Morris is confronted by an embarrassment of good, entertaining movies. And about time too…

28 years after the original Twister a new crew is chasing storms in Oklahoma's notorious "Tornado Alley". Starring Glen Powell (Hit Man) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing). Once again produced by Steven Spielberg.

Kinds of Kindness is a typically opaque collection of loosely-connected short stories by UK-Greek film-maker Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things). Starring Emma Stone (The Favourite), Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) and Jesse Plemens (Civil War).