Intro:

Elio is a 2025 American animated science fiction adventure film by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Madeline Sharafian. Written by Julia Cho. 

Elio was conceived by Sharafian as a story about childhood and social isolation and was inspired by growing up on a military base and his eventual enrolment at the California Institute of the Arts.

Cast:

• Yonas Kibreab as Elio

• Zoe Saldana as Elio’s aunt

• Remy Edgerly as Glordon

• Brandon Moon as Helix

• Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon

• Jameela Jamil as Questa 

• Dylan Gilmer as Bryce (and many others)

Plot:

After the death of his parents, young Elio Solís is orphaned and lives with his aunt Olga, an Air Force major who gave up her dreams of becoming an astronaut to raise her nephew. On an outing to a museum, Elio wanders into a closed exhibit on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, where he is awed by the idea of discovering other life in space.

Years later, Elio wishes to be abducted by aliens. Every day, he lies on the beach waiting, but without result. One night, a kid named Bryce and his bully friend Caleb tamper with Elio's ham radio, leading to a fight that injures his left eye. At Olga's workplace, Elio sneaks into an emergency meeting where conspiracy theorist Gunther Melmac claims to have detected an alien response to Voyager 1  but is dismissed by Olga and her colleagues. Elio uses Melmac's device to send a message, causing a power outage at the military base, nearly costing Olga her job. Olga decides to send him to a youth camp, which he dreads, as Bryce and Caleb are also there.

At camp, Elio escapes from Bryce, Caleb, and other bullies as they attempt to scare him. Back at the military base, Olga receives strange extraterrestrial messages in response to Elio, who is then abducted by an alien ship. Inside the spaceship, Ooooo, a liquid supercomputer, welcomes him to the Communiverse, a place where aliens from different worlds share their knowledge. Other ambassadors mistakenly declare him a candidate for ambassador, thinking he is the leader of Earth and that he created the Voyager spacecraft. Before Elio can clarify, Lord Grigon, a warlord previously rejected by the Communiverse, arrives to take the Communiverse by force. The ambassadors plan to return Elio to Earth while they resolve the crisis, but Elio volunteers to negotiate with Grigon in return for induction as an ambassador. Ooooo creates a clone of Elio to take his place back on Earth. Olga brings Other Elio home from camp after hearing about the fight.

Meanwhile, Elio attempts to negotiate with Grigon, but is imprisoned after unintentionally angering him. While trying to escape, he encounters Grigon's son, Glordon, and decides to use him as a bargaining chip to convince Grigon to leave the Communiverse alone. They head back to the Communiverse, where Elio gives Glordon a disc that regulates his body temperature. Grigon agrees to leave them in peace in exchange for Glordon's safe return.

Elio and Glordon confide in each other; Elio is lonely and feels misunderstood by his aunt, while Glordon resists becoming a war machine like his father. Elio devises a plan to keep them together; he hides the real Glordon in an escape shuttle while giving a clone to Grigon, but Grigon quickly realizes the deception. He compels the mind-reading Ambassador Questa to extract Glordon's location from Elio and sends troops to retrieve his son. Questa, realizing Elio is a regular kid, returns him to Earth. Meanwhile, Glordon accidentally activates the shuttle, heading toward Earth.

Back home, Elio is devastated but soon spots his aunt on the beach looking for him with Other Elio, whom she had already suspected was not her real nephew. After reconciling, they head to the military base, where Glordon's shuttle has been captured. Other Elio sacrifices himself to distract the military, while Elio and Olga sneak into the base to rescue Glordon, who is now suffering from hypothermia after his disc broke upon landing. They pilot the shuttle back to the Communiverse, calling Bryce, Melmac, and worldwide ham radio enthusiasts for help traveling through a debris field.

Reaching the Communiverse, they return Glordon to Grigon, who rips his warsuit open to swaddle him, saving his life, and apologizes to his son and the ambassadors. Elio is welcomed back into the Communiverse, but declines the offer, deciding that Earth is his home, and bids his friends farewell before returning to Earth with Olga.

Ratings:

1. IMDb - 6.7 out of 10

2. Rotten Tomatoes - 83%

3. Metacritic - 66%

Overall 71% of people like the movie. It might look too babyish for children aged 13 but I watched it anyway. It's a kids film but it's all about space and I didn't really like it though but for people who like sci-fi this film is a MUST watch. 

Review by Onyinyechi Uche S3

The Polar Express is an awesome film, it’s perfect for Christmas Eve to just grab some snacks and have a Christmas movie night, whether it be on your own or with your family. It’s one of those films that everyone has watched at least once, and if you haven’t watched it then here’s a brief summary:

A young boy, who is a non believer in Santa wakes up on Christmas eve night to a rumbling sound of an engine, this rumbling comes from a large steam engine outside his house which is called ‘The Polar Express’ he runs outside to investigate and the conductor jumps off the train while its stationary and asks the boy if he would like to get on the train, the train was going to the North Pole to see Santa. At first the boy was skeptical and declined but then as the train began moving he ran to jump onto the train with the conductor’s help. On the train the boy meets other kids who all believe, unlike him. Will he too learn to believe by the end of the journey?

This film is seriously such a good film, it’s one of my absolute favourites and I watch it every year. If you haven’t watched this film I would highly recommend it because it’s just an amazing film, plus Tom Hanks is in it, so it must be good. And again, I couldn’t recommend this film more. It's one of the classics.

Review by Rosa-Amia Ventre (S2)

During the Christmas holidays one of my favourite things to watch is The  Christmas Chronicles. This festive movie has action, fantasy, and heartfelt moments all throughout it. So if you like all of those genres and Christmas cheer then try out The Christmas Chronicles. 

At the start we get to know a bit about what it’s like at home since Teddy and Kate lost their dad due to a fire. Teddy, a 17 year old boy is very enclosed and doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s doing (but most of the time he’s up to no good). However their mum has to work a lot because she is a nurse which allows Teddy to do whatever he wants even if it gets him into trouble. Kate, a 10 year old girl is very bubbly and enjoys celebrating cheerful moments with her family. One Christmas Eve Teddy had to watch Kate because their mum was working late (as usual) which wasn’t the plan Teddy had. They decided to stay up all night to videotape Santa but that didn’t go to plan. 

Kate and Teddy embarked on an eventful night traveling around the world to each country and end up saving Christmas for all. After that adventure-filled night they slowly bond and repair their trust and relationship together helping each other and looking out for one another. 

I enjoyed the message behind this, that just because something terrible has happened doesn't mean you can’t be happy. The script really tells you how they feel and the acting is really impressive. I recommend this to anyone who is a bit sad or someone that LOVES Christmas movies (like me).

Review by Eva Friel (S1)

Intro:

Karate Kid: Legends is a 2025 American martial arts drama film starring Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, while introducing Ben Wang as the main lead. It is the sixth film in The Karate Kid franchise and a continuation of The Karate Kid (2010). Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, Written by Rob Lieber, and Based on The Karate Kid by Robert Mark Karmen.

Cast:

Jackie Chan as Mr. Han Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso Ben Wang as Li Fong Joshua Jackson as Victor Lipani Sadie Stanley as Mia Lipani Ming-Na Wen as Dr. Fong Aramis Knight as Conor Day Wyatt Oleff as Alan

Plot:

In the summer of 1985, Mr. Miyagi tells the then-adolescent Daniel LaRusso about the origins of Miyagi family karate and the relationship between the Miyagi and Han families. Mr. Miyagi's 17th-century ancestor, Shimpo Miyagi, ended up in China while fishing off the coast of Japan. The Han family took him in and taught him kung fu, which he used to develop Miyagi family karate upon his return to Okinawa. In the present day, Mr. Han is the revered Shīfù, master of a wuguan, a kung fu school in Beijing. Among his students is his great-nephew, Li Fong. Li's mother is a doctor, who arrives to tell Li and Mr. Han that she has accepted a job in New York City and makes Li promise to stop practising martial arts because Li's brother, Bo, was stabbed to death by a vengeful defeated opponent after a tournament a year prior. In New York, Li struggles to adjust at school, socially, and meets Mia Lipani, the daughter of former local boxing champion, Victor Lipani, who now owns a pizza shop. As their friendship begins to grow, they are confronted by Mia's aggressive ex-boyfriend and a local karate champion, Conor Day. After Conor punches Li in the face, his mother hires a tutor, Alan, who becomes his best friend. Li later confronts Conor again at school, but he realizes that Conor is a more powerful fighter. Li tries a jumping, spinning kick called a "dragon kick", learned from Bo, but Conor counters and defeats him. One night, Li witnesses Victor being attacked by thugs sent by his creditor, O'Shea, who owns the karate dojo where Conor trains. Forced to intervene, Li defeats the attackers. Victor decides to return to boxing to pay off his debt and save his pizzeria and asks Li to train him. Li is hesitant, but he says yes after discussing it with Mr. Han over the phone and later becomes Victor's employee in the pizzeria. During Victor's comeback match, the opponent, following orders from O'Shea, knocks him out with illegal hits, sending Victor to the hospital. Li, who is paralyzed by memories of Bo's death, fails to step in to help at the hospital, earning Mia's disappointment. Li's mother, who works at the hospital, also expresses her disappointment in Li's continued involvement in martial arts. Mr. Han arrives in New York to confront Li, who has avoided several of his phone calls. Upon learning the truth, Mr. Han encourages Li to return to martial arts to enter the upcoming Five Boroughs Tournament, both to help his friends and to confront his past. Han visits Los Angeles to ask Daniel for help. Despite initially refusing, Daniel joins them in New York. Meanwhile, Victor fully recovers from his injuries, and Mia and Li mend their relationship, which has budded into a romance. Li trains in both kung fu from Mr. Han and Miyagi-Do karate from Daniel. Alan lends Li his rooftop garden as his makeshift training ground. Mr. Han and Daniel develop a new variation of the dragon kick to lure the opponent into a counterattack, which Li can then dodge and reverse-counterattack. Li begins fighting in the Five Boroughs Tournament and makes his way to the finals against Conor. O'Shea sends thugs to attack Li, but Mr. Han and Daniel defend him. Mr. Han also convinces Li's mother that martial arts are beneficial for Li, as they help him overcome his tragic past. Li and Conor face off in an intense eight-point match. Conor initially dominates the match, but through his resilience and with both Shīfù Han and Sensei LaRusso in his corner, Li eventually turns the tide of the match and manages to tie with Conor. In the final round that determines the victor, Li executes his adapted dragon kick manoeuvre, winning the match and overcoming his fears. Conor retaliates with a sneak attack, but Li swiftly defeats him and shows him mercy, earning Conor's respect. Later, Victor opens a second pizzeria location and Mr. Han returns to China. In Los Angeles, Daniel receives a frozen pizza delivery from Li with a note and picture inside as a thank-you gift, where he and Johnny Lawrence debate whether New York pizza is better than California pizza. Johnny pitches a new business idea; a dojo-themed pizzeria called Miyagi-Dough, much to Daniel's embarrassment.

Ratings:

IMDb rates it a 6.3 out of 10 Rotten Tomatoes rates it 55% Amazon UK rates it a 4.2 out of 5 Overall 65% of people liked the film. And personally, I like the movie. It was an action film for people aged 13 and above because of the use of language, violence, and injury detail. I highly recommend the movie to other action lovers.

Review By Onyinyechi Uche S3

My day started at half past eight when I woke to the excitement of my family. It wasn’t long until I realised that we were going to Siam Park, which is also the best waterpark in the world. Once we were dressed and the excitement and nerves were oozing from our pores, we finished getting ready and went downstairs to the front desk of the hotel. The front desk then called us a taxi, but since there was an accident, most of the roads were shut down, meaning not a lot of taxis were available. So, instead of waiting at the hotel, we went to the bottom of the road to wait at the taxi rank so we could see what was happening on the roads. Finally, we decided to walk down to Los Cristianos to wait for a taxi down there. But there was no luck and we had to wait for about half an hour; however, a taxi came and we couldn’t have been happier because we were actually, really, truly going to Siam Park.

When we had arrived, we headed for the fake beach (it’s fake because it has fake sand and it is not the ocean) to put our things down to finally go on the water slides. Just as we were about to go, my mum bought me a cheese and ham baguette from the shop, so I ate that, but I didn’t like it so I just ate my dad’s hot dog that he didn’t really offer me (but I ate it anyway). Finally, we were going to the water slides when the waves were turned on at the Wave Palace, so we had to stay for them, but at this point, it looked as if we were never going to get to the water slides. However, the waves were still really fun, but after them, we left to go on the lazy river. Even though it wasn’t as lazy as it seemed, I went on with my mum and I practically walked us both the whole way. At the end, there are two ways that you can go: the normal, boring way or the fun, exciting way. So we went the fun, exciting way because it looked really cool, and it was quite fun, but a lot of hard work. Once that was done, we wanted to go to an actual water slide, so we went to a really cool one: the Jungle Snakes, which has multiple different slides all in one. There is the Viper, which was quite slow and relaxing but not really that fun; the Boa, which was pitch black for most of it and also had a big splash at the end. Then there is also the Cobra, which was very fast and when you went down you could see the other slides, which was quite cool, and last but not least, the Python. This one was probably my favourite, as it was very fast and quite dark and very exciting.

Since we arrived at twelve o’clock instead of ten o’clock due to the taxi shortage, we didn’t really have much time, so once we had done the Snakes, we went on the lazy river again, but without my parents, as they were exhausted from running about all day. When that was done, we headed back to the beach to get our things when, all of a sudden, the waves started, so we stayed for them as they were so entertaining and energetic. The wave would come and you’d have to either jump or duck when it got to you; only the bravest of all went to the front of the water and were soon blasted far away from the giant wave. Siam Park was so fun; I enjoyed all of my time at Siam Park. My favourite thing was the Wave Palace, as I’d never been on anything like it. However, my least favourite thing was the Viper, as I like high-energy, exciting slides, and this was just quite slow and a bit overrated, but still really fun. Siam Park was such a fun experience and I recommend that you try it.

Review by Eva Friel (S1)

Intro: Christmas Karma is a 2025 British Christmas musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Gurinder Chadha. A Bollywood-inspired adaptation of the Charles Dickens 1843 novella. Christmas Karma was released in the United Kingdom by True Brit Entertainment on 14 November 2025.

  Cast

• Kunal Nayyar as Mr. Eshaan Sood

• Leo Suter as Bob Crachit

• Charithra Chandran as Bea Fernandez

• Pixie Lott as Mary Crachit

• Danny Dyer as Cabbie

• Boy George as the Ghost of Christmas Future

• Hugh Bonneville as Jacob Marley

• Billy Porter as the Ghost of Christmas Present

• Eva Longoria as the Ghost of Christmas Past

• Ali Asghar Shah as Ali

• Bilal Hasna as Eddie Sood

• Nitin Ganatra as Parduman Singh (Shopkeeper)

• Allan Corduner as Mr. Fezzywig

• Rufus Jones as Rupert Holly

• Tracy-Ann Oberman as Mrs. Fezzywig

• Eve Jihan Cooper as Herself

                 Plot

A selfish businessman named Mr. Sood goes on a journey of self discovery with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. 

                 Ratings

1. IMDb rates it a 4.4 out of 10

2. Rotten Tomatoes rates it a 10%

3. Letterboxd rates it a 2.6 out of 5

Personally, I’m still waiting for the film to be properly released so I can watch it.

Review by Onyinyechi Uche (S3)

Intro:

How to Train Your Dragon is a 2025 American fantasy adventure film that serves as a live-action remake of the 2010 animated film, which itself is loosely based on the 2003 novel by Cressida Cowell. Produced by Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, and Marc Platt Productions, the film was written and directed by Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and directed the animated films.

Cast:

Manson Thames as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Nico Parker as Astrid Hofferson Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast Nick Frost as Gobber the Belch Gabriel Howell as Snotlout Jorgenson Julian Dennison as Fishlegs Ingerman Bronwyn James as Ruffnut Thorston Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut Thorston Peter Serafinowicz as Spitelout Jorgenson Ruth Codd as Phlegma the Fierce

Plot:

Dragons frequently attack the Viking village of Berk, stealing livestock and endangering villagers. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the 16-year-old son of chieftain Stoick the Vast, attempts to create mechanical devices to overcome his physical weaknesses. During a dragon raid, Hiccup shoots down a rare dragon called a Night Fury with a bolas launcher, but is disbelieved. Vowing to prove himself, Hiccup searches for the dragon to kill it. Upon seeing the dragon helpless and wounded, he compassionately releases it. To Hiccup's surprise, the angered dragon spares his life.

Meanwhile, Stoick rallies his fleet to destroy the dragons' nest. Before leaving, Stoick heeds the advice of his best friend and Hiccup's mentor, local blacksmith Gobber the Belch, and enrols Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class with other local teens: Fishlegs Ingerman, Snotlout Jorgenson, the Thorston twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Hiccup's crush, Astrid Hofferson. Hiccup is mocked by his peers and struggles in class. Returning to the forest, he finds the Night Fury trapped in a cove, unable to fly because Hiccup's bolas severed half of his tail fin. Hiccup befriends the dragon, naming him "Toothless" for his retractable teeth; he builds a harness, saddle, and prosthetic fin, allowing Toothless to fly with Hiccup riding on his back to guide him. Hiccup also learns about dragon behaviour from Toothless, which allows him to subdue the captive training dragons, impressing the villagers, but arousing Astrid's suspicions.

Meanwhile, Stoick's fleet is damaged while searching for the nest and returns to Berk. Upon learning he must kill a dragon for his final exam, Hiccup attempts to flee with Toothless, but Astrid discovers them. Hiccup takes her on a flight to show her Toothless's friendliness. During the flight, Toothless is drawn to a dragon's nest, where a gigantic evil dragon, the Red Death, commands smaller dragons to feed it to avoid being eaten themselves. Realising the dragons attack Berk for survival, Astrid wants to inform the villagers, but Hiccup advises against it to protect Toothless. In his final exam, Hiccup faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon. Rather than killing it, he attempts to publicly prove dragons can be peaceful, but Stoick inadvertently enrages the Monstrous Nightmare, causing Toothless to emerge from hiding to protect Hiccup. Stoick captures Toothless and disowns Hiccup after discovering the truth. Stoick's fleet uses Toothless to guide him to the nest despite Hiccup's warnings. After reminding a distraught Hiccup he spared Toothless out of sympathy, not cowardice, Astrid has Hiccup rally the other teens to tame the training dragons. Together, they pursue Stoick's fleet to the nest.

Stoick and his fleet locate and break open the nest, but the Red Death awakens and overpowers them. The dragon riders arrive to distract the Red Death while Hiccup attempts to free Toothless from a sinking ship. Stoick, realising his horrible mistake, rescues both Hiccup and Toothless from drowning and apologises to his son. Hiccup and Toothless lure the Red Death into the air, damage its wing membranes, and set its insides alight, causing it to crash and explode. The dying Red Death's tail hits Hiccup off Toothless, and he falls into the explosion's fireball. Toothless saves Hiccup from the explosion and they both survive, even though Hiccup loses his left foot.

With the Red Death's threat over, the Berk villagers co-exist peacefully with the dragons. Gobber replaces Hiccup's foot and Toothless's fin with prosthetics, and Hiccup, now admired by his fellow villagers, begins a relationship with Astrid.

Rating:

IMDb rates it a 7.8 out of 10 Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 77% Amazon Prime Video gives it a 4.7 out of 5 Overall the film is PG-rated and it's a good film for both kids and adults. Personally, I didn't really enjoy it but others did, so if you want to check it out, it's on Amazon Prime and IMDb, so check it out guys. Thank you!!

Review by Onyinyechi Uche (S3)