Nicholas Barber
BBC Culture
Disclosure Day
2026 · BBC Culture · Jun 2026
Disclosure Day isn't the worst film of the year, but it may well be the most disappointing. For a start, it's directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the US's greatest living film-makers. And for another thing, it's about a topic that has obsessed him throughout his career: aliens coming to Earth. Instead of a career-crowning masterpiece, he delivers a flimsy, outdated car-chase thriller with no ideas about aliens that we haven't heard before.
Superman
2025 · BBC Culture · Jul 2025
Superman is a curio that Gunn appears to have made for his own amusement, bursting with geeky weirdness but ultimately glib and flimsy—an eccentric sci-fi B-movie that feels exhaustingly self-indulgent rather than the launch of a long-running franchise.
F1
2025 · BBC Culture · Jun 2025
The biggest issue with F1 is its fawning attitude towards Formula One itself. Shot on real circuits with full co-operation of the organisers, it's essentially a glossy corporate promotional film with so much distracting product placement that you're more likely to remember the brand names than the characters. There is no wisp of criticism or scepticism, and no tension to speak of.