Entourage

Director: Doug Ellin

Cast: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara

The original series of Entourage became a sort of phenomenon and cult hit for HBO. Revolving around the central character of Vincent Chase, a successful Hollywood actor, the show introduced us to his entourage, Johnny Drama, E (Eric) and Turtle. The boys were supported by the their sometime friend and agent, Ari Gold, a man who constantly seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. By the time the series wrapped in 2011, it had become one of the most successful ventures for HBO and often dubbed the male Sex and the City. However, the fans were left wanting a lot more.

So with much jubilation, Entourage will return to the big screen this weekend. Follwoing on from the last episode of the series, Vince decides in pretty much the first few minutes of the film that marriage isn't for him and decides he wants to go back to Hollywood and be a director. Conveniently, his agent Ari makes a return at the same time, taking over one of the major movie studios and essentially beginning to promote Vince all over again. However, of course, things don't go exactly according to plan, and with the money running over budget, Ari must beg the studio owner and his son for more money and they really aren't the easist to deal with. Meanwhile, Ari just wonders will Vince's project be any good and has he backed something that just won't work out.

Entourage will appeal to the fans most certainly and there will be many who will be delighted to see their favourite characters back on screen. Whether this has mass appeal is a bit more questionable; you really have to like and grow with these characters. Ari is obviously the standout, but Vince and the others can be a bit dull sometimes without the inclusion of Johnny Drama, always the funniest out of the two brothers. On top of that, the range of celebrities who make guest appearances spices things up a bit; Liam Neeson, Kelsey Grammar and Jessica Alba, among others, tell Ari at various points to go screw himself.

Overall, this is just essentially a lengthy episode of the show but it works if you are a fan. Otherwise, unfortunately, you may just be a little confused.

Mr Holmes

Director: Bill Condon

Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney

Sherlock Holmes is the most prolific character on stage, film and the small screen. It's almost impossible to account how many productions and products have revolved around the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle but it apparently amounts to 254 separate productions. He even beats the next popular character, Hamlet, by 48 occasions. So you have to ask – do we really need another Sherlock Holmes adaptation?

Over the last few years alone some of the better interpretations of the character have hit the big screen in the form of Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes and the brilliant BBC production, Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes, the character has certainly been around for quite some time but there still is quite the audience for the cranky but excellent detective.

That's where Ian McKellen steps in.

Recently, the interpretations of that character have been the younger, sprightly Sherlock Holmes. Mr Holmes visits the detective towards the end of his life. Returning from a trip to Japan, we learn that Holmes has given up his profession due to one particular case and is now living far away from his Baker Street residence. Depending on Watson to represent him in fiction, he decides he is going to write about his last case but unfortunately his memory is starting to fail him. All he can remember is a beautiful woman and the fact that the case affected him so badly, he abandoned his career forever. Now, he desperatley tries to remember what triggered the end.

The first hour of Mr Holmes moves incredibly slowly. In order to set up the story, a lot of plot threads are thrown out which will eventually be tied up but it does seem like it takes quite a bit of time to get here. McKellen is marvellous. He is, in fact, exactly how you would imagine Holmes to be in his later life, authoritative, intelligent, cranky and yet showing a depressing vulnerability towards the end of his life. Linney is of course great here again but then her performances are always pretty dependable. It's also shot beauitfully over the course of its running time.

For the most part, this might appeal to the Sherlock fan but don't be put off by the amount of adaptations on the big screen. This is a very different Holmes than we are used to.