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Back to the Future - still looking good over 40 years on | First Take Classics

SYNOPSIS: Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his cl…
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December and January's Big Films, Previewed | Front Row

The festive period brings with it hours upon hours of top tier big screen entertainment - and in true Radio Times style, Jack's covered it all in…
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What's on in UK Cinemas this November? | Front Row

Big musicals in Wicked: For Good, big adaptations of beloved Stephen King novels in The Running Man, and so much more is on offer across the UK cinem…
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What's On in UK Cinemas this October | Front Row

Plenty going on in UK cinemas this month, from Tron: Ares to Roofman and beyond - and as ever Jack’s previewed it all in the October edition of TheJa…
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The Breakdown: Lytham International Film Festival 2025

150 films, a full weekend and a brand new home. Lytham International Film Festival is in the books for another year as it continues to grow into a tr…
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What's On in UK Cinemas this September | Front Row

Sandwiched between LYIFF, Womens’ Rugby World Cup and other exciting things - we got Jack in to do this month’s Front Row eventually!
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First Take: The Naked Gun - turns out Hollywood can make a silly comedy in 2025

SYNOPSIS: Only one man has the particular set of skills - to lead Police Squad and save the world. Well, it took them long enough to reopen the files…
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Set Destination for Lytham | TheJackSmit.com at LYIFF 2025

90 films. 4 days. A brand new venue. Lytham International Film Festival roars into life later this month, and as is tradition, we’ve had a sneak peek…
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What's On in UK Cinemas this August | Front Row

Reboots of classic 80s comedies, indie body horrors, A24 family films, and so much more both in-cinema and in a certain venue in Lytham… it’s the …
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First Take: Fantastic Four: First Steps - it’s fourth time lucky for Marvel’s first family

Spoiler Free as usual. Because Galactus would devour me if I ruined it on opening weekend. SYNOPSIS: Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the…
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First Take: Superman - DC looked up… and they found the promised land

Spoiler free as usual. Because spoilers are our kryptonite. SYNOPSIS: Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringin…
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First Take: Jurassic World Rebirth: worth it only to see ONE trailer

SYNOPSIS: Five years post-Jurassic World: Dominion, an expedition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric cr…
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First Take: Lilo & Stitch - ohana means family… even in live action

SYNOPSIS: A lonely Hawaiian girl befriends a runaway alien, helping to mend her fragmented family. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the Disney …
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First Take: Elio - Pixar start to get creative once again

SYNOPSIS: Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms,…
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First Take: How To Train Your Dragon - the DreamWorks classic somehow nails the landing in live action

SYNOPSIS: As an ancient threat endangers both Vikings and dragons alike on the isle of Berk, the friendship between Hiccup, an inventive Viking, and…
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Front Row | The New Monthly Preview Show from TheJackSmit.com

Before this year’s Marathon Day, the team behind The Journal, and an even bigger group of film nerds got talking. What those chats in a certain off…
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Start Your Engines | The Journal

New look, new format, same Journal. Welcome to Series 4. It was a film that introduced non-F1 viewers to the iconic Hunt/Lauda rivalry with Chris Hem…
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First Take: F1: The Movie - it really is lights out and away we go

SYNOPSIS: Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing o…
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First Take Classics: Jaws - the sharks are circling, the water’s getting clearer…

SYNOPSIS: When a massive killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an …
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First Take: The Phoenician Scheme - family business, Wes Anderson style

SYNOPSIS: Wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, th…
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First Take: Ballerina - when has Ana de Armas ever put in a bad performance?

SYNOPSIS: An assassin trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma organization sets out to seek revenge after her father’s death. 11 years ago Lions…
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12 Years In. Time to judge a Festival. | TheJackSmit.com expands partnership with Lytham International & CineWyre

So this is a post we’ve had to wait a very long time to put out. Earlier in the year, those fine folks at the Lytham International Film Festival g…
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First Take: Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning - two hours of Tom Cruise… inflating his ego some more, let’s say it like that

SYNOPSIS: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity, with the world’s governments and a mysterious …
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First Take: Thunderbolts* - normal Marvel service is resumed

SYNOPSIS: After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will forc…
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First Take: Mickey 17 - live, die, repeat… wait, wrong film

SYNOPSIS: During a human expedition to colonize space, Mickey 17, a so-called “expendable” employee, is sent to explore an ice planet. It was a film…
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Short Takes: LYIFF x The Flower Bowl - the best bits from the indie film nights

As a lot of our readers know well - we’ve been incredibly proud here at TheJackSmit.com to be associated with the Lytham International Film Festiv…
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Day One at Preston's Newest Cinema | The Projection Room

February 21st 2025 will go down as a landmark day for cinema here in Preston - for the last thirty years, film fans have either gone to the docks, …
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First Take: Captain America: Brave New World - and the audience went mild

SYNOPSIS: Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefa…
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