Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2025-09-03T16:01:03.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Conjuring: Last Rites review – Enjoyable chiller lets franchise rest in peace
items: Ballerina review – Ana de Armas leads a propulsively flamboyant John Wick spin-off
items: Ballerina review – A propulsively flamboyant John Wick spin-off
items: The Whale review: An eloquent and powerful look at last-chance redemption
items: Inside Out review and trailer
items: Beauty and the Beast review: "everything you want from an old-fashioned musical fairy tale is here"
items: Downton Abbey the movie: "everything you want with a cocktail olive on top"
items: IT Chapter Two review: Could this be the best Stephen King film ever?
items: Mary Queen of Scots review: "a worthy journey through the usual monarch mayhem"
items: Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald review "a wonder and a joy to behold"
items: The Girl in the Spider's Web review: "More a female James Bond than the antisocial pariah of old"
items: A Star Is Born review: "surprisingly slick, emotionally affecting and packing an unexpectedly meaningful punch"
items: The Predator review: "big, noisy, busy and brash"
items: The Meg: “Big, glossy and stupid, if only it were more fun”
items: Ant-Man and the Wasp: “A refreshingly different and delightful spectacle”
items: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again review: "A sequel that only sporadically springs into vividly irresistible life"
items: Mission: Impossible - Fallout review: "An explosive espionage extravaganza you will be powerless to resist"
items: Solo: a Star Wars Story review: "a completely satisfying mega-thrills-and-uber-spills ride"
items: The story behind Martin Freeman's new horror film Ghost Stories
items: Tomb Raider review: "a puffed-up throwback to the B-movies of old"
items: The Greatest Showman review: "pure musical entertainment of a sumptuous vintage"
items: Star Wars: The Last Jedi review "Simply, it doesn't disappoint"
items: Atomic Blonde: "a sexy gut-punch of A-list gorgeousness"
items: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: "a visually astonishing marvel"
items: The Mummy review: "a careless and soulless spectacle"
items: Churchill review: "history come to life in its most palatable and entertaining form"
items: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword review: "A brilliantly rough-and-ready retooling of the myth"
items: Fast & Furious 8 review: "a charming, exhilarating, stupid, rip-roaring pure rush of adrenaline"
items: Freeview film of the day: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
items: Assassin’s Creed review: "a thrilling, visually nightmarish Dan Brown-style conspiracy tale where Mortal Kombat meets Raiders of the Lost Ark"

The Conjuring: Last Rites review – Enjoyable chiller lets franchise rest in peace
type: item
date: 2025-09-03T16:00:43.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: Review
description: While it doesn't possess many new ideas, the latest entry in the Warrens' supernatural spook-fest should please long-time fans.
encoded: The most successful horror franchise in movie history ends with little we haven’t seen before in the past paranormal investigations carried out by the powerhouse psychic duo of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). While a polished push-button scare affair well-marshalled by director Michael Chaves, who has series form with The Nun II, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and the near relative The Curse Of La Llorona, The Conjuring: Last Rites doesn’t break any new ground in the demonic possession or poltergeist arena. Chaves competently juggles the expected components of a successful shocker – sudden ghostly images, off-screen bangs, slow camera pans to menacing objects, in-your-face apparitions – but the visceral excitement is missing as Last Rites seems more haunted by the Amityville Horror movies than anything supernaturally innovative. Beginning in 1964, we witness the young Warrens investigating their very first case concerning a haunted Gothic mirror that causes pregnant Lorraine to give a traumatic birth to their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson). Swiftly moving to five years after events in The Devil Made Me Do It, semi-retired Ed and Lorraine are on the safe university lecture circuit having stepped back from actively pursuing spooky phenomena due to Ed’s heart attack in that third instalment. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/09/the-conjuring-last-rites-patrick-wilson-vera-farmiga-9ec097f.jpeg" width="6000" height="4000" alt="Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: Last Rites standing in a lecture theatre giving a talk, with a screen showing a scary clown face behind them." title="Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: Last Rites" /> As Judy and her new ex-cop boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy) start planning their wedding, something Ed is clearly unsettled by, their priest Father Gordon (series regular Steve Coulter) hears …

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Ballerina review – Ana de Armas leads a propulsively flamboyant John Wick spin-off
type: item
creator: Alan Jones
subject: App
subject: App features
description: This tale of an elite female assassin is not terribly original – but it's the very definition of a summer treat.
encoded: ★★★★☆ Ballerina is in cinemas from 6 June 2025. Add it to your watchlist This propulsively flamboyant spin-off set in the world of John Wick satisfies enormously, despite being a not terribly original tale about an elite female assassin. The plot takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, when Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run from the High Table. The focus is now on Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) as she sees her father Javier (David Casteneda) murdered by mysterious members of an ancient cult marked with X wrist brands, and led by the evil Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Taken under the wing of The Continental manager Winston (Ian McShane), young Eve is adopted by the shadowy Ruska Roma organisation. There, in the Suspiria-like environs of a New York theatre, she is trained in ballet, assorted martial arts and lightning fast gun etiquette under the watchful eye of the Director (Angelica Huston). Proving herself combat ready after foiling a Chinese mafia abduction in – where else – a neon-drenched ice disco, Eve then goes rogue after tracking down ex X cult member Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus). Like her father before him, he is trying to free his young daughter from the Chancellor’s insidious clutches. After an explosively fun skirmish in a Prague arms emporium, Eve finally learns the location of the cult’s base - a picture postcard Alpine village community where everyone’s a killer from the chalet cafe barmaid to the local tourists. But her arrival unlocks past family secrets and so John Wick is sent by an enraged Director to halt any possibility of warfare between the two factions that could shatter their 1,000-year truce. Read more film reviews: Lilo & Stitch review: A lavish Disney remake with oodles of oddball charm The Phoenician Scheme review: Wes Anderson's latest is a quaint tale of industrial espionage Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: A clunky but undeniably exhilarating closing chapter for Tom Crui…

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Ballerina review – A propulsively flamboyant John Wick spin-off
type: item
date: 2025-06-05T09:22:43.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Review
description: This tale of an elite female assassin played by Ana de Armas is not terribly original – but it's the very definition of a summer treat.
encoded: This propulsively flamboyant spin-off set in the world of John Wick satisfies enormously, despite being a not terribly original tale about an elite female assassin. The plot takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, when Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run from the High Table. The focus is now on Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) as she sees her father Javier (David Casteneda) murdered by mysterious members of an ancient cult marked with X wrist brands, and led by the evil Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Taken under the wing of The Continental manager Winston (Ian McShane), young Eve is adopted by the shadowy Ruska Roma organisation. There, in the Suspiria-like environs of a New York theatre, she is trained in ballet, assorted martial arts and lightning fast gun etiquette under the watchful eye of the Director (Anjelica Huston). Proving herself combat ready after foiling a Chinese mafia abduction in – where else – a neon-drenched ice disco, Eve then goes rogue after tracking down ex X cult member Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus). Like her father before him, he is trying to free his young daughter from the Chancellor’s insidious clutches. Sponsored by Vue Save up to 30% on the latest releases at Vue in 2025 Are you a movie lover who always wants to be up to date with the latest releases? Then you're in luck, as RadioTimes.com readers can enjoy new films at Vue Cinemas for less. Customers will receive up to 30% off films with Vue Pass, as long as they have a RadioTimes.com account. It's a great time for new releases, with films such as Wicked, Nosferatu, The Brutalist and Moana 2 taking UK cinemas by storm. Head to your nearest Vue to catch these movies and more for up to 30% less if you're signed up as a RadioTimes.com member. Save up to 30% with Vue Pass After an explosively fun skirmish in a Prague arms emporium, Eve finally learns the location of the cult’s base - a picture postcard Alpine village community where everyone’s a kill…

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The Whale review: An eloquent and powerful look at last-chance redemption
type: item
date: 2023-01-24T15:02:25.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: Review
description: Brendan Fraser delivers a barnstorming performance in Darren Aronofsky's new film.
encoded: Director Darren Aronofsky once more goes down his favoured thematic rabbit hole with the idea of pushing the human body to its absolute limits and the psychological strains on the soul in doing so. In The Fountain it was metaphysical, in Requiem for a Dream it was drug-related and in both The Wrestler and Black Swan it was purely physical. The Whale continues that haunting premise with binge-eating Charlie (Brendan Fraser), a morbidly obese, 600-pound gay recluse who is literally punishing his body for the suicidal death of his lover from anorexia. Based on Simon D Hunter’s acclaimed semi-autobiographical play (premiered off-Broadway in 2012), it is easily Aronofsky’s most eloquent, powerful and sincere examination of last-chance redemption within a vivid portrait of the inability to escape the sadness of one’s own existence. In a run-down apartment in rural Idaho, teacher Charlie is giving online writing lessons over Zoom with his webcam turned off – he says it’s broken - so his pupils can’t see him in person. On one hand, he’s offering remote advice while actually trying to desperately reconnect with his estranged daughter (superb Sadie Sink from Stranger Things) by ghostwriting her English essay homework. He’s even blackmailing her into grudging visits with promises of inheritance money. But her bitchy viciousness is a hurdle proving hard to dodge even though the two exploring the boundaries of mutual trust are among the most wildly funny and moving scenes. It’s within this narrow universe that Charlie’s deceased boyfriend’s sister (wonderful Hong Chau) is nagging him to seek medical attention before eating himself to death, a confused New Life missionary (wide-eyed Ty Simpkins) sees him as a doorstep convert challenge, his hurt ex-wife (Samantha Morton in uber fierce mode) wants relationship answers, and a virtually unseen pizza delivery man checks up on the welfare of his best customer through the letterbox. Trading on everyone’s shared experiences with limited…

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Inside Out review and trailer
type: item
date: 2019-12-28T13:00:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Pixar
subject: Review
description: Juggling poignant drama with visual pizzazz, Pixar's dazzlingly surreal and ambitious coming-of-age tale finds the animation house at the top its game and one step ahead of the competition
encoded: Inside Out is one of the more recent Disney Pixar films to hit our screens, and is another family classic for Christmas 2019 on the TV. When is Inside Out on TV this Christmas? Inside Out is on BBC One at 3pm on Saturday 28th December. Is it any good? Do you have a review? ★★★★★ Pixar might have been out of sight for the past two years but they certainly haven’t been out of mind. For their latest masterpiece, the beloved animation company navigates through the brain control centre of Riley, an ice hockey-loving 11-year-old girl who is upset by her family’s move from rural Minnesota to bustling San Francisco. The film premiered out of competition at the Cannes film festival to overwhelming praise – even hardened critics melt when confronted by the cineaste-approved Pixar brand – and is already raking it in at the US box office. It’s also well on the way to being regarded as a pinnacle of achievement on the scale of Wall-E, Toy Story and Up. It’s easy to see why. Co-directors Ronaldo Del Carmen and Pete Docter (who got the basic concept by observing his own daughter’s glumness) simplify the complexity of intellect in an easy-to-understand way. Hard at work inside Riley’s cranium HQ are her anthropomorphically realised emotions: Joy (voiced by Parks and Recreation’s Amy Poehler); Sadness (Phyllis Smith); Fear (Bill Hader); Anger (Lewis Black); and Disgust (Mindy Kaling, star of E4’s The Mindy Project). Imagination is a theme park full of wild amusement rides. Dreams are made in a Hollywood-style film studio nearby – the blockbuster holdover being “I’m Falling for a Very Long Time into a Pit”. The Subconscious is all dark and sinister metaphor. Riley's character traits and interests are self-contained islands that have to be maintained. Trains of Thought connect each world together, while her memories are marbles, colour co-ordinated by associated emotional degrees: black moods, sunny disposition, green envy, etc. This dazzlingly surreal texture is neatly folded into wh…

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Beauty and the Beast review: "everything you want from an old-fashioned musical fairy tale is here"
type: item
date: 2019-12-24T15:45:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: Emma Watson discovers love means never having to say you're hairy in another spectacular live-action makeover for Disney's animated classics
encoded: ★★★★ Tweaking their revered animated classics with the star power, cinematic language and digital rendering of the day has provided Disney with a sure-fire way of making their back catalogue relevant for an entirely new generation. Canny marketing and expert brand management has cleverly extended the lives of the most familiar stories and fairy tales, and produced such recent hits as Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book. With Dumbo, Cruella, Mulan, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid all in current states of development, it’s clearly a business strategy that is not going to disappear anytime soon. View oEmbed on the source website So where does director Bill Condon’s sumptuous and lavish update of the 1991 musical fantasy Beauty and the Beast fit into the grand Mouse House Makeover scheme of things? Well, while that transfixing masterpiece was the first animated film to be nominated for the best picture Oscar, this technically marvelous, live-action retelling won’t achieve any such accolade, although like its predecessor it may fare well in the craft categories. And while Condon’s impressively mounted spectacular won’t replace the original in terms of being sheer magic from joyous start to radiant finish – it’s just too enervatingly frothy and slightly saggy for that – it will stake its claim in the affections of those to whom the classic cartoon now feels more like rose-tinted nostalgia. The story is virtually an identikit of that 90s delight: a meld of de Villeneuve’s original French fairy tale and Leprince de Beaumont's abridged 1756 version. Transformed into an ugly beast by a sorceress, a selfish prince (Dan Stevens) must find a girl to fall in love with him to break the spell and prove that beauty is only skin deep. Enter Belle (Emma Watson), a local village’s oddball student, scorned by the locals for her bookish ways and inventive cleverness (she devises the first mechanical washing machine), who takes her father’s place as the Beast’s prisoner when h…

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Downton Abbey the movie: "everything you want with a cocktail olive on top"
type: item
date: 2019-09-13T14:31:44.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: "Cosy comfort-viewing played to the cliché hilt by a miraculous cast of national treasures enveloped in exquisite settings and luxurious locations"
encoded: Imagine an entire season of storylines crammed into a Christmas special and that’s what the film spin-off from the much lauded and beloved Downton Abbey TV series feels like. Nothing wrong with that, of course, for its legions of fans who can’t wait to find out what’s been happening upstairs and downstairs at the Crawley family stately home since we last saw them four years ago. But for anyone coming cold to this lavish pleasure cruise through the lifestyles of the aristocratic and their devoted servants, it’s episodic nature, superficial narrative, barely-there plot developments and character arcs played out for maximum sentiment might be a little too much to take. Hey, if it ain’t broke, etc. It’s 1927 and everyone at Downton is all of a dither about a royal visit from King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) during their upcoming tour of Yorkshire. Lord of the manor Robert (Hugh Bonneville), his wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and their thoroughly modern daughter Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) want everything shipshape and Bristol fashion to impress and the staff can’t wait to step up to the majestic mark. But Mary is worried that head butler Barrow (Robert James-Collier) can’t cope and reinstates retired Mr Carson (Jim Carter) to oversee preparations, much to the chagrin of his housekeeper wife (Phyllis Logan). View oEmbed on the source website Unfortunately, it looks like none of the below-stairs workers will be needed as a London entourage arrives led by the bossy Mr Wilson (David Haig) who’s ready to take care of every royal whim from cooking to dressing. So, the miffed staff has a quick meeting in the wine cellars to decide a rebellious course of action to ensure they will take their rightful places at this historic event. Meanwhile, everyone is worried about what embarrassment Irish Republican Tom Branson (Allen Leech) might cause, there’s a whiff of inheritance scandal, priceless knick-knacks are going missing and Lady Edith’s ballgown doe…

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IT Chapter Two review: Could this be the best Stephen King film ever?
type: item
date: 2019-09-03T16:00:13.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: A grim homecoming awaits the Losers' Club in this captivating conclusion to the killer-clown saga
encoded: IT’s alive! With this satisfying conclusion to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, IT director Andy Muschietti returns to the Stephen King territory he mined so well in 2017, providing a follow-up that once more insidiously frightens. With his signature style and quirky finesse, he creates a magnum opus about childhood and the hidden scars it can leave behind. Twenty-seven years after the Losers’ Club defeated Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgard), the ancient trans-dimensional monster has reawakened to feed on the fear of children. Now upwardly mobile adults with jobs in media, fashion, entertainment and finance, Beverly (Jessica Chastain), Bill (James McAvoy), Richie (Bill Hader), Ben (Jay Ryan), Eddie (James Ransone) and Stanley (Andy Bean) have long since moved away from Derry, Maine. Only Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) has remained in their sleepy home town to keep watch for unusual events. View oEmbed on the source website When kids start disappearing again, and a vicious gay-bashing leads to the discovery of dismembered bodies in the river, Mike calls his friends to remind them of the oath they took to fight the evil should it reappear. Through his research, he learns of a Native American Indian ritual to help defeat the monster. For a second time, the Losers’ Club unite to trawl through past experiences (happily, the original cast of adolescents return in flashbacks at key junctures), conquer their deepest fears and destroy the deadlier-than-ever Pennywise. IT Chapter Two clocks in at an impressive 169 minutes, making it the longest-ever horror movie. Only some mid-section, get-on-with-it meandering prevents Muschietti’s film from emerging as a total success. Yet it remains a captivating, character-driven chiller throughout, one fraught with an indefinable otherworldliness and an arresting sense of grim, grand poetry. Beginning in crackerjack mode as the adult Losers' Club assemble to share their hazy recollections, present dilemmas and terrifying prospects…

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Mary Queen of Scots review: "a worthy journey through the usual monarch mayhem"
type: item
date: 2019-01-11T17:07:10.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: Saoirse Ronan's Mary steals the acting crown from Margot Robbie's Elizabeth in this otherwise dull game of competing thrones
encoded: ★★★ Lavish British costume drama remains one of the most enduringly popular genres, especially when it focuses on historically drawn sovereign spats, real-life games of thrones and conniving courtly conspiracies. The spotlight here is thrown on that time-honoured 16th-century rivalry between royal cousins Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) and Queen Elizabeth (Margot Robbie). Making her feature debut as director, Josie Rourke presents an unevenly balanced juggling act of fact and faction, which she describes as “a Renaissance version of Heat”. John Guy's acclaimed biography Queen of Scots: the True Life of Mary Stuart is the inspiration for the film, and it's ambitiously adapted by scriptwriter Beau Willimon (who helped develop Netflix’s House of Cards). He gives the material a keen feminist slant, while bolting on contemporary diversity values, upfront sexuality and clear allusions to current fake news debates. But there’s little spark or energy flowing through all the regal shenanigans to label this latest version of events as anything more than a worthy journey through the usual bog-standard monarch mayhem. View oEmbed on the source website Concentrating on the seven-year period between 1561 and 1568, the film charts Catholic Mary's return to Scotland following her brief tenure as queen consort of France, setting in motion a tug of war with Elizabeth over her entitlement to the English throne. Scotland at this time was in the throes of the Reformation and a widening Protestant/Catholic split. A husband for Mary seems the best chance for stability, but her choice of Lord Darnley (Jack Lowden) does little to help matters. Mary becomes pregnant (with the future King James VI), but the bisexual Darnley proves to be weak and a drunk, and becomes an integral part of a complicated plot to ensure Mary never claims her true birthright. Despite their best efforts, Mary and Elizabeth struggle to assert themselves in a male-dominated world and become locked in an ever-increasing po…

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Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald review "a wonder and a joy to behold"
type: item
date: 2018-11-13T17:08:33.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: JK Rowling piles on the characters and plot complexity in this first sequel, but the results continue to amaze
encoded: ★★★★ A sumptuous and absorbing spectacle, this second episode in the five-film Fantastic Beasts franchise is an absolute wonder and a joy to behold. True, the plot is complicated and introduces characters and plot arcs that will obviously be extrapolated over the next three adventures. However, nobody does it better than JK Rowling when it comes to storytelling power. Shrewdly including a couple of trips to Hogwarts to add a further Harry Potter patina to the resplendent mix, The Crimes of Grindelwald begins on a supernaturally dark high that never lets up. Picking up in 1927, six months after the action of the original film, the shape-shifting wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes from his New York prison and sets about moving his world-domination base of operations to Paris. Grindelwald wants pure-blood wizards – no mixed-bloods allowed – to rule over humanity, and the global Ministries of Magic are out to stop him from up-ending the centuries-old status quo of peaceful tolerance. The British Ministry asks magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to help stop Grindelwald in return for allowing him to travel freely once more, a perk withdrawn after the creatures-on-the-loose fiasco highlighted last time out. View oEmbed on the source website Newt refuses, until an encounter with his former Hogwarts teacher Albus Dumbeldore (Jude Law). Their meeting takes place in a fog-shrouded London, the pea-souper created by the spell-caster to keep their meeting clandestine. It’s such brilliantly textured strokes that make this extravagant marvel such a fertile fable. For mysterious reasons, the all-powerful Dumbeldore cannot duel with Grindelwald himself and pleads with Newt to go to Paris and capture him. Meanwhile, Grindelwald is scouring the City of Lights for Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), the key to his masterplan, who has taken flight from Le Cirque Arcanas with his Maledictus girlfriend Nagini (Claudia Kim) to discover his true identity and family. Soon, every…

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The Girl in the Spider's Web review: "More a female James Bond than the antisocial pariah of old"
type: item
date: 2018-11-08T16:23:15.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Claire Foy throws herself into the iconic role of Lisbeth Salander in this entertaining follow-up to Stieg Larsson's celebrated crime thriller series, but the feral intensity of the original character is missing
encoded: ★★★ The timing really couldn’t be better. Late author Stieg Larsson’s seminal Lisbeth Salander character returns as a poster child for the #MeToo movement in the new guise of Claire Foy, an actress having her own specific moment in the accolade spotlight. If only the movie highlighting both wasn’t so much of a patchy, improbable affair, recasting the abused Salander more in a female James Bond mould than the jaggedly antisocial pariah of old. The plot is loosely based on author David Lagercrantz’s continuation of Larsson’s original Millennium trilogy, the difference between it and director Fede Alvarez’s super chilled-out thriller being that the movie's tale of international espionage is far more fascinating than the heroine at its centre. The exact reverse was true of both Swedish and American versions of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, 2011) by Niels Arden Oplev and David Fincher respectively, and the two other parts of the trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) both by Daniel Alfredson. View oEmbed on the source website In all those Salander was a gutsy bisexual punk hacker whose traumatic childhood caused her to turn sexual abuse vigilante and trailblaze a vision of right-on female empowerment to her peers, her tiny circle of friends and law enforcement. Here she’s still that twisted avenging angel – an opening salvo shows her coolly stripping one victim of his anger, pride and money – but now also an absolute IT genius who can enter any system with two clicks of a mouse to cause global frenzy. She can also drive fast and furiously a neat range of flashy vehicles, and escape any death-defying situation in true Tom Cruise fashion. It’s all too much, but still not enough for Foy to accurately make her mark on the iconic character. She certainly eclipses Rooney Mara in the Fincher adaptation that’s for sure, but barely comes close to the bewitching quality and steely resolve Noomi Rapace exuded in the o…

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A Star Is Born review: "surprisingly slick, emotionally affecting and packing an unexpectedly meaningful punch"
type: item
date: 2018-09-26T15:20:39.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Bradley Cooper makes sweet music with an impressive Lady Gaga in this crowd-pleasing update of the showbiz weepie - a star may indeed be born
encoded: ★★★★ The basic rags-to-riches-to-ditches story has been set in stone since its first incarnation in What Price Hollywood (1932) but was then recycled as A Star Is Born in 1937 - a showbiz romance-cum-tragedy that has stood the test of musical times since then (with the finest being Judy Garland’s 1954 version, the most bloated the 1976 Barbra Streisand vanity production) and returns in 2018 as big-studio schmaltz of a very hip, crowd-pleasing order and throbbing with wall-to-wall catchy pop melodies. Skilfully assembled by Bradley Cooper on his auspicious feature directing debut and highlighting an open-hearted, winning performance from diva Lady Gaga, this Hollywood warhorse about a struggling star in the making who falls for a hard-drinking singer on the way down hits the gold standard for tart soap opera. An assured rehash it may be, but it’s one that’s surprisingly slick, emotionally affecting and packing a final unexpectedly meaningful punch. View oEmbed on the source website Alcoholic, drug-addicted country-and-western superstar Jackson Maine (Cooper) stops off for a nightcap at the Bleu Bleu drag bar and catches the only female performer the queens allow on stage singing Piaf’s signature tune La Vie en Rose. Besotted by her evident vocal talent, Jackson invites waitress Ally (Gaga) to his next arena gig and cajoles her on stage to belt out one of her own compositions, which delivers a record number of hits on YouTube and a contract with top British agent Rez (Rafi Gavron). But after the two get married and Ally wins a Grammy for her debut album, Jackson finds himself relegated to the background as his reliance on booze and pills swamps his own diminishing career. Time in rehab seems to help until some unfortunately well-chosen words from Rez encourage Jackson to make the ultimate sacrifice before his barely contained demons take down his beloved as well. However, it isn’t all over until the fab lady sings the blues and declares herself “Mrs Jackson Maine” aft…

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The Predator review: "big, noisy, busy and brash"
type: item
date: 2018-09-11T17:27:13.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Shane Black's spin on the alien-hunter series is brimming with 80s action-movie nostalgia – just don't expect anything more
encoded: ★★★ Just like the original Predator in 1987, co-writer/director Shane Black’s franchise reboot succeeds on the slam-bang visceral level thanks to lashings of tough-guy machismo, spectacular stunts and gory dismemberment. If only it made sense and wasn’t so enervating to watch. Well done to Black and co-writer Fred Dekker for putting a new spin on the militarised monster mayhem by placing it in an urban environment. But, and here comes the inevitable Black & Dekker joke, their one-note amusement ride feels very do-it-yourself. Fuzzy plot points and zero-credibility characters trip over one another in the misguided effort to make proceedings feel anything else but a retro throwback to 1980s attitudes and action, the era Black seems most comfortable with, having scripted Lethal Weapon and cult horror The Monster Squad with Dekker. The sixth Predator movie in the franchise (if you count the smackdowns with the Alien) posits the fact that Predators have been coming to Earth for a while now and aren’t quite the secret they used to be. The government has established a defence agency dedicated solely to protecting humans from the intergalactic hunters and Project Stargazer is where the incarcerated beasties are studied. View oEmbed on the source website The film begins in zippy Star Wars style, with two Predator craft battling in deep space until one escapes through a wormhole to Earth, where it crashes in a Mexican forest just as retired Special Forces army ranger-turned-mercenary Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) is about to terminate members of a drug cartel. Anticipating a cover-up, McKenna steals a state-of-the-art alien helmet and gauntlet from the spaceship and sends it home as evidence before the Stargazer outfit apprehend him for debriefing. In a suitably secret underground lab, he learns the Predator passenger has been sedated and biologist Dr Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) has been seconded to provide her genetic expertise, as the subject has human DNA in its body. Just…

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The Meg: “Big, glossy and stupid, if only it were more fun”
type: item
date: 2018-08-08T23:01:55.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Review
description: Jason Statham enters troubled waters in an entertaining if toothless monster movie
encoded: ★★★ Big, glossy and stupid, The Meg is exactly what you would expect from what can essentially be log-lined as ‘The Stath versus Jurassic Shark’. If only it were more fun. Yes, star Jason Statham is involved in ludicrous sea-faring action. Yes, there’s plenty of crowd-pleasing spectacle in the Sanya Bay resort conclusion. And yes, the giant prehistoric megalodon eats people and destroys benign marine life in the process. But the carnage amounts to little more than sound effects and suggestion, more toothless than jawsome, while the exposition-packed script is cheesily dreadful. View oEmbed on the source website Bearing absolutely no relation to Steve Alten’s 1997 bestselling airport novel Meg (which currently boasts six book sequels, who knew?), National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub’s tame stab at monster-movie glory begins with expert deepsea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) aborting a mission. He’s convinced a mammoth 70-foot predator, thought to be extinct for two million years, is on the warpath. The subsequent loss of life – and his scoffed-at claims – cost him both dishonourable discharge from the Navy and his marriage, and he ends up drunk in a fishing community. (Listening to the Thai version of Toni Basil’s 1981 pop hit ‘Mickey’, so things aren’t all that bad.) Five years later, billionaire Jack Morris (Rainn Wilson) has financed an undersea observation programme based on the Mana One research facility off the coast of China. A submersible exploring the depths of the Pacific Mariana Trench is attacked by a huge sea creature resembling the one Jonas formerly described. Disabled by the assault, and with his ex-wife seriously injured on board, Jonas is recruited by oceanographer Dr. Zhang (Winston Chao) against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing) to save the crew from what seems to be an unstoppable threat. With the rescue out of the way within the first hour, it would be unfair to reveal what happens next in the drawn-out proceedings that re…

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: “A refreshingly different and delightful spectacle”
type: item
date: 2018-07-19T11:28:14.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Review
description: Paul Rudd goes big with a goofily entertaining addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
encoded: ★★★★ Ant-Man may be a second-string Marvel superhero (despite being a founder member of the Avengers in the team’s comic-book debut), but his self-deprecating manner and lack of pretension mean his goofy adventures have a winning quirkiness all their own. As the Marvel movie machine thunderously rolls on, threatening total domination over the blockbuster landscape, it’s good to know that there’s still room for such nimble dopiness and coolly absurd shenanigans as positioned by this light-hearted ace in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Why isn’t Ant-Man and the Wasp out in UK cinemas yet? Marvel confirms Ant-Man and The Wasp “connects directly” to Avengers 4 When is Ant-Man and the Wasp out? UK release date, cast, trailer and plot View oEmbed on the source website Some may prefer this less pompous approach, too. Thank star and co-writer Paul Rudd for that. The low-key humour he’s famous for finds its natural outlet in his Ant-Man persona, coupled with a pleasingly deadpan demeanour that strikes the perfect balance between silly, subversive and serious. Ant-Man missed out on Avengers: Infinity War, so this second solo outing is importantly placed just after Captain America: Civil War (2016), when his alter ego Scott Lang is nearing the end of being put under house arrest by the FBI for his involvement in that bipartisan bust-up. But, after a weird dream about the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), he is whisked off to the laboratory of former SHIELD member Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, in distinguished mode). Pym realises his wife Janet has found a connection to Scott, despite having been trapped in the Quantum Realm for 30 years after she sacrificed herself to defuse a bomb. Hank won’t rest until he rescues his miniaturised wife from this psychedelic hell and, with his daughter Hope – aka the new Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) – has built a super-powered minimiser tunnel that will locate her precise location in the void. View oEmbed on the source website Howev…

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again review: "A sequel that only sporadically springs into vividly irresistible life"
type: item
date: 2018-07-17T11:48:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: A familiar fairy-tale formula, but if you like Abba, spandex, glitter dust, 70s kitsch and holiday romances, it's a musical worth taking a chance on
encoded: ★★★ Even if movie musicals are based on a hit Broadway or West End show, they rarely get the sequel treatment. Mainly because the original is so perfectly formed after years of well-honed productions, their emotional through-lines are brought to such a satisfactory conclusion that it’s considered a pointless exercise. Well, in the artistic sense, not the commercial one, which is really the only reason why Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again exists. It does nothing the first film didn’t do, except hang some more catchy Abba songs on an even thinner plot that pays lip service to themes of female empowerment, friendship and love, while providing another chance for gifted actors to perform quality pop in sun-kissed, picturesque summer-holiday surroundings. View oEmbed on the source website Solving the problem of whether to go back to the beginning or pick up where Mamma Mia! left off, writers Richard Curtis, Catherine Johnson and director Ol Parker have it both ways by transitioning two storylines together, so the flashback past informs the chaotic present. Think The Notebook in espadrilles! Back on the Greek island of Kalokairi, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is organising a gala re-opening of her mother Donna’s (Meryl Streep) taverna, now rebranded the Hotel Bella Donna. Sophie’s relationship with Sky (Dominic Cooper) is going through a rocky patch – he’s in New York supposedly learning the restaurant trade – so she leans on her mother’s visiting best friends Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) for support, especially when she realises she’s pregnant. Because these events mirror her mother’s experiences in 1979, Tanya and Rosie share memories of Donna’s adventurous youth: how her Oxford graduation ceremony began The Dynamos, why she ended up broke in Greece renovating an old villa, how she met each one of Sophie’s possible fathers - Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) and Harry (Colin Firth) - and then coped raising a daughter as a single parent far from…

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Mission: Impossible - Fallout review: "An explosive espionage extravaganza you will be powerless to resist"
type: item
date: 2018-07-13T12:07:47.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Tom Cruise's super secret agent Ethan Hunt runs, races and jumps his way through the most action-drenched adventure yet
encoded: ★★★★★ More like Mission: Impressive. It will be hard for any other action movie this year to top the superb staging, extraordinary stunt work and sheer exhilaration marshalled by writer/director Christopher McQuarrie in the sixth astonishing instalment of the Tom Cruise-fronted franchise. Uniquely the only director to return to the fold (after Rogue Nation in 2015), McQuarrie steers the testosterone-drenched, explosive espionage extravaganza into unusually stately recesses, further electrified by a ramping up of narrative depth, absorbing character gravitas and awe-inspiring ambition. View oEmbed on the source website Perhaps the only IMF escapade where you do really need to know your Ethan Hunt history because many past story threads interconnect with major impact on Fallout’s main frame, it’s no accident that the iconic self-destruct tape that usually initiates Hunt’s assignments is here contained within a copy of Homer’s The Odyssey. In an extended pre-credits scene-setter, Hunt (Cruise) and his buddy operatives – laconic Luther (Ving Rhames) and ever-panicky Benji (Simon Pegg) – mess up an undercover purchase of illegal plutonium, putting it back out on the covert market. As Hunt refused to put his friends’ lives at risk during the recovery mission, CIA head honcho Erica Stone (Angela Bassett) insists her agent, August Walker (Henry Cavill), babysits all future operations, which includes Hunt posing as mysterious international terrorist John Lark to buy the plutonium back before a doomsday scenario erupts. But the new owners of the stolen nuclear material are the Apostles and they don’t want money, just the return of their incarcerated leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). He’s the psycho MI6 agent who migrated to the dark side in Rogue Nation and joined the Syndicate’s crusade to cause global catastrophe and trigger a new world order. So, Hunt must intercept Lane’s armoured car journey before desperate superpowers get to interrogate him and then broker a swap thr…

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Solo: a Star Wars Story review: "a completely satisfying mega-thrills-and-uber-spills ride"
type: item
date: 2018-05-16T15:29:25.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Review
subject: Star Wars (franchise)
description: Alden Ehrenreich has got the charm he's got the swagger in this origins tale of everyone's favourite space cowboy
encoded: ★★★★ How did Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) acquire his surname? In what near-fatal circumstances did he meet his future wookie BFF Chewbacca? How exactly did he acquire the Millennium Falcon? And where does rogue gambler/frenemy Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) fit into the picture? Have no fear Star Wars fans, all these questions and a whole lot more are answered in surprisingly wily and fun fashion by Solo, the latest Star Wars satellite story focusing on the origins of everyone’s favourite cosmic chancer. Despite its widely publicised behind-the-scenes turmoil (director Ron Howard replaced The Lego Movie duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller several months into shooting), the final result emerges as fully engaging and propulsive space western that’s set to spark its own franchise. View oEmbed on the source website Howard and his writers, Jonathan Kasdan and his dad, Lawrence (back in the saddle again after The Force Awakens), do err on the safe side of the Star Wars universe – there really is nothing new here, just a pick-and-mix of past glories. But Solo launches at eye-catching lightspeed and keeps up the swashbuckling momentum throughout for a completely satisfying mega-thrills-and-uber-spills ride. Beginning in Oliver! mode with a teenage Solo smuggling for the Fagin-like Lady Proxima (voiced by Linda Hunt), the wannabe pilot intends to escape from his grungy home planet Corellia with his partner in crime and girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke). Unfortunately, they get split up trying to blag their way through immigration (one of the many sly touchstones to current events) and Solo signs up for the Imperial army in desperation, ending up fighting on the war-torn mud planet Mimban. There he joins forces with a motley band of mercenaries led by grifter Beckett (Woody Harrelson), his partner Val (Thandie Newton) and four-armed alien pilot Rio (voiced by Jon Favreau). They must steal a massive consignment of Coaxium fuel from a mountain monorail shipment (the single mo…

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The story behind Martin Freeman's new horror film Ghost Stories
type: item
date: 2018-04-06T14:32:27.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: How Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman brought their stage hit to the silver screen
encoded: My personal road to Ghost Stories began in October 2000 at the Sitges film festival in Spain, the Cannes of horror movies. I was cornered by actor Andy Nyman who was promoting the Martin Amis adaptation Dead Babies. I thought Nyman shone in the film, but him turning out to be my biggest fan – in a non-Misery kind of way, you understand – came as a bit of a shock. Ghost Stories review: "the most unsettling British horror film in decades" Martin Freeman has had it with fans wanting Sherlock and Watson to be lovers 9 TV shows that were cancelled WAY too soon View oEmbed on the source website Nyman told me he’d been a die-hard horror obsessive since the age of ten, when he saw Only a Scream Away, an episode of the 1974 TV anthology Thriller. He also revealed how he and his best school mate Jeremy Dyson (who went on to co-found The League of Gentlemen with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith) would voraciously scour British horror magazines The House of Hammer, Starburst and Shivers for my reviews. Out of mutual respect developed a close camaraderie. Since then, I’ve watched Nyman’s meteoric rise, from directing illusionist Derren Brown’s live shows to starring opposite Liam Neeson in this year’s The Commuter. He kept close tabs on me, too, and became the first celebrity supporter of the annual FrightFest horror event in London, which I co-founded in 2000. It was as he was walking past the posters for The Woman in Black in the West End that Nyman conceived Ghost Stories. After all, how could it be the only horror show in London? So he and Dyson set about concocting their own stage shocker, “The Vagina Monologues with poltergeists”. Sean Holmes, artistic director of London’s Lyric theatre in Hammersmith, encouraged them towards a portmanteau of tales along the lines of classics Dr Terror’s House of Horrors and Dead of Night, an anthology format that Dyson had already mined in The League of Gentlemen. Ghost Stories focuses on a professor of parapsychology, wh…

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Tomb Raider review: "a puffed-up throwback to the B-movies of old"
type: item
date: 2018-03-14T17:00:02.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Lara Croft's return is strictly by the movie adventurer's handbook, with Alicia Vikander struggling to fill Angelina Jolie's hiking boots
encoded: ★★★ Let’s face it, this movie reboot of the once-popular video game franchise really didn’t have to try too hard to better the first two poorly received spectacles released back in the early noughties. That it barely raises the bar is really the only puzzle worth solving, though. Big in scale but small in thrill-delivery, Norwegian director Roar Uthaug’s take on the remote-controlled action heroine genre is simply a box-ticking exercise that ultimately does very little with the now stale premise. Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) is a food delivery biker, who expertly navigates the hip streets of East London for minimum wages. Although heir to a fortune and a global business empire, she refuses to sign her beloved father’s death certificate to trigger the inheritance because it would mean admitting Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West) will never return from the unexplained quest he embarked on seven years before. Just as she’s about to succumb to the counsel of family adviser Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas), her lawyer (Derek Jacobi) hands over a puzzle box to solve. What’s hidden inside sends her in search of her father’s last known destination, an unchartered island off the coast of Japan where Himiko, the legendary death queen, supposedly lies buried. After being chased over junks through Hong Kong harbour and then shipwrecked with drunken captain Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) on the mysterious island, both are captured by vicious mercenary Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins), who works for the Order of Trinity. View oEmbed on the source website This sinister organisation rules the fate of mankind and is convinced Himiko’s coffin holds an earth-shattering secret. Vogel’s army has been forcing hordes of immigrant slaves to dig for the sorceress’s tomb. Now, with Lara in his clutches, and together with her father’s maps, notes and diary, it seems Trinity’s lengthy explorations will finally reach a conclusion. Uthaug’s initially appealing romp opens in an urban-interesting landscape that…

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The Greatest Showman review: "pure musical entertainment of a sumptuous vintage"
type: item
date: 2017-12-20T08:00:17.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Hugh Jackman puts on the ol' razzle-dazzle for this all-singing, and all-dancing tribute to circus supremo PT Barnum
encoded: ★★★★ The old Technicolor 20th Century Fox logo kick-starting this razzle-dazzle musical is enough of a hint that what follows will be a determinedly old-fashioned wallow in nostalgia, and be as gloriously fictionalised as all of those great biopics from Hollywood's golden era. Does it matter? Not one iota, as commercials director and visual-effects wizard Michael Gracey’s feature debut is aimed at providing pure musical entertainment of a sumptuous vintage we haven’t seen since the genre’s 1950s heyday. In that regard, Gracey’s effortless flair echoes that of his larger-than-life subject, Phineas Taylor Barnum (Hugh Jackman), who pioneered the circus environment, the term "show business" and was the originator of the Big Top tent. The first master showman and self-confessed "Prince of Humbug" (many critics loathed his overdone hyperbole), PT Barnum brought dubious sideshow attractions to towns all over America during the mid-19th century and eventually created his "Greatest Show on Earth" three-ring circus. View oEmbed on the source website In the broadstroked screenplay by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City) and Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast, Dreamgirls), impoverished Barnum marries his childhood sweetheart, Charity (Michelle Williams), sinks all his money into opening New York’s first museum of curiosities, featuring the famous attractions Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey) and the Bearded Lady (Keala Settle), and sees his fortunes – and ego – escalate. After importing Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson), Barnum gains high-society respectability and starts shunning the people who made him famous. But when he spurns Lind’s romantic overture, she walks out on a lucrative nationwide tour leaving him bankrupt. An arson attack carried out by protesters over his "freak show" leaves Barnum's acts homeless, prompting him to have a rethink about his return to the big time. And in another subplot, wealthy actor Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) becomes Barnum’s showbiz partne…

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi review "Simply, it doesn't disappoint"
type: item
date: 2017-12-12T17:00:44.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Review
subject: Star Wars (franchise)
description: Forty years on from the original Star Wars and the saga hits new cinematic heights. The best yet?
encoded: ★★★★★ Review: Alan Jones The solid foundations on which the rebooted Star Wars franchise has been carefully built will not be crumbling any time soon, if the latest episode in the beloved outer space series is anything to go by. The Last Jedi sports dazzling special effects work, interestingly well-rounded characters and second-to-none action, with a cynical harder edge that lifts it out of the blockbuster comic-book arena. And with events taking place all over the galaxy, the adventure this time takes on an extra epic dimension. This mid-section marker in the current trilogy simply doesn't disappoint, realising the courage of its convictions with an intelligent story and a heart-swelling emotional resonance. Much like The Empire Strikes Back (itself the second episode in the first classic trilogy), The Last Jedi is split into several plotlines. We follow the quests of various key characters, which all converge in one satisfying ensemble ending – a bittersweet closer if ever there was one. View oEmbed on the source website The Resistance against the First Order is on its last legs and General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is the only one protecting the line of defence. As “trigger happy flyboy” Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) takes out an enemy Dreadnought craft, little does he know he’s playing straight into the hands of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Leia is injured in battle, with Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern) taking command, but Dameron has no faith in her decisions. Could mutiny be in the air? Meanwhile, on that remote island seen at the end of The Force Awakens, Rey (Daisy Ridley) is trying to convince a self-exiled Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to join Leia’s righteous cause. But Luke is in turmoil because of his past failings with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and is convinced the Jedi line needs to end. Will Rey develop her newly discovered abilities with Luke’s guidance even though he’s unsettled by the strength of her powers? Fin…

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Atomic Blonde: "a sexy gut-punch of A-list gorgeousness"
type: item
date: 2017-08-03T09:40:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Charlize Theron is a magnetic force of nature in a compelling if narratively flimsy action film
encoded: ★★★ John Wick goes John le Carré in a distaff 007 Euro-spy adventure that provides Charlize Theron with a badass, franchise-friendly heroine to call her own. Based on the British graphic novel The Coldest City and directed by ex-stuntman David Leitch, who helmed some second unit action on John Wick, and indeed left John Wick Chapter 2 for this solo credit, Atomic Blonde is deliriously entertaining in the slick mano-a-mano feats and blazing gunplay departments. It’s when the story rears its dodgy head that things go off the rails and rapidly descend into the don’t-really-care nether regions. It’s Berlin, 1989. East/West relationships are at breaking point and, on the eve of the wall coming down, the city is loaded with secret government operatives of all nationalities looking for a missing list of double agents. One of those is MI6 superspy Lorraine Broughton (Theron) who is tasked with investigating the murder of a fellow agent, finding the perilous list and exposing a double agent traitor codenamed Satchel. Her only contact is the gone-native David Percival (James McAvoy), who immediately proves untrustworthy as he puts her in clear and present danger the moment she touches down at the airport. View oEmbed on the source website Complicating matters – well, only very slightly – are the ex-Stasi defector Spyglass (Eddie Marsan), who has committed the entire wanted list to memory, and undercover French fancy Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella), who gets too lipstick-lesbian close to Lorraine (the only major narrative change from the original graphic novel). All the thrilling events are told in flashback by a battered and bruised Lorraine under closed-room interrogation by Eric Gray (Toby Jones), her superior officer, and Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman), a suspicious-looking CIA agent, and ends with her disclosure of who Satchel really is. Or does it? Atomic Blonde is complete style over substance at every twist and turn, but what fabulously edgy and electric style. The l…

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: "a visually astonishing marvel"
type: item
date: 2017-07-21T11:05:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne trip the light fantastic as do-gooding intergalactic agents in Luc Besson's sci-fi flight of fantasy
encoded: ★★★★ Stunningly beautiful, spectacularly baroque, slightly banal yet totally bonkers, director Luc Besson’s latest science-fiction extravaganza is The Fifth Element redux. Twenty years ago the French wunderkind had to choose between bringing his favourite graphic novel Valerian and Laureline to cinematic life or his original brainchild, The Fifth Element. He chose the latter, knowing that the CGI technology needed to give the former its “Barbarella Psychedella” spark was not yet up to the fully-fledged mark. But now he has tackled Jean-Claude Mézierès and Pierre Christin’s European comic book – a fan favorite since its 1967 debut – and the glorious result is a visually astonishing marvel that builds on everything seminal and terrific about his 1997 cult hit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIw205Y_GtM&showinfo=0?ecver=2 Back then space aliens in Egypt, blue extraterrestrial opera divas and a genetically regenerated, red-headed heroine squeaking gibberish were a totally new texture for the sci-fi arena, the reason The Fifth Element took a while to catch on. But now in the wake of Avatar and two helpings of Guardians of the Galaxy, Besson’s ultra-hipster, monumentally creative, acerbically witty, surprisingly touching and socially conscious flight of fantasy will hopefully find a willing audience. It couldn’t be less like your average Hollywood blockbuster if it tried, in its quirky Euro-sensibilities, downplaying of razzle-dazzle violence and one-liner kiss-offs, and in this day and age of cookie-cutter superheroes, three resounding cheers for that. Valerian begins in high grandstanding style. Against a picture-perfect backdrop provided by David Bowie’s ageless Space Oddity, how a space station in the 20th century became the Metropolis-like Alpha City, home to thousands of alien species, by the 28th century is a mesmerising sequence of splendidly realised intergalactic peace missions and harmonious integration. But suddenly there’s a great disturbance in the Force. T…

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The Mummy review: "a careless and soulless spectacle"
type: item
date: 2017-06-09T10:17:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Tom Cruise takes on a megalomaniac mummy – but can his star power save Universal's monster franchise from dying a death?
encoded: ★★ Neither exciting nor scary enough and featuring one of the duffest of Tom Cruise performances, this gauze-wrapped, bandage-plastered, murky shambles is the epitome of bland from start to finish. But, hey, you can’t blame Universal Pictures for trying. With no real superheroes in their back catalogue or on the horizon anytime soon, it does seem to make some sort of sense to trawl through their profitable intellectual properties of old and cobble together an Avengers Assemble-type meeting of their Famous Monsters gallery. View oEmbed on the source website That financially dodgy gamble is the first instalment in the proposed Dark Universe series, which if successful will subsequently involve such other horror heavy-hitters as Frankenstein, Dracula, the Invisible Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Each of those icons gets a visual nod of recognition in a sweep along the shelves of Dr Henry Jekyll’s busy London laboratory. Styled like a creepy Bond villain’s lair, this is the centre of operations for Jekyll (Russell Crowe), clearly the man in charge of a mysterious organisation tasked with monitoring what the world’s classic monsters are up to, while keeping his own inner Mr Hyde in regular check with hi-tech injections. Here, the good doctor has sent feisty archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) to Iraq to find out why an ancient Egyptian tomb has been discovered deep in the heart of the desert. She’s beaten there by roguish US Army scouts Nick Morton (Cruise) and Chris Vail (Jake Johnson), whose sideline is rescuing antiquities not destroyed by Isis militants and selling them on the black market, and they soon discover it’s not so much a tomb but a prison for the evil Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) who’s made a deal with the death god Set. In return for bringing him into the world, she will be given supernatural powers and eternal life. All she needs is a chosen host – step forward the ever-bewildered Nick - and a ritual dagger, the red jewelled h…

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Churchill review: "history come to life in its most palatable and entertaining form"
type: item
date: 2017-06-06T10:18:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Brian Cox portrays the British prime minister in all his drinking, smoking and swearing glory, as an appointment with D-Day looms
encoded: ★★★★ Winston Churchill once said, “War is a game that is played with a smile,” and that’s definitely the case in director Jonathan Teplitzky’s polished film, which offers a snapshot of the British prime minister’s state of mind on the eve of Operation Overlord, the name given to the D-Day landings of June 1944. The film showcases a fantastic array of top-notch acting, spearheaded by force-of-nature Brian Cox, who gives a tremendous performance as the charismatic politician who inspired Great Britain to resist Adolf Hitler. The tone is appropriately sincere, but there are touches of sharp humour and moments of levity here, including the almost childish delight Churchill takes in wearing his zippered coverall siren suit (which makes him look like an overgrown teddy bear) and the cantankerous way he treats everyone, especially the latest in a long line of flustered secretaries. View oEmbed on the source website Much like the title of the film itself, this is an unfussy, straight-shooting and dignified peek at the great statesman. For epic battle footage, it would be wise to wait for Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (in cinemas 21 July). And for a more upbeat portrayal, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour would seem to be a good bet for the new year. But that would mean missing out on this precisely focused, heartfelt drama, which is skilfully positioned around one man’s self-doubt, depression and destiny. The film opens in striking style with the 70-year-old Winston staring at the ocean, lost in the swirling sea of bloodstained memories of his disastrous First World War command, which culminated in mass slaughter on the beaches of Gallipoli. Fearful of repeating the same mistake again, he just can’t bring himself to sign off on the long-planned Operation Overlord, despite a million soldiers being poised for action on the south coast of Britain, ready to invade Nazi-occupied Europe. Frustrated by his indecision, political opponents sharpen their knives, and finally a very irritated Ge…

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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword review: "A brilliantly rough-and-ready retooling of the myth"
type: item
date: 2017-05-12T15:10:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Charlie Hunnam's rogue hero is a diamond geezer for the Golden Age in Guy Ritchie's gloriously visual and vibrant take on all things Camelot
encoded: ★★★★★ Director Guy Ritchie has found his Holy Grail. After the slapdash shenanigans of yore, he hits his stride with a brilliantly rough-and-ready retooling of the Arthurian myth that fits the requirements of today’s audiences like a gauntlet. A gloriously visual and vibrant retelling of the oft-told legend, Ritchie’s tale of warlocks, Londinium docks and 2000 smoking arrows is undoubtedly his finest and most commanding movie to date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rbPTQIdjmY?ecver=2 Taking place in a world of knights in flaming armour, gigantic creatures and muscular magic this astonishing and stylised take on all things Camelot works because of the confident juxtaposition of hyper-reality with fantasy spectacle, the sly steals from Biblical and classic fables and the superior combination of the Mod with the medieval. Charlie Hunnam just couldn’t be better as the reluctant "Born King" either, a diamond geezer for the Dark Ages, a rogue hero you effortlessly warm to throughout the hectic action adventure. When King Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana) is murdered by his wicked brother Vortigern (Jude Law) for the Camelot crown, baby Arthur floats, Moses-like, to England’s Roman capital, Londinium, and is found by a couple of prostitutes. Raised in their brothel and learning to become streetwise the hard way, he develops into a black market wheeler-dealer, clueless about his royal birthright. But once forced by the laws of the land to try and pull the enchanted sword Excalibur from the stone, his true identity is revealed, and Vortigern vows to destroy him. Rescued from execution by resistance leaders (Djimon Hounsou, Aiden Gillen) and brought up to speed about his heritage, it’s the Mage (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), a Merlin acolyte, who must convince Arthur to fight for his legacy and yank him out of self-denial. A rather poetic and beguiling interpretation of the Lady in the Lake helps too. However Vortigern is getting more powerful by the minute thanks to mysterious mermaid…

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Fast & Furious 8 review: "a charming, exhilarating, stupid, rip-roaring pure rush of adrenaline"
type: item
date: 2017-04-12T12:40:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: As Charlize Theron spirits Vin Diesel away from his four-wheeled family, this high-octane franchise remains resolutely on track
encoded: ★★★★ From the opening car race in Havana to the finish line in the Arctic, this is action nirvana – a perpetual kinetic blast to keep the long-running franchise rolling on. In fact, it is probably the best and most complete thrill-ride since Mad Max: Fury Road. F Gary Gray, the director of Straight Outta Compton, takes this straight into the Hall of Fame for turbo-charged action movies with some truly incredible set pieces. Vin Diesel in a flaming, twirling armoured car, leap-frogging a nuclear submarine before being shielded by a circle of classic motors, anyone? That’s just one breathless moment in an upgraded vehicle that takes from every instalment of the series for a blitzkrieg of blockbuster brass neck. Of course, the film is also hilariously macho, with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham being the pinnacle of anti-bromance buddy partnerships. And there’s really no point in stopping to think about the plot because it’s ludicrous. View oEmbed on the source website Dom (series regular Vin Diesel) has gone rogue. While honeymooning in Cuba with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), he’s ambushed by power-crazed cyber terrorist Cipher, played by Charlize Theron in full-on Blofeld mode. After showing him a picture on her smart phone – of what, we don’t learn until much later – he’s coerced into stealing an electromagnetic pulse bomb in Berlin. Not only that, he robs the Russians of nuclear security codes in Manhattan and launches a military sub in the Barents Sea. No one, least of all Letty, can understand why he’s joined forces with Cipher, so it's up to Mr Nobody (a wasted Kurt Russell) and his new by-the-book assistant "Little Nobody" (perky Scott Eastwood) to get the old team back together. That’s Letty, Hobbs (Johnson), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) Tej (Ludacris), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Deckard (Statham). It goes without saying, there is a lot more subterfuge and double-dealing going on than meets God’s Eye – a so-called mega-computing programme. Plus, there are a few fu…

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Freeview film of the day: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
type: item
date: 2017-03-06T23:01:00.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Tom Cruise and the Impossible Mission team return in M:I4, a thrill-ride of stunts and breathtaking action set pieces
encoded: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol ★★★★ 9.00-11.35pm Film4 The Incredibles director Brad Bird transfers his dazzling and dynamic skills to the live-action format superbly in his gripping rejuvenation of the spy action franchise. Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his crack team are blamed for a botched mission, and the entire Impossible Missions Force is disbanded (the ghost protocol of the title). Cut off from all support, the agents must attempt to stop a rogue extremist scientist (Michael Nyqvist) from causing nuclear armageddon. The story may sound familiar, but the gadgets are more outlandish than ever (the retina-based video screen is fabulous), the spectacle absolutely amazing (Cruise dangling off the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, wearing suction gloves) and the special effects as high-end as they come. Jeremy Renner is a capable new addition to the IMF, and Simon Pegg is promoted to full comedy relief role. It’s an inventive, relentless and tension-laden caper. For more of today’s free-to-air films, see our TV listings Order your copy of the Radio Times Guide to Films 2017.

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Assassin’s Creed review: "a thrilling, visually nightmarish Dan Brown-style conspiracy tale where Mortal Kombat meets Raiders of the Lost Ark"
type: item
date: 2016-12-20T13:13:23.000Z
creator: Alan Jones
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Michael Fassbender leads the charge in a breakneck adaptation of the video game that pits the Order of the Templar against a brotherhood of assassins
encoded: ★★★ Movies based on video games don’t have a wild success rate – for every Resident Evil there are many that have crashed and burned – and that’s usually due to the exclusion of the interactive experience. There has to be another way to engage the fanbase and on top of that, games have a dense mythology that can often be confusing and off-putting to the uninitiated. View oEmbed on the source website So, kudos goes to director Justin Kurzel whose aim with Assassin’s Creed is to remain true to the fictional history of real-world events offered by the game and marrying that with an origin story that lends itself extremely well to plenty of superhero spectacle. You don’t need to have played the game to enjoy its dynamic pleasures. At the same time those au fait with all that world's complexities will have a good time too. If Kurzel’s movie has a major fault it’s keeping the core story opaque until about two-thirds through. Essentially the focus is on a centuries-long covert war between the Templars and the Assassins. Both sects are searching for the Apple of Eden that holds the genetic code to free will. The former want it to quash disobedience in the world and the latter to prevent them from controlling hearts and minds. In the modern day, the Templars hide behind the front of the shadowy Abstergo Industries, run by Rikkin (Jeremy Irons) whose daughter Sofia (Marion Cotillard) has invented the Animus machine (impressively changed from the game’s simple chair) that can tap into genetic memories of imprisoned Assassins to regress them to their ancestral past. Their latest guinea pig is career criminal Cal Lynch (Michael Fassbender), a character new to the game universe, forced to relive the role of Assassin Aguilar de Nerha (Fassbender again) in the time of the Spanish Inquisition. But as Lynch’s spiritual power is greater than any Templar has seen, he also begins to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for his deep-rooted Assassin alter ego to confront age-old enemie…

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