Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2025-05-20T16:44:26.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Lilo & Stitch review: A lavish Disney remake with oodles of oddball charm
items: Lilo & Stitch review: A lavish Disney production with oodles of oddball charm
items: The Brutalist review: An Oscar-worthy epic in length, weight and ambition
items: The Brutalist review: An epic in length, weight and ambition
items: Mean Girls review: Musical remake remains a smart look at teen turmoil
items: Extraction 2 review: A satisfying sequel for Chris Hemsworth's mercenary
items: Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves review – a thoroughly ripping yarn
items: Cocaine Bear review: B-movie concept with A-grade talent
items: Tim Minchin reveals why Matilda cast Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull
items: Lady Chatterley's Lover review: An invigorating spin on the pioneering novel
items: Blonde review: A brutal but beautiful look at Marilyn Monroe
items: Bullet Train review: Frantically-paced actioner is a mixed bag
items: The Gray Man review: Ryan Gosling v Chris Evans is blockbuster thrill ride
items: Eternals director Chloe Zhao reveals moment she's proudest of in MCU film
items: Joker review: a discomforting study in how real monsters are made
items: Green Book review: "Mortensen and Ali are an irresistible duo in a biopic boasting awards-friendly polish"
items: The Favourite review: "combines sex and skulduggery with disarming doses of human frailty"
items: Chloë Grace Moretz: looking back, it's hard to see why Kick-Ass was so controversial
items: BlacKkKlansman review: “Spike Lee struts his film-making stuff with ambition and gusto”
items: From Ocean's 8 to Ghostbusters: a history of Hollywood's gender swap movie trend
items: Ocean's 8 film review: "entertainingly empowered"
items: Deadpool 2 review: "remains true to the original’s middle finger-brandishing spirit"
items: Will A Wrinkle in Time usher in a new era for female filmmakers?
items: I, Tonya review: "an irreverent, entertaining patchwork"
items: Lady Bird: "a sparkling and funny coming-of-age comedy"
items: Black Panther review: "a franchise film with a distinct individual identity"
items: Phantom Thread review: "divine, poetically scripted and unpredictable"
items: The Snowman review: "more listless than laughable"
items: Freeview film of the day: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
items: Wonder Woman review: "A film that even those suffering from superhero fatigue can enjoy"

Lilo & Stitch review: A lavish Disney remake with oodles of oddball charm
type: item
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: App
subject: App features
description: A classy cast add credibility and comic chops to the much-loved material in this live-action update of the 2002 film.
encoded: ★★★★☆ Lilo & Stitch is in cinemas from Friday 23 May. Add it to your watchlist Described as the "flawed product of a dangerous mind", blue-hued extraterrestrial experiment Stitch isn't your typical cute Disney critter. Conceived by Chris Sanders as early as 1985, before finally hitting cinema screens in the 2002 Oscar-nominated animation Lilo & Stitch, Stitch is an agent of chaos and destruction who rocks up in Hawaii and forms an unlikely attachment to an Elvis-loving orphan. Directed by indie helmer Dean Fleischer Camp (an Oscar-nominee himself for the wonderful Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), 2025’s Lilo & Stitch is the latest in Disney’s spate of recent, largely lucrative remakes. In this near-seamless mash-up of live-action and CGI, Stitch is brought to life in tangibly textured, state-of-the-art animation (and once again voiced by creator Sanders), with a classy cast adding credibility and comic chops to the much-loved material. View oEmbed on the source website Adorable newcomer Maia Kealoha plays Lilo, a wilful and friendless six-year-old Hawaiian girl being raised on the island by her twenty-something sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), following the death of their parents. Amy Hill is a scene-stealer in the role of Tūtū, an elderly neighbour of Lilo and Nani, who looks out for the siblings, while Tia Carrere (who voiced Nani in the original) appears as social worker Mrs Kekoa, who is monitoring their situation closely as Nani struggles to cope. Lilo and Nani’s lives are upended further when Lilo brings home Stitch from a rescue centre, believing him to be some kind of colourful canine. Originally known as Experiment 626, Stitch has fled an emergency meeting of the Galactic Council, presided over by Hannah Waddingham’s Grand Councilwoman, stealing a police cruiser and ending up on Earth. In pursuit of this anarchic escapee are his creator Dr Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis), a mad scientist, and the Galactic Federation’s Earth expert, Agent Pleakley (Billy Magn…

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Lilo & Stitch review: A lavish Disney production with oodles of oddball charm
type: item
date: 2025-05-20T16:00:47.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Review
description: A classy cast add credibility and comic chops to the much-loved material in this latest live-action remake.
encoded: Described as the ‘flawed product of a dangerous mind’, blue-hued extraterrestrial experiment Stitch ain’t your typical cute Disney critter. Conceived by Chris Sanders as early as 1985, before finally hitting cinema screens in the 2002 Oscar-nominated animation Lilo & Stitch, Stitch is an agent of chaos and destruction who rocks up in Hawaii and forms an unlikely attachment to an Elvis-loving orphan. Directed by indie helmer Dean Fleischer Camp (an Oscar-nominee himself for the wonderful Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), 2025’s Lilo & Stitch is the latest in Disney’s spate of recent, largely lucrative remakes. In this near-seamless mash-up of live-action and CGI, Stitch is brought to life in tangibly textured, state-of-the-art animation (and once again voiced by creator Sanders), with a classy cast adding credibility and comic chops to the much-loved material. Adorable newcomer Maia Kealoha plays Lilo, a wilful and friendless six-year-old Hawaiian girl being raised on the island by her twenty-something sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), following the death of their parents. Amy Hill is a scene-stealer in the role of Tūtū, an elderly neighbour of Lilo and Nani, who looks out for the siblings, while Tia Carrere (who voiced Nani in the original) appears as social worker Mrs Kekoa, who is monitoring their situation closely as Nani struggles to cope. Lilo and Nani’s lives are upended further when Lilo brings home Stitch from a rescue centre, believing him to be some kind of colourful canine. Originally known as Experiment 626, Stitch has fled an emergency meeting of the Galactic Council, presided over by Hannah Waddingham’s Grand Councilwoman, stealing a police cruiser and ending up on Earth. In pursuit of this anarchic escapee are his creator Dr Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis), a mad scientist, and the Galactic Federation’s Earth expert, Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen). The pair disguise themselves as humans once they land on the planet, yet prove utterly hopeless at blendi…

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The Brutalist review: An Oscar-worthy epic in length, weight and ambition
type: item
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Brady Corbet's epic drama is rich with history and speaks volumes about America and its uneasy relationship with immigrants.
encoded: ★★★★★ The Brutalist is in cinemas on Friday 24 January. Add it to your watchlist. As an upside-down Statue of Liberty drifts into view at the outset, it’s clear that The Brutalist has no intention of offering a straight, flag-waving take on the American Dream. Actor turned writer/director Brady Corbet impressed with his first two films The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux, but his third feature – once again co-written with his partner, the Norwegian-born helmer of The World to Come, Mona Fastvold – takes his filmmaking to another level. This Golden Globe-winning effort tells the fictional story of celebrated architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jew who has been imprisoned in a concentration camp and arrives in America following World War II, leaving his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and their niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) behind. View oEmbed on the source website He is initially taken in by his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola), who owns a furniture store, but is let go following an accusation by Attila’s gentile wife, Audrey (Emma Laird). László is commissioned to redesign the library of Guy Pearce’s industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr by his son, Harry (Joe Alwyn), who hopes it will be a wonderful surprise. Instead, Harrison reacts furiously to what he perceives as an unforgivable intrusion, but eventually becomes enamoured with László’s work, fuelled by newfound knowledge of his reputation. With the Van Buren library becoming the talk of high society, Harrison commissions László to work on an ambitious cultural centre in memory of his late mother. The building’s construction is fraught with problems, taking its toll on both men, while later László is reunited with Erzsébet and Zsófia. Shot in the defunct widescreen format VistaVision, giving it an appropriately aged aesthetic, and incorporating a 15-minute intermission, The Brutalist is a film rich with history, which speaks volumes about America and its uneasy relationship with immigrants – wi…

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The Brutalist review: An epic in length, weight and ambition
type: item
date: 2025-01-13T09:39:33.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Review
description: Brady Corbet's Oscar-tipped epic is a film rich with history, which speaks volumes about America and its uneasy relationship with immigrants.
encoded: As an upside-down Statue of Liberty drifts into view at the outset, it’s clear that The Brutalist has no intention of offering a straight, flag-waving take on the American Dream. Actor turned writer-director Brady Corbet impressed with his first two films The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux, but his third feature – once again co-written with his partner, the Norwegian-born helmer of The World to Come, Mona Fastvold – takes his filmmaking to another level. This Golden Globe-winning effort tells the fictional story of celebrated architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jew who has been imprisoned in a concentration camp and arrives in America following World War II, leaving his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and their niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) behind. He is initially taken in by his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola), who owns a furniture store, but is let go following an accusation by Attila’s gentile wife, Audrey (Emma Laird). László is commissioned to redesign the library of Guy Pearce’s industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr by his son, Harry (Joe Alwyn), who hopes it will be a wonderful surprise. Instead, Harrison reacts furiously to what he perceives as an unforgivable intrusion, but eventually becomes enamoured with László’s work, fuelled by newfound knowledge of his reputation. With the Van Buren library becoming the talk of high society, Harrison commissions László to work on an ambitious cultural centre in memory of his late mother. The building’s construction is fraught with problems, taking its toll on both men, while later László is reunited with Erzsébet and Zsófia. Shot in the defunct widescreen format VistaVision, giving it an appropriately aged aesthetic, and incorporating a 15-minute intermission, The Brutalist is a film rich with history, which speaks volumes about America and its uneasy relationship with immigrants – with those that have built and shaped it, but who will not ever be considered truly American. Through the character of…

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Mean Girls review: Musical remake remains a smart look at teen turmoil
type: item
date: 2024-01-12T14:52:41.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Review
description: It can be a strange experience watching something so close to its beloved predecessor – but Tina Fey is still a class act.
encoded: Two decades after it first hit cinemas, Mean Girls gets a musical reboot, based on the Tony-nominated stage show. The enduring popularity of the 2004 film, which captured the savagery of schooldays with pep and panache, has kept it part of our cultural fabric. But folding some poppy showtunes into the mix is an appealing notion, while a lot has changed in 20 years… Screenwriter Tina Fey updates her original script (itself based on Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes) and steps back into the sensible shoes of beleaguered maths teacher Ms Norbury (also returning is her admirer, Principal Duvall, played by Tim Meadows). Angourie Rice takes over from Lindsay Lohan as new kid Cady, who goes from being homeschooled in rural Africa by her anthropologist mother (Jenna Fischer) to being thrown into the jungle of US high school. Fortunately, Cady is taken under the wing of two savvy outsiders, Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), who also act as the film’s narrators, and is simultaneously drawn to a group of ostensibly popular girls: the notorious “Plastics”. Led by Reneé Rapp’s total biatch Regina (the “apex predator” as one song dubs her), with Avantika’s dim-witted Karen and Bebe Wood’s eager-to-please Gretchen making up numbers, the clique are the talk of the corridors. But acceptance into the fold comes at a price and the trio are not to be trusted. And when Cady falls for Regina’s ex, Aaron (Christopher Briney), things get ugly fast. It can be a bit of a strange experience watching something that is so close to its beloved predecessor, particularly as the film has opted to retain much of the original script. Without a significant rewrite, some of the attempts to bring things up to date – mainly in the form of social media hot takes – can feel a little tacked on. However, most of Fey’s new gags blend in seamlessly and, with the line delivery occasionally coming across like an odd imitation of what’s gone before, it’s the new jokes rather t…

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Extraction 2 review: A satisfying sequel for Chris Hemsworth's mercenary
type: item
date: 2023-06-15T12:00:25.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Tyler Rake returns for more quality action – even if the script is stuffed with predictable beats and trite pronouncements.
encoded: As his horticultural surname suggests, action man Tyler Rake is made of sturdy, robustly practical stuff. 2020’s Extraction culminated with our hero clutching his neck after sustaining an apparently fatal gunshot wound, before plunging ominously into a river. However, you can’t keep a good extractor down and this kind-hearted mercenary has been resurrected for a sequel, with Chris Hemsworth returning to fill Tyler’s boots and audacious rescues once again on the agenda. Former stuntman Sam Hargrave did a decent job directing last time and he’s back calling the shots, working from a script by Marvel favourite Joe Russo, who also penned the first film (and who produces alongside his brother Anthony). As you’d expect with a second instalment, the ante is very much upped. A wilderness training montage bridges the gap between Tyler being “clinically dead” and hurling himself into the requisite heroics, with the assignment this time a prison break. Tyler and his team are tasked with freeing the family of incarcerated Georgian gangster Davit Radiani (Tornike Bziava) from the cell in which they are languishing. He’s been hired for the mission by a mystery man played by Idris Elba (who, before you get excited, has very little screentime here). To carry it out, Tyler reunites with brother and sister operatives Nik and Yaz Khan (Golshifteh Farahani and Adam Bessa). They’re liberating Davit’s wife Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili) and his children, Sandro and Nina (Andro Japaridze and Mariami Kovziashvili), with the team’s intention to whisk the kids as far away from their controlling father’s clutches as possible. Tyler’s efforts pit him against Davit’s menacing brother, Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani), a powerful crime syndicate boss who throws his considerable resources, and innumerable minions, at the problem. Shorn of his Thor locks and laidback charisma, Hemsworth is more of a blunt instrument here, but remains a commanding presence in fights that require him to take on hordes of…

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves review – a thoroughly ripping yarn
type: item
date: 2023-03-21T12:42:49.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Review
description: This adaptation of the popular tabletop role-playing game boasts Guardians of the Galaxy-style energy and irreverence.
encoded: Taking a whole bunch of leaves out of the Marvel playbook, this knockabout fantasy from the directors of Game Night, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, boasts Guardians of the Galaxy-style energy and irreverence as a motley crew get a crack at redemption. In Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, canny casting, imaginative visuals and a script unafraid to poke fun at genre traditions combine for a thoroughly ripping yarn. Rebooting the D&D franchise might seem an unenticing prospect given that the last time the tabletop role-playing game was brought to the big screen was a less-than-impressive effort in 2000. Starring Jeremy Irons, Thora Birch and Bruce Payne, it was both a critical and commercial flop, though spawned a made-for-TV sequel and direct-to-DVD third instalment. With influences including The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and the Indiana Jones saga this time round, Daley and Goldstein (along with fellow screenwriter Michael Gilio) broaden their film’s appeal considerably beyond the game and the original trilogy’s fanbase. Chris Pine brings the charisma and Michelle Rodriguez the might as our intrepid antiheroes Edgin, a bard and former Harper, and Holga, a barbarian who has been exiled from her tribe. After escaping from prison, the affable pair team up with so-so sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith) and shape-shifting druid Doric (Sophia Lillis). Together, they plot to liberate Edgin’s daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) from the care/clutches of the gang’s former associate Forge (Hugh Grant). Forge is a con artist who has risen to become Lord of Neverwinter with the help of red wizard Sofina (a fierce and brooding Daisy Head), a right-hand woman with her own shadowy agenda. Goldstein has stated that, though the film doesn’t take itself seriously, it is not intended as a spoof of the much-obsessed-over source material and other fantasy fare. There are, however, moments where it does play that way, with Honour Among Thieves at the very l…

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Cocaine Bear review: B-movie concept with A-grade talent
type: item
date: 2023-02-23T21:00:37.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Review
description: A mostly entertaining – and only mildly offensive – film that strikes a careful balance between bad-taste comedy and commercial viability.
encoded: 'Never let the truth get in the way of a good story’ goes the old saying, and it’s advice that the makers of Cocaine Bear seem to have taken to their hearts. You can see why the events that inspired it would be irresistible to the creators of a certain kind of cinema; in the mid-'80s a black bear was found to have devoured vast quantities of the drug in question after it was dumped into woodland from the plane of a smuggler. The potential was clearly huge. Using this bizarre incident as his jumping-off point, the film’s screenwriter Jimmy Warden runs wild with it as a group of disparate characters converge on the territory of the coke-addled beast. Actress-turned-director Elizabeth Banks is at the helm of this mostly entertaining, only mildly offensive adaptation, bringing enough deranged energy to her efforts and striking a careful balance between bad-taste comedy and commercial viability. It’s Banks’s third film calling the shots, following Pitch Perfect 2 and 2019’s Charlie’s Angels, and she’s assembled a great cast, who add value to the material at every turn. Matthew Rhys appears fleetingly as the aforementioned smuggler, Andrew C Thornton II, who died during the incident when his parachute failed to open, something which, like much of the movie, is played for laughs. The filmmakers depart from reality almost instantly; the real bear was not known to have harmed anyone before its untimely death, and yet here it is reimagined as an insatiable foe. Amongst the ensemble are Keri Russell as Sari, a nurse who traces her school-skipping, 12-year-old daughter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince) down to Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, where the pumped-up predator awaits. Also en route to the woods are drug dealer Daveed, played by O’Shea Jackson Jr, who is trying to track down the missing cocaine on behalf of his menacing boss Syd (Ray Liotta), with the gangster’s grieving son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) reluctantly in tow. Isiah Whitlock Jr is the cop on the case, Bob, …

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Tim Minchin reveals why Matilda cast Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull
type: item
date: 2022-11-25T10:38:15.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
description: As Matilda the Musical arrives in UK cinemas, Radio Times magazine spoke to Tim Minchin about the leap from stage to screen.
encoded: This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine. Although he made his name on the comedy scene with furious, taboo-busting songs, the Northampton-born, Australia-bred Tim Minchin is no longer an angry young man. In recent years, the 47-year-old has demonstrated his acting chops on stage in Jesus Christ Superstar and in his Sky sitcom Upright, while he’s won acclaim for his musical theatre adaptations of Groundhog Day and Matilda. With the much-anticipated film version of the Roald Dahl classic (starring Dame Emma Thompson, Stephen Graham and Lashana Lynch) arriving in UK cinemas, we caught up with Minchin to find out if he really has calmed down. Matilda reunites the musical’s original creative team of director Matthew Warchus and writer Dennis Kelly, while you’re back on songwriting duties. How was it to get the gang back together? It was great but I really just sat in Australia and waited for it to happen! I mean, Dennis had to write a whole new script, but Holding My Hand is the only new song. There was another set of decisions for me about what you cut, so I cut two or three songs completely and was quite brutal on cutting bits of songs. I feel it, but I don’t think the audience will. What other changes are there? What the film adds is huge emotional intensity, which therefore requires an explosion of magic realism to allow you, like Matilda, to escape. What did you make of Emma Thompson joining the Matilda cast as the battleaxe Miss Trunchbull? When Matthew said, “What do you think of Emma?” I replied, “Can we get Emma?” And he said, “Yeah, she really wants to do it.” And I was like, “What the f**k are we still talking about this for?!” She’s fearless and outrageous in that role. We’ve always cast men as Miss Trunchbull on stage because she has to be six feet tall and pick up a child and swing it around. The men who play Trunchbull often end up in physio. But in a film you can use CGI, so then it’s a case of, who’s the best actor? What has it be…

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Lady Chatterley's Lover review: An invigorating spin on the pioneering novel
type: item
date: 2022-11-21T12:40:39.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's adaptation of the classic DH Lawrence book is fluidly shot and overflowing with passion.
encoded: Female desire is unleashed with scandalous consequences in this invigorating spin on DH Lawrence’s pioneering novel from French actress-turned-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, the filmmaker behind 2019’s much-admired The Mustang. Fluidly shot and overflowing with passion, Lady Chatterley’s Lover hopes to win over a new generation of admirers and satisfy fans of one particular earlier adaptation by employing some very canny casting. Fresh from their breakthrough, award-winning performance as Princess Diana in Netflix’s The Crown, Emma Corrin casts off their inhibitions as well as their clothes in the role of Lady Constance Chatterley. Soon after marrying the seemingly sweet Sir Clifford (Matthew Duckett), the young and vivacious Constance finds herself playing nursemaid to her war-wounded and wheelchair-using husband and pining for her life in London. With Clifford succumbing to bitterness, and sex – or even affection – off the agenda, Constance’s existence quickly becomes a miserable one. Keen to conjure an heir to secure the future of his beloved Midlands estate Wragby, but unable to produce one himself, Clifford permits Constance to entertain herself elsewhere, providing that she “govern her emotions accordingly”. Despite him not being at all the sort that the snobbish Clifford had in mind as an unwitting sperm donor, Constance falls into the arms of the estate’s gruffly attractive gamekeeper Oliver Mellors (Jack O’Connell of ’71 and Skins fame, who is currently starring in SAS Rogue Heroes). This man of few words is a smart and capable former army lieutenant who has been kicked right back to his previous place in society following the end of the First World War. And the most famous Lady Chatterley to date returns, with the star of Ken Russell’s four-part 1993 BBC adaptation, Joely Richardson, appearing in the role of Mrs Bolton, the widowed nurse who takes over Constance’s caring responsibilities when she falls ill, which ultimately frees her up to start an a…

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Blonde review: A brutal but beautiful look at Marilyn Monroe
type: item
date: 2022-09-20T10:16:47.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: The new film from writer-director Andrew Dominik is admirably compassionate and eye-opening, even if the outlandish style sometimes smothers the emotional impact.
encoded: The savagery of mega-stardom is laid bare in this brutal but beautiful look at the desperately sad life of Norma Jeane Mortenson, better known as Marilyn Monroe, from writer-director Andrew Dominik. It’s based on the 2000 bestseller of the same name from Joyce Carol Oates, a fictionalised, though not entirely inaccurate, take on Monroe’s story. The New Zealand-born Dominik is known for his tough, unflinching portraits of masculinity through the ages: 2000’s Chopper launched actor Eric Bana onto the scene playing notorious Aussie crook Mark ‘Chopper’ Read; his epic 2007 western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford explored dishonour amongst thieves in the late 19th century and starred Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck in the title roles; while Pitt returned in 2012’s Killing Them Softly, an ultra-violent neo-noir following a pair of hitmen. Although foregrounding a woman marks a significant departure for the director, the film’s somewhat gruelling nature does not. With the Cuban star of No Time to Die and Knives Out, Ana de Armas, slipping into Monroe’s iconic attire (Lily Fisher plays the actress as a child), this near three-hour feature is like the MeToo version of Monroe’s story. It highlights the various ways in which she was abused and exploited: from life with her mentally ill mother Gladys (grittily played by Julianne Nicholson); her horrific introduction to Hollywood; and beatings at the hands of her paranoid second husband, the New York Yankees baseball star Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale). We see Monroe find sexual and emotional satisfaction from a ménage à trois with her friends Cass and Eddy (Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams), the disaffected sons of two Hollywood icons (Charlie Chaplin and Edward G Robinson) – a potentially salacious detail that Dominik does something interesting with. The shock value of such content is countered by the sensitive and soul-searching work of lead De Armas; her grasp on Monroe’s accent may not be entirely assu…

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Bullet Train review: Frantically-paced actioner is a mixed bag
type: item
date: 2022-08-03T11:20:56.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Review
description: Brad Pitt leads the cast for this summer blockbuster from John Wick co-director David Leitch.
encoded: Screeching into cinemas, sparks flying, this eagerly-anticipated, sometimes frantically-paced actioner comes courtesy of stuntman-turned-director David Leitch. Leitch began his directorial career as the uncredited co-helmer of game changer John Wick, following it up in intermittently impressive style with Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw. Earlier in his career, Leitch was a frequent stunt double for this film’s star, Brad Pitt, and he directs him superbly here, providing a platform for one of the actor’s funniest performances. Pitt plays a misfortune-magnet hitman, codenamed Ladybug by his silky-voiced handler Maria (Sandra Bullock, mostly unseen). Currently residing in Japan, he’s been taking some time off and has undergone a spiritual awakening of sorts, with his attempts at relaying Eastern wisdom generating plenty of laughs. Now ready to return to work, Ladybug picks up the titular train in Tokyo. His mission: securing a briefcase which is currently in the possession of a pair of British assassins, Lemon and Tangerine, played in the Bullet Train cast by Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who have been tasked with protecting the son of ruthless Russian gangster the White Death (the son is played by Logan Lerman, as for the White Death himself, well, you’ll see). Despite the pair’s best efforts, which include killing 17 people to free the young man from his kidnappers, they quickly fall foul of their employer. Also onboard is an English-accented assassin, Prince (Joey King). In a bid to take down the White Death, Prince is posing as a schoolgirl and blackmailing Yuichi (Andrew Koji), who works for the elusive crime lord and whose young son she pushed off a rooftop. Hiroyuki Sanada plays Yuichi’s formidable father, known only as ‘The Elder’, who we meet at his grandson’s hospital bedside at the outset, and who will prove very useful. View oEmbed on the source website If things sound convoluted, they most certainly are, with montag…

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The Gray Man review: Ryan Gosling v Chris Evans is blockbuster thrill ride
type: item
date: 2022-07-14T13:00:31.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Netflix's star-studded action movie from Avengers: Endgame's Russo brothers is a spectacle worthy of the biggest screen.
encoded: Don’t be fooled by the drab title, there’s no question that this Netflix-backed thriller is looking to dazzle you. Whilst it might only have a limited cinematic run before hitting the small screen, The Gray Man boasts the kind of spectacular action and globe-hopping pursuits more commonly associated with the theatrical experience. With a production budget of $200 million, it’s Netflix’s most expensive movie to date. Based on the first in Mark Greaney’s book series, it sees Marvel’s finest, Anthony and Joe Russo (who directed four MCU instalments including Avengers: Endgame), return to form after their less well-received 2021 war drama Cherry. The Gray Man also represents a comeback of sorts for its star Ryan Gosling; it’s his first film since the 2018 Neil Armstrong biopic First Man. The titular enigma is Gosling’s Court Gentry, aka “Six”, a convicted-killer-turned-ace-CIA-assassin, recruited as part of the top-secret Sierra programme by handler Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), who has come to view him with avuncular affection. When Six is called upon to take down one of his own, he’s handed an encrypted drive containing damning evidence relating to CIA Group Chief Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page), who has been hastily covering his tracks. After Six scarpers, Carmichael sends his right-hand psycho, the unscrupulous contractor Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), after him. But with Six trained to be a ghost, he proves a very slippery customer indeed. Julia Butters plays Fitzroy’s precocious young niece Claire, who is kidnapped by Hansen, while Ana de Armas is CIA agent Dani Miranda, who has her own suspicions regarding Carmichael, and Jessica Henwick is Carmichael’s tainted-by-association deputy Suzanne Brewer. The one-upmanship between Gosling’s cool customer and Evans’s unabashed and more easily incensed cretin keeps the tension simmering and banter flowing. Casting off Captain America’s righteousness with glee, Evans is clearly enjoying himself as he builds on the de…

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Eternals director Chloe Zhao reveals moment she's proudest of in MCU film
type: item
date: 2022-01-08T09:00:33.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: The Big RT Interview
description: Chloe Zhao reflects on Eternals as it comes to Disney Plus.
encoded: Director Chloé Zhao is known for making beautifully humane films that blur the line between reality and fiction, including 2017’s The Rider and last year’s multiple Oscar-winning Nomadland. So she probably wouldn’t be the first person to spring to mind if you were asked to appoint the director of another addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Yet, while she’s still coming to terms with her 2021 Academy Award (she’s only the second woman in history to win the best director prize, after Kathryn Bigelow), Zhao admits she does indeed love a superhero, and was thrilled to take the reins on the hugely ambitious Eternals. “Oh my goodness, it’s such an honour,” says Zhao, who names two Captain America films, 2014’s The Winter Soldier and 2016’s Civil War, as her favourites from the MCU to date. “But it’s also a lot of pressure, because I did come in as a fan, so you want to make sure you do right by the fans but also move the MCU forward. We’re in a transitional time after the Infinity Saga and you don’t want to play it safe, you want to look at these films and ask, how can we deconstruct and redefine everything we think about them.” Eternals certainly does that, with some mind-blowing revelations. It’s the tale of the titular superhero team, a race of immortal beings who have been quietly watching over Earth for thousands of years after ridding it of their enemies, the Deviants. Led by Salma Hayek’s healer Ajak, the group also includes Angelina Jolie’s mentally fragile warrior Thena, Richard Madden’s Superman-like Ikaris and Gemma Chan’s empathetic manipulator of matter Sersi, who comes to the fore as the story progresses. So how does this film link to the others in the MCU? “The story is triggered when half the Earth’s population is brought back in Avengers: Endgame,” says Zhao. “The return of half of the planet is a big ecological event and there are consequences.” What makes Eternals stand out from other superhero films is its diverse ensemble, with Zhao affec…

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Joker review: a discomforting study in how real monsters are made
type: item
date: 2019-10-02T10:41:29.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: Joaquin Phoenix gives a chilling turn in this socially conscious skew on the comic-book origin tale
encoded: “Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?” the soon-to-be supervillain asks his counsellor in this magnificently gritty, socially conscious skew on the comic-book origin tale. It turns Batman’s arch-nemesis into an incel-like loner, languishing on the sidelines of life. Infused with the grimy splendour of a Martin Scorsese picture, it’s a film that substantially simmers, with outbursts of shocking, impactful violence. With the laser-focus of a character piece and boasting an original story, Joker is a pretty radical departure for both the genre and for director Todd Phillips, best known for men-gone-wild comedies like The Hangover and Due Date. Intended to launch a series of standalone comic-book films, it’s set in Gotham City, 1981, and stars Joaquin Phoenix as protagonist Arthur Fleck. First seen grotesquely pulling faces as he lacquers himself in clown war paint for an inauspicious street gig, this hard-up, mentally ill loner is prone to spasms of hollow, high-pitched laughter that he tells people are the result of a neurological condition. View oEmbed on the source website With his life an endless succession of public humiliations and nights in with elderly mother Penny (Frances Conroy), Arthur fantasises about stand-up success and romance with neighbour Sophie (Zazie Beetz), and develops a fixation on cheesy talk-show host Murray Franklin (an enjoyably over-made-up Robert De Niro). Meanwhile, his mother writes begging letters to her wealthy former employer Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) hoping he will take pity on them. Who is in the cast of Joker? The product of a cruel, cruel world, Arthur is part Travis Bickle, part Rupert Pupkin but strange, unpredictable and multi-faceted enough to also evoke both Charlie Chaplin (seen here in Modern Times) and Fred Astaire in his occasionally graceful physicality. There have been several iconic takes on the Joker (who first appeared in comic book form in 1940 in Batman #1) – from Cesar Romero’s camp goofball to a s…

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Green Book review: "Mortensen and Ali are an irresistible duo in a biopic boasting awards-friendly polish"
type: item
date: 2019-01-28T16:45:02.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: This old-fashioned, odd-couple dramedy about a white chauffeur and his haughty black employer recalls Driving Miss Daisy even if it lacks the requisite grit
encoded: ★★★ Peter Farrelly, along with brother Bobby, is best known for bawdy, slapstick shenanigans like There’s Something about Mary and Dumb and Dumber. With Green Book, Peter tries his hand at an Oscar-bait biopic in which the touring troubles of African-American musician Dr Don Shirley are channelled into an odd-couple dramedy that both benefits from Farrelly’s feather-light touch and, given the sensitivity and factual basis of the narrative, is somewhat scuppered by it. View oEmbed on the source website Viggo Mortensen plays Tony Vallelonga, an Italian-American nightclub bouncer hired in 1962 to act as chauffeur to virtuoso pianist Shirley (Mahershala Ali) as his trio embark on an eight-week tour of the Deep South in the run up to Christmas. Dubbed Tony “Lip” in reference to his gift of the gab, Vallelonga is also handy with his fists, something Don is counting on given the region’s reputation as a hotbed of racial tension. To ease their passage, the pair consult the The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guidebook listing services and accommodation accessible to African-American travellers. The two men could hardly be more mismatched. Salt-of-the-earth joker Tony is semi-literate, while the haughty, humourless Don boasts a triple doctorate. During their first encounter in Don’s flat above Carnegie Hall, he sports regal African robes and interrogates Tony from an ornate, throne-like chair. Tony is a man who has embraced his own cultural stereotype just as surely as Don has rejected his; he’s astonished to learn that his employer has never listened to Motown or eaten fried chicken. Co-written by Tony’s son, Nick Vallelonga (who collaborates with Farrelly and Brian Hayes Currie on the script), it is perhaps unsurprising that a man initially shown to have racist tendencies rapidly evolves into a ruffian with a heart of gold. Nevertheless, Mortensen turns in a charming, nuanced and comedically gifted performance that feels like his most accomplished yet. Ali is even finer, play…

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The Favourite review: "combines sex and skulduggery with disarming doses of human frailty"
type: item
date: 2018-12-21T15:09:37.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: The court of Queen Anne becomes a battleground for the formidable trio of Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in this wonderfully irreverent romp from the director of The Lobster
encoded: ★★★★★ The capriciousness of the English court in the early 18th century and the perils of falling from favour are explored in this superb tragicomic take on the reign of Queen Anne from director Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, The Lobster). Casting off the stiffness of its period drama predecessors and with the director’s penchant for the surreal marvellously applied, it combines sex, skulduggery and animal companions with disarming doses of human frailty. View oEmbed on the source website In a film that’s set almost entirely within palace walls and based on the bones of historical reality, the players flanking the ailing and erratic queen (Olivia Colman) are a dastardly bunch; the men an embarrassment of bewigged, powder-puffed grotesques, typified by First Lord of the Treasury Sidney Godolphin (James Smith) and the leader of the Tory opposition, Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult). The women are no less scheming, nor powerful – though they are better dressed. Anne’s right-hand woman Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) is the de facto boss, an astute political puppeteer as well as playmate, carer and more. Although the war with France has theoretically been won, Sarah’s commander-in-chief husband, the Duke of Marlborough (Mark Gatiss), has the appetite to hammer the point home. Further military action is proposed, to be waged at considerable cost to the taxpayer. The landowners are staunchly defended by Harley, putting him at odds with Sarah who delights in tormenting him. The situation is rendered even more combustible by the arrival of Sarah’s cousin Abigail (Emma Stone), a former aristocrat who has fallen on hard times; despite her ingenue appearance and humble situation she rapidly becomes a rival for the queen’s affection. If the cruelty is breathtaking and the antagonistic interplay upon which the film is built divine, what’s perhaps most striking is how moving the story becomes – imbued with authentic emotion by a formidable triumvirate of female leads who propel the…

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Chloë Grace Moretz: looking back, it's hard to see why Kick-Ass was so controversial
type: item
date: 2018-09-07T11:30:44.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: The actress discusses her new film The Miseducation of Cameron Post, growing up as a child actor – and why her role as a foul-mouthed child-assassin in Kick-Ass was so controversial
encoded: With her hair loose, minimal make-up and a floral blouse neatly tucked into fitted trousers, former Hollywood child star Chloë Grace Moretz is the picture of breezy professionalism. Her seemingly effortless poise is a likely consequence of being in the business since she was five, while her shrewdness makes it easy to forget that she’s still only 21. Ensconced in a smart Soho hotel suite, Moretz is in London to promote The Miseducation of Cameron Post (in cinemas from Friday 7th September), a gorgeously subtle, sometimes wickedly funny coming-of-age story set in 1993, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. “It’s a John Hughes movie,” she says, alluding to the late director’s 80s hits The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “but with gay characters.” The Miseducation of Cameron Post review: an important and authentic coming-of-age drama Gender fluid actor Ruby Rose cast as lesbian superhero Batwoman in new DC TV series ITV to embark on epic Harry Potter movie season View oEmbed on the source website Based on Emily M Danforth’s novel, it takes place in a gay conversion therapy centre in Montana and features “a band of misfits”. She plays Cameron, an orphan sent by an aunt to the fictional God’s Promise camp after being caught in a backseat tryst with her female friend. Her fellow “misfits” are played by Sasha Lane, who was discovered as a student by British film-maker Andrea Arnold and given the lead in Cannes hit American Honey, and native American actor Forrest Goodluck. The project is incredibly personal for Moretz. “I grew up in a Christian Baptist town – Cartersville, Georgia,” she tells me, although she retains little of the southern accent; her family moved to New York when she was five. “When you grow up with a community that’s very conservative regarding who you are and what sin is, it’s hard not to have those voices in your head come back when you’re faced with the question of your sexuality. I have two gay brothers and they told me recently th…

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BlacKkKlansman review: “Spike Lee struts his film-making stuff with ambition and gusto”
type: item
date: 2018-08-16T09:42:21.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: As playful as it is provocative, Lee’s latest reveals the unbelievable true story behind a black cop's fight against the Ku Klux Klan
encoded: ★★★★ You wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t true. For his latest “joint”, Spike Lee is in raging and righteous form as he relays the extraordinary story of Ron Stallworth, the black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in 1972. Told with gritty swagger and displaying a penchant for both mischief and provocation, this ’70s-set film’s collage-like assembly ensures it’s so much more than a biopic. Swipes at racially problematic cultural landmarks (Gone with the Wind, The Birth of a Nation) are fused with bald vitriol – epitomised by Alec Baldwin’s pro-segregation figure Dr Kennebrew Beauregard, whose gaffe-heavy lecture ends unironically with “May God bless us all”. View oEmbed on the source website “I always wanted to be a cop and I’m still for the liberation of my people,” Ron (John David Washington, son of Denzel) tells his student activist girlfriend Patrice (Laura Harrier) as they debate whether it’s possible to change such a stubborn system from within. The film itself isn’t sure about that, yet Ron makes a valiant protagonist: determined and dignified but resolutely no-nonsense. The first African-American officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, his story begins as he’s vetted for any sensitivity to jibes (by Isiah Whitlock Jr., no less, making reference to his character from The Wire), the implication being that the force doesn’t want anyone interfering with its racist business as usual. Ron’s ambition takes him from the records room to undercover work, and when he spontaneously responds to an advert seeking new members of his local branch of the KKK, he’s called right back, quickly ingratiating himself to the man on the other end of the line, chapter head Walter (Ryan Eggold). Since he can’t meet Walter in person, for obvious reasons, Ron sends along his colleague Flip (Adam Driver). He’s similarly unsuitable, being Jewish, although has been passing as a WASP – something he’s forced to confront as the film wears on. Flip is immediately singl…

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From Ocean's 8 to Ghostbusters: a history of Hollywood's gender swap movie trend
type: item
date: 2018-06-18T10:24:37.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Comedy
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Do all-female reboots really help right the movie industry's gender imbalance?
encoded: Steven Spielberg recently suggested that iconic adventurer Indiana Jones could be re-cast as a woman. “We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan,” he commented. “And there would be nothing wrong with that.” This comes as Ocean’s 8 steals its way into cinemas, providing a new spin for the dapper-criminal franchise... this time it’s an octet and all female. Stay up to date with the RadioTimes.com newsletter Ocean’s 8 film review: “entertainingly empowered” Sandra Bullock assembles the perfect team in the first full trailer for Ocean’s 8 The gender-rebalanced spin-off features a to-die-for ensemble, led by Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock, backed up by Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling (creator and star of US TV comedy The Mindy Project), Sarah Paulson, pop star Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter and rapper/comedian Awkwafina. Bullock stars as Debbie Ocean, sister of Danny (played by George Clooney in the Ocean’s trilogy), who’s plotting her own ambitious heist. Exuding the same air of aching cool that made the 2001 film (and its 1960 predecessor) so successful and has since inspired two sequels, it adds a distinctive feminist flavour, reinvigorating a franchise that has, thus far, been dominated by men. This is just the latest example of a gender-swap trend, whereby male characters are replaced by women. Take the female-only Ghostbusters reboot, for example; Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange; or Julia Roberts in Secret in Their Eyes. Political true story Our Brand Is Crisis and war drama Eye in the Sky were conceived with male leads – roles that ultimately went to Bullock (again) and Helen Mirren. View oEmbed on the source website It’s hardly a new phenomenon. Back in 1939, by switching the gender of ace reporter Hildy Johnson from male in Broadway’s The Front Page to female in His Girl Friday, a story about a fractious friendship turned into a classic of screwball romance. Even Alien’s Ripley was expected to be a man (John Travolta was in the running), althou…

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Ocean's 8 film review: "entertainingly empowered"
type: item
date: 2018-06-06T04:00:42.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Sandra Bullock and her co-conspirators steal the show as the heist-movie series gets an all-female makeover
encoded: ★★★ “Somewhere out there is an eight-year-old girl dreaming of being a criminal. Let’s do this for her,” Debbie Ocean tells her team, as they gear up for the big heist. Ocean’s 8 sees a gang of wily women go after a heavily guarded diamond necklace, just as the actresses playing them steal their way into one of the strongholds of male cinematic dominance: the criminal caper movie. Elaborate heists are ten-a-penny on screen, nevertheless this all-female spin-off feels like it’s taking on the right target; Steven Soderbergh’s trio of Ocean’s films sidelined women to an often infuriating extent. As the men had a seemingly endless amount of fun – in a way that was more than a little bit smug – its female characters were spectators and pawns, aside from when Julia Roberts’s Tess became a reluctant participant in one of the most cringing in-jokes in movie history. Soderbergh acts as producer here, while Gary Ross directs and pens the script with Olivia Milch. Given his close friendship with Soderbergh, Ross might not seem impartial enough to breathe fresh life into the project, but he has form helping women break free of conventional constraints; as the director of The Hunger Games he gave us an action heroine for the ages. Sandra Bullock plays Debbie, sister of the Ocean’s trilogy’s Danny (played by George Clooney), and the film begins, just as the first instalment did, with its incarcerated protagonist getting out on parole. Debbie quickly reunites with her right-hand woman, Lou (Cate Blanchett), and the two go about assembling a crew for a spectacular diamond heist. View oEmbed on the source website Joining them are Helena Bonham Carter’s scatty Irish fashion designer, Awkwafina’s pickpocket, Mindy Kaling’s jeweller, Sarah Paulson’s fence/suburban mom and Rihanna’s hacker. The plan is to persuade diva-like actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) to wear a $150 million, 6lb Cartier necklace to the Met Gala, where it will be spirited away without anyone suspecting a thing.…

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Deadpool 2 review: "remains true to the original’s middle finger-brandishing spirit"
type: item
date: 2018-05-15T03:00:42.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Review
description: It's time to feel the X-Force, as the potty-mouthed superhero returns – and brings some new pals with him…
encoded: ★★★★ "Deadpool 2 is a family film," Ryan Reynolds's fourth-wall-breaking protagonist assures us. And, as preposterous as that might seem, in one sense anyway, he ain’t kidding. The follow-up to the highest-grossing R-rated film in history finds the eponymous antihero contemplating fatherhood, bringing together a rogues’ gallery of a crew who bicker and bond like kin, and become a surrogate papa to a troubled teen. Reynolds reprises his Golden Globe-nominated role as the wisecracking mutant for hire, paid to batter even worse guys than himself and now accepting commissions internationally. David Leitch takes the directorial reins from Tim Miller, and Reynolds joins original scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick in the writing team. View oEmbed on the source website Its predecessor buried its audience in an avalanche of knowing humour that sometimes came across as smug and sexist, but Reynolds sold the snark overload as only an actor with his charisma can. The film's adult approach to sex and violence also made a welcome change to the bloodless, 12A-rated antics of most comic-book fare. Its shock value and subversion lent it a certain frisson, but could such a formula work a second time round? The temptation might have been to go brasher yet, rather boldly, Deadpool 2 goes deeper and expands its core cast appealingly, making for a sequel that’s not only funnier but more ambitious and satisfying. Rather than simply rehashing the first film, we get a good look at the man behind the mask, so to speak, as Deadpool emerges from emotional upheaval and goes from being a lone wolf to a leader. The film takes time to find its groove but there's plenty going on, with various twists and turns that shouldn't be discussed here without spoiler warnings; suffice to say, it sees Deadpool taken on as an X-Men trainee, befriend 14-year-old mutant Russell (played by Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Julian Dennison) and assemble his own superhero team, the X-Force, when things go awry. Among t…

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Will A Wrinkle in Time usher in a new era for female filmmakers?
type: item
date: 2018-03-23T12:25:08.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: And why has it taken so long for women like Ava DuVernay to be entrusted with large-scale projects?
encoded: Introducing this year’s director category at the politically charged Golden Globes, Natalie Portman echoed the frustrations of many with the withering comment “And here are the all-male nominees.” Two weeks later, Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig – only the fifth woman in 90 years to be Oscar-nominated as director – left empty-handed, leaving Kathryn Bigelow (for The Hurt Locker) as the award’s sole female recipient. It should be no surprise to learn, then, that female voters make up a measly 28% of the Academy. After picking up her Oscar, Bigelow said, “I’d love to just think of myself as a film-maker, and I wait for the day when the modifier can be a moot point.” View oEmbed on the source website We asked 9 inspiring women in TV and film to share their wit and wisdom on International Women’s Day Marvel’s Jessica Jones hires all women directors for series two It’s a view echoed by Nora Ephron (late director of Sleepless in Seattle and Julie & Julia, Wednesday Sony Movie Channel); in her book I Remember Nothing, she listed among the things she wouldn’t miss “Panels on Women in Film”. If film broadens our horizons and encourages a variety of perspectives, then it matters who’s telling the stories, otherwise we only ever see part of the picture. Riding the recent wave of truth-telling, African-American film-maker Ava DuVernay is one of the formidable talents leading the charge for change. Although she’s held the reins on two Oscar-nominated features (Selma and documentary The 13th), she has yet to bag her own nomination. Despite this, her new film A Wrinkle in Time represents a landmark. A family fantasy (in cinemas from Friday 23 March), it stars Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon as mysterious super-beings empowering a young girl in a dangerous quest… and it’s the first time a black female director has commanded a budget for a live-action feature of more than $100 million. “I don’t take it as a mantle of proud distinction that I’m the first woman of colour to make a film a…

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I, Tonya review: "an irreverent, entertaining patchwork"
type: item
date: 2018-02-19T12:38:03.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Margot Robbie dances up a storm as the controversial figure skater, but it's Bafta-winning Allison Janney's icy performance that dominates
encoded: ★★★ Disgraced US figure-skating champion Tonya Harding gets a somewhat sympathetic makeover in a perky, provocative biopic from Australian director Craig Gillespie (The Finest Hours, Lars and the Real Girl), starring Margot Robbie. I, Tonya celebrates Harding’s talent and admires her rebellious spirit but hides behind its humour as her hard-knock life becomes an irreverent, entertaining patchwork. For a film that draws on what it describes as the "irony-free" recollections of its subjects, it is steeped in arch comedy and gimmicks from the outset: from the talking-head interviews that give it a faux-documentary feel, to the fourth-wall breaking asides (including one mid-coitus). Gillespie oversees a lively and amusing blend that’s easy to enjoy if not always well-judged, for instance a montage of Harding’s childhood abuse at the hands of her mother is crassly played for laughs. View oEmbed on the source website Acerbically scripted by Steven Rogers (better known for the more mawkish end of the cinematic spectrum with films like PS I Love You and Stepmom), I, Tonya is most notable for a film-stealing, Bafta-winning turn from Allison Janney as the aforementioned monstrous matriarch – the memorable of name, merciless of nature LaVona Golden, who Janney plays with pursed lips, busy fists and a potty mouth. A resident of Portland, Oregon, LaVona is the dirt-poor driving force behind a daughter who wins her first competition aged four ("Those bitches didn’t know what hit 'em," an older Harding fondly recalls). Yet, despite her technical prowess – her eventual mastery of the challenging triple axel makes her US number one – Harding is far from the ladylike ideal that US Figure Skating would prefer as champion of their sport, and the film suggests her scores suffered as a result. Her contrastingly elegant coach Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson) wafts in and out of the picture, while first love Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) is an altogether less benign presence, picking …

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Lady Bird: "a sparkling and funny coming-of-age comedy"
type: item
date: 2018-02-13T12:44:31.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Greta Gerwig paints a colourful portrait of an endearing eccentric in her directorial debut
encoded: ★★★★★ “I have to get out of Sacramento,” groans capricious teen Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), who goes by the flamboyant moniker ‘Lady Bird’, much to the chagrin of her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf). Infusing her film with the rosy glow of nostalgia, writer/director Greta Gerwig muses on her birthplace and teenage temperament in a semi-autobiographical, sparklingly funny coming-of-age comedy, which has been nominated for a quintet of Oscars. Set in 2002 and conceived to feel like a memory, Gerwig’s first film as solo director (she co-directed the 2008 feature Nights and Weekends with Joe Swanberg) scampers through its protagonist’s final, tumultuous year in high school, taking us right up to the blurry beginnings of her college days. View oEmbed on the source website Fond of describing herself as a girl from the “wrong side of the tracks” – something an amused suitor (played by Lucas Hedges) observes to be quite literally true – Lady Bird attends an all-girls Catholic school that’s free from the humourless, disciplinarian stereotypes audiences are accustomed to seeing. Sensitive school musical director Father Leviatch (Stephen McKinley Henderson) struggles to keep his depression in check and isn’t afraid to express himself artistically, while our protagonist enjoys an understanding with the affable Sister Sarah Joan (played by Lois Smith with a twinkle in her eye). Lady Bird is a girl with big dreams and so-so talents, but no shortage of ideas or enthusiasm. Her OTT audition for the school musical renders those watching dumbstruck; she gets in anyway, but then so does everyone else. Romances play out with more than a hint of farce (including with Timothée Chalamet’s morose rocker, with whom Ronan enjoys many a hilariously cringe-worthy scene). Luckily, her bond with adorable best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein), which also has its ups and downs, is made of more robust stuff. 8 reasons why you should visit Greta Gerwig's hometown At this nimbly directed film’…

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Black Panther review: "a franchise film with a distinct individual identity"
type: item
date: 2018-02-06T17:00:43.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Marvel Cinematic Universe (franchise)
subject: Review
description: Thoughtful, relevant and action-packed – Marvel's Afrofuturist epic is so much more than just a black blockbuster
encoded: ★★★★ Just as DC’s Wonder Woman gave women a belated sense of the empowerment that comes from watching a relatable superbeing smash things on the big screen, so Marvel’s Black Panther hopes to finally do the same for black audiences. Helping chip away at the notion of superhero movies as white male terrain is acclaimed writer/director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station), while the film boasts such an array of exciting acting talent it was evidently a struggle to get them all on the poster. Set one week after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, the 18th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe operates almost entirely as a standalone feature; it’s the first solo outing for the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who debuted in comic-book form in 1966. Taking place in the fictional land of Wakanda, a secretive African nation hiding its power from the outside world, Black Panther provides a rare mainstream platform for Afrofuturist themes, turning our idea of a Third World country on its head. Wakanda is a force to be feared and envied rather than a nation brought low by colonisation, combining the vivacious aesthetic of tribal customs and costumes with the silver sheen of its world-beating technology (a blend beautifully realised by Hannah Beachler’s extraordinary production design). View oEmbed on the source website It sees Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa return home after the death of his father King T’Chaka (John Kani), to be crowned his successor and achieve the full potency of his alter ego Black Panther. Noble of character, even of temperament and with eyes that glisten with integrity, T’Challa nevertheless suffers crises of conscience and challenges to his leadership. In his struggles, he is flanked by his tech-wizard sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), right-hand warrior woman Okoye (Danai Gurira), proud mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and supportive ex-girlfriend Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). T’Challa’s chief adversary is Erik Stevens, known as Killm…

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Phantom Thread review: "divine, poetically scripted and unpredictable"
type: item
date: 2018-01-24T12:59:23.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Daniel Day-Lewis takes his final bow in Paul Thomas Anderson's stylish tale of a fastidious fashion designer rattled by romance
encoded: ★★★★★ A story made to measure for an incomparable thespian, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s divine, poetically scripted and unpredictable melodrama examines the impact of emotional upheaval on the fragile mind of a finely tuned creative. It stars triple-Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis as an esteemed dressmaker who underestimates his young muse, in what is mooted to be his final performance. Anderson follows the idiosyncratic anarchy of his Thomas Pynchon adaptation Inherent Vice with a very different picture: an original story, and his first set and shot outside the States. He brings his outsider’s eye to the mannered, meticulous but also bitterly cruel world of high fashion in his second collaboration with Day-Lewis (after 2007’s There Will Be Blood, for which the actor won his second Academy Award). View oEmbed on the source website Unfolding for the most part in 1950s London, Day-Lewis plays Reynolds Woodcock, the creator of bespoke, flamboyantly romantic gowns that are a favourite of royalty. A painful perfectionist whose quirks and sensitivities have been allowed to thoroughly bed in, we see him coldly dismiss his current squeeze Johanna (Camilla Rutherford), who has outgrown her usefulness; "I simply do not have time for confrontations," he tells her when she attempts to discuss their relationship. The decision to conclude things with Johanna is taken in collaboration with his sister and business partner Cyril (a terrifying Lesley Manville), a near-permanent presence in his life. A trip to the country shows us a more benign and charming side to Reynolds and results in a surprising "meet cute". Ordering breakfast alone in a cafe, he becomes smitten with clumsy waitress Alma (Luxembourgian actress Vicky Krieps), who combines a girlish giggle with an unmistakable boldness; as she admires her dashing, mysterious and ravenously hungry customer, the feeling is evidently mutual. The apparent purity of the moment is fatally undermined by the callous dismissal of …

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The Snowman review: "more listless than laughable"
type: item
date: 2017-10-12T23:01:52.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
description: Michael Fassbender is as colourless as the wintry Nordic landscapes in this bland reading of Jo Nesbo's serial-killer thriller
encoded: ★★ It’s unusual for a whodunnit to have such a powerful sedative effect as The Snowman. How Tomas Alfredson – who demonstrated his mastery of mood with the superb Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Let the Right One In – has come to this is the only mystery worth solving. Serial-killer thrillers are so ubiquitous they’ve long since lost any relationship to reality, their protagonists' outlandish crimes typically committed in response to fairly commonplace childhood traumas. They're hard enough to swallow in book form, but by the time they reach the cinema screen, it can become nigh-on indigestible. The latest example to reach us is based on the 2007 bestseller by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. Set in Oslo and Bergen, the story sees mothers going missing after the year’s first snowfall, with snowmen found at the scene and grisly discoveries to follow. When we first meet lead investigator Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender), he’s doing a lot of drinking and staring into space. Fassbender is adept at drawing us in and illuminating the mindset of troubled, taciturn men but Hole is such a blank canvas it’s alienating. Rebecca Ferguson plays his spunky new colleague Katrine Bratt, who seems to be pursuing her own agenda. Among the suspects are JK Simmons’s creepy business magnate Arve Stop and David Dencik’s creepy doctor Idar Vetlesen. Although it clocks in a fraction shy of two hours, The Snowman has been pared down to just the bare bones of a chiller, just the murders themselves and the most rudimentary plot machinations. The novel is often clunky and preposterous but, at well over 500 pages, it’s nowhere near this thin on detail. Here characterisation goes entirely out the window. Harry looks permanently haunted, yet there’s little information as to why, while Bratt’s character arc is curtailed. We’re told Hole’s cases are so legendary they are studied at the police academy, yet there’s scant evidence of a brilliant mind: his deductions seem to mainly consist of him "testing" Brat…

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Freeview film of the day: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
type: item
date: 2017-07-03T22:01:00.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The first half of the definitive young adult dystopian franchise sees Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss reluctantly facing down the might of Donald Sutherland's President Snow.
encoded: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 ★★★★ 9.00-11.20pm Film4 In the penultimate instalment of the Hunger Games series there is no Games. Instead we get a society quivering on the cusp of all-out civil war. The hidden dissidents of Panem's District 13 are preparing to take on the might of the Capitol, with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) the reluctant face of their revolution, while Josh Hutcherson's Peeta is still a pawn of Donald Sutherland's dastardly ruler. This adaptation of the first part of the final novel takes us down a hole, to the underground headquarters of the rebellion led by Julianne Moore. Its predecessors worked better as individual films, with the games providing satisfying narratives within narratives; given this, and the absence of true closure, Part 1 feels like a bridging film. Nevertheless, Jennifer Lawrence delivers complexity and conviction, and director Francis Lawrence is a solid hand at the helm, with matters left excitingly poised for the Part 2 climax. This transitional effort's teething problems aside, it's crammed with well-drawn characters and intelligent ideas, meaning the franchise remains as robust and rule-breaking as its idiosyncratic protagonist. 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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Wonder Woman review: "A film that even those suffering from superhero fatigue can enjoy"
type: item
date: 2017-05-30T03:00:00.000Z
creator: Emma Simmonds
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: DC Comics
subject: Review
description: Wonder Woman is finally the star of her own movie, and Gal Gadot is tailor-made for the role
encoded: ★★★★ More than 75 years after her first comic-book appearance, Wonder Woman is finally the star of her own movie and it doesn’t disappoint. Following a trio of critical if not commercial disappointments, DC can breathe a sigh of relief: this fourth entry in its Extended Universe is as witty and heartfelt as it is thrilling – a film that fangirls, fanboys and even those suffering from superhero fatigue can enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLzqh7rZ-U?ecver=2 After an underwhelming introduction in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gal Gadot reprises the role and, happily, it’s a film tailor-made for her skill-set. If Gadot is a good physical fit for the statuesque action heroine then the foregrounding of character and championing of compassion suits this earnest, unshowy actress who’s been somewhat swallowed up by more bombastic fare. Patty Jenkins (Monster) is at the helm of an origin story that shows how Gadot’s Amazonian warrior princess Diana – raised on the hidden island of Themyscira – is drawn into the First World War after rescuing American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), who crashes off Themyscira’s shore. With London their first port of call, Diana, Steve and their ragtag band of brothers set out to thwart Danny Huston’s General Ludendorff, a man seeking to unleash chemical weapons on his enemies, jeopardising the imminent armistice. Diana, meanwhile, pursues her own agenda, attempting to root out Ares, the god of war. As Diana enters the world of men and gets to grips with her powers the narrative beats are hardly original. Yet Jenkins and screenwriter Allan Heinberg (who worked on the Wonder Woman comic a decade ago) never let the action overwhelm the story, nor lose sight of the female-centric focus that sets their film apart; Diana’s heightened sensitivity to human suffering is a badge of honour not weakness, and scenes where she’s bamboozled by the restrictions placed on British women are charmingly handled. The island opener is a less than sur…

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