Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2022-06-01T15:10:08.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Life review: "Cat-and-mouse action with simple, squelchy thrills"
items: The Lost City of Z review: "a sedate trek through the Amazonian jungle"
items: Viceroy's House review: "a poignant tribute to the millions uprooted or killed during the largest mass migration in history"
items: The Great Wall review: "Even Matt Damon looks hopelessly out of place in this big, stony hunk of nothing"
items: Hidden Figures review: "captures all the grit, grace and brilliance of its three female protagonists"
items: Gold review: "Another iridescent gem of a turn by McConaughey"
items: T2 Trainspotting review: "a slightly surreal, melancholy comedown off that initial high"
items: Live by Night review: "there's rarely a dull moment"
items: Sully review: "How could it not be an awards contender?"
items: Allied review: "a production with plenty of class and the seductive appeal of Hollywood's Golden Age"
items: Inferno review "a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie that's dead on its feet"
items: The Girl on the Train review: "Emily Blunt strikes a deft balance between porcelain fragility and eerie menace"
items: Ben-Hur review: "decent popcorn entertainment, but hardly epic"
items: Bridget Jones's Baby review: "a bundle of joy"
items: War Dogs review: "there's never a dull moment"
items: David Brent: Life on the Road review – "Still the king of cringe"
items: Tarzan review: "a struggle to reconcile vine-swinging thrills with squirm-inducing subtext"
items: The Boss review: "A big fat drag of a movie"
items: Alice through the Looking Glass review: "It doesn’t make sense, but its weirdness is a virtue"
items: A Hologram for the King review: "not your standard Hollywood love story"
items: The Huntsman: Winter's War review: "a breezy fantasy spin-off with plenty of Chris Hemsworth's easy charm"
items: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 review: "Draws you back in with open arms"
items: Zoolander 2 review: "as weak as a starving supermodel"
items: Deadpool review: "an enjoyably twisted little mutant tale"
items: Vanessa Hudgens: Ever since I was really young I wanted to play a prostitute
items: This Is the End - review
items: Welcome to the Punch review - Creevy is assured and dynamic behind the camera
items: Peter Jackson on stopping The Hobbit shoot to allow Martin Freeman to film Sherlock
items: The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey - review
items: Martin McDonagh tackles Seven Psychopaths

Life review: "Cat-and-mouse action with simple, squelchy thrills"
type: item
date: 2017-03-23T14:40:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: It may owe a debt to the Alien franchise, but this slick sci-fi thriller pays back with help from its hard-working cast and bursts of head-spinning action
encoded: ★★★ Coming just six weeks before the release of Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, Life feels like a pre-emptive move, reminding you of where it all began with the Alien franchise. It’s not as enthralling as the 1979 film, but it has its moments and the horror is balanced by composed performances from a cosmopolitan cast that features Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds alongside Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, Brit Ariyon Bakare, Russian Olga Dihovichnaya and Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuA-xqBw4jE?ecver=2 We’re thrown in at the deep end with the crew from the very start when a Mars probe almost knocks their space station out of its orbit over the Earth. Daniel Espinosa (the Swedish director of Easy Money and, more recently, Child 44) makes it an immersive experience, floating at speed through the narrow tunnels of the station as they try to avert a collision and save the precious soil samples on board the probe. Analysing those samples, po-faced biologist Hugh (Bakare) discovers a single-cell life form which, over the course of days, grows at a rapid rate. Eventually looking something like a slippery Marigold glove flopping around in a petri dish, the creature is able to give Hugh a firm handshake – to the point that he realises this isn’t a friendly hello. He survives the encounter, but there can be no doubt that people are about to die as the creature, within seconds, morphs again into an Alien-type face-hugger with parasitical tendencies. That famous scene of John Hurt suffering fatal indigestion is played in reverse as this little sucker worms its way into (rather than out of) the human body through the mouth. Initially, there’s something more morbidly amusing than scary about this particular alien, not least because it’s referred to as Calvin, but more because – in its earlier guise – it makes the actors look as though they’re madly trying to shake off a globule of nasty snot. However, the thing keeps evolving until gradually …

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The Lost City of Z review: "a sedate trek through the Amazonian jungle"
type: item
date: 2017-03-20T11:54:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Charlie Hunnam stars as the real-life British explorer whose pursuit of El Dorado became a reckless obsession
encoded: ★★★ Forget the bombast of Indiana Jones movies, this is a sedate trek through the Amazonian jungle, with Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam severely clipping his accent to play real-life British explorer Percy Fawcett. In the early 1900s, he led a series of expeditions aiming to find evidence of an ancient civilisation, a journey bristling with intrigue and as much frustration. Although noble in the pursuit of knowledge, Fawcett is hampered by aloofness and calmly accepts the rift that grows between him and his young family whenever he disappears for years at a time. Benedict Cumberbatch was originally slated to play the lead, and he might have brought more of an edge to Fawcett, for whom sacrifice gradually becomes a destructive fixation, whereas Hunnam plays him with a bland kind of fortitude. View oEmbed on the source website Robert Pattinson adds colour as his right-hand man, Henry Costin, bearded and bespectacled, always looking as though he’s trying to shake off a hangover – far from the teen idol who set pulses racing in the Twilight movies. The pair's mission, as outlined by the Royal Geographical Society, is to map the border between Bolivia and Brazil, where local conflict threatens British interests in the area (namely, rubber plantations). But Fawcett wishes to return because of evidence he finds (carvings and fragments of pottery) that support local tales of a lost civilisation. Many at the RGS won’t entertain the idea of “savages” being elevated above their station or lend credence to the myth of El Dorado, but Fawcett has just enough support to make repeated trips, each one thrown off course by hostile tribes, disease and growing weariness. The air feels thick with danger, humidity and pestilence, and a scene where the men are entertained by cannibals is particularly striking – the remains of dinner still smouldering above a fire. Just as halting is Fawcett’s measured response to this, putting the quest for knowledge above all sensitivities. Meanwhil…

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Viceroy's House review: "a poignant tribute to the millions uprooted or killed during the largest mass migration in history"
type: item
date: 2017-02-27T09:50:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Partition and the transition of power to India is seen through the eyes of a servant in Gurinder Chadha's refreshingly blunt drama
encoded: ★★★ Seventy years after the Partition of India, director Gurinder Chadha delivers this poignant tribute to the millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims – including members of her own family – who were uprooted or killed in what remains the largest mass migration of people in history. Hugh Bonneville gets top billing as the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, whose onerous task it is to see the country’s “peaceful” transition to independence with the end of British rule. The story is divided between him, his wife Edwina (Gillian Anderson) and his young servant, Jeet (Manish Dayal). Together they draw a neat picture of the existing class structure within the microcosm of the (albeit vast) household. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id_ZyNdvXKQ?ecver=2 However, trying to give equal weight to different points of view has its drawbacks and robs the story of some depth. Bonneville plays Mountbatten with what comes across as foolish dignity because this account (co-scripted by Chadha with Moira Buffini and Paul Mayeda Berges) sees him as a bit of a patsy, cornered into brokering the deal that would divide India and create Pakistan upon Britain’s withdrawal. Bonneville’s portrayal remains sympathetic throughout. As sectarian violence increases, he is exasperated by Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Denzil Smith) who insists his people will be massacred without borders to protect them. And even his wife believes there must be an alternative to carving up the territory. Edwina is eager to engage with the locals too, but Anderson is so mannered in her portrayal it is difficult to warm to her (“It’s so terribly, terribly hot…”) – a sharp contrast with Bonneville’s easy charm. Jeet is the ostensible hero of the piece, rooting for a united India and eavesdropping on Mountbatten’s meetings with the likes of Jinnah, eventual Indian Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru (Tanveer Ghani) and the revered Mahatma Gandhi (Neeraj Kabi). One of the more intriguing aspects of the film is being a…

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The Great Wall review: "Even Matt Damon looks hopelessly out of place in this big, stony hunk of nothing"
type: item
date: 2017-02-18T12:30:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Mercenary Matt Damon and Chinese warriors put aside their differences to battle a legendary horde of monsters
encoded: ★★ In business terms, think of The Great Wall as a bridge across the Pacific, a co-production between the US and China allowing Hollywood access to the Chinese cinema market, which is reported to be the fastest growing in the world. On a pure narrative level it is a big, stony hunk of nothing and even Matt Damon, who is the strongest link, looks hopelessly out of place – and that’s before you even consider the odd Fargo-esque accent. Of course, this works for him in the early part of the film. His character William is a fish out of water or more accurately, a mercenary in the Gobi desert – stunningly captured in sunset hues – who along with Spanish cohort Tovar (Pedro Pascal of Narcos fame) is searching for a fabled treasure called “black powder”. This, of course is gunpowder, a weapon that will revolutionise warfare at this non-specific period in history and make them rich. But the men are thrown off course by something most unexpected and in a film that has already signposted its intentions to philosophise earnestly on the human condition, it really does feel like a random intrusion when the CGI beastie – which looks something like a cross between a Komodo dragon and the hound demons from Ghost Busters – tries to take a bite out of William. Having gotten out of that sticky situation, William and Tovar immediately fall into the clutches of the Nameless Order, noble warriors (naturally) who guard an outpost on the Great Wall, a structure built with the specific purpose of keeping those rabid lizards out. Straightaway they get to see the Order in action, wonderfully choreographed in their defence with ladies in bright armour looking like bluebirds as they swoop down to spear their prey. You would expect nothing less than visual splendour from director Zhang Yimou, the director of Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). There are high-flying crane shots over the wall to take in the majesty of this man-made feat and the camera moves seamlessly from inside to ou…

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Hidden Figures review: "captures all the grit, grace and brilliance of its three female protagonists"
type: item
date: 2017-02-10T15:22:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Behind the men who went to the Moon were three brilliant black women who never received their due recognition – until now
encoded: ★★★★ Putting man on the moon is one of humanity’s greatest achievements, but the women who played a part in getting him there have gone unsung for too long – and the fact that some of them were African-American is the surprise draw of this inspiring, Oscar-nominated account. Besides having to work out the angles of re-entry, math whizzes Katherine G Johnson (Taraji P Henson), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) were required to jump through hoops in any given working day at NASA throughout the 1950s and early 60s, when segregation meant they couldn’t even use the same lavatories as their white peers. View oEmbed on the source website It’s a running gag here – in the most literal sense – as Katherine spends 20 minutes every morning jogging across the grounds at Langley Research Center in Virginia to use the “coloured bathroom”. Of course, while being laughable, it’s not inherently a laughing matter, but director Theodore Melfi (the film-maker behind Bill Murray vehicle St Vincent) movingly conveys the absurdity and sheer outrageousness of the situation without beating a drum. Like the indefatigable can-do spirit that led the US space program, there is a drive and optimism about this trio of ladies that involves you more deeply in their plight. Mary Jackson goes to court for the right to attend a whites-only college and secure the qualifications needed to fulfil her ambitions (and meet her obvious potential) as an engineer. Meanwhile, Dorothy Vaughn swots up on innovations in mechanical computing to ensure that she, and her team of “coloured computers” (the pool of human number-crunchers where all three women start out), are not deemed expendable with the introduction of IBM machines. In an Oscar-nominated turn, Spencer layers her performance with a world-weariness that she can only voice in sly exchanges with her uppity manager (Kirsten Dunst), while at the same time enjoying the challenge of making those machines bow to her knowledge. U…

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Gold review: "Another iridescent gem of a turn by McConaughey"
type: item
date: 2017-01-26T13:30:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Matthew McConaughey shines brightly, but this treasure-hunting tale doesn't quite hit the mother lode
encoded: ★★★ While mining the current trend for movies that expose the outrageously hollow investment strategies of Wall Street bankers, Gold also celebrates another real-life chancer played in winning style by Matthew McConaughey. His balding and bedraggled prospector Kenny Wells is actually a fictionalised version of Canadian businessman David Walsh in a film that takes dramatic licence with the true story of a scandal involving his Bre-X mining company. Far from taking liberties, though, it may even have benefited from a few more creative whims to bolster the enticing pitch. View oEmbed on the source website With a hint of crazy in his eyes and a lot of fire in his (very ample) belly, McConaughey encapsulates everything that a treasure hunter should be. Besides his obvious passion for the role, he’s easy to root for because there is an innocence as well, core to his character, that sets him apart from the stock brokers who jump on his bandwagon. Wells’s journey begins in the 1980s with a simple dream that plagues his sleep one night and sends him from Reno, Nevada (a switch from Calgary, presumably to evoke the Gold Rush mentality) all the way to Indonesia. There, he bankrolls an old acquaintance with the last bit of capital he has in a company bequeathed to him by his father, to satisfy a hunch. Michael Acosta (a contrastingly suave Edgar Ramirez) is a geologist with a famed track record in pinpointing valuable ore and with Wells’s backing, unearths nuggets of gold that promise the mother lode lying just beyond a lush mountainside. Thus, director Stephen Gaghan (best known as the Oscar-winning writer of Traffic) starts out by leading us on a feverish jungle adventure that echoes the 1947 classic Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Wells driven half mad by the glimmer of riches and a case of malaria. But the real substance of the story is in the immediate fallout from the gold strike. Back at home, Wall Street suits clamour for a piece of the action, but when he turns down …

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T2 Trainspotting review: "a slightly surreal, melancholy comedown off that initial high"
type: item
date: 2017-01-23T15:40:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Choose… a sequel. Danny Boyle picks up the story 20 years on, as Ewan McGregor's prodigal junkie returns to face the music
encoded: ★★★ The original Trainspotting was a classic, not least because it captured a moment in time when Britain was riding a wave of mid-1990s optimism. In that context, Ewan McGregor’s directive to "Choose life. Choose a job..." seemed feasible, and in vivid contrast to his character Renton’s life of drugs and grime. Two decades on, with high unemployment and a general air of depression about the place, his spirit of defiance doesn’t belong to the counterculture anymore. Renton (McGregor looking a little more creased) is off drugs, no longer on the fringes of society but part of a mainstream malaise. If the first film was a wildly invigorating shot in the arm, its long-gestating sequel is mellowed out, resigned to the way things are. View oEmbed on the source website It’s a bold change of pace for returning director Danny Boyle. While there are plenty of his trademark visual flourishes, they amount to a slightly surreal, melancholy comedown off that initial high. The mad gleam in McGregor's eye is poignantly dulled to a misty-eyed sheen. Still, the dry humour that stems from Irvine Welsh’s novels (this one loosely based on Porno) remains a vital element – arguably, even more so here – with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments. Like the first time around, Renton is introduced on the run, only this time he's on a treadmill – going nowhere. There’s a slapstick punchline to the scene that speaks volumes about his current mental state. He heads back to Edinburgh after the life he chose clearly hit a dead end, but he risks the wrath of his old junkie pals (the main cast all reprise their roles here) after making off with the swag from a drugs deal at the end of the first film. Jonny Lee Miler’s manic Sick Boy is the first in line to clock him and hapless Spud (Ewen Bremner) somehow musters the energy as well after a clumsy suicide attempt. Meanwhile, the psychotic Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is out of prison, looking to settle the score. Don’t expect too much plot. That’s merely a b…

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Live by Night review: "there's rarely a dull moment"
type: item
date: 2017-01-11T14:30:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Ben Affleck goes from good guy to gangster in a classy period piece that skims the surface of emotion but delivers action aplenty
encoded: ★★★ Men in fedoras with slick suits and shiny hair, running rum and dodging hails of bullets – Ben Affleck welcomes you to the glamorous underworld of Prohibition-era America in Live by Night. Adapting the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island), he keeps a steady hand behind the camera as writer/director, while, in front of it, he deftly evokes trouble beneath still waters as on-the-up gangster Joe Coughlin, a man described by Chris Cooper’s beleaguered Tampa sheriff as “once, good”. View oEmbed on the source website Having already opened to a lukewarm reception on home shores, Live by Night won’t rank among Affleck’s best directorial work, including the Oscar-winning Argo and his earlier films Gone Baby Gone (also based on a Lehane novel) and The Town. That may be because, while he handles a sprawling plot with elegance and alacrity, the passion that defines and drives Joe Coughlin – and in turn, the story – is buried too far beneath its structure. In laconic voiceover, Joe reveals how the First World War turned him against authority and into an armed robber, while the burning love he feels for Sienna Miller’s hard-nosed moll, Emma, gets him into strife with his cop father (Brendan Gleeson) and her kingpin lover Albert White (a rodent-like Robert Glenister). He could wind up dead, but instead does a spell in the slammer after a botched stick-up (the car chase is breathlessly shot), and with reports that Emma is sleeping with the fishes, he aims to take his revenge on White. If only Emma was as alluringly enigmatic on film as she is in the novel, you may not feel that Joe was wasting his energy. The vengeance Joe takes is more elaborately drawn, with him agreeing to work for the Italian Mob down in Tampa, Florida, importing rum from Cuba to corner the market and hit White where it hurts. His right-hand man is played by Chris Messina (sporting alarming buck teeth) but his real partner in crime is Zoe Saldana's Graciela, who gives the film added pulse. …

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Sully review: "How could it not be an awards contender?"
type: item
date: 2016-11-28T14:40:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Clint Eastwood directs Tom Hanks in the true-life tale of the pilot who splashed down in the Hudson and was hailed a hero
encoded: ★★★ Sully finds Tom Hanks centre stage in a true story that taps into post-9/11 anxieties, so how could it not be an awards contender? And that’s before you factor in Clint Eastwood behind the camera; his two Oscar wins as director matching Hanks’s back-to-back triumphs in the best actor category. There's no doubting the emotional resonance of the story either, which relates how US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger was forced to land a passenger plane on New York’s Hudson River. View oEmbed on the source website Eastwood isn’t the type to beg the attention of the Academy, however, so this telling of the events of 15 January 2009, and the intense commotion that came afterwards, is resolutely unsentimental and distinctly unsensational. Like the hero of the piece – who questions whether he really did do the right thing – it is reserved and understated. That suits Eastwood and his style of film-making just fine. And for Hanks, playing the beleaguered pilot, it allows for an acting masterclass in playing grace under pressure. Hanks is often described as an everyman, and in the sense that Sully maintains he was just doing his job, the actor is certainly performing to type. But he also has movie-star charisma and an innate soulful quality that few other Hollywood actors bring to the screen. The fact is, he doesn’t have to do very much to draw you in to Sully’s private thoughts and reflections while the media circus is in full swing around him. Eastwood's film flashes back and forth in time, opening with nightmare images of an airbus, US Airways Flight 1549, swooping low over Manhattan. When Sully wakes up in a cold sweat, it may leave you feeling emotionally manipulated – especially because those images evoke the terrible events of 9/11. Eastwood is otherwise restrained in portraying the crash in increments throughout the film, or what Sully insists was “a forced water landing” when he is later interviewed by investigators for the NTSB (the National Transportation Safety …

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Allied review: "a production with plenty of class and the seductive appeal of Hollywood's Golden Age"
type: item
date: 2016-11-21T15:28:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Love leads to suspicion for Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in a glossy wartime romance just like they used to make
encoded: ★★★ With the Second World War as a backdrop and a fateful meeting in Casablanca, this love story bears all the hallmarks of an epic Hollywood romance. In actual fact, Allied is very contained, even claustrophobic at times, as befits a story viewed through the suspicious eyes of a Canadian intelligence officer, Wing Commander Max Vatan (Brad Pitt), who’s told that his wife, Marianne (Marion Cotillard), is working for the enemy. What the film lacks in scope, it makes up for in constant tingling suspense and raw emotion. And that frisson is certainly heightened by the rumours of an affair between the stars during production (which Cotillard has strenuously denied). View oEmbed on the source website In the film's early stages, though, the pair's on-screen chemistry does feel subdued, as Vatan parachutes into the African desert and steps carefully around Marianne, the French Resistance fighter who must pose as his wife. Their mission is to infiltrate a gathering of high-ranking Nazis and assassinate the lot of them, and Max is adamant there should be no other fireworks to distract from the plan. Inevitably, Marianne does weaken Max's resolve, and Cotillard plays the part with an effortless blend of gentle sass, sensuality and moments of porcelain vulnerability that will leave you guessing as to her motives. Pitt's character is enigmatic in a different way. He's self-possessed and perhaps a little too understated at first, before growing more agitated with the heat coming from his superiors in London. It's there that he and Marianne tie the knot for real and quickly have a child, and the rapport between the couple builds while the stakes rise, adding to the tinderbox atmosphere. Jared Harris, playing a British officer, vacillates between sympathy and stern insistence when Max is ordered to test Marianne’s loyalty. If she leaks the false information given to her, it falls to Max to execute her. Of course, the real drama is not in Max’s opposition to those in command, but t…

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Inferno review "a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie that's dead on its feet"
type: item
date: 2016-10-11T12:30:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Tom Hanks unlocks the code to screen boredom in an apocalyptic travelogue devoid of excitement, thrills… and floppy hair
encoded: ★★ Over the course of the three films in which Tom Hanks has played Harvard academic Dr Robert Langdon, his hair has become distinctly less floppy. Alas, the same can’t be said of the dramatic tension in these stories from novelist Dan Brown. While the ever-game star jogs around quaint European landmarks with a look of mild consternation, director Ron Howard struggles to inject real urgency into proceedings. Initially, this boilerplate thriller feels a little different to previous instalments The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. Langdon wakes up in a hospital in Florence, Italy, concussed and unable to remember how he got there, when people start shooting at him. Across town, evil genius Bertrand Zobist (Ben Foster, seemingly desperate to twiddle his too-short facial hair) has committed suicide and his note to this cruel world is a deadly virus that he has engineered to cull vast swathes of humanity. View oEmbed on the source website Zobist believes global population control is necessary to ensure our species’ long-term survival. In his infinite wisdom, he hasn’t just released the toxin he has spent years developing – that would be too easy. Instead he has hidden it away in a public place and left a series of clues as to its whereabouts. So begins the standard, pedestrian treasure hunt where we’re pinballed around between historical sites, with so many woozy, high-speed tracking shots you may experience motion sickness. Dante and his poetic vision of the nine circles of hell provides the inspiration for Zobist’s scheme, as well as describing the viewing experience (the sheer interminability of it!) and so is the starting point for the exhausting touristic trawl that goes from Italy to Istanbul. Even the postcard scenery is dulled by overcast skies, and while Hanks stares hard (really hard) at paintings by Botticelli and Vasari, Howard feels the pressure to animate these masterworks. Soldiers go to war in his mind’s eye and Langdon clasps his sore head and proclaim…

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The Girl on the Train review: "Emily Blunt strikes a deft balance between porcelain fragility and eerie menace"
type: item
date: 2016-10-03T15:01:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: The casting of Emily Blunt as a dumpy alcoholic might have raised eyebrows, but her compelling performance lifts an otherwise safe big-screen take on the Paula Hawkins mystery
encoded: ★★★ Being faithful isn’t always a virtue, especially when it comes to adapting a novel as widely read as Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train. You need to add a little something extra. Director Tate Taylor (The Help) has created a very neat (if rather too tidy) domestic thriller, but he hasn’t exploited the medium to bring anything fresh to the story, riding instead on the solid track the book provides. Relocating the action from London to New York only serves to get more American bums on seats, and the casting of the usually fresh-faced Emily Blunt as a dumpy alcoholic has had some fans bemoaning a lack of authenticity. Even Hawkins was sceptical and, yes, Blunt is still beautiful after being made up to look ruddy-faced and shrouded in a heavy grey coat. But Blunt also represents the one compelling deviation to the story. Her anti-heroine, Rachel, comes across as more tragic for looking like the kind of woman others might envy, with those sparkling blue eyes turned poignantly glassy with sorrow. View oEmbed on the source website On her daily commute to Manhattan, she sips vodka while gazing out of the window, paying special attention to the road where she used to live with her former husband (Justin Theroux). He has a new life now with Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), who is fed up with Rachel’s loitering. But it’s the couple’s neighbour Megan (Haley Bennett) who becomes Rachel’s most dangerous obsession. Megan is an ethereal beauty, and judging by glimpses of her looking whimsical on the balcony with husband Scott (Luke Evans), Rachel imagines she has the perfect life. Scenes shot from Megan’s point of view tell a different story, and though it’s a tricky double-act for Bennett to pull off, she doesn’t have the presence or power on screen that would have made the clash more resonant. The real intrigue comes when Megan goes missing, which is around the same time that Rachel has one of her booze-induced blackouts. She knows she was in the area at the time of the disappeara…

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Ben-Hur review: "decent popcorn entertainment, but hardly epic"
type: item
date: 2016-09-06T13:40:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: It's chariots at the ready, as Jack Huston steps into Charlton Heston's sandals to re-create one of the most beloved blockbusters of old
encoded: ★★★ While there is nothing particularly awful about this remake of the 1959 ancient-world classic, the brash, breakneck style – obviously geared towards a young, modern audience – renders it less epic. At best this version of Ben-Hur (also filmed in 1925, from Lew Wallace’s novel) is decent popcorn entertainment with an exciting re-creation of the famous chariot race that, surprisingly, avoids looking too much like a video game. In the title role, Jack Huston (British grandson of director John Huston) lacks the imposing presence of Charlton Heston, but he does cut a dashing figure in his own quiet way. He makes his feelings known without grandstanding, as Judah Ben-Hur evolves gradually into the type of man who can withstand the pull of wild horses and steer his way to victory. View oEmbed on the source website The chariot race is foreshadowed from scene one, right at the start line, when Roman officer Messala (Toby Kebbell) promises to kill Judah Ben-Hur. In flashback these men are brothers (they were just friends in the original story), an idea taken literally with Messala having been adopted into Ben-Hur’s family in Judaea. They’re blue-bloods and the point is made, too, about how removed they are from the rabble who are growing ever more discontent with Roman rule. In one of the modern touches, there are repeated references to the “zealots” who threaten the status quo. When Messala begins to question his own place in the household – and why he can never win the hand of Judah’s sister (Sofia Black-D’Elia) – it spurs a tour of duty with the Roman army that gives him new purpose, at odds with that of the Jewish prince. Director Timur Bekmambetov (the man behind high-concept action flicks Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) simmers the pot that turns Messala against Judah without delving deep enough into his inferiority complex. When Messala returns (bearing the gift of an old toy chariot), it is Judah’s refusal to hand over a rebel that lands him in the gal…

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Bridget Jones's Baby review: "a bundle of joy"
type: item
date: 2016-09-05T22:01:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Renée Zellweger's hapless heroine is pregnant – but unsure who the father is – in a comedy sequel that really delivers
encoded: ★★★★ Over a decade after Bridget said "yes" to her Mr Darcy, she is alone again in a total hoot of a sequel, outdoing the second film by far (almost matching the first), perhaps because the scatty diarist is carrying a lot more baggage now. Reprising the iconic role, Renée Zellweger bears the burden well (unafraid to show a few wrinkles) and gives it plenty of gusto from the off, when Bridget celebrates her 43rd birthday with a cupcake and plenty of wine. She is older but no wiser despite putting her career first for once. Colin Firth slips back into the Mark Darcy role like a glove – or a wet shirt – married, but alas, not to Bridget. Helen Fielding's third Bridget Jones novel had fans up in arms by submitting him to an even worse fate, but director Sharon Maguire (who made her big screen debut with the first film in 2001) works instead from a script based on Fielding's columns for The Independent in 2005. View oEmbed on the source website Here, it’s Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver who is pushed out of the picture, but it’s the loss of Darcy that impels Bridget to put her heart into her work. Still, she is in danger of losing that, too, when a team of young executive hipsters are drafted in to take the news viral. Behind the scenes Zellweger has some great X-rated banter with Sarah Solemani, a standout as a newsreader so outrageously saucy – cleverly timing her quips between headline soundbites – she’d make Fiona Bruce blush. She urges Bridget to cut loose and get "dirty" at a muddy music festival and after a bit of good old-fashioned slapstick Bridget is soon falling into bed with Patrick Dempsey's suave American self-help guru Jack Qwant. Not much later, a run-in with Darcy and a lot more wine leaves her twisted in the sheets once again and torn over what to do when she finds out she’s “up the duff”. Emma Thompson tickles the ribs as Bridget's doctor, who wearily plays along when the expectant mother brings Darcy and Qwant to alternate appointments, too cowardly to t…

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War Dogs review: "there's never a dull moment"
type: item
date: 2016-08-16T19:00:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Jonah Hill and Miles Teller star in the crazy but true story of two slacker dudes who muscled their way into the arms trade – and made a killing
encoded: ★★★★★ One of those stranger-than-fiction true stories provides the basis for War Dogs, a cracking comedy thriller from The Hangover director Todd Phillips, named after the small-business arms dealers who cashed in under the Bush administration. Jonah Hill and Miles Teller (Whiplash) are surely the strangest of these opportunists, two 20-something stoners from Miami Beach who somehow win contracts to supply arms to the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan through the mid-to-late noughties. View oEmbed on the source website Hill is a study in excess as Efraim Diveroli, from his immense waistline to his in-your-face attitude. After reconnecting with his old school buddy David Packouz (Teller), he pulls an AK47 on a street hood – firing it into the air in broad daylight. Guns are his uncle’s stock-in-trade, but Hill has worked out that the big money is in the War on Terror. Through a public website designed to open the field to small businesses (that Bush, so socially conscious…), he pitches for US defence contracts supplying random bits and pieces of lethal hardware. Hill tells Teller he “lives off the crumbs, like a rat”, but in a billion-dollar industry the crumbs are worth millions. With a baby on the way and massage therapy proving to be a greasier business than he had expected, Teller forgets his antiwar principles and becomes Hill’s right-hand man. That’s the cue for Phillips to launch into a Goodfellas-style rags-to-filthy-riches morality tale, with kinetic camerawork (although, crucially, not too much) and a wry voiceover by Teller that boggles at just how easy it is to muscle in among the big boys. Is there a catch? Of course, there is. Small hiccups have life-threatening consequences, like a logistical problem caused by trade embargoes that means Hill and Teller have to go in on the ground in Iraq to deliver a shipment of Berettas. This sequence could be a film in itself, tickling the funny bone while being heart-hammeringly tense. The action gains even more m…

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David Brent: Life on the Road review – "Still the king of cringe"
type: item
date: 2016-08-11T07:00:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: "Hello, Reading!" Ricky Gervais returns as his tragicomic alter ego, and this time he's giving up the office to fulfil his dreams of being a rock star. What could go wrong?
encoded: ★★★ Ricky Gervais often says that if you don’t know who the David Brent is in your office, it’s probably you. Actually, there may be a bit of Brent in all of us – that vulnerable person who’s eager to please and only wants to be popular – which may explain why the two series of The Office from the early noughties have become a landmark in British comedy. Thirteen years later, Gervais finally brings his creation to the big screen in Life on the Road and proves Brent still has plenty of mileage. That’s not to say Gervais keeps this vehicle revved from start to end. In the title song, the wannabe rock star croons about putting his “foot down to the floor, 70 miles an hour – but no more”. Likewise, the laugh count is high but the film (which Gervais wrote and shoots in the same mockumentary style as his original sitcom) is definitely funnier earlier on when Brent is in his natural environment: the offices of Lavichem, flogging feminine hygiene products. With his bad-taste jokes, nervy grin and the punctuating laugh that peters out into a sigh, Brent (or “the Brentmeister” as his equally infantile desk mate calls him) is still the king of cringe. View oEmbed on the source website He’s no longer the boss, however, and without the minions paid to suffer his tomfoolery (he’s frequently told by a bullying colleague to put a sock in it), his thoughts turn to rock stardom. Cashing in all his pension investments, he takes two weeks leave and hires a tour bus to ferry him and his band Foregone Conclusion around the dive pubs of Reading. Being based in Slough, it doesn’t cost him much in petrol, just a helluva lot in expenses and, above all, dignity. There isn’t a plot as such to what follows, with the action unfolding as a series of stage turns that are more toe-curling than toe-tapping, as the pressure builds backstage. You may recall Brent’s rapper sidekick Dom Johnson (aka Doc Brown, aka Ben Bailey Smith) from their hilarious 2013 music video Equality Street, recorded for Com…

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Tarzan review: "a struggle to reconcile vine-swinging thrills with squirm-inducing subtext"
type: item
date: 2016-07-05T08:18:57.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie look out of place as Tarzan and Jane in a bumpy jungle romp
encoded: ★★ Forget memories of Johnny Weissmuller puffing out his chest, sucking in his gut and announcing himself as “Me, Tarzan” to a bemused Jane, having just swung in on a vine to pluck her from danger. There is a bit of that in The Legend of Tarzan – arriving over half a century after the jungle hero’s Hollywood heyday – but this movie is aimed at a more enlightened audience who might take offence at the sexist, racist undertones threaded through the original stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The irony is that modern viewers are also sophisticated enough to see the wood for the trees and the political correctness thuds so hard you may as well call “Timber!” View oEmbed on the source website When we meet Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård of TV’s True Blood), he’s already in the habit of wearing a suit, drinking tea with pinkie finger extended and sombrely musing on the plight of the Congolese whose country, in 1884, is being carved up between Great Britain and Belgium. He sits in the House of Lords and is known to his friends as John but to the wider public he is Lord Greystoke, whose upbringing in the African jungle is the stuff of legend. Jane (Margot Robbie) is his wife and certainly no shrinking violet, making her opinions heard when hubbie is asked to return to the Congo on a diplomatic mission. Here, British colonialism appears to be a friendly, fair-minded sort of affair – it’s our partners in Brussels who are taking advantage. But even those who voted Brexit might suspect this picture is a little skewed. The race politics is further muddied by Samuel L Jackson as a real-life veteran of the American Civil War, George Washington Williams, who takes Greystoke aside and suggests the Belgians are bolstering their economy with slavery. When Tarzan finally returns to his old stomping ground, Jackson's role then switches to cringe-worthy comedy sidekick while Skarsgård does a very slow striptease – he only gets his shirt off in the final third. One of the benefits of a monosyll…

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The Boss review: "A big fat drag of a movie"
type: item
date: 2016-06-08T13:40:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: For all her live-wire energy, Melissa McCarthy struggles to raise laughs with her latest comic creation
encoded: ★★ This is the second collaboration between Hollywood funny girl Melissa McCarthy and hubby/director Ben Falcone (after 2014's Tammy), and once again it feels as though he is a ball and chain on her comic energy. The Boss is a big fat drag of a movie and McCarthy, throwing herself into it with her usual crackling, live-wire energy, can only lift it in places. Mr and Mrs both take credit for the script that clunks at every turn after multimillionaire fat cat Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is publicly disgraced for insider trading and turfed out of her big-ass mansion. Kristen Bell is the petite blonde sidekick and long-suffering PA, Claire, who is forced to put a roof over Darnell’s head when, mostly, what she wants to do is shove it down the toilet. View oEmbed on the source website McCarthy plays it typically loud and obnoxious, but unlike her recent performances in The Heat and Spy, she takes it too far here. Arguably, it’s Falcone giving her too much leeway when, like in Tammy, gags too often culminate in cuss words, and when profanity isn’t the punchline, there’s random violence. Darnell agrees to take Claire’s young daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) to the equivalent of a Girl Guides meeting and proceeds to split the room with a plan to sell home-baked treats on a global scale. That leads to a claws-out scrap on the streets of suburban Chicago that plays like a junior Kill Bill. Apparently schoolgirls kicking the brownie out of each other passes for comedy, but it’s difficult to know who the gags are pitched at. At times the story leans towards good old-fashioned family values (much is made of Darnell growing up in care) but the dialogue is fifty shades of blue. Peter Dinklage is the butt of many a crass joke as Renault, Darnell’s rival in big business and former lover, but they mostly revolve around his height (or lack thereof) and repeated insinuations about his sexual prowess. He hams it up for all he’s worth, which only confirms his desperation at the lack of ge…

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Alice through the Looking Glass review: "It doesn’t make sense, but its weirdness is a virtue"
type: item
date: 2016-05-26T12:55:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Mia Wasikowska's headstrong heroine returns to Wonderland where Johnny Depp's Hatter needs her help, in another phantasmagorical fantasy inspired by Lewis Carroll's creations
encoded: ★★★ Guaranteed to aggravate purists, this sequel to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland has almost nothing to do with Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s story. Those evil masterminds in Hollywoodland have merely snatched his beloved characters and trapped them inside a more mainstream movie with chases, time-travel and Johnny Depp in another silly wig doing another silly voice. It still doesn’t make complete sense, but its weirdness remains a virtue. To start, with Mia Wasikowska, returning as Alice, is the unlikeliest sea captain you’ll ever see. She has stepped into her father’s shoes to explore the world on his trusty ship, The Wonder, but alas her mother (Lindsay Duncan) is a practical woman who is just about to sign it away to a sneering toff (Leo Bill) to keep them out of the poor house. View oEmbed on the source website Being a bit of a brat (“headstrong” is the word often used), Alice snaps at mum before storming off straight through a mirror back into Wonderland. Despite James Bobin being in the director's chair, this is still emphatically Burton’s vision – just as gloriously garish as before, although with fewer darker, shadowy parts. And in his house, shaped like a top hat, the Hatter (Depp) is also having issues. Psychology never figured much in Carroll’s books but, here – because it’s Hollywood and they love a backstory – the Hatter is driven mad by the disappearance of his family long ago. They were presumed dead, killed by the Jabberwocky under the command of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), but now Hatter has reason to believe they’re still alive. Everyone thinks he’s doolally, naturally – that’s Anne Hathaway as the White Queen (dazed-looking rather than ethereal), the Tweedles (Matt Lucas in double-vision), the White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen) and the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman, to whom the film is dedicated) – but they beg Alice go back in time to find out what happened anyway. Sacha Baron Cohen brings another intriguing dimension to t…

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A Hologram for the King review: "not your standard Hollywood love story"
type: item
date: 2016-05-16T15:15:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Businessman Tom Hanks has a midlife crisis in the Middle East in a fish-out-water-comedy without the requisite laughs
encoded: ★★ Tom Hanks is a stranger in a strange land in this adaptation of Dave Eggers’s bestselling novel from writer/director Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas). Even if you do gradually warm to his character, don’t expect to feel the same way about the place he finds himself in. Saudi Arabia is the setting and in some ways the villain of the piece, not unlike the way Tokyo came across in Lost in Translation, but with crucial differences: the only bright lights in the desert are the sun and stars, and, given the climate, the portrayal feels surprisingly cold. Oh, and Lost in Translation was much funnier. But is it supposed to be a comedy, or a drama? The tone of the film shifts like the Arabian sands. View oEmbed on the source website In the throes of a midlife crisis, Hanks’s can-do American businessman Alan Clay finds his resolve weakened by the capricious nature of the Saudi royals who have invited him to pitch for a contract supplying IT systems for a new mini-city. He doesn’t get much “face-time” with the prince or the king, instead his team is relegated to a big black tent a stone’s throw from the air-conditioned paradise of development HQ where they sweat it out in hope of reward. Alan’s discomfort is emphasised by the many chairs he sits on and breaks, providing a bit of jarring slapstick. Alan also has a comedy sidekick in the shape of newcomer Alexander Black (hand-picked for the role by Hanks), who plays taxi driver Yousef. The mock ethnic accent might raise a chuckle, along with his fear of turning the key in the ignition (he's wary of being bombed – not by terrorists, but by a jealous husband). However, such running jokes soon get old and the pair's relationship doesn’t develop in any meaningful way to enlighten Alan – or the rest of us – about the local culture. The point about Alan is that he’s disconnected, and judging by emails to his daughter, it’s the same whether he’s home or away. Fine, but those gaps of understanding aren’t properly bridged. Inevitably, Clay g…

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The Huntsman: Winter's War review: "a breezy fantasy spin-off with plenty of Chris Hemsworth's easy charm"
type: item
date: 2016-04-04T11:25:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Hemsworth goes it alone as the waywardly accented Huntsman in an eye-catching if plot-holey prequel/sequel to the Snow White story
encoded: ★★★ After turning the Snow White story on its head and rolling her around in the mud a little, the makers of Snow White and the Huntsman have cast her aside and given The Huntsman top billing in a breezy spin-off fantasy adventure. But apart from dulling the feminist edge that Kristen Stewart brought, the obvious drawback here is that Chris Hemsworth must carry the movie. Yes, his shoulders are broad, but his performances are never too hefty. His “Scootish” accent also leaves a bit to be desired, so it’s just as well that he has a naturally imposing presence and plenty of easy charm to fall back on. Still, he’s upstaged by the women again, among them Jessica Chastain as Sara, the huntswoman he trains alongside and later calls his wife, years before encountering Snow White in the woods. They’re brought together by Emily Blunt, who elegantly strikes a balance between deep hurt and bitter hate as Freya, queen of a kingdom where all sorts of Celtic accents collide (Chastain seems to be doing “Oirish”) and she rules, not with an iron fist, but with magic fingers that can raise ice from the ground. View oEmbed on the source website Evidently, supernatural abilities and psychotic tendencies run in the family, as Freya is also the sister of the fabulously evil Ravenna. Charlize Theron reprises that role, with her gold Dior look and eyes like silver daggers, but hers is only a small part. She reigns over a different territory, while Freya raises an army of kidnapped children to make up for the one she lost when her lover betrayed her. Her heart is frozen and she shows no mercy when the Huntsman and Sara – brought up to lead that army – break a cardinal rule and fall in love. Cut to seven years later, after the events of the first film, and Snow White (unseen), having usurped her wicked stepmother and gotten rid of that pesky mirror, orders the Huntsman to retrieve it before it finds its way into the Ice Queen’s frigid hands. So, this is part-prequel, part-sequel, and first-t…

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My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 review: "Draws you back in with open arms"
type: item
date: 2016-03-24T17:00:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: How do you follow a record-breaking hit? Here's a tip from Nia Vardalos: take your time – and don't try too hard
encoded: ★★★ How about this for pressure: 14 years after My Big Fat Greek Wedding hit cinemas, it remains the highest-grossing romantic comedy in Hollywood film history. No wonder Nia Vardalos has taken so long to deliver the sequel, perhaps finally resigned to the idea that she can never top that. Indeed, from the perfunctory title to its party-hard finale, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 doesn’t try too hard, but it still draws you back in with open arms and the same big heart. Vardalos keeps it real as the only credited scriptwriter and she doesn’t mind baring her crow’s feet and an unruly mop of salt ’n’ pepper hair as Toula Portokalos, now anxious mother to 17-year-old Paris (Elena Kampouris in moody black eyeshadow) and back working at her own parents’ restaurant after the internet sank her travel agency. John Corbett is insouciant as ever playing hubby Ian – and he needs to be, having married into a family that lives side-by-side on the same street and where he has to be on standby at nights to haul his naked, fat father-in-law out of the bath. View oEmbed on the source website Michael Constantine may be pushing 90 but he still has the fire in his belly as grouchy patriarch Gus Portokalos, and just as much cheek, too, warning Paris that she’s “getting old” and needs to find herself “a nice Greek boy”. Still, the best lines, as before, go to Auntie Voula (Andrea Martin with her impish pout), who coolly instructs Toula to “shave everything” when it becomes apparent that she’s been too busy mothering Paris to tend to Ian’s needs. The dilemmas Toula finds herself in all feel familiar – including her reluctance to let Paris leave Chicago for NYU – but Vardalos is tapping universal chords the way she did with the first film, when movie-goers from all backgrounds swore their families were just the same. Vardalos endears herself by being just as willing to send herself up, always trying to play it cool in a family of hotheads and invariably winding up in a cold sweat. Apart from h…

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Zoolander 2 review: "as weak as a starving supermodel"
type: item
date: 2016-02-12T14:37:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Ben Stiller's king of the catwalk takes a mighty tumble with this sequel, despite all the help from his celebrity friends
encoded: ★★ Killing Justin Bieber in scene one may ingratiate movie-goers who are old enough to remember the first Zoolander, but sadly, the rest of this sequel will also have fans of the 2001 film mourning the ruin of Ben Stiller’s original poufy-haired poseur. Fifteen years on, Stiller again directs himself as catwalk star Derek Zoolander, joined by his old partner in fashion crime, Hansel (Owen Wilson), who are now media outcasts – and it’s no wonder when the jokes are as weak as a starving supermodel. View oEmbed on the source website We find Zoolander bearded and holed-up in the frozen peaks of “extreme north New Jersey” after his Centre For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too (established at the end of the first film) burns down, killing his wife (real-life spouse Christine Taylor) and leaving Hansel with a horrible facial disfigurement (ie a teeny-tiny scar). He is overwhelmed with guilt, which is fair enough given that he built the centre with the same materials as the architectural model. An overly complicated, underworked plot later brushes this crime under the rug, and there are other attempts to cover the cracks, like a cast stuffed full to bursting point with cameos – always a reliable source of cheap laughs. It’s none other than Billy Zane, playing himself, who draws Zoolander and Hansel out of hiding (the latter, from a life of orgies in the desert) to feature in a big comeback show in Rome. The event is to be staged by the current First Lady of Fashion, Alexanya Atoz, a sort of satin-wrapped, sour-faced gargoyle, sportingly played beneath inches of latex by Kristen Wiig. Wiig’s unintelligible multi-ethnic accent is good for a few laughs, but like the character, it’s overdone and gets old quickly. Not to be discouraged by that, Kyle Mooney, playing Atoz’s head designer Don Atari, also has a funny way of talking, being too hip for consonants “n’all that y’all”. Cue Zoolander and Hansel doing their nonplussed pouty faces. It’s a w…

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Deadpool review: "an enjoyably twisted little mutant tale"
type: item
date: 2016-02-09T15:04:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: Review
description: It's Marvel – but not as we know it – as Ryan Reynolds's sweary, lairy, kick-ass avenger gives the X-Men series an X-rated shake-up
encoded: ★★★ He stalks the Marvel universe but, as the man himself tells us time and again, Deadpool is no hero. He has the super strength, just not the mind-set, which is both a strength and occasional weakness for this oddball X-Men spin-off. There’s no doubting that Ryan Reynolds is in his element though, cracking wise as well as knocking heads together with a delicious dark sense of humour. Reynolds spent years trying to persuade studio suits to give this movie the green light, his character having made a brief appearance in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. For them, it’s a dicey proposition because it so relentlessly (and refreshingly) mocks the superhero ethos that has made Marvel billions, regularly breaking the fourth wall to bring the audience in on the joke. Even the opening credits are marked by mischief, not bothering to check names but only tick off Hollywood stereotypes including “British villain”, here played by Ed Skrein like a cross between a cockney hardman and a Nazi concentration camp officer. At a top secret medical facility, Ajax (Skrein) takes special delight in torturing his patients, with the mouthy Deadpool chief among them. Before coming up with that moniker, though, Deadpool is just a washed-up ex-mercenary called Wade Wilson, who drinks hard and plays hard, then falls in love with a feisty hooker called Vanessa (gamely played by Morena Baccarin). Cancer spoils the party, however, and with no other hope for survival, Wade accepts an offer from a man in black (“Agent Smith?” he presumes) and ends up in Ajax’s “care” – enduring pain to the point of cell mutation. While he acquires the ability to self-heal, regenerate and kicks cancer’s butt, Wade no longer sees a reason to live after Ajax burns him third-degree style (just for the giggles), making him so unsightly that he has no option but to don a mask and a tight suit, and, crucially, is left unable to face Vanessa again. Wade tells us that this is a love story, not a superhero movie, and that’s t…

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Vanessa Hudgens: Ever since I was really young I wanted to play a prostitute
type: item
date: 2013-07-18T09:30:36.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: Star of The Frozen Ground says her role was “thrilling” and while she played co-star to Nicolas Cage, they “didn’t spend any time together off-screen”
encoded: Vanessa Hudgens was only 18-years-old when she found herself in the glare of the media spotlight thanks to the High School Musical phenomenon and her off-screen relationship with co-star Zac Efron. “I was young,” she says, though she’s still only 24. But she maintains a balanced view on the many sensational stories – and photos – that were published early on in her career. “I didn’t pay attention to what people were saying, nor did I care, honestly. I was just enjoying life and I got to do what I loved and people loved what we did, so I was just very grateful and just kind of rolling with the punches.” More than rolling with them, Hudgens is a strikingly confident young woman who insists she’s “at the steering wheel, driving the bus” when it comes to her film choices. She was last seen in the grimy satirical thriller Spring Breakers and her latest is The Frozen Ground, a true crime story in which she co-stars as prostitute Cindy Paulson. Nicolas Cage is Jack Halcombe, the cop pursuing notorious Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen (John Cusack) who allows Cindy to slip his grasp. It’s a world far away from the shiny, happy showbiz parade that was High School Musical, but she knocks RT off balance when asked about her reasons for taking this on. “Ever since I was really young I wanted to play a prostitute. It’s just, like, thrilling as an actor to put yourself in a situation you, personally, would never be in. At the end of the day you’re just a kid playing pretend, so if you’re going to do it, might as well go crazy with it.” If that sounds a bit frivolous, Hudgens certainly got a reality check after spending a weekend with the real Cindy Paulson prior to shooting. “I had a happy childhood, so it’s hard, but it’s interesting, when you don’t grow up with a solid foundation, how much that really affects the rest of your life. “What she went through…it’s eye-opening, for sure. In the past I’ve possibly been too trusting with people I don’t know and it’s opened my eyes t…

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This Is the End - review
type: item
date: 2013-06-28T07:40:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: "The guys at Franco’s place are ripe for the picking, with more sins in the bank than money – and if they had a swear jar in the house, they’d be twice as rich"
encoded: If the end of the world is this much fun, then bring it on! James Franco is the host of the party that spirals into hellish chaos – quite literally – when the Earth opens up in Hollywood and swallows up a bunch of A-Listers. They’re all playing heightened, tripped out versions of themselves in a wild story hatched by Seth Rogen who also co-directed with Evan Goldberg. It sounds self-indulgent, except that they are deemed unworthy of God’s salvation when Judgement Day dawns. Rogen, Goldberg and Franco previously hit big with Pineapple Express and use their characters in that film as a template for what they might be like in real life. They sit around stoned, spitballing wacky ideas for a sequel just before things get really weird… Jay Baruchel is the anchor who stands apart from this crowd of Hollywood hipsters – branded as one of Rogen’s “Canadian friends” – and incessantly patronised by Jonah Hill, taking his ‘nice guy’ reputation to the point of nauseating oiliness. Michael Cera goes the other way, subverting his cosy image and making Charlie Sheen look like a choirboy. Danny McBride is just straight-up obnoxious (also riffing on his part in Pineapple Express) and a crasher at the party because Franco, specifically, didn’t invite him. Alas, they end up in each other’s faces when the fire and brimstone rains down and Franco must batten down the hatches. Baruchel recognises that this is a disaster of biblical proportions and Goldberg shoots some impressive scenes of grand-scale destruction: massive fiery pits, palm trees flaring up like giant, Roman candles and Ray Harryhausen-style demons prowling the hills for souls to take. Naturally, the guys at Franco’s place are ripe for the picking, with more sins in the bank than money – and if they had a swear jar in the house, they’d be twice as rich. The colourful language feels apt, however. Hot Tub Time Machine’s Craig Robinson is among the small group of survivors who neatly sums up the problem: “We play tough guys, bu…

Welcome to the Punch review - Creevy is assured and dynamic behind the camera
type: item
date: 2013-03-12T08:54:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Rarely does a British film come along that smacks you right between the eyes with its sheer style and scope but Welcome to the Punch does just that
encoded: Rarely does a British film come along that smacks you right between the eyes with its sheer style and scope, but Welcome to the Punch does just that. James McAvoy and Mark Strong go head-to-head in an all-guns blazing battle of the egos reminiscent of Hollywood blockbuster Heat and Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. It’s not original and it doesn’t have quite the same depth as those films, but it is packed with excitement – not least because it signals the arrival of a bright new talent. Strong calls writer/director Eran Creevy “the new Ridley”, referring to that famous Scott brother who came on board as a producer, here, after seeing his debut feature Shifty. That was a socially conscious crime drama– pared down yet well-crafted and quietly moving – and perhaps, an unlikely springboard to big-budget filmmaking. But from the outset, as the camera swoops in on the City of London, capturing its modern side in cool blues and chrome, you know you’re in safe hands. Down on the ground, rabid copper Max Lewinsky (McAvoy) is in hot pursuit of master criminal Jacob Sternwood (Strong) who has just pulled off the latest in a long line of audacious heists. Evidently, Max has had it up to the neck, being made a fool of by this smooth operator, but he’s asking for it when he defies orders and continues the chase on foot, alone, and outnumbered. Sternwood could kill him right there and then, but instead, shoots him in the leg. Three years later Max is sleepwalking through life – well, hobbling really – having to drain his knee with a syringe every day before his morning coffee. Meanwhile, Sternwood is enjoying magnificent lake views at what looks like his own personal Scandinavian spa resort. Truthfully, he looks a little fed up as well, but Sternwood doesn’t get a kick out crime – not anymore, anyway. His pulse only quickens when his hoodie son (Elyes Gabel) is gunned down on London’s streets and taken into custody. Inevitably, Sternwood comes back to town and Max switches to r…

Peter Jackson on stopping The Hobbit shoot to allow Martin Freeman to film Sherlock
type: item
date: 2012-12-11T16:57:57.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Fantasy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: "I was having sleepless nights. I lay awake one night with my iPad. I’d just downloaded Sherlock... ‘God, he would make the perfect Bilbo. What the hell is going on? How did we end up where we are?"
encoded: For the Hampshire-born actor who plays The Hobbit, the journey to landing the role in this epic adaptation was just as unexpected. As the red carpets unfurl for the first part of the trilogy, Martin Freeman and filmmaker Peter Jackson have been reflecting on the various dark dead-ends they wandered into before reaching their goal. Ahead of the London premiere, Jackson recounted the problems. “Back when we were originally thinking about The Hobbit Martin was the first person who came to mind and the only person we ever wanted for the role. I imagine we probably spent about 18 months [in development] before we started shooting and during that period it was hard for the film to get a green light because MGM – one of the co-rights holders – was having financial issues and the studio was being sold and it wasn’t possible to proceed with the movie until that situation was resolved, and so we were kind of in a waiting pattern to some degree. Then during that period of time Sherlock arrived.” Sherlock was a major stumbling block. Freeman was already contractually obliged to play Watson in the BBC’s second series and Auntie wasn’t budging. “I was in a state of panic, I think,” said Jackson. “We couldn’t think of anyone else. To me that piece of casting is absolutely perfect and [without that] you’re really jeopardising the films and jeopardising the investment in the films and audiences’ enjoyment. I was having sleepless nights. I lay awake one night with my iPad. I’d just downloaded Sherlock. I was watching the second episode. It was about four o’clock in the morning and I was sitting there watching Martin, thinking, ‘God, he would make the perfect Bilbo. What the hell is going on? How did we end up where we are? It’s a disaster!’” But it was then that Jackson, like one of Tolkien’s heroes, was struck with inspiration and decided to go up against the might of the studio giant. “I got up in the morning and made some phone calls and basically, the idea that I had – which is p…

The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey - review
type: item
date: 2012-12-09T16:00:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Review
description: Peter Jackson has made a great film, but it’s hiding inside a much bigger, brighter and only quite good one, says Stella Papamichael
encoded: No medium can transport you to another world so fully as cinema and with effects wizard Peter Jackson at the helm the experience can be utterly enchanting. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a triumph in this regard and with The Hobbit, he is pushing the boundaries of digital technology to even more distant realms. So, why does it look like a glorified home video? If you elect to see An Unexpected Journey in 3D, you will experience motion at 48 frames per second (compared to the standard 24) which draws you deeper into the action. Even the opening dinner party at Bilbo Baggins’ cosy Hobbit hole is made to feel like a rollercoaster ride. But the hitch is that it brings reality too close, too sharply defined, giving the feeling that you’ve accidentally stumbled into dress rehearsals and spoiled the magic of seeing the film as it was intended. The much-hyped super-kinetic action also takes a while to kick in. Bilbo (Martin Freeman) doesn’t set a hairy foot beyond the gates of Bag End for almost half-an-hour, instead forced to entertain 13 warrior Dwarves who are en route to the reclaim their homeland. In this first of three instalments, Jackson is more concerned with Bilbo’s evolution from anxious homebody to war hero. Thankfully, Freeman is a charismatic lead, employing that familiar look of weary bemusement (perfected on The Office) to offer a humorous counterpoint to all the growly doom-mongering. That’s left to Richard Armitage as the Dwarves’ leader Thorin, throwing looks of blue steel at the wimpy little hobbit. T’is the wise wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan matching Freeman for dry wit) who insists that Bilbo is vital to their quest to reclaim ‘the heart’ of The Lonely Mountain from Smaug, the dragon. And after much hemming and hawing – and a superfluous singsong around the fireplace – they eventually mount up and sally forth. Naturally, the road ahead through stunning mountains is littered with ‘orrible Orcs, trolls and goblins and Jackson exploits that 48fps to cra…

Martin McDonagh tackles Seven Psychopaths
type: item
date: 2012-12-05T10:12:00.000Z
creator: Stella Papamichael
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The director behind cult classic In Bruges reflects on the messy business of shooting people in his latest crime thriller
encoded: London playwright Martin McDonagh made the transition to film in 2008 with the existential thriller In Bruges, which he also directed, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a strong cult following. In it, Colin Farrell played one of two hitmen who arrive at a spiritual dead end in Belgium, but his latest thriller Seven Psychopaths puts Hollywood in the crosshairs. Talking to RadioTimes.com, McDonagh thinks carefully before describing the film as “meta-textual or meta-fictional”. He casts Colin Farrell again, this time as screenwriter Marty who dreams up the title Seven Psychopaths and little else, before crossing paths with a real-life gangster played by Woody Harrelson. McDonagh admits to naming the hero after himself in a self-referential gesture. “Like Colin says in the film, I had the title but only one psychopath and he wants it to be about love and peace. That’s the same place I was in; I had the story about the Quaker psychopath played by Harry Dean Stanton and nothing else but the title, so yeah, there are degrees of ‘self-referential’ in it, but I’ve thrown plenty of red herrings in there too. His name is my name and he’s Irish and I’m half-Irish, but there’s plenty that’s not me too, so it’s always fun throwing those things into the mix as well and playing with people’s perceptions and expectations.” Fortunately, McDonagh has never encountered a psychopath either – let alone seven – but his film has a feverish energy and he takes special delight in pulling apart the traditional gangster film. “There was something joyful about it for me because it takes the piss out of lots of stereotypical Hollywood gangster movies, and it’s not like I’ve ever been in a position of having to make those kinds of movies, so I’m not reacting against a Hollywood that I’m a part of. I wasn’t trying to work out stuff that was bugging me, but I was definitely trying to comment on violent movies a bit and I felt that maybe we could take ‘guys with guns’ and …