Saturday Night review: Inside the mad origin story of Saturday Night Live January 30, 2025 Behind-the-scenes movies offering a glimpse behind famous moments in cultural history are having something of a moment. Some are great, like Mank’s dramatisation of the making of Citizen Kane in, and some are awful, like when Nicole Kidman donned horrifying prosthetics to play Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos. This week, Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason [...]
Why Adrien Brody’s The Brutalist should take all 10 Oscars January 24, 2025 Adrien Brody carries The Brutalist writer-director Brady Corbet’s vision of astonishing scope, says Adam Bloodworth Right at the point when The Brutalist starts threatening to live up to its name, the action blackens into darkness and the word “INTERMISSION” flashes up. The audience is encouraged to stretch their legs, much like Vue audiences did last [...]
The 25 best things to do in London in 2025, from theatre to films and bonkers events January 6, 2025 Theatre, film, exhibitions, barmy events: here are the best 25 things to do in London in 2025 Another new year and, Dry January aside, there’s plenty to be excited for. Yes, our capital is stepping up to mark a quarter of a century since the millennium bug (feel old yet?) with oodles of brilliant new [...]
Lily Cole on returning to modelling: I’m opinionated now – I do my own hair and makeup December 29, 2024 Lily Cole has been an actor and a model, but the 36-year-old is now focused on changing our washing habits. Could she be the rare case of an actor without an ego big enough for Hollywood? Throw back to the mid-noughties and the Saltburn-era of British fashion, and there was another style icon as ubiquitous [...]
Better Man: Robbie Williams biopic is a Christmas must-watch December 24, 2024 Think about Jamie Foxx studying Ray Charles for 2004 Oscar winner Ray, or Rami Malek transforming into Freddie Mercury for Bohemian Rhapsody: there are some excellent musical biopics. But for Better Man, the story of Robbie Williams, the singer took a different route, eschewing a lookalike for a CGI ape. Yes, you read that correctly. [...]
Reflecting on Saltburn a year later with Sadie Soverall: ‘We shot so much more!’ December 23, 2024 As Saltburn celebrates its first anniversary, we reflect on the film’s success with Sadie Soverall, the only actor to have romantic scenes with Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan It has been almost exactly a year ago since Saltburn blew a hole in TikTok – and our sartorial perspectives – to become the most talked-about film [...]
Cineworld: The six cinemas to close as restructuring plan completes December 10, 2024 Cineworld has revealed it will close another six of its cinemas across the UK as its major restructuring process comes to an end. The troubled chain will shutter its sites in Castleford, Leigh, Middlesbrough, Northampton, Poole and Weymouth. The move comes after Cineworld previously closed five sites after first announcing the overhaul in July. The [...]
Vue: National Minimum Wage and rising costs cuts cinema chain’s earnings November 29, 2024 The releases of Wonka, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part 2 failed to boost sales at cinema chain Vue during the first half of its financial year while its earnings were slashed. The company said the falling admonitions and total revenue for the period were the result of coming up against the tough comparison [...]
The music of Louis Armstrong in this stirring Democratic Republic of Congo documentary November 18, 2024 Music, history, and politics intersect in this dense Democratic Republic of Congo documentary that informs as well as overwhelms. A Cold War-themed story of rebellion, espionage, and geopolitical intrigue, Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat is set during 1960 as the Republic elects its first independent leader. At the same time, the US begins to send [...]
Cinemas warn tax hikes may cause credits to roll November 15, 2024 The UK cinema industry has warned that higher taxes on employees’ wages announced in the Budget will be the final straw for some venues in what has become a core cultural industry. Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased the amount employers have to pay in NICs by 1.2 per cent, and lowered the wage threshold employers must start paying [...]