Steve McQueen falls short with wartime drama Blitz November 5, 2024 Ten years on from his Oscar triumph with 12 Years A Slave, filmmaker Steve McQueen has forged his own creative path. Rather than dive into the world of blockbusters, he has stuck with hard hitting dramas such as his Small Axe anthology of films and the 2018 thriller Widows. His latest is Blitz, a World [...]
Emilia Perez is an early tip for all the top awards October 25, 2024 As we approach awards season, Emilia Perez, the new film from director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, The Sisters Brothers), will hope its joyful and jagged tale rightly captures the imagination of judges. Set in Mexico City, Zoe Saldaña plays Rita, a brilliant but frustrated lawyer working to keep the guilty from prison. Feared cartel leader [...]
The Apprentice: Is the Trump biopic fake news? October 24, 2024 The Apprentice, a film directed by Iranian-Danish Ali Abbasi out last week in the UK, constitutes a brutal character assassination against presidential candidate Donald Trump. Focusing on the years 1973 to the early 1980s, it tracks Trump’s rise from real estate mogul’s awkward son (he’s literally knocking on doors collecting rents) to the man liberals [...]
The Apprentice film review: A gloriously dark origin story for Trump October 17, 2024 As we near the US Presidential election, The Apprentice has attracted much controversy from one of the candidates. This early-days biopic of Donald Trump has been denounced by the 45th President, who sent a cease-and-desist letter causing the film to have trouble finding a distributor. But is it worth the fuss? Starting in the early [...]
Hard Truths by Mike Leigh, London Film Festival review: I couldn’t bare the misery anymore October 17, 2024 Hard Truths by Mike Leigh, review and star rating: ★★★☆☆ As one of Britain’s greatest living film-makers, Mike Leigh launched the careers of British acting royalty, including Gary Oldman, Alison Steadman and Tim Roth. But goodness gracious me, he’s a right old misery guts. To mark the release of his new film Hard Truths, Vulture [...]
Twiggy at London Film Festival review: Sadie Frost captures why she was so groundbreaking October 16, 2024 Twiggy by Sadie Frost, London Film Festival review and star rating: ★★★★☆ Posh ’90s party girl Sadie Frost has reimagined herself as a documentary maker. In 2022 she directed Quant, about iconic ’60s designer Mary Quant, and her 2024 gambit is about model turned singer, actor and M&S saviour Twiggy. Frost seems to have a [...]
Joy at London Film Festival review: this Netflix sob-fest with Bill Nighy is unmissable October 15, 2024 Joy film review and star rating from the London Film Festival: ★★★★☆ Thomasin McKenzie does a spiffing impression of Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones in Netflix’s Joy. Whenever there’s bad news, she scrunches up her face like an enraged toddler, like Zellweger does when either Colin Firth or Hugh Grant do the dirty on her. [...]
Profit slashed at Eon Productions as wait for new James Bond continues October 15, 2024 Profit at Eon Productions, the company behind the James Bond movie franchise, was slashed in 2023 despite its turnover jumping, it has been revealed. The London-headquartered business has reported a pre-tax profit of £224,985 for its latest financial year. The total comes after the firm posted a pre-tax profit of £900,879 for 2022. Newly-filed accounts [...]
Darker than Saltburn: Barry Keoghan is amazing as a topless gunman in gory new thriller October 14, 2024 Bring Them Down at the London Film Festival, review and star rating: “Darker than Saltburn’ ★★★★ It’s been exactly a year since Saltburn premiered at the London Film Festival, elevating Barry Keogan to elite-level grave-shagger and enigmatic prettyboy of the moment. You won’t need reminding that in the year since, he’s joined Paul Mescal in [...]
Pathé switches to high-end TV drama as loss continues despite Sir Michael Caine swan song October 14, 2024 The UK arm of movie maker Pathé remains in the red despite releasing the final film featuring Sir Michael Caine amid its switch to high-end TV drama. Pathé Entertainment, which is headquartered in London, has reported a pre-tax loss of £4.8m for 2023, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. The loss comes after the [...]