Pharrell Williams documentary Piece by Piece misses out some important bits November 8, 2024 Music superstar Pharrell Williams tells the story of his rise to fame in the most unusual way: through the medium of Lego. Animated in the style of The Lego Movie and its sequels, Piece By Piece documents Pharrell Williams’ rise from a young Virginia kid with a dream to one of the biggest names in [...]
Piece By Piece review: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in soulless Christmas filler by Amazon November 8, 2024 Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson can’t save this soulless Christmas comedy It’s early November, which in Hollywood means the countdown to Christmas has begun. Hoping to kick start the cheer is action comedy Red One. Sadly, it’s as exciting as finding a lump of coal in your stocking. Dwayne Johnson – star of what feels like [...]
Paddington In Peru review: Ben Whishaw return can’t compete with Hugh Grant classic November 7, 2024 Seven years on from its release, Paddington 2 isn’t just one of the best family films of the 2010s, it’s one of the best films full-stop, having become an absolute modern classic. Building on the wholesome inaugural Paddington film released in 2014 to critical success, director Paul King established a film franchise stuffed full with [...]
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story: homage brings a tear to the eye November 5, 2024 Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story review: ★★★★ Next year sees a new version of Superman starring Twisters actor David Corenswet. His performance will inevitably be compared to Christopher Reeve’s, who became world famous for playing the superhero in the 1970s, embodying the role for a generation before a tragic horse-riding accident left him paralysed. Super/Man: [...]
Martha Stewart Netflix documentary reveals surprising side to American icon November 5, 2024 Martha Stewart Netflix documentary review and star rating: ★★★★ Netflix have teamed up with a media mogul for the documentary Martha, chronicling the life and times of Martha Stewart. Coming from humble beginnings, the TV cook and personality would go on to become a national icon in the US before a criminal conviction forced her [...]
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 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 [...]
Timestalker is the saucy, grizzly anti-romance British cinema needs October 10, 2024 Having spent much of her acting career in cult favourites such as TV comedy Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place and 2012 indie film Sightseers, Alice Lowe broke through as a director with her 2016 comedy slasher Prevenge. She follows up that success with her second directorial effort, high concept comedy Timestalker. She plays Agnes, a woman [...]
Salem’s Lot review: Dreary HBO Max vampire horror lacks bite October 10, 2024 The work of Stephen King has been adapted for TV and film consistently since the author began writing. Some result in classics – The Shawshank Redemption and IT – while other fail to capture the spirit of the story and are forgotten. The latest adaptation of King’s second novel, ‘Salem’s Lot, seems destined for the latter [...]