![Jay-Z at an event for The Great Gatsby (2013)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDcwOTc0NjI0OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjE1MDc0OQ@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR4,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Jay-Z at an event for The Great Gatsby (2013)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDcwOTc0NjI0OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjE1MDc0OQ@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR4,0,140,207_.jpg)
Jay-z is back in the music spotlight with the release of “4:44,” his thirteenth studio album that finds him more vulnerable than he’s ever been. Amongst tracks in which he talks about his martial strife with Beyonce and admits to womanizing, the Brooklyn rapper builds an entire song around the infamous “La La Land”/”Moonlight” Best Picture screw up that was the talk of the Oscars this year.
Read More: Jay-z and Mark Romanek Unveil ‘4:44’ Animated Video for ‘The Story of O.J.’
The eighth song on the 10-track album is called “Moonlight,” and it includes the hook: “We stuck in La La Land/ Even when we win, we gon’ lose/ We got the same fuckin’ flows/ I don’t know who is who.” Speaking with iHeart Radio following the album’s release, the rapper confirmed both the title and the hook was a reference to the infamous Best Picture gaffe.
Read More: Jay-z and Mark Romanek Unveil ‘4:44’ Animated Video for ‘The Story of O.J.’
The eighth song on the 10-track album is called “Moonlight,” and it includes the hook: “We stuck in La La Land/ Even when we win, we gon’ lose/ We got the same fuckin’ flows/ I don’t know who is who.” Speaking with iHeart Radio following the album’s release, the rapper confirmed both the title and the hook was a reference to the infamous Best Picture gaffe.
- 6/30/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
![Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Zac Efron, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jon Bass, and Kelly Rohrbach in Baywatch (2017)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTA4MjQ0ODQzNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzA5NjYzMjI@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Zac Efron, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jon Bass, and Kelly Rohrbach in Baywatch (2017)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTA4MjQ0ODQzNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzA5NjYzMjI@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
The reviews are in for “Baywatch,” which opens in theaters this Thursday, May 25. Seth Gordon’s feature film remake of the iconic ’90s series about a group of very hot lifeguards stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as devoted rescuer Mitch Buchannon (the role played by David Hasselhoff in the original series), who has a really hard time with a reckless new recruit named Matt Brody (Zac Efron). Priyanka Chopra co-stars as the villainous vixen, Victoria Leeds, Alexandra Daddario is Summer, Ilfenesh Hadera is Stephanie and Kelly Rohrbach takes on the role of C.J. Parker (originally played by Pamela Anderson).
In her B- review for the film for IndieWire, Judy Dry describes it as “a splashy summer hit full of dick jokes,” adding that “something about the blow-up floaties, the water rescues, and the red suits just screams summer blockbuster.
In her B- review for the film for IndieWire, Judy Dry describes it as “a splashy summer hit full of dick jokes,” adding that “something about the blow-up floaties, the water rescues, and the red suits just screams summer blockbuster.
- 5/23/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
![Dwayne Johnson, Stephen Kearin, Temuera Morrison, Alan Tudyk, Nicole Scherzinger, Any Gabrielly, and Auli'i Cravalho in Moana (2016)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI4MzU5NTExNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzY1MTEwMDI@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Dwayne Johnson, Stephen Kearin, Temuera Morrison, Alan Tudyk, Nicole Scherzinger, Any Gabrielly, and Auli'i Cravalho in Moana (2016)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI4MzU5NTExNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzY1MTEwMDI@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
Just when you thought you were safe from an animated female protagonist venturing into an unknown wilderness singing about her destiny, here comes Disney Animation Studios’ latest feature, “Moana.” The film follows the titular princess and navigator (newcomer Auli’i Cralvaho) who, alongside the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), embarks on a journey to discover the mystical evil that threatens to destroy the ocean. While it’s set in the much more tropical Polynesia, “Moana” seems poised to follow in the footsteps of 2013’s “Frozen” in the hopes of snatching up award season buzz for best animated feature.
IndieWire’s Eric Kohn noted that the film is a step in the right direction for a studio oft-plagued with criticisms of cultural insensitivity and whitewashing, writing in his review, “Visually dazzling and loaded with charm, the movie is also blatant in its quest for cultural sensitivity: It has memorable songs by ‘Hamilton...
IndieWire’s Eric Kohn noted that the film is a step in the right direction for a studio oft-plagued with criticisms of cultural insensitivity and whitewashing, writing in his review, “Visually dazzling and loaded with charm, the movie is also blatant in its quest for cultural sensitivity: It has memorable songs by ‘Hamilton...
- 11/8/2016
- by Mark Burger
- Indiewire
David’s Quick Take for the tl;dr Media Consumer:
Capricious Summer is fairly easy to watch (a slight 76 minute feature, in color), summarize (a whimsical sex comedy about three middle-aged men in a small rustic town are shaken out of their routines when they’re distracted by the arrival of an itinerant magician and his beautiful assistant) and compartmentalize (coming at the tail end of the Czech New Wave, this is Jiří Menzel’s less celebrated follow-up to the Oscar-winning Closely Watched Trains.) But just as conveniently as the film might fit within those pigeonholes, there’s a serious risk of underestimating what Menzel places before us here.
Comfortably nestled within a volume of the Eclipse Series expressly dedicated to the aforementioned Czech New Wave, Capricious Summer is at risk of being regarded as simply one of six quirky, enjoyable treats in that box. Each film has its own distinctive feel,...
Capricious Summer is fairly easy to watch (a slight 76 minute feature, in color), summarize (a whimsical sex comedy about three middle-aged men in a small rustic town are shaken out of their routines when they’re distracted by the arrival of an itinerant magician and his beautiful assistant) and compartmentalize (coming at the tail end of the Czech New Wave, this is Jiří Menzel’s less celebrated follow-up to the Oscar-winning Closely Watched Trains.) But just as conveniently as the film might fit within those pigeonholes, there’s a serious risk of underestimating what Menzel places before us here.
Comfortably nestled within a volume of the Eclipse Series expressly dedicated to the aforementioned Czech New Wave, Capricious Summer is at risk of being regarded as simply one of six quirky, enjoyable treats in that box. Each film has its own distinctive feel,...
- 5/21/2016
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss Eclipse Series 36: Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures.
About the films:
During the 1940s, realism reigned in British cinema—but not at Gainsborough Pictures. The studio, which had been around since the twenties, found new success with a series of pleasurably preposterous costume melodramas. Audiences ate up these overheated films, which featured a stable of charismatic stars, including James Mason, Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger, and Phyllis Calvert. Though the movies were immensely profitable in wartime and immediately after, Gainsborough did not outlive the decade. This set brings together a trio of the studio’s most popular films from this era—florid, visceral tales of secret identities, multiple personalities, and romantic betrayals.
About the films:
During the 1940s, realism reigned in British cinema—but not at Gainsborough Pictures. The studio, which had been around since the twenties, found new success with a series of pleasurably preposterous costume melodramas. Audiences ate up these overheated films, which featured a stable of charismatic stars, including James Mason, Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger, and Phyllis Calvert. Though the movies were immensely profitable in wartime and immediately after, Gainsborough did not outlive the decade. This set brings together a trio of the studio’s most popular films from this era—florid, visceral tales of secret identities, multiple personalities, and romantic betrayals.
- 8/19/2015
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor conclude their two-part discussion of Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave.
About the films:
Of all the cinematic New Waves that broke over the world in the 1960s, the one in Czechoslovakia was among the most fruitful, fascinating, and radical. With a wicked sense of humor and a healthy streak of surrealism, a group of fearless directors—including eventual Oscar winners Miloš Forman and Ján Kadár—began to use film to speak out about the hypocrisy and absurdity of the Communist state. A defining work was the 1966 omnibus film Pearls of the Deep, which introduced five of the movement’s essential voices: Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, Jiří Menzel,...
About the films:
Of all the cinematic New Waves that broke over the world in the 1960s, the one in Czechoslovakia was among the most fruitful, fascinating, and radical. With a wicked sense of humor and a healthy streak of surrealism, a group of fearless directors—including eventual Oscar winners Miloš Forman and Ján Kadár—began to use film to speak out about the hypocrisy and absurdity of the Communist state. A defining work was the 1966 omnibus film Pearls of the Deep, which introduced five of the movement’s essential voices: Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, Jiří Menzel,...
- 8/4/2015
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
No CGI was harmed or even used in the making of Kornél Mundruczó’s new film White God. Steve Rose weighs up the believability of digital versus practical effects, from Ben-Hur to Star Wars
It wasn’t easy to find a leading actor for White God, admits director Kornél Mundruczó. The new movie’s central character, Hagen, has to make the emotional journey from gentle and lovable to violent and aggressive. “He had to be a bit like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. You had to be really comfortable with him when he was happy so that then you feel sorry for him when he goes wild. And I had to build the rest of the team under him, so he was crucial. The search took two months.”
All part of the casting process, perhaps – except that Hagen happens to be a dog. Not only that, he’s one of...
It wasn’t easy to find a leading actor for White God, admits director Kornél Mundruczó. The new movie’s central character, Hagen, has to make the emotional journey from gentle and lovable to violent and aggressive. “He had to be a bit like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. You had to be really comfortable with him when he was happy so that then you feel sorry for him when he goes wild. And I had to build the rest of the team under him, so he was crucial. The search took two months.”
All part of the casting process, perhaps – except that Hagen happens to be a dog. Not only that, he’s one of...
- 2/12/2015
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Actors Max Irons, Douglas Booth and Sam Claflin talk to Steve Rose about their new film The Riot Club, a drama about a hedonistic upper-class dining society not dissimilar to the Bullingdon Club, whose past members include David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson. The cast describe meeting former club members who had taken part in ritualised excess and say the prime minister is looking forward to seeing the film Continue reading...
- 9/16/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Star Bill Nighy and writer Stephen Beresford tell Steve Rose about their new film, Pride, based on the true story of a group of gay and lesbian activists who arrive in a Welsh mining town in support of the 1984 coal strike. Nighy plays miner Cliff, heading an all-star ensemble cast including Imelda Staunton, Dominic West and Paddy Considine. Pride is in UK cinemas on Friday Continue reading...
- 9/3/2014
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
Starred Up | Labor Day | Yves Saint Laurent | Gbf | The Robber | The Machine | Salvo | The Unknown Known | A Long Way Down
Starred Up (18)
(David Mackenzie, 2013, UK) Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend. 106 mins
We've seen enough prison movies to know the drill, but this is closer to A Prophet than The Great Escape – a bracing mix of brutal thriller, institutional critique and complex character drama. Conviction is key, both in the day-to-day details and the natural performances, particularly O'Connell – a young offender violent enough to be housed with the grown-ups, including his own father. It feels like things could kick off with every scene.
Labor Day (12A)
(Jason Reitman, 2013, Us) Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith. 111 mins
The Juno director tries nuanced domestic drama – and it doesn't really suit him. Erotic tremors are a given when Brolin's escaped convict shacks up with Winslet's lonely single mum, but you'll need to park your disbelief.
Starred Up (18)
(David Mackenzie, 2013, UK) Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend. 106 mins
We've seen enough prison movies to know the drill, but this is closer to A Prophet than The Great Escape – a bracing mix of brutal thriller, institutional critique and complex character drama. Conviction is key, both in the day-to-day details and the natural performances, particularly O'Connell – a young offender violent enough to be housed with the grown-ups, including his own father. It feels like things could kick off with every scene.
Labor Day (12A)
(Jason Reitman, 2013, Us) Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith. 111 mins
The Juno director tries nuanced domestic drama – and it doesn't really suit him. Erotic tremors are a given when Brolin's escaped convict shacks up with Winslet's lonely single mum, but you'll need to park your disbelief.
- 3/22/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Belfast Film Festival | Bradford International Film Festival | Drive In Film Club | The Double Q+A
Belfast Film Festival
The new films at this eclectic festival encompass everything from an Icelandic human/equine romcom (Of Horses And Men to a Kristin Scott Thomas/Daniel Auteuil marriage drama (Before The Winter Chill) to a Liam Neeson-narrated doc on Northern Irish motorbike racing (Road) – not to mention a Siberian heist movie involving telekinetic dwarves (The Distance). There are cult screenings, social-outreach documentaries, films in choice venues (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou on the Belfast Barge), Dawn Of The Dead with a live score by giallo greats Goblin, and Mark Cousins and David Holmes sneaking a short snippet of their new film I Am Belfast.
Various venues, Thu to 5 Apr
Bradford International Film Festival
You want international? How about a British film about Chinese women in Dubai? Or a French study of...
Belfast Film Festival
The new films at this eclectic festival encompass everything from an Icelandic human/equine romcom (Of Horses And Men to a Kristin Scott Thomas/Daniel Auteuil marriage drama (Before The Winter Chill) to a Liam Neeson-narrated doc on Northern Irish motorbike racing (Road) – not to mention a Siberian heist movie involving telekinetic dwarves (The Distance). There are cult screenings, social-outreach documentaries, films in choice venues (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou on the Belfast Barge), Dawn Of The Dead with a live score by giallo greats Goblin, and Mark Cousins and David Holmes sneaking a short snippet of their new film I Am Belfast.
Various venues, Thu to 5 Apr
Bradford International Film Festival
You want international? How about a British film about Chinese women in Dubai? Or a French study of...
- 3/22/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The co-star of Captain America: The Winter Soldier confirms she'd be keen for a standalone movie for her character
• First look review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Scarlett Johansson has called for the Black Widow to get her own spin-off Marvel movie.
Speaking last night at the London Leicester Square premiere of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which she once again portrays the Russian S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Johansson said she was ready to headline her own film if audiences demanded it.
"If you want to see a Black Widow spin-off movie, then I want to see it," she told reporters on the red carpet. "We'll see. We will put the request into Marvel tomorrow."
Johansson once again takes a supporting role in The Winter Soldier, a sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, which is due in UK cinemas next Wednesday. Fans of Marvel...
• First look review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Scarlett Johansson has called for the Black Widow to get her own spin-off Marvel movie.
Speaking last night at the London Leicester Square premiere of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which she once again portrays the Russian S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Johansson said she was ready to headline her own film if audiences demanded it.
"If you want to see a Black Widow spin-off movie, then I want to see it," she told reporters on the red carpet. "We'll see. We will put the request into Marvel tomorrow."
Johansson once again takes a supporting role in The Winter Soldier, a sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, which is due in UK cinemas next Wednesday. Fans of Marvel...
- 3/21/2014
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
The Rocket | Under The Skin | The Zero Theorem | Suzanne | Veronica Mars | Need For Speed | Plot For Peace
The Rocket (12A)
(Kim Mordaunt, 2013, Aus/Thai/Laos) Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Thep Phongam, Bunsri Yindi. 96 mins
Children are often the best ambassadors for world cinema and so it proves here, in a Laos-set tale that's sympathetic but never condescending. The story centres on a displaced boy burdened by a perceived "curse". But it's told with documentary-like conviction and distinctly local details, from James Brown-worshipping war vets to the unexploded ordnance littering the landscape.
Under The Skin (15)
(Jonathan Glazer, 2013, UK) Scarlett Johansson, Paul Brannigan. Krystof Hádek. 108 mins
Glazer's delectably mystifying sci-fi makes Glasgow look like another planet – as seen through the eyes of Johansson's alien seductress, on the prowl for unsuspecting males. It sounds like a highbrow Species, but the imagery and sustained strangeness put it in a realm of its own.
The Zero Theorem (15)
(Terry Gilliam,...
The Rocket (12A)
(Kim Mordaunt, 2013, Aus/Thai/Laos) Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Thep Phongam, Bunsri Yindi. 96 mins
Children are often the best ambassadors for world cinema and so it proves here, in a Laos-set tale that's sympathetic but never condescending. The story centres on a displaced boy burdened by a perceived "curse". But it's told with documentary-like conviction and distinctly local details, from James Brown-worshipping war vets to the unexploded ordnance littering the landscape.
Under The Skin (15)
(Jonathan Glazer, 2013, UK) Scarlett Johansson, Paul Brannigan. Krystof Hádek. 108 mins
Glazer's delectably mystifying sci-fi makes Glasgow look like another planet – as seen through the eyes of Johansson's alien seductress, on the prowl for unsuspecting males. It sounds like a highbrow Species, but the imagery and sustained strangeness put it in a realm of its own.
The Zero Theorem (15)
(Terry Gilliam,...
- 3/15/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Wales One World Film Festival | BFI Flare Festival | Human Rights Watch Film Festival | Flatpack Film Festival
Wales One World Film Festival, Cardiff & Aberystwyth
The world comes to Wales and brings with it a programme of 18 films from such far-flung destinations as Paraguay, Kenya, Iran, Poland and, er, Aberystwyth: Delight is a world premiere about a love affair in the Welsh town. Other fresh offerings include Argentinian supernatural thriller The Second Death and the latest from Iran's Asghar Farhadi, The Past. There's also something of an Indian flavour – The Lunchbox is a Mumbai romance – plus Bollywood Brass Band perform live.
Various venues, Fri to 30 Apr
BFI Flare Festival, London
Last year, the Guide suggested the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival find a more succinct and inclusive name, and you know what, it has. But there are still a huge number of offerings highlighting the joys, dramas and traumas of sexual difference.
Wales One World Film Festival, Cardiff & Aberystwyth
The world comes to Wales and brings with it a programme of 18 films from such far-flung destinations as Paraguay, Kenya, Iran, Poland and, er, Aberystwyth: Delight is a world premiere about a love affair in the Welsh town. Other fresh offerings include Argentinian supernatural thriller The Second Death and the latest from Iran's Asghar Farhadi, The Past. There's also something of an Indian flavour – The Lunchbox is a Mumbai romance – plus Bollywood Brass Band perform live.
Various venues, Fri to 30 Apr
BFI Flare Festival, London
Last year, the Guide suggested the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival find a more succinct and inclusive name, and you know what, it has. But there are still a huge number of offerings highlighting the joys, dramas and traumas of sexual difference.
- 3/15/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
International Women's Day | Under The Skin + Jonathan Glazer Q&A | 1982 Rulez | The Hippodrome Festival Of Silent Cinema
International Women's Day, Bristol & London
Bristol's Translation/Transmission takes International women's day at face value with a documentary survey of women's activism around the world. The scope is equally diverse, from a 1970s deconstruction of Rapunzel to poet Audre Lorde's Berlin years. Each screening is accompanied by discussions and/or introductions. Taking a different tack, April's Birds Eye View film festival launches with a BFI screening of doc Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines, a celebration of female super-empowerment taking in the likes of Xena, Riot Grrrl and, of course, Lynda Carter.
Watershed, Sun to 30 Mar; BFI Southbank, SE1, Sat
Under The Skin + Jonathan Glazer Q&A, London
Blending his visual virtuosity with a mystifying Scottish sci-fi story, Glazer's latest movie is beguilingly strange and highly anticipated. But the questions just...
International Women's Day, Bristol & London
Bristol's Translation/Transmission takes International women's day at face value with a documentary survey of women's activism around the world. The scope is equally diverse, from a 1970s deconstruction of Rapunzel to poet Audre Lorde's Berlin years. Each screening is accompanied by discussions and/or introductions. Taking a different tack, April's Birds Eye View film festival launches with a BFI screening of doc Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines, a celebration of female super-empowerment taking in the likes of Xena, Riot Grrrl and, of course, Lynda Carter.
Watershed, Sun to 30 Mar; BFI Southbank, SE1, Sat
Under The Skin + Jonathan Glazer Q&A, London
Blending his visual virtuosity with a mystifying Scottish sci-fi story, Glazer's latest movie is beguilingly strange and highly anticipated. But the questions just...
- 3/8/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The Grand Budapest Hotel | 300: Rise Of An Empire | Wake In Fright | Paranoia | The Stag | Escape From Planet Earth
The Grand Budapest Hotel (15)
(Wes Anderson, 2014, UK/Ger) Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, F Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan. 100 mins
You wonder how long Anderson can keep accumulating star actors and creating ever more elaborate microcosms but, judging by this, he's a long way from running out of steam. It's a witty caper-within-a-reminiscence-within-a-flashback set in interwar Europe, through which Fiennes's debonair concierge must flee, protege lobby boy in tow, after an heiress's murder. It's breathlessly paced and breathtakingly designed, but with a solid core – like a fancy cake with an iron file concealed inside.
300: Rise Of An Empire (15)
(Noam Murro, 2014, Us) Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro. 102 mins
With the bar for violent historical silliness raised by Game Of Thrones, this sequel pitches recklessly into another orgy of fetishised classical warfare with comic-book effects.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (15)
(Wes Anderson, 2014, UK/Ger) Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, F Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan. 100 mins
You wonder how long Anderson can keep accumulating star actors and creating ever more elaborate microcosms but, judging by this, he's a long way from running out of steam. It's a witty caper-within-a-reminiscence-within-a-flashback set in interwar Europe, through which Fiennes's debonair concierge must flee, protege lobby boy in tow, after an heiress's murder. It's breathlessly paced and breathtakingly designed, but with a solid core – like a fancy cake with an iron file concealed inside.
300: Rise Of An Empire (15)
(Noam Murro, 2014, Us) Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro. 102 mins
With the bar for violent historical silliness raised by Game Of Thrones, this sequel pitches recklessly into another orgy of fetishised classical warfare with comic-book effects.
- 3/8/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Av Festival | Goldfrapp: Tales Of Us | Viva! Spanish & Latin American Film Festival | Cinema Made In Italy
Av Festival, Newcastle upon Tyne
This imaginative festival mines the rich theme of "extraction" this year, with a host of films and events exploring human appropriation of raw materials in the broadest sense. It's a very literal theme for Chinese film-maker Wang Bing, whose epic films (such as the 14-hour Crude Oil and The Ditch) convey the full scope of industrial activity. There's music too, as Test Department regroup to bring industrial site Dunston Staiths – a massive structure on the Tyne – back to life for a series of outdoor audio-visual events.
Various venues, Sat to 31 Mar
Goldfrapp: Tales Of Us, Nationwide
No self-respecting music artiste indulges in mere music videos these days. Like Sigur Rós, Kanye West and Beyoncé before her, Alison Goldfrapp has taken things a stage further, producing a 30-minute...
Av Festival, Newcastle upon Tyne
This imaginative festival mines the rich theme of "extraction" this year, with a host of films and events exploring human appropriation of raw materials in the broadest sense. It's a very literal theme for Chinese film-maker Wang Bing, whose epic films (such as the 14-hour Crude Oil and The Ditch) convey the full scope of industrial activity. There's music too, as Test Department regroup to bring industrial site Dunston Staiths – a massive structure on the Tyne – back to life for a series of outdoor audio-visual events.
Various venues, Sat to 31 Mar
Goldfrapp: Tales Of Us, Nationwide
No self-respecting music artiste indulges in mere music videos these days. Like Sigur Rós, Kanye West and Beyoncé before her, Alison Goldfrapp has taken things a stage further, producing a 30-minute...
- 3/1/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
We Are What We Are | The Book Thief | Non-Stop | Ride Along | As The Palaces Burn | Unforgiven | Funny Face
We Are What We Are (18)
(Jim Mickle, 2013, Us) Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner. 103 mins
The story of an archaic backwoods family with very good reasons for their insularity, this spends such a long time laying out its twisted domestic set-up, it's almost as if it's in denial about being a horror movie (remade from a Mexican original). It's a wise decision. If you don't know the family's Big Secret already, it would be a shame to spoil it; let's just say it pulls the story into real shock and gore territory.
The Book Thief (12A)
(Brian Percival, 2013, Us/Ger) Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson. 131 mins
A smart but syrupy wartime tale that traverses well-trodden territory – from The Reader to Life Is Beautiful – as a young girl is adopted by goodly Germans,...
We Are What We Are (18)
(Jim Mickle, 2013, Us) Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner. 103 mins
The story of an archaic backwoods family with very good reasons for their insularity, this spends such a long time laying out its twisted domestic set-up, it's almost as if it's in denial about being a horror movie (remade from a Mexican original). It's a wise decision. If you don't know the family's Big Secret already, it would be a shame to spoil it; let's just say it pulls the story into real shock and gore territory.
The Book Thief (12A)
(Brian Percival, 2013, Us/Ger) Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson. 131 mins
A smart but syrupy wartime tale that traverses well-trodden territory – from The Reader to Life Is Beautiful – as a young girl is adopted by goodly Germans,...
- 3/1/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Justin Bieber was hanging out at an Atlanta arcade he’d reserved for the day when his security guard allegedly took off in pursuit of a photographer, eventually stealing his camera.
Justin Bieber Bodyguard Arrested
Bieber’s bodyguard, Hugo Hesny, 32, rode in a Cadillac Escalade driven by 49-year-old driver Terrance Johnson. Once they got the photographer to stop, Hesny snagged the camera and the duo drove to Bieber’s rental home in Sandy Springs, Ga., where they were apprehended by authorities, Steve Rose, a spokesman for the Sandy Springs Police Department, told CNN.
Both Hesny and Johnson were charged with felony theft of the $10,000 camera, though the charge was eventually dropped against Johnson.
Pot Found In Escalade
The Escalade, which had been seized from the “Beauty And A Beat” singer’s temporary residence, was discovered by police to contain a small amount of marijuana and two glass smoking pipes, reported TMZ.
Justin Bieber Bodyguard Arrested
Bieber’s bodyguard, Hugo Hesny, 32, rode in a Cadillac Escalade driven by 49-year-old driver Terrance Johnson. Once they got the photographer to stop, Hesny snagged the camera and the duo drove to Bieber’s rental home in Sandy Springs, Ga., where they were apprehended by authorities, Steve Rose, a spokesman for the Sandy Springs Police Department, told CNN.
Both Hesny and Johnson were charged with felony theft of the $10,000 camera, though the charge was eventually dropped against Johnson.
Pot Found In Escalade
The Escalade, which had been seized from the “Beauty And A Beat” singer’s temporary residence, was discovered by police to contain a small amount of marijuana and two glass smoking pipes, reported TMZ.
- 2/26/2014
- Uinterview
Her | The Lego Movie | Bastards | The Monuments Men | Cuban Fury | 8 Minutes Idle | Love Is In The Air | Endless Love | Bette Bourne: It Goes With The Shoes
Her (15)
(Spike Jonze, 2013, Us) Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara. 126 mins
Technophilia will only get you so far, Jonze's near-future parable suggests, as it engineers a blind date between a lonely man and a sentient operating system with no concept of privacy settings – and finds both partners wanting. More successful is the marriage of sci-fi and romantic drama: the focus is more on the heart than the hardware in this soulful, often sorrowful movie.
The Lego Movie (U)
(Phil Lord, 2014, Us) Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett. 100 mins
Using pop-culture humour and star voices to overcome blatant product placement, this canny, rapid-fire comedy adventure is like a Matrix parody rendered in CGI plastic bricks.
Bastards (18)
(Claire Denis, 2013, Fra/Ger) Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni.
Her (15)
(Spike Jonze, 2013, Us) Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara. 126 mins
Technophilia will only get you so far, Jonze's near-future parable suggests, as it engineers a blind date between a lonely man and a sentient operating system with no concept of privacy settings – and finds both partners wanting. More successful is the marriage of sci-fi and romantic drama: the focus is more on the heart than the hardware in this soulful, often sorrowful movie.
The Lego Movie (U)
(Phil Lord, 2014, Us) Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett. 100 mins
Using pop-culture humour and star voices to overcome blatant product placement, this canny, rapid-fire comedy adventure is like a Matrix parody rendered in CGI plastic bricks.
Bastards (18)
(Claire Denis, 2013, Fra/Ger) Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni.
- 2/15/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Dallas Buyers Club | The Invisible Woman | RoboCop | Mr Peabody & Sherman | The Patrol | Lift To The Scaffold
Dallas Buyers Club (15)
(Jean-Marc Vallée, 2013, Us) Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O'Hare, Steve Zahn. 117 mins
What McConaughey loses in body mass he gains in compassion in this drawn-from-real-life drama, which cleverly disguises its awards-friendliness beneath thespian commitment and non-issue-movie storytelling. Diagnosed with Aids in 1980s Texas, McConaughey's rodeo-loving electrician takes matters into his own hands and devises his own grey-market treatment programme for the ravaged gay community (in partnership with Leto's lovable transgender cohort, Rayon). The authorities don't approve; the Academy probably will.
The Invisible Woman (12A)
(Ralph Fiennes, 2013, UK) Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott-Thomas. 111 mins
Working to Claire Tomalin's biography, Fiennes gives us a tale of two Dickenses: the charismatic literary celebrity and the self-absorbed love rat. But the passion of his secret affair with Jones's teenage actor is smothered by repression,...
Dallas Buyers Club (15)
(Jean-Marc Vallée, 2013, Us) Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O'Hare, Steve Zahn. 117 mins
What McConaughey loses in body mass he gains in compassion in this drawn-from-real-life drama, which cleverly disguises its awards-friendliness beneath thespian commitment and non-issue-movie storytelling. Diagnosed with Aids in 1980s Texas, McConaughey's rodeo-loving electrician takes matters into his own hands and devises his own grey-market treatment programme for the ravaged gay community (in partnership with Leto's lovable transgender cohort, Rayon). The authorities don't approve; the Academy probably will.
The Invisible Woman (12A)
(Ralph Fiennes, 2013, UK) Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott-Thomas. 111 mins
Working to Claire Tomalin's biography, Fiennes gives us a tale of two Dickenses: the charismatic literary celebrity and the self-absorbed love rat. But the passion of his secret affair with Jones's teenage actor is smothered by repression,...
- 2/8/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Animated Exeter | Valentine's Day | Future Cinema Presents Who Framed Roger Rabbit | The Room
Animated Exeter
There's as much to do as there is to see at this animation fest, especially for young people. They can devise their own Moshi Monsters (Exeter Phoenix, 16 Feb) and Mike The Knight animations (Exeter Cathedral, 17 Feb), learn how to work with stop-motion, 2D cutouts, software programmes and iPads, all with advice from the likes of creatives from Aardman. A visit from the National Film Board Of Canada brings fresh and classic work, including a Norman McLaren workshop (Exeter Phoenix, 20 Feb), while onscreen there are shorts programmes, many of them made by and aimed at the young, plus recent features such as Frozen, Wolf Children and From Up On Poppy Hill.
Various venues, Mon to 22 Feb
Valentine's Day, Nationwide
You could play it safe this Friday with the reissued Sleepless In Seattle, but the culture-savant, sunglasses-after-dark...
Animated Exeter
There's as much to do as there is to see at this animation fest, especially for young people. They can devise their own Moshi Monsters (Exeter Phoenix, 16 Feb) and Mike The Knight animations (Exeter Cathedral, 17 Feb), learn how to work with stop-motion, 2D cutouts, software programmes and iPads, all with advice from the likes of creatives from Aardman. A visit from the National Film Board Of Canada brings fresh and classic work, including a Norman McLaren workshop (Exeter Phoenix, 20 Feb), while onscreen there are shorts programmes, many of them made by and aimed at the young, plus recent features such as Frozen, Wolf Children and From Up On Poppy Hill.
Various venues, Mon to 22 Feb
Valentine's Day, Nationwide
You could play it safe this Friday with the reissued Sleepless In Seattle, but the culture-savant, sunglasses-after-dark...
- 2/8/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Blow The Bloody Doors Off | Al Pacino Season | We Love Wes! | Takeover Film Festival, Glasgow Youth Film Festival
Blow The Bloody Doors Off, London
His was the bespectacled face of swinging London to be sure, but Michael Caine's movies also inspired some of the era's greatest scores. This event, hosted by Phill Jupitus, replays highlights from four of those classic soundtracks, live, for the first time in history: Sonny Rollins's Alfie, John Barry's The Ipcress File, Quincy Jones's The Italian Job and, getting special attention, Roy Budd's Get Carter. The band includes members of Polar Bear, Madness and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and movie clips on screen will complete the nostalgia trip.
Barbican Hall, EC2, Thu
Al Pacino Season, London
To his critics, Pacino is basically Pacino whatever role he's playing, despite all that "method" stuff. But even if you admit that, most actors would...
Blow The Bloody Doors Off, London
His was the bespectacled face of swinging London to be sure, but Michael Caine's movies also inspired some of the era's greatest scores. This event, hosted by Phill Jupitus, replays highlights from four of those classic soundtracks, live, for the first time in history: Sonny Rollins's Alfie, John Barry's The Ipcress File, Quincy Jones's The Italian Job and, getting special attention, Roy Budd's Get Carter. The band includes members of Polar Bear, Madness and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and movie clips on screen will complete the nostalgia trip.
Barbican Hall, EC2, Thu
Al Pacino Season, London
To his critics, Pacino is basically Pacino whatever role he's playing, despite all that "method" stuff. But even if you admit that, most actors would...
- 2/1/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Out Of The Furnace | Lone Survivor | Journal De France | The Armstrong Lie | I, Frankenstein | That Awkward Moment | Identity Card
Out Of The Furnace (15)
(Scott Cooper, 2013, Us) Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker. 117 mins
Brotherly solidarity, blue-collar violence, pain and grit in a decaying Rust Belt town: this could be a feature-length Bruce Springsteen song. At heart, the story doesn't stretch much further: decent steelworker Bale steps up after his Iraq-vet brother (Affleck) strays too far into outlaw territory, Winter's Bone-style (Harrelson is a great scary baddie). But it's skilfully told and the acting is persuasively raw. Between the cliches, Cooper finds space to give us a tough, textured study of American masculinity in crisis.
Lone Survivor (15)
(Peter Berg, 2013, Us) Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch. 121 mins
A Navy SEALs v Afghani Taliban thriller that, depending on your position, is either a pure, visceral...
Out Of The Furnace (15)
(Scott Cooper, 2013, Us) Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker. 117 mins
Brotherly solidarity, blue-collar violence, pain and grit in a decaying Rust Belt town: this could be a feature-length Bruce Springsteen song. At heart, the story doesn't stretch much further: decent steelworker Bale steps up after his Iraq-vet brother (Affleck) strays too far into outlaw territory, Winter's Bone-style (Harrelson is a great scary baddie). But it's skilfully told and the acting is persuasively raw. Between the cliches, Cooper finds space to give us a tough, textured study of American masculinity in crisis.
Lone Survivor (15)
(Peter Berg, 2013, Us) Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch. 121 mins
A Navy SEALs v Afghani Taliban thriller that, depending on your position, is either a pure, visceral...
- 2/1/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Thousands of Georgia drivers were stranded for over 24 hours on a snow and ice-covered interstate highway I-285 on Jan. 27 into Jan. 28. During the nightmare commuter situation, a miracle was born: a baby girl was safely delivered on the side of the road by a police officer.
Little baby Grace could not wait in the horrific gridlock affecting Atlanta, Georgia highways: her parents were en route to the hospital on Jan. 28 when her mother went into labor and they got stranded on the icy roads of I-285 and gridlock traffic. Officer Tim Sheffield of Sandy Springs Police assisted in delivering the baby, roadside!
Atlanta Snow Storm — Baby Born In Car On Interstate Due To Icy Roadway
Officer Sheffield barely made it to the pregnant mom’s car before the delivery.
“Fortunately he had his emergency lights on and people got out of his way,” Sandy Springs Police Capt. Steve Rose told the Associated Press.
Little baby Grace could not wait in the horrific gridlock affecting Atlanta, Georgia highways: her parents were en route to the hospital on Jan. 28 when her mother went into labor and they got stranded on the icy roads of I-285 and gridlock traffic. Officer Tim Sheffield of Sandy Springs Police assisted in delivering the baby, roadside!
Atlanta Snow Storm — Baby Born In Car On Interstate Due To Icy Roadway
Officer Sheffield barely made it to the pregnant mom’s car before the delivery.
“Fortunately he had his emergency lights on and people got out of his way,” Sandy Springs Police Capt. Steve Rose told the Associated Press.
- 1/29/2014
- by Kristine Hope Kowalski
- HollywoodLife
British Animation Awards | East Side Stories | Jarman 2014 | Scratch'n'Sniff Cinema Presents: The Wicker Man
British Animation Awards, Nationwide
There's so much good animation being done in this country it's difficult to find it all in one place, but these awards give you a selection of the best. It's pretty simple: three award categories – short films, music videos, commercials – and three programmes presenting examples of each, after which viewers vote on their favourites. The variety is endless, from a demented lothario (I Love You So Hard) to a state-of-the-art tale voiced by Bill Nighy and Stephen Mangan (The Hungry Corpse), from comedy wildebeest and pandas to head-trip videos from bands such as Tame Impala and Atoms For Peace. The films play at 19 venues across the country and the winner is announced in March.
Various venues, Thu to 19 Feb
East Side Stories, Nationwide
In the early postwar days, Japanese youth movies used to be about gangs,...
British Animation Awards, Nationwide
There's so much good animation being done in this country it's difficult to find it all in one place, but these awards give you a selection of the best. It's pretty simple: three award categories – short films, music videos, commercials – and three programmes presenting examples of each, after which viewers vote on their favourites. The variety is endless, from a demented lothario (I Love You So Hard) to a state-of-the-art tale voiced by Bill Nighy and Stephen Mangan (The Hungry Corpse), from comedy wildebeest and pandas to head-trip videos from bands such as Tame Impala and Atoms For Peace. The films play at 19 venues across the country and the winner is announced in March.
Various venues, Thu to 19 Feb
East Side Stories, Nationwide
In the early postwar days, Japanese youth movies used to be about gangs,...
- 1/25/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Inside Llewyn Davis | August: Osage County | Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Teenage | Fonzy | Grudge Match | The General | Dark Days | Jai Ho
Inside Llewyn Davis (15)
(Joel & Ethan Coen, 2013, Us) Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, Garret Hedlund, John Goodman. 105 mins
Bob Dylan hadn't written Like A Rolling Stone when this is set (New York, 1961), but Isaac's eponymous hero could almost be the inspiration. He's the archetypal drifter: a complete unknown with no direction home and little prospect of realising his folk-star dream, despite, or perhaps because of, his artistic integrity. The Coens let us know exactly how it feels. This is their most mature drama to date: subdued, sincere, bleakly funny, and as finely crafted as we've come to expect.
August: Osage County (15)
(John Wells, 2013, Us) Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts. 121 mins
Heavy acting artillery is positioned for a full-on awards assault, with Streep's malign matriarch marshalling her fractured family for some mourning and bloodletting.
Inside Llewyn Davis (15)
(Joel & Ethan Coen, 2013, Us) Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, Garret Hedlund, John Goodman. 105 mins
Bob Dylan hadn't written Like A Rolling Stone when this is set (New York, 1961), but Isaac's eponymous hero could almost be the inspiration. He's the archetypal drifter: a complete unknown with no direction home and little prospect of realising his folk-star dream, despite, or perhaps because of, his artistic integrity. The Coens let us know exactly how it feels. This is their most mature drama to date: subdued, sincere, bleakly funny, and as finely crafted as we've come to expect.
August: Osage County (15)
(John Wells, 2013, Us) Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts. 121 mins
Heavy acting artillery is positioned for a full-on awards assault, with Streep's malign matriarch marshalling her fractured family for some mourning and bloodletting.
- 1/25/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Slapstick Festival | The Loco London Comedy Film Festival | Rybczynski: Exploring Space | CarnyVille
Slapstick Festival, Bristol
With Buster Keaton back in cinemas (The General is on reissue and there's a retrospective at London's BFI), it's a good time to brush up on silent comedy, and this festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, has done much to spread the word, or maybe the subtitle. This year Charlie Chaplin takes his turn in the spotlight and marks the 100th anniversary of his Little Tramp incarnation, with Omid Djalili introducing an orchestra-backed screening of City Lights at Colston Hall on Friday. The seen-it-all crowd will be more intrigued by celebrations of forgotten stars such as Constance Talmadge, Raymond Griffith and Max Davidson. More up to date, Tim Vine explains why he loves Benny Hill (Watershed, 26 Jan), and Phill Jupitus asks Paul McGann and Ralph Brown about the making of Withnail & I (Bristol Old Vic, 26 Jan).
Various venues,...
Slapstick Festival, Bristol
With Buster Keaton back in cinemas (The General is on reissue and there's a retrospective at London's BFI), it's a good time to brush up on silent comedy, and this festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, has done much to spread the word, or maybe the subtitle. This year Charlie Chaplin takes his turn in the spotlight and marks the 100th anniversary of his Little Tramp incarnation, with Omid Djalili introducing an orchestra-backed screening of City Lights at Colston Hall on Friday. The seen-it-all crowd will be more intrigued by celebrations of forgotten stars such as Constance Talmadge, Raymond Griffith and Max Davidson. More up to date, Tim Vine explains why he loves Benny Hill (Watershed, 26 Jan), and Phill Jupitus asks Paul McGann and Ralph Brown about the making of Withnail & I (Bristol Old Vic, 26 Jan).
Various venues,...
- 1/18/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Jamie Shovlin: Hiker Meat | Sonic Cinema Full Moon Special | Totally Serialized | Horror On Sea
Jamie Shovlin: Hiker Meat, Manchester
Rough Cut – Jamie Shovlin's documentary about a remake of Hiker Meat, a 1970s horror that never existed – was released last year, but the background of the project is as intriguing as the film itself. An exhibition opens this Friday showing just how much Shovlin and co put into it, and a highlight for cinephiles is next Saturday's "Sleazeathon", an all-night exploitation celebration including masterpieces such as The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue, slavesploitation shocker Mandingo and Dario Argento's The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.
Cornerhouse, Fri to 21 Apr
Sonic Cinema Full Moon Special, London
Where wolf? Here wolf! What better way to mark the full moon than by sloughing off your human form and howling at some lycanthropic entertainment? Marking the waning of the BFI's great Gothic season,...
Jamie Shovlin: Hiker Meat, Manchester
Rough Cut – Jamie Shovlin's documentary about a remake of Hiker Meat, a 1970s horror that never existed – was released last year, but the background of the project is as intriguing as the film itself. An exhibition opens this Friday showing just how much Shovlin and co put into it, and a highlight for cinephiles is next Saturday's "Sleazeathon", an all-night exploitation celebration including masterpieces such as The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue, slavesploitation shocker Mandingo and Dario Argento's The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.
Cornerhouse, Fri to 21 Apr
Sonic Cinema Full Moon Special, London
Where wolf? Here wolf! What better way to mark the full moon than by sloughing off your human form and howling at some lycanthropic entertainment? Marking the waning of the BFI's great Gothic season,...
- 1/11/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
12 Years A Slave | The Railway Man | Delivery Man | After Tiller | 1: Life On The Limit | Exposed: Beyond Burlesque
12 Years A Slave (15)
(Steve McQueen, 2013, Us/UK) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano. 134 mins
What with the acclaim, the awards buzz and the harrowing subject matter, finally seeing McQueen's slavery drama now feels like a duty. But this is an "issue movie" unlike any other, both in its deliberate formalism and its under-represented history. Along with Ejiofor's abductee, we're fully immersed in a slavery system so brutally oppressive even the expression of suffering is forbidden. McQueen gives us a study of institutionalised cruelty, the forces propping it up and its innumerable victims.
The Railway Man (15)
(Jonathan Teplitzky, 2013, Aus/UK) Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman. 116 mins
Middle-aged romance is rapidly derailed by events of the past in this earnest bio-drama, as Kidman spurs Scotsman Firth to revisit his Asian prisoner-of-war days,...
12 Years A Slave (15)
(Steve McQueen, 2013, Us/UK) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano. 134 mins
What with the acclaim, the awards buzz and the harrowing subject matter, finally seeing McQueen's slavery drama now feels like a duty. But this is an "issue movie" unlike any other, both in its deliberate formalism and its under-represented history. Along with Ejiofor's abductee, we're fully immersed in a slavery system so brutally oppressive even the expression of suffering is forbidden. McQueen gives us a study of institutionalised cruelty, the forces propping it up and its innumerable victims.
The Railway Man (15)
(Jonathan Teplitzky, 2013, Aus/UK) Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman. 116 mins
Middle-aged romance is rapidly derailed by events of the past in this earnest bio-drama, as Kidman spurs Scotsman Firth to revisit his Asian prisoner-of-war days,...
- 1/11/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (12A)
(Justin Chadwick, 2013, UK/Sa) Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Jamie Bartlett. 146 mins
Prestige dramatisation finds little to add to a true story that's already inspirational enough, and has already been much retold, especially since Mandela's death. That leaves this as a slightly redundant exercise in biopic box-ticking and corner-cutting, puffed up with awards-friendly grandeur and less interested in the political questions than the personal heart-strings. Still, Elba conveys something of the man as well as the icon, and Harris is a spirited Winnie.
Last Vegas (12A)
(Jon Turtletaub, 2013, Us) Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline. 105 mins
If that title and cast had you thinking "is this The Hangover for seniors?", you wouldn't be far off. It's another Las Vegas bachelor-party adventure, in which four decaying dudes cement their buddyhood and lose their dignity – often assisted by people a fraction of their age,...
(Justin Chadwick, 2013, UK/Sa) Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Jamie Bartlett. 146 mins
Prestige dramatisation finds little to add to a true story that's already inspirational enough, and has already been much retold, especially since Mandela's death. That leaves this as a slightly redundant exercise in biopic box-ticking and corner-cutting, puffed up with awards-friendly grandeur and less interested in the political questions than the personal heart-strings. Still, Elba conveys something of the man as well as the icon, and Harris is a spirited Winnie.
Last Vegas (12A)
(Jon Turtletaub, 2013, Us) Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline. 105 mins
If that title and cast had you thinking "is this The Hangover for seniors?", you wouldn't be far off. It's another Las Vegas bachelor-party adventure, in which four decaying dudes cement their buddyhood and lose their dignity – often assisted by people a fraction of their age,...
- 1/4/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Fewer superheroes, some singing and a bit more weirdness are just some of the things the Guardian's film critics are hoping to see on the big screen in the next 12 months
Peter Bradshaw: Naturalistic TV type acting, old-fashioned musicals and funnier superheroes
With the conclusion of Breaking Bad in 2013, we saw a revival of the "boxset-tv-is-better-than-the-movies" issue, promoted by pundits who are of an age when leaving the house to go to the cinema is becoming a trial. Undoubtedly, boxset TV offers huge opportunities for an actor to develop a role over hours of screen time – more difficult in the movies, although Bruce Dern and June Squibb in Alexander Payne's excellent Nebraska showed us that the old-fashioned pleasures of the actorly performance were not dead. I should love to see some more of this tasty, organically grown, line-fished naturalistic movie acting in 2014.
Soon we shall see the Coens'...
Peter Bradshaw: Naturalistic TV type acting, old-fashioned musicals and funnier superheroes
With the conclusion of Breaking Bad in 2013, we saw a revival of the "boxset-tv-is-better-than-the-movies" issue, promoted by pundits who are of an age when leaving the house to go to the cinema is becoming a trial. Undoubtedly, boxset TV offers huge opportunities for an actor to develop a role over hours of screen time – more difficult in the movies, although Bruce Dern and June Squibb in Alexander Payne's excellent Nebraska showed us that the old-fashioned pleasures of the actorly performance were not dead. I should love to see some more of this tasty, organically grown, line-fished naturalistic movie acting in 2014.
Soon we shall see the Coens'...
- 1/2/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw, Steve Rose, Xan Brooks, David Cox, Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
American Hustle | Anchorman 2 | The Harry Hill Movie | Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie | Moshi Monsters: The Movie | The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty | All Is Lost
American Hustle (15)
(David O Russell, 2013, Us) Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence. 138 mins
Big, brassy and outrageously coiffured, this crazed 70s crime epic leads you into a maze, then keeps you wondering if it knows the way out. Things starts out small, with Bale and Adams's petty con duo turned by Cooper's ambitious Fed, but stakes escalate, allegiances complicate, and deceptions multiply deliriously, carried along by lovably flawed characters and a manic energy.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (15)
(Adam McKay, 2013, Us) Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd. 119 mins
The hype is over, as Ferrell reunites his news team and drags them into New York, the 80s and the 24-hour era. But this sequel's absurdity, cameo-fuelled mayhem and mild...
American Hustle (15)
(David O Russell, 2013, Us) Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence. 138 mins
Big, brassy and outrageously coiffured, this crazed 70s crime epic leads you into a maze, then keeps you wondering if it knows the way out. Things starts out small, with Bale and Adams's petty con duo turned by Cooper's ambitious Fed, but stakes escalate, allegiances complicate, and deceptions multiply deliriously, carried along by lovably flawed characters and a manic energy.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (15)
(Adam McKay, 2013, Us) Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd. 119 mins
The hype is over, as Ferrell reunites his news team and drags them into New York, the 80s and the 24-hour era. But this sequel's absurdity, cameo-fuelled mayhem and mild...
- 12/21/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The Bishops Wife | Mary Poppins | Sleeping Beauty | The Nightmare Before Christmas | The Other Side Of Yuletide | Dead Of Night | The Queen Of Spades
Christmas cinema programming tends to involve the doling out of well-worn classics, most of which are on the telly anyway – and nobody seems to mind. So for those after something – or at least somewhere – a bit special, you'll have to look a bit harder… at the rest this page.
If it's an alternative to It's A Wonderful Life you're after, a good bet could be The Bishop's Wife, made a year later and covering similar themes – angels, the true spirit of Christmas, etc – with Cary Grant and David Niven filling that James Stewart-shaped gap. It plays at Picturehouses and other venues, as do Mary Poppins and the Bolshoi Ballet's Sleeping Beauty. (various venues).
It's a good year for festive counter-programming in general, actually, partly thanks to...
Christmas cinema programming tends to involve the doling out of well-worn classics, most of which are on the telly anyway – and nobody seems to mind. So for those after something – or at least somewhere – a bit special, you'll have to look a bit harder… at the rest this page.
If it's an alternative to It's A Wonderful Life you're after, a good bet could be The Bishop's Wife, made a year later and covering similar themes – angels, the true spirit of Christmas, etc – with Cary Grant and David Niven filling that James Stewart-shaped gap. It plays at Picturehouses and other venues, as do Mary Poppins and the Bolshoi Ballet's Sleeping Beauty. (various venues).
It's a good year for festive counter-programming in general, actually, partly thanks to...
- 12/14/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The Hobbit | Fill The Void | The Innocents | The Christmas Candle | Cinema Paradiso | Tamla Rose
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (12A)
(Peter Jackson, 2013, Us/Nz) Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch. 161 mins
If the first Hobbit movie felt padded out, that didn't seem to put anyone off: its global box-office take was more than $1bn. But now all that protracted set-up is out of the way this middle section hits the ground running and barely lets up, as Freeman and his dwarves hack their way through a theme park's worth of action adventures to close in on the Lonely Mountain. It's a giddy ride, for sure, but we also get a fuller sense of Middle Earth's landscape and inhabitants. Oh yes, and there's a dragon…
Fill The Void (U)
(Rama Burshtein, 2012, Isr) Hadas Yaron, Yiftach Klein, Irit Sheleg. 91 mins
The strictures of ultra-orthodox Judaism give this modern-day story a curiously archaic feel,...
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (12A)
(Peter Jackson, 2013, Us/Nz) Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch. 161 mins
If the first Hobbit movie felt padded out, that didn't seem to put anyone off: its global box-office take was more than $1bn. But now all that protracted set-up is out of the way this middle section hits the ground running and barely lets up, as Freeman and his dwarves hack their way through a theme park's worth of action adventures to close in on the Lonely Mountain. It's a giddy ride, for sure, but we also get a fuller sense of Middle Earth's landscape and inhabitants. Oh yes, and there's a dragon…
Fill The Void (U)
(Rama Burshtein, 2012, Isr) Hadas Yaron, Yiftach Klein, Irit Sheleg. 91 mins
The strictures of ultra-orthodox Judaism give this modern-day story a curiously archaic feel,...
- 12/14/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Cinema has always liked telling a good life story, and all kinds of biography – from the humblest to the starriest – have been given a filmic going-over. The Guardian and Observer's critics pick the 10 best in a very crowded field
• Top 10 animated movies
• Top 10 silent movies
• Top 10 sports movies
• Top 10 film noir
• Top 10 musicals
• Top 10 martial arts movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
This is the most radical of all biopics. It does exactly what it promises, breaking the Canadian pianist's intense and troubled life into concentrated fragments. Reassembly is left to the viewer. When he began working on the screenplay with Don McKellar, the writer-director François Girard recognised the pitfalls of the genre. "There are many traps," he said. "The main temptation is to try to cram everything about a life into one film. What you need is a radical idea...
• Top 10 animated movies
• Top 10 silent movies
• Top 10 sports movies
• Top 10 film noir
• Top 10 musicals
• Top 10 martial arts movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
This is the most radical of all biopics. It does exactly what it promises, breaking the Canadian pianist's intense and troubled life into concentrated fragments. Reassembly is left to the viewer. When he began working on the screenplay with Don McKellar, the writer-director François Girard recognised the pitfalls of the genre. "There are many traps," he said. "The main temptation is to try to cram everything about a life into one film. What you need is a radical idea...
- 12/12/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Jameson Cult Film Club | Sublime Frequencies In North & West Africa | Winter Shuffle | The Nomad Cinema
Jameson Cult Film Club, London, Leeds & Manchester
It feels like they've been buttering us up for the return of Ron Burgundy all year. We've been treated to the Ron-fronted Dodge commercials and an impromptu live version of Afternoon Delight, but if you simply can't wait till Anchorman 2 goes on release next Wednesday – or you simply don't feel like paying for a ticket – these special preview screenings are a good option. The format is the same in each city: a big, themed venue in which to follow the exploits of Will Ferrell and his fellow 1970s throwbacks (this time contending with the cut-throat world of 24-hour news). Plus the promise of "salon-quality hair makeovers", branded refreshments and, of course, jazz flute. Now all you have to do is get a ticket; check the website to find out how.
Jameson Cult Film Club, London, Leeds & Manchester
It feels like they've been buttering us up for the return of Ron Burgundy all year. We've been treated to the Ron-fronted Dodge commercials and an impromptu live version of Afternoon Delight, but if you simply can't wait till Anchorman 2 goes on release next Wednesday – or you simply don't feel like paying for a ticket – these special preview screenings are a good option. The format is the same in each city: a big, themed venue in which to follow the exploits of Will Ferrell and his fellow 1970s throwbacks (this time contending with the cut-throat world of 24-hour news). Plus the promise of "salon-quality hair makeovers", branded refreshments and, of course, jazz flute. Now all you have to do is get a ticket; check the website to find out how.
- 12/7/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
This Ain't California | Nebraska | Frozen | Kill Your Darlings | Oldboy | Powder Room | Homefront | Getaway | The Patience Stone | Big Bad Wolves | Black Nativity | Floating Skyscrapers | Klown | Rough Cut | A Long Way From Home | Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf's
This Ain't California (Tbc)
(Marten Perseil, 2012, Ger) 90 mins
Just as its East German teen subjects took skateboarding behind the Iron Curtain, so this "documentary" smuggles faked footage into its true 1980s history. The result is a fascinating parallel pop-cultural history with a moving (but imaginary) human centre. Working out what's true and what's not only adds to the fun.
Nebraska (15)
(Alexander Payne, 2013, Us) Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb. 115 mins
Stubborn old Dern and son take a quixotic road trip back into family, and American, history.
Frozen (PG)
(Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, 2013, Us) Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel. 108 mins
Disney's classy, sparkly assault on the Christmas holidays, with wintry vistas, musical numbers and a sister-powered fairytale.
This Ain't California (Tbc)
(Marten Perseil, 2012, Ger) 90 mins
Just as its East German teen subjects took skateboarding behind the Iron Curtain, so this "documentary" smuggles faked footage into its true 1980s history. The result is a fascinating parallel pop-cultural history with a moving (but imaginary) human centre. Working out what's true and what's not only adds to the fun.
Nebraska (15)
(Alexander Payne, 2013, Us) Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb. 115 mins
Stubborn old Dern and son take a quixotic road trip back into family, and American, history.
Frozen (PG)
(Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, 2013, Us) Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel. 108 mins
Disney's classy, sparkly assault on the Christmas holidays, with wintry vistas, musical numbers and a sister-powered fairytale.
- 12/7/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Little White Lies Weekender | Cinema Palestino: Bristol Palestine Film Festival | Dirty Wars | Alexander Payne
Little White Lies Weekender, London
The best-designed film magazine on the shelf celebrates its 50th issue with a display of its unimpeachable good taste – mostly. The selection is largely overlooked/underpraised auteur classics, such as Harmony Korine's Gummo, Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love, Lynch's Mulholland Drive, and obscure 1970s road movie Wanda. There are also previews of future releases like Lukas Moodysson's We Are The Best!, plus 1980s Irish "thriller" (and Adam and Joe favourite) Taffin – a monumentally bad movie that definitely didn't get Pierce Brosnan the Bond gig. If you're quick, you can still catch Lwl's pop-up shop in Old Street, too.
Ica, SW1, Fri to 8 Dec
Cinema Palestino: Bristol Palestine Film Festival
Two events to bring us up to speed on Palestine's unique cultural and political situation, both of which...
Little White Lies Weekender, London
The best-designed film magazine on the shelf celebrates its 50th issue with a display of its unimpeachable good taste – mostly. The selection is largely overlooked/underpraised auteur classics, such as Harmony Korine's Gummo, Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love, Lynch's Mulholland Drive, and obscure 1970s road movie Wanda. There are also previews of future releases like Lukas Moodysson's We Are The Best!, plus 1980s Irish "thriller" (and Adam and Joe favourite) Taffin – a monumentally bad movie that definitely didn't get Pierce Brosnan the Bond gig. If you're quick, you can still catch Lwl's pop-up shop in Old Street, too.
Ica, SW1, Fri to 8 Dec
Cinema Palestino: Bristol Palestine Film Festival
Two events to bring us up to speed on Palestine's unique cultural and political situation, both of which...
- 11/30/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Leviathan | Saving Mr Banks | Carrie | Jeune & Jolie | Marius, Fanny | Saving Santa | The Best Man Holiday | Free Birds | Day Of The Flowers | Life's A Breeze
Leviathan (12A)
(Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel, 2012, Fra/UK/Us) 87 mins
An arthouse fishing-trawler documentary sounds like a practical joke, but this takes us to places we've never before – into the ocean depths and back out on to the decks with the catch. It's a series of dark, semi-abstract tableaux full of flapping fish, clanking machinery and tattooed fishermen doing wet, gory work. It's easy to forget this is real life you're watching.
Saving Mr Banks (PG)
(John Lee Hancock, 2013, Us) Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson. 125 mins
How Walt Disney came to make Mary Poppins was hardly a pressing movie mystery, and one suspects a spoonful of drama has been added, but the leads are eminently watchable.
Carrie (15)
(Kimberly Peirce, 2013, Us) Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore. 100 mins
Brian De Palma...
Leviathan (12A)
(Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel, 2012, Fra/UK/Us) 87 mins
An arthouse fishing-trawler documentary sounds like a practical joke, but this takes us to places we've never before – into the ocean depths and back out on to the decks with the catch. It's a series of dark, semi-abstract tableaux full of flapping fish, clanking machinery and tattooed fishermen doing wet, gory work. It's easy to forget this is real life you're watching.
Saving Mr Banks (PG)
(John Lee Hancock, 2013, Us) Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson. 125 mins
How Walt Disney came to make Mary Poppins was hardly a pressing movie mystery, and one suspects a spoonful of drama has been added, but the leads are eminently watchable.
Carrie (15)
(Kimberly Peirce, 2013, Us) Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore. 100 mins
Brian De Palma...
- 11/30/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Blue Is The Warmest Colour | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Computer Chess : Parkland | The Family | Breakfast With Johnny Wilkinson | Flu | ¡Vivan Las Antipodas! | Vendetta
Blue Is The Warmest Colour (18)
(Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013, Fra/Bel/Sp) Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Jérémie Laheurte. 180 mins
Beyond making viewers feel lecherous, this Cannes winner's already notorious sexual frankness is just one element in an intense, sensual study of a young woman learning about love, life and, yes, sex. It's storytelling at its finest: simple but detailed, and at times unbearably emotional.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (12A)
(Francis Lawrence, 2013, Us) Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson. 146 mins
The only post-Twilight teen franchise left standing brings media manipulation and simmering revolution to its next round of youth combat.
Computer Chess (15)
(Andrew Bujalski, 2013, Us) Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry. 91 mins
The cruddy video quality and geeky insularity of the early computing era are fondly rebooted in this delightful retro farce.
Blue Is The Warmest Colour (18)
(Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013, Fra/Bel/Sp) Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Jérémie Laheurte. 180 mins
Beyond making viewers feel lecherous, this Cannes winner's already notorious sexual frankness is just one element in an intense, sensual study of a young woman learning about love, life and, yes, sex. It's storytelling at its finest: simple but detailed, and at times unbearably emotional.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (12A)
(Francis Lawrence, 2013, Us) Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson. 146 mins
The only post-Twilight teen franchise left standing brings media manipulation and simmering revolution to its next round of youth combat.
Computer Chess (15)
(Andrew Bujalski, 2013, Us) Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry. 91 mins
The cruddy video quality and geeky insularity of the early computing era are fondly rebooted in this delightful retro farce.
- 11/23/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Bath Film Festival | Nordic Film Festival | Assemble: A Survey Of Recent Artists' Film And Video In Britain 2008-2013 | Utopia
Bath Film Festival
As well as funding this festival, IMDb (the world's biggest movie site) is sponsoring some new awards, all of which hopefully means punters get a great selection of films. Sneak previews include Ralph Fiennes's Dickens movie The Invisible Woman, Robert Redford's All Is Lost and Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Plus a striking pair of religious screenings: The Last Temptation Of Christ in Wells Cathedral, and The Passion Of Joan Of Arc in Bath Abbey, with a live score by Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp).
Various venues, Mon to 8 Dec
Nordic Film Festival, London, Edinburgh & Glasgow
Our Scandinavian neighbours are probably scratching their heads at our seemingly never-ending obsession with their TV detective shows. Why aren't we as fascinated with their movies as well?...
Bath Film Festival
As well as funding this festival, IMDb (the world's biggest movie site) is sponsoring some new awards, all of which hopefully means punters get a great selection of films. Sneak previews include Ralph Fiennes's Dickens movie The Invisible Woman, Robert Redford's All Is Lost and Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Plus a striking pair of religious screenings: The Last Temptation Of Christ in Wells Cathedral, and The Passion Of Joan Of Arc in Bath Abbey, with a live score by Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp).
Various venues, Mon to 8 Dec
Nordic Film Festival, London, Edinburgh & Glasgow
Our Scandinavian neighbours are probably scratching their heads at our seemingly never-ending obsession with their TV detective shows. Why aren't we as fascinated with their movies as well?...
- 11/23/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Think silent films reached a high point with The Artist? The pre-sound era produced some of the most beautiful, arresting films ever made. From City Lights to Metropolis, Guardian and Observer critics pick the 10 best
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. City Lights
City Lights was arguably the biggest risk of Charlie Chaplin's career: The Jazz Singer, released at the end of 1927, had seen sound take cinema by storm, but Chaplin resisted the change-up, preferring to continue in the silent tradition. In retrospect, this isn't so much the precious behaviour of a purist but the smart reaction of an experienced comedian; Chaplin's films rarely used intertitles anyway, and though it is technically "silent", City Lights is very mindful of it own self-composed score and keenly judged sound effects.
At its heart,...
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. City Lights
City Lights was arguably the biggest risk of Charlie Chaplin's career: The Jazz Singer, released at the end of 1927, had seen sound take cinema by storm, but Chaplin resisted the change-up, preferring to continue in the silent tradition. In retrospect, this isn't so much the precious behaviour of a purist but the smart reaction of an experienced comedian; Chaplin's films rarely used intertitles anyway, and though it is technically "silent", City Lights is very mindful of it own self-composed score and keenly judged sound effects.
At its heart,...
- 11/22/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Utopia And John Pilger Q&A | Framed Film Festival | Food For Real Film Festival | The Nuclear Question
Utopia And John Pilger Q&A, Nationwide
You can always trust John Pilger to tell it like it is, though many in his homeland won't thank him for it after seeing his latest documentary. Ironically titled Utopia (the name of an aboriginal homeland in northern Australia), it's a rousing survey of "the greatest expropriation of land in world history", as the veteran journalist puts it. Traversing the country, he surveys the current low living standards and life expectancies of indigenous Australians, revisits the shameful massacres and other abuses directed against them in the past, and highlights the racism that persists beneath Australian society – which Pilger categorises as nothing less than "apartheid". It's personal, political and powerful as ever, and Pilger will explain more via a satellite Q&A after this special screening.
Various venues,...
Utopia And John Pilger Q&A, Nationwide
You can always trust John Pilger to tell it like it is, though many in his homeland won't thank him for it after seeing his latest documentary. Ironically titled Utopia (the name of an aboriginal homeland in northern Australia), it's a rousing survey of "the greatest expropriation of land in world history", as the veteran journalist puts it. Traversing the country, he surveys the current low living standards and life expectancies of indigenous Australians, revisits the shameful massacres and other abuses directed against them in the past, and highlights the racism that persists beneath Australian society – which Pilger categorises as nothing less than "apartheid". It's personal, political and powerful as ever, and Pilger will explain more via a satellite Q&A after this special screening.
Various venues,...
- 11/16/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Down with Dom or better off with the Butler? We have the answers – plus what's coming up on the site today
What should you watch over the weekend?
In the UK? Lined up for your delectation: a glass of Dom Hemmingway, a dose of Don Jon, a serving of The Butler, or a session with The Counselor. Also up for the watching: In Fear, Utopia, Future My Love and Ram-Leela.
In the Us? Take your pick from The Best Man Holiday, Charlie Countryman, Faust and Nebraska.
In the paper today
• Peter's full compliment of reviews
• An interview with Robert De Niro by Xan Brooks
• A piece of the fallacy of historical accuracy by David Cox
• A feature on the JFK assassination on film by Steve Rose
On the site today
• Andrew Pulver profiles Sandra Bullock
• We've top 10 adaptations
• And Hadley Freeman meets Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Lee Daniels on...
What should you watch over the weekend?
In the UK? Lined up for your delectation: a glass of Dom Hemmingway, a dose of Don Jon, a serving of The Butler, or a session with The Counselor. Also up for the watching: In Fear, Utopia, Future My Love and Ram-Leela.
In the Us? Take your pick from The Best Man Holiday, Charlie Countryman, Faust and Nebraska.
In the paper today
• Peter's full compliment of reviews
• An interview with Robert De Niro by Xan Brooks
• A piece of the fallacy of historical accuracy by David Cox
• A feature on the JFK assassination on film by Steve Rose
On the site today
• Andrew Pulver profiles Sandra Bullock
• We've top 10 adaptations
• And Hadley Freeman meets Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Lee Daniels on...
- 11/15/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Bradford Animation Festival | Cinecity Brighton Film Festival | Aldeburgh Documentary Festival | Korean Film Festival, China Image Film Festival | Russian Film Festival
Bradford Animation Festival
There's everything from CGI insects to lo-fi zombies on the screen at this inclusive event, which gives you features and shorts, for and by all ages, plus a dedicated gaming section. But there are also real, live people to recommend. Adam Buxton talks to anarchic image-mangler Cyriak, Steve Bell pays tribute to Roobarb creator Bob Godfrey, multi-disciplinary genius Dave McKean gives a masterclass, and stop-motion heroes Adam Elliot (of Mary And Max) and Lee "Claycat" Hardcastle are also here to talk about the finer points of plasticine.
National Media Museum, Tue to 16 Nov
Cinecity Brighton Film Festival
After 11 years, this festival knows what its citizens want: all things new and/or slightly leftfield. You'll get the hottest upcoming British and Us movies, led by Alexander Payne's latest,...
Bradford Animation Festival
There's everything from CGI insects to lo-fi zombies on the screen at this inclusive event, which gives you features and shorts, for and by all ages, plus a dedicated gaming section. But there are also real, live people to recommend. Adam Buxton talks to anarchic image-mangler Cyriak, Steve Bell pays tribute to Roobarb creator Bob Godfrey, multi-disciplinary genius Dave McKean gives a masterclass, and stop-motion heroes Adam Elliot (of Mary And Max) and Lee "Claycat" Hardcastle are also here to talk about the finer points of plasticine.
National Media Museum, Tue to 16 Nov
Cinecity Brighton Film Festival
After 11 years, this festival knows what its citizens want: all things new and/or slightly leftfield. You'll get the hottest upcoming British and Us movies, led by Alexander Payne's latest,...
- 11/9/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Gravity | How To Survive A Plague | Seduced & Abandoned | Love Tomorrow | Behzat C: Ankara Yaniyor
Gravity (12A)
(Alfonso Cuarón, 2013, Us) Sandra Bullock, George Clooney. 91 mins
A movie to restore your faith in special effects, 3D and cinema in general, Cuarón's space movie arrives here already heaped with well-earned adulation. Like, say, Avatar or Toy Story, it really does expand the frontiers of what cinema can do; unlike them, Gravity is set in, or at least around, the real world. The story is admirably minimalist: two astronauts get stranded in space and try to get home. The visuals are out of this world but there's much more: riveting tension, sympathetic performances, and a spiritual undertone that only adds to the movie's transcendent nature.
How To Survive A Plague (15)
(David France, 2012, Us) 110 mins
A true story with all the elements of a mythic struggle, this bracing documentary recounts how Aids activists – many potential...
Gravity (12A)
(Alfonso Cuarón, 2013, Us) Sandra Bullock, George Clooney. 91 mins
A movie to restore your faith in special effects, 3D and cinema in general, Cuarón's space movie arrives here already heaped with well-earned adulation. Like, say, Avatar or Toy Story, it really does expand the frontiers of what cinema can do; unlike them, Gravity is set in, or at least around, the real world. The story is admirably minimalist: two astronauts get stranded in space and try to get home. The visuals are out of this world but there's much more: riveting tension, sympathetic performances, and a spiritual undertone that only adds to the movie's transcendent nature.
How To Survive A Plague (15)
(David France, 2012, Us) 110 mins
A true story with all the elements of a mythic struggle, this bracing documentary recounts how Aids activists – many potential...
- 11/9/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a superhero movie... and they've taken over Hollywood with their superpowers and Spandex costumes. The Guardian and Observer's critics pick the 10 best
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
• Top 10 war movies
• Top 10 teen movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Iron Man 3
Shane Black's jagged-edged debut in the Marvel hotseat might easily have been a by-the-numbers "threequel", especially with star Robert Downey Jr out of contract and The Avengers' stupendous box office success a year earlier. Instead, the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director delivered the series' best instalment so far via a perfectly-pitched twist that comes about as close as the superhero genre will ever get to its very own Crying Game moment.
Ben Kingsley's nefarious Mandarin is a preposterous, shadowy Bin Laden clone with a big bushy beard...
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
• Top 10 war movies
• Top 10 teen movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Iron Man 3
Shane Black's jagged-edged debut in the Marvel hotseat might easily have been a by-the-numbers "threequel", especially with star Robert Downey Jr out of contract and The Avengers' stupendous box office success a year earlier. Instead, the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director delivered the series' best instalment so far via a perfectly-pitched twist that comes about as close as the superhero genre will ever get to its very own Crying Game moment.
Ben Kingsley's nefarious Mandarin is a preposterous, shadowy Bin Laden clone with a big bushy beard...
- 11/4/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
When you grow up, your heart dies – or so they say. Here's the proof: from Heathers to Juno, the Guardian and Observer's critics pick the 10 best teen movies
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
• Top 10 war movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Blackboard Jungle
Billed as "a brass-knuckle punch in its startling revelation of teenage savages" and based on the book of the same name by Evan Hunter – aka crime writer Ed McBain – who drew on his own experiences as a teacher in the Bronx – Blackboard Jungle ushered in the age of the teenage delinquent. In London, Brooks's film attracted crowds of Teddy Boys, who slashed cinema seats, danced in the aisles and actually started a riot.
The reason for such shocking behaviour wasn't so much the film's content, which today garners a more sober 12 rating, but because of the use of...
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
• Top 10 war movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Blackboard Jungle
Billed as "a brass-knuckle punch in its startling revelation of teenage savages" and based on the book of the same name by Evan Hunter – aka crime writer Ed McBain – who drew on his own experiences as a teacher in the Bronx – Blackboard Jungle ushered in the age of the teenage delinquent. In London, Brooks's film attracted crowds of Teddy Boys, who slashed cinema seats, danced in the aisles and actually started a riot.
The reason for such shocking behaviour wasn't so much the film's content, which today garners a more sober 12 rating, but because of the use of...
- 11/2/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
UK Jewish film festival | Aesthetica short film festival | French film festival UK | Leeds international film festival
UK Jewish film festival, nationwide
There's really no telling what a Jewish film could or should look like, or even where it could come from. It might be an eastern European thriller (In The Shadow); a New York comedy such as Blumenthal, starring Brian Cox; an Almodóvar-esque musical (Eytan Fox's Cupcakes); an Argentinian Nazi drama (Wakolda); or even a psychedelic semi-animated head trip such as Ari "Waltz With Bashir" Folman's latest, The Congress. The result is one of the most varied festivals out there, and an ever-expanding event (80 films this year, across 19 venues). More recognisably Jewish themes are also abundant, such as in self-explanatory opener The Jewish Cardinal, based on a true story, or new doc Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, with Michael Grade in conversation after.
Various venues, to 17 Nov
Aesthetica short film festival,...
UK Jewish film festival, nationwide
There's really no telling what a Jewish film could or should look like, or even where it could come from. It might be an eastern European thriller (In The Shadow); a New York comedy such as Blumenthal, starring Brian Cox; an Almodóvar-esque musical (Eytan Fox's Cupcakes); an Argentinian Nazi drama (Wakolda); or even a psychedelic semi-animated head trip such as Ari "Waltz With Bashir" Folman's latest, The Congress. The result is one of the most varied festivals out there, and an ever-expanding event (80 films this year, across 19 venues). More recognisably Jewish themes are also abundant, such as in self-explanatory opener The Jewish Cardinal, based on a true story, or new doc Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, with Michael Grade in conversation after.
Various venues, to 17 Nov
Aesthetica short film festival,...
- 11/2/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
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