Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Total Film

This month we’re returning to Tatooine to catch up with Ewan McGregor as he slips back into the Jedi robes for Obi-Wan Kenobi. When he sat down with our very own Jack Shepherd he was open and sweary, really making us all fired up to see this latest instalment in the Star Wars universe. We’re also exploring further universes with Doctor Strange this month (prepare to get your mind blown), trying to find out what Loki might do next with Tom Hiddleston, catching up with Ms. Marvel and exploring the expanding world of Toy Story with Lightyear. But we’re not just about blockbuster established IP – Leila Latif digs into the feminist view of porn in the confronting, astonishing Pleasure, which she and I saw at Sundance in 2021, when…

Only three films in, and already a new Jordan Peele-directed movie feels like a seismic event. Nope has been teased for months, first with the image of grey cloud rolling across an ominous sky with a long rope dangling from it, covered in colourful flags like a terrifying kite. The trailer fed the hunger further, introducing the Hayward ranch, “the only Black-owned horse trainers in Hollywood, ” run by Jill Haywood (Keke Palmer) and James Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya). Ever the master of suspense, every clip, image and line of dialogue we get from Peele’s latest only ramps up the anticipation ahead of release. Even in the single image above, exclusive to Teasers, there are clues to unpick: just what exactly are Jill and James so devastated by? Why are the…

TIM COLEMAN @FATSCOLEMAN At the 94th Academy Awards in March, Will Smith made Oscar history, but not in a good way. Shortly before the Fresh Prince picked up Best Actor for biopic King Richard, he shocked audiences worldwide by striding onstage and slapping host Chris Rock across the face for making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. “Jada, I love you, ” said Rock moments earlier, “G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.” A reference to her shaved head, it was a cheap shot (according to reports, Rock was unaware that Pinkett Smith has alopecia, a medical condition causing hair loss) but one which Smith is seen initially laughing at, even as Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes. However, moments later Smith struck Rock before shouting, “Keep my…

When James Nesbitt’s DS Danny Frater is called in to identify a body, he is appalled to find it is his estranged daughter, Christina (Imogen King). Danny suspects foul play, and new eight-part thriller Suspect, from Hotel Portofino creator Matt Baker, follows him through a series of one-on-ones with the likes of Richard E. Grant (as Christina’s mentor), Anne-Marie Duff (Danny’s ex-wife) and Niamh Algar (Christina’s partner) to find the truth. Was the script an easy yes? Anne-Marie Duff: Definitely – being a greedy actor, everybody wants to do more of what they do. Niamh Algar: Very easy. The script was so engaging and kept me guessing. To know it’s all happening more or less in real time is a dream gig, to immerse yourself completely in someone’s world for…

When an impossibly good-looking Norwegian band called a-ha released their first single ‘Take On Me’ in 1985, no-one could have predicted its success. A flop when it was issued a year earlier, it was remixed and given a groundbreaking part-animated video – with lead singer Morten Harket bursting out of a comic book. The result? Number 1 in 26 countries and – by now – over a billion streams on Spotify. As a-ha: The Movie shows, they were a lot more than one breakout smash. “I still think they are an underestimated band, the band that deserved to be respected more, ” muses the film’s Norwegian director, Thomas Robsahm. “Maybe they were too handsome. Maybe the video, maybe the name of the band…” He’s not the only one who thinks…

When Alison Oliver found out that she had landed the lead part in Conversations With Friends, she sat in her bedroom and stared at the wall in a daze. She had no on-screen credits to her name, receiving the offer the day after graduating from drama school. Playing Frances in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s debut novel was going to spin her life into another stratosphere altogether. “Honestly, I’ve never felt shock like that!” she tells Total Film over Zoom. “Getting to do that for my first big role just felt so special.” You can’t blame Oliver for needing a moment to let it all sink in. Conversations With Friends is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Normal People, BBC Three and Hulu’s beguiling drama that was based on the…

DIRECTOR Robert Eggers STARRING Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke SCREENPLAY Robert Eggers, Sjón DISTRIBUTOR Universal RUNNING TIME 137 mins ★★★★★ OUT NOW CINEMAS Given the step up in scale – and, crucially, budget – that Viking epic The Northman represents for director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse), you’d be forgiven for thinking that his uniquely twisted sensibilities might have been watered down for his first studio picture. Thankfully, there’s a howling, hallucinatory initiation ceremony in a dank shack within the first 10 minutes that quells any fear that this is Diet Eggers. It’s one of many moments throughout to make you marvel at the idiosyncratic oddness Eggers has managed to smuggle in. Adapted from the Icelandic tale of Prince Amleth – which also inspired…

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW DIGITAL Writer/director Mari Walker refreshes indie conventions with care in a trim two-hander harbouring hidden depths. Reunited after 10 years, ex-lovers Naomi (Lynn Chen) and Kris (Pooya Mohseni) have changed. Naomi is now a mother; Kris has transitioned and learned about womanhood. Walker and co-writer Kristen Uno interweave their micro-resentments with gender themes to supple, if faintly schematic effect, ably supported by engaged lead performances. An overheated climax aside, a crisp, elegant character study gradually takes shape, mapped out with style and between-the-lines subtlety.…

★★☆☆☆ OUT 29 APRIL PRIME VIDEO Gallic director Lisa Azuelos, daughter of late chanteuse Marie Laforêt, draws liberally from her own life in this tale of a French filmmaker (Sophie Marceau) who, having lost her singer mother, impulsively moves to Los Angeles. Egged on by her BFF Luka (Djanis Bouzyani), Lisa signs up for a dating app that, after a few frogs, eventually finds her a prince in the shape of Colin Woodell’s John. Marceau is always watchable, but Azuelos’ script does her no favours, not least by subjecting her to a particularly awkward blind date with a Danish nudist.…

★★☆☆☆ OUT 13 MAY CINEMAS Following his feature debut Lancaster Skies (2019), writer/director Callum Burn probes similar territory with this World War 2 RAF movie, filmed on a micro-budget during the pandemic. The plot centres on pilot Edward Barnes (Kris Saddler), who flies solo to gather evidence of a forthcoming trap and thereby save hundreds of lives. With the action mostly consisting of Barnes talking to himself in his cockpit while dogfights happen off-screen, this drama offers an intimate twist on an epic genre, but struggles to land any real emotion.…

★★★☆☆ OUT 20 MAY CINEMAS According to one character in Richie Adams’s period potboiler, the Outer Hebridean Isle of Lewis is “where the sea comes to die”. No wonder Kirsty (Hermione Corfield) has her eyes fixed on foreign shores – though with boyfriend Murdo (Will Fletcher) off fighting in the trenches of World War 1 and an illicit bun in the oven, her chances of making a new life for herself in America seem crushingly slim. Based on John MacKay’s book of the same name, this handsome-looking yarn about secret shame has scenery to burn. Its story, however, is pure sudsy bunkum.…

★★★☆☆ OUT 6 MAY PRIME VIDEO Chris Pine tools up as James Harper, a discharged special forces sergeant who finds work with a private contracting firm run by Kiefer Sutherland’s veteran soldier. Director Tarik Saleh (The Nile Hilton Incident) casts well – Eddie Marsan, Nina Hoss and Ben Foster, who reteams with Pine after Hell Or High Water, all feature – but can’t escape the story’s more generic qualities, as Harper’s first mission in Berlin goes awry. What follows plays out a bit Bourne-lite, though Pine is predictably reliable as the family man caught up in corruption and criminality.…

★★★★★ OUT 29 APRIL CINEMAS Rarely have wildlife and nature been captured in such stark beauty as in Marie Amiguet’s luscious and determinedly meandering doc, which follows photographer Vincent Munier and adventurer/writer Sylvain Tesson into the barren Tibetan plateau in search of the elusive snow leopard. On the way, we are treated to footage of yaks, bharals, gophers, wolves and Pallas’ cats, as well as mostly whispered meditative musings on human nature and the eternal search for meaning between Munier and Tesson. And the eventual sighting of the titular queen is as searing in its beauty as it is understated and fleeting.…

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW DVD, BD, 4K, DIGITAL EXTRAS ★★★☆☆ Gag reel, Featurettes, Pre-viz, The Daily Bugle news reports “We’re very secretive with our films, but on this one it’s been really challenging, ” admits director of security Barry Curtis about Marvel’s enjoyably messy multiverse mashup. Thankfully, the cat is well and truly out of the bag now, so there’s no shortage of appearances by previous Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield among the many extras, both clearly thrilled about their return. The latter is particularly pleased to finally get “a bit more closure on something that means so much to me.”…

1979 ★★★★☆ OUT NOW BD EXTRAS ★★★☆☆ Commentaries, Featurettes, Booklet One of the great ’70s Hong Kong action comedies, this particular Odd Couple more than makes up for its lack of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau by delivering a double helping of martial-arts superstars. Sammo Hung and Lau Kar-Wing (who also directed) play both a pair of ageing martial-arts masters perennially trapped in a battle for supremacy and the young students they take on to continue their rivalry; cue some of the most mind-blowing handheld-weapon fights ever seen at the time, or indeed since. Beat that, Neil Simon……

WHAT? The rural railway station where the Waterbury family arrive in their new home and where teen Bobbie (Jenny Agutter) reunites with her “Daddy, my Daddy!” from The Railway Children. WHERE? Oakworth Station, West Yorkshire GO: The Keighley & Worth Valley steam train still runs between Keighley and Oxenhope, so you can make the Railway Children pilgrimage and alight at the station surrounded in swirling smoke. Haworth is nearby for a jaunt to the Brontë Parsonage.…

FOR SALE Expansive estate (49,000 acres) on private mountain located on the deserts of the Gulf Coast in Florida. Famous previous owner created the site with 100,000 trees and 20,000 tons of marble as a gift to second wife – and now this palatial home boasting a championship golf course, extensive zoo, formal gardens with a canal suitable for gondolas, and an opulent housing complex in a castle style could be yours. A perfect escape from the world with plenty of space for parties and personal collections of art and artefacts. Stunning gothic-style gate leads to compound and property needs to be viewed to be appreciated. Call Kane Real Estate to arrange a visit.…

THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH In 2002, audiences were not over the moon about Eddie Murphy’s lacklustre lead in his lunar adventure. Did the script lack the right rocket fuel? Why it was a good idea (on paper) After a post-’80s slump, Eddie Murphy coldcocked critics with a batch of audience-friendly comebacks. Credited to a writer with cult-ish comedy form (Neil Cuthbert; Hocus Pocus, Mystery Men) and a director with crowd-pleasing previous (Ron Underwood; Tremors, City Slickers), Murphy’s new Moon romp was surely worth a shot. What went wrong? When Underwood boarded Nash in 1998, he thought nine months – while Murphy completed another gig – would be enough time to repair a script dating from 1983. Rewrites followed, most rejected by Murphy, who remained visibly disinterested even when filming…

Some directors might feel shooting a virtual two-hander almost entirely set in a hotel room is restrictive. But not Sophie Hyde (Animals). “I bloody loved it! I loved every second of it, ” she chuckles, speaking to Teasers from her “shed” in Adelaide, Australia. Of course, it helps when you’ve got a cracking script from comedian Katy Brand, and Emma Thompson as your leading lady. “She wanted to do this role very much, ” adds Hyde. “She related to the character and understood her as someone that she’d always wanted to play.” Set over a series of encounters in said room, Good Luck To You, Leo Grande stars Thompson as Nancy, a widow and retired religious education teacher who decides to hire the titular sex worker (Peaky Blinders star Daryl…

Forget the title, for a moment: when French writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden, Things To Come) first started pondering Bergman Island, the titular colossus of European cinema (director Ingmar, not actress Ingrid) was nothing to do with it. “My first desire was to make a film about a couple of directors, and for it to be a film that would deal with what inspiration is for me, ” says Hansen-Løve. “We’ve seen a lot of films on shooting and actors and producers. But who has actually made a film about the writing process, and especially the writing process for a woman director?” It was a fascinating idea, especially given Hansen-Løve was in a relationship with acclaimed filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Personal Shopper) between 2002 and 2017. Her movie, about fledgling…

“WAS THERE A RECENT SPIDERMAN MOVIE? I WAS IN THE GOOD ONES, I WOULDN’T KNOW.”IF BRUCE CAMPBELL ISN’T IN YOUR SPIDER-MAN, HE DOESN’T CARE. “There’s a huge history of people with one hand returning in Star Wars… I’ll learn [the lightsaber] left-handed!”SAMUEL L. JACKSON KNOWS HOW TO BRING BACK MACE WINDU. 6 DUNE’S OSCAR TALLY AFTER SWEEPING THE TECHNICAL CATEGORIES – THE BIGGEST WINNER ON THE NIGHT. 101 MINS THE MAXIMUM LENGTH (OR THEREABOUTS) OF FILMS IN NETFLIX’S ‘SHORT-ASS MOVIES’ CATEGORY, CREATED IN RESPONSE TO A PETE DAVIDSON SNL SKETCH. “YOU SEE AN OPENLY QUEER WOMAN OF COLOUR, AN AFRO-LATINA, WHO FOUND HER STRENGTH IN LIFE THROUGH ART. AND THAT IS, I THINK, WHAT WE’RE HERE TO CELEBRATE.”ARIANA DEBOSE GIVES THE SPEECH OF THE NIGHT AT THE OSCARS. “I WANT…

Full disclosure: I had actually never been to Fire Island before!” laughs director Andrew Ahn (2016’s Spa Night), when Teasers speaks to him over Zoom. A short distance from New York, Fire Island is a holiday spot that’s become a popular destination for the gay community. It’s now about to blow up, however, with Ahn’s film Fire Island – written by and starring Joel Kim Booster – set for release in the UK on Disney+. While Ahn has visited other “gay meccas”, Fire Island was not one of them. Until he received Kim Booster’s script and had to start researching it. He and his DoP Felipe Vara de Rey even bumped into their star, by chance, at the island’s weekly underwear party, where the less clothes you wear the better.…

When writer-director Todd Stephens (Gypsy 83) was growing up in Sandusky, Ohio, he remembers seeing a gay man around the conservative town. “It just wasn’t really common that somebody so flamboyant and fabulous should be walking the streets, ” he explains. Realising that he was gay too, Stephens instantly related. “I always knew I wanted to pay homage to this guy that changed my life.” That homage comes in the shape of Swan Song, starring Udo Kier as retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger, who leaves his nursing home to makeover one of his most beloved clients – now sadly deceased – before her funeral. The film has fired imaginations everywhere it has played, even gaining two Independent Spirit Award nominations: Best Screenplay for Stephens and Best Actor for Kier. Yet for…

Back in 1995, Buzz Lightyear was the must-have plaything in Toy Story (and life imitated art when Buzz flew off toy-store shelves). But did you ever wonder about Buzz’s background? Lightyear director Angus MacLane certainly did. In Pixar’s latest feature, we’re introduced to the ‘real’ Buzz Lightyear, in a meta-movie that would’ve been Andy’s favourite film. But don’t expect a Toy Story re-tread. Lightyear is pitched as a retro-inspired sci-fi adventure film, in the vein of the genre’s classics. The kind of film that would inspire obsessive devotion and an awesome toyline. “My goal was not parody or satire, ” says MacLane. “I wanted the audience to have a feeling at the end of it, like, ‘Oh, I’ve gone on this fun space adventure.’” The film sees the Star Command…

For a film with as fascinating and nuanced a vision of the adult film industry as Pleasure, it’s hard to believe that its director Ninja Thyberg once wanted to ban porn altogether. “I started as a very angry and radical anti-porn activist, ” says Thyberg. “When I was 16 and I saw my first porn film I had a very intense feeling that I had to do something about it.” As the years went by and Thyberg went on to study gender at university, her interest in the industry didn’t wane. “I wrote essays and I did studies measuring the different things in porn online and became very interested in the real people behind the stereotypes.” Thyberg then left academia and became a filmmaker; in 2013, one of her first…

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS From Con Air’s bunny to The Wicker Man’s bees, Nic Cage has spent much of his career spinning out variants on the brand of Nic Cage. He doesn’t disappear into roles; roles disappear into him, or at least into the idea of Cage that’s become synonymous with no-half-measures excess. It’s this concept of Cage that makes writer/ director Tom Gormican’s mischievous meta-comedy such a snug fit for its supersized star, not least because Cage – typically – commits fulsomely. Cage plays Nick Cage, a middle-aged actor losing his bankability and his daughter’s respect but still desperate to work. Ruthlessly berated by hyper alter ego Nicky, Cage is considering retirement when he’s offered $1m to attend the birthday of Mallorca billionaire Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal), a fan…

★★★☆☆ OUT 9 MAY DIGITAL In November 2016, Joe Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, burned £5m’s worth of punk memorabilia. A terrible waste of objects of real cultural significance? Or an act of iconoclastic defiance in keeping with the rebellious tenets of the original movement? Nigel Askew’s doc belatedly tells the story behind the stunt: between Westwood’s rambling reminiscences and Corré’s evident anger at the commodification of punk, Askew’s film is a slightly ramshackle affair. Still, the anarchic feel suits what is intended as a rabble-rousing call to arms.…

★★★☆☆ OUT 13 MAY CINEMAS Based on a famous Aussie book and expanded to explore anti-Aboriginal racism and frontier sexism, writer/director Leah Purcell’s passion project (she also stars) has great intentions and potential. In New South Wales, 1893, the titular pregnant spouse cares for four kids in the unforgiving bush, where violence shapes their lives. This feminist western is assured in capturing the expansive landscape, less so in landing tone and transcending a limited budget. Yet Purcell’s revisionist take remains an impressive calling card and certain thought-provoker.…

★★★☆☆ OUT 6 MAY CINEMAS This damning doc about a Swedish mining company and its responsibility for shocking levels of illness in the Chilean city of Arica, where toxic sludge from its mines had been shipped in the ’80s, follows 2009’s award-winning Toxic Playground. In procedural fashion, William Johansson Kalén and Lars Edman track a court case brought on by arsenic-poisoned inhabitants of Arica, encountering grief and anger in Chile, and guilt, denial and corporate obfuscation in Sweden. The film becomes almost as much about its own making as the case, an advantage and distraction in near-equal measure.…

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS, DIGITAL During the first Covid lockdown, singer-songwriter Charlotte Aitchison wrote and released her fourth album, How I’m Feeling Now, within six weeks – inviting the input of her fanbase as she documented the process. Shot and edited in a way that captures the fizzy, chaotic energy of its subject, the result is a candid portrait of modern stardom. Fan or no, you’ll warm to Charli and her Angels: the star, refreshingly open about her mental-health struggles, fosters a particularly close bond with her LGBTQ+ followers, several of whom gleefully share the spotlight here.…

★★★☆☆ OUT 16 MAY DVD, BD, DIGITAL China’s most expensive film ever (and the world’s second-highest-grossing movie of 2021), this lavish epic set in 1950 during the Korean war is a vast spectacle, as Chinese soldiers from the People’s Volunteer Army take on the Americans in hostile, snowy conditions. Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam co-direct, expertly staging the combat with eye-popping prowess. Jackson Yee stands out of the huge ensemble as the heroic younger brother of a military commander, though it’s a shame the carnage eventually outweighs the characterisation.…

★★☆☆☆ OUT NOW SHUDDER When her stroppy teenage daughter disappears in the basement of their new home, Keira (Elisha Cuthbert) becomes convinced that a supernatural conspiracy is afoot. Discovering sinister equations etched into the foundations, she falls down a rabbit hole of obsession, possession and Satanic sums. Headlining this dreary Belgian-Irish production, Cuthbert does well enough, even if the by-numbers story and her sleepwalking co-stars don’t give her much to work with. The Cellar is shot well, with heaps of atmosphere and solid special effects, but never quite adds up.…

★★★★☆ OUT 13 MAY CINEMAS Hot on the heels of CODA comes another story of fishing folk, one of whom (persuasively played by actual Maltese fisherman Jesmark Scicluna) is struggling to keep both his head and his prized ‘luzzu’, a small open fishing boat, above water. A dodgy black-market operation could keep that worn-down wooden boat from sinking and help him care for his ailing infant son… but at what price to his soul? Alex Camilleri’s affecting and relevant slice of Mediterranean neo-realism movingly portrays a traditional way of life that’s being constricted to extinction by EU red tape.…

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS DIRECTOR David Yates STARRING Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Mads Mikkelsen SCREENPLAY J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves DISTRIBUTOR Warner RUNNING TIME 142 mins Avast army of Potterheads is praying for fan-friendly revelations alongside incredible critters in this third entry in the Wizarding World prequel saga. So without spoilers, let’s just say it really earns that teasing title, and that the series gains some significant emotional heft. Signature director David Yates offers a glossy, globetrotting quest that sensibly puts Jude Law’s troubled, charismatic Dumbledore front and centre. This time out, he’s wrestling openly with his historic relationship with Muggle-warmonger Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen), who’s now threatening the wizard-leadership elections with a power grab. Unable to fight his former friend because of a blood charm, Dumbledore…

1952 ★★★☆☆ OUT NOW DVD, BD EXTRAS ★★☆☆☆ Featurette, Gallery, Newsreel Prior to getting involved in World War 2 itself, the then-neutral United States loaned Britain a fleet of mothballed destroyers to help with the Allied effort. Using that as its springboard, this Naval drama proves what a gift a great cast can be, with the likes of Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough, James Donald and Bernard Lee helping to elevate a formulaic and episodic story. Oddly, after spending so much time treading water, the script’s dramatic finale – a recreation of 1942’s ‘Operation Chariot’ – feels frustratingly rushed.…

02 ARENA Some 885 days after he planned to tour the UK, Hans Zimmer finally reached London’s 02 Arena in March. Over three hours, the German composer reinvented his medium thrillingly. Multi-tasking as MC/showman upfront, Zimmer transformed the soundtrack gig into a rock show, roaring with range and generosity. Here are 10 highlights, from Ancient Rome to Arrakis… ‘HOUSE ATREIDES’ DUNE Talk about an entrance. After a lulling vocal overture, Zimmer and his mob-handed band/orchestra lined up for Dune’s heraldic epic. Pomp and ceremony with maximalist gusto? No one does it better than Zimmer. ‘THEMYSCIRA’ WONDER WOMAN 1984 After a percussive dash through Inception’s ‘Mombasa, ’ Zimmer paid tribute to his orchestra’s Ukrainian players. The grandiose choral flush of WW84’s lead cue brimmed with heart-in-mouth triumphalism. ‘NOW WE ARE FREE’…

★★★★★ OUT NOW PC, PS5 The third game from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s Tango Gameworks begins in counterintuitive fashion, welcoming us to the world’s most populous city before offing all its inhabitants. Victims of a plan by a megalomaniacal villain in a Hannya mask to unite the worlds of living and dead, they haven’t quite shuffled off this mortal coil just yet: rather, their souls are stuck in limbo in Japan’s capital. As the only living boy in Tokyo, hero Akito – kept alive-slash-possessed by the recently departed paranormal investigator KK – sets out to rescue all 240,000 of them, while attempting to free his younger sister from the clutches of this masked madman. What follows is one of the most thrillingly esoteric big-budget games in a while. Tango…

THIS MONTH THE BATMAN’S CONTACT LENSES Q The Batman’s recording contact lenses are pretty cool but are they real-life tech or a fantastical bat-toy? A Gareth Beavis, Global Editor-in-Chief, TechRadar @superbeav Sadly, Batman’s contact lenses are pure fiction. But they’re not as far away as you might think. Pattinson’s contact lenses can scan, process and transmit information which is entirely unrealistic – the cameras needed wouldn’t fit on the lens and the sheer volume of tech needed to enhance images, process information and send it back just isn’t small enough yet. However, contact lenses have been in development for years. Sony, Samsung and Google have filed patent applications, invested in companies and come up with designs in the first half of the 2010s, but to little fruition. Mojo Vision is…

BAMBI Bandy-legged deer Bambi realises his Ma is dead after calling for her in the snowy woods, only to be met by a sober stag imparting confirmation of his worst fears. A solitary droplet rolls from the baby critter’s eye, and generations of kids bawl. GLORY Denzel Washington’s Oscar-winning form is on full display during a scene where his Civil War volunteer soldier is flogged for going AWOL. Determined to show no weakness, he takes the lashes, only a traitorous tear betraying his pain. THE MASTER Joaquin Phoenix’s war vet Freddie returns to his ‘master, Lancaster Dodd, ’ for the last time. As Dodd trills ‘On A Slow Boat To China’, Freddie makes the ultimate decision to leave - the salt-water trickle saying much more than words ever could. CASABLANCA…

RALPH JONES @OHHIRALPHJONES The 1990s and early 2000s were a terrific time for one specific type of film: comedies in which a single actor plays a dozen different roles. In 1996 came The Nutty Professor, in which Eddie Murphy played not just the professor, but also his mother, brother, father and grandmother, plus two others for good measure. Less than a year later, Mike Myers was both the titular spy and top baddie Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. Both films spawned sequels, and by Goldmember (2002), Myers was playing four main characters. Neither of these actors invented the one-man comedy blockbuster, of course. Myers always credits Peter Sellers and his work on films like Dr. Strangelove (1964), as a seminal influence. Fifteen years before Sellers, Alec…

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand on the small screen, and the latest series is set to offer a fresh perspective in more than one way. “It’s a story about identity, ” says Sana Amanat, writer and executive producer on the Ms. Marvel Disney+ show, and co-creator of the Marvel Comics character. “We’re talking about a young, Brown girl growing up in Jersey, and looking across the river [at New York City], and seeing these really beautiful, badass individuals with power save the world every day. And you’re just this young, Brown kid who isn’t allowed to go to parties. What does that make you feel like?” Amanat, who fed some of her own experiences of growing up in Jersey into the character, says there’s something “very simple and…

I feel that Firestarter, the novel, was incredibly influential in the superhero genre, ” says Keith Thomas, who in 2018 gave us contained, claustrophobic horror movie The Vigil, and is now directing Blumhouse’s red-hot adaptation of Stephen King’s 1980 bestseller. “And a lot of times, it’s people shooting fire out of their hands, or out of their eyes. I wanted to avoid that. Charlie barely has control of this ability. It manifests when she gets upset, or her emotions are charged. I didn’t want it to just be like: ‘Charlie’s mad. Boom! Everything’s on fire!’” So how does Thomas present the flame-throwing? “I wanted to do it as practically as possible, and I would say 98 per cent of the fire in the film is live on set, in-camera. And…

Making a film about the feeling of social anxiety played as horror felt exciting to me, ” says TV veteran Andrew Gaynord (Stath Lets Flats) of his feature directorial debut. To avoid spoilers as to whether the threat really is ultimately all just in the mind of its protagonist, let’s call All My Friends Hate Me a quasi-horror-comedy. Written by Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton, the film sees early-thirtysomething Pete (Stourton) keen to show his privileged old university mates, who’ve organised a rural getaway for his birthday weekend, how much he’s changed. But upon arrival, the words and actions of his estranged pals suggest considerable malice. A creepy reunion where once-familiar hosts have seemingly sinister motives might bring to mind films like Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation, though Gaynord confesses to…

Rory Kinnear isn’t sure exactly how many characters he plays in Alex Garland’s A24 chiller Men – he puts it at around “nine or 10” – but he remembers clearly what the experience felt like. “There was a bit of Mr. Potato Head going on, ” chuckles Kinnear, whose transformations run the gamut from toothy country toff Geoffrey to a horrifying entity known as the Green Man that emerges from the woods. “Usually, you get to do that once on a job. I knew how exhilarating that would be.” Initially perplexed as to precisely what role(s) Garland was offering (“Do you mean all of the characters?”) Kinnear wanted to ensure there was more to the multi-faceted exercise than an acting gimmick. “It had to have a psychological reason for it…

Is a trip to Fire Island a rite of passage for anyone from the gay community in the States? It lives on in the minds of many people: a very legendary, iconic place. And it is considered by many to be a rite of passage. I will say that it also has a reputation for being intrinsically racist and extremely classist. A lot of people, especially those who line up with my demographic, might even avoid the island. But if you don’t go to a place because it’s racist, then the racists win! How close is Noah to you? I would say he’s probably a little bit more confident than I am. I would say Bowen [Yang, who plays Noah’s friend Howie] is much more different from his character than…

Are you surprised by the way audiences have embraced Swan Song? There wasn’t any expectation that it was going to be a big movie, but I’m very happy that it is successful. I got the [Best Actor] prize in Dublin, in Monte Carlo… everywhere. So that is amazing. As an actor, 50 years, working with some of the best directors, and I make a little film in Ohio and I get all the awards. So that was surprising. But pleasantly surprising, of course. Did you take a crash-course in cutting hair? A lot of friends of the hairdresser, Pat, are still alive. And they taught me so many things, how he was holding the cigarette, how he was talking, how he was walking. But I didn’t have to learn how…

When I was a teenager, the first films I watched by myself were horror films, ” smiles French auteur Lucile Hadzihalilovic, whose surreal offerings – Innocence, Evolution and now the extraordinary Earwig – would give David Lynch nightmares. “It was mesmerising for me to see the Italian gialli or the American horrors from the ‘70s. “So much of it was expressing something deep and mysterious and complex, and sometimes very beautiful. Dario Argento’s films were very attractive and very seductive, in a way.” Adapted from Brian Catling’s 2019 novel, Earwig is set somewhere in Europe in the mid-20th century. Within a large-but-oppressive abode shrouded in sepulchral shadows, middle-aged Albert (Paul Hilton) cares for a girl named Mia (Romane Hemelaers), each day fitting her a set of teeth that he sculpts…

The Force has not always been strong with Ewan McGregor. In fact, had the actor been asked back in 2005, just after Revenge Of The Sith reached cinemas, whether he wanted to continue playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, the answer would have probably been no. “I found it very hard to make those films, ” McGregor tells Total Film, reflecting on the prequels. He swivels in his chair, his hair shorter than in The Phantom Menace, as he measures his words, though not too carefully. “It was lots and lots of greenscreen and bluescreen. By the time we did Episode III, it was almost all entirely greenscreen. If there was a bit of a set, that was a turn-up for the books. They were just so hard to make. And also, at…

When Avengers: Endgame put a cap on Marvel’s Infinity Saga, there was one question on everybody’s lips: what’s next? For a while there it seemed like Marvel itself wasn’t sure. Where all roads once led, inevitably, to an Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Mad Titan, by comparison Phase 4 has been positively meandering. From belated prequels (Black Widow) and origin stories (Shang-Chi), to bewildering cosmic sagas (Eternals) and tangential miniseries (Hawkeye), it hasn’t always been clear how all of this serialised storytelling tied into the bigger picture that previously made every instalment in the MCU appointment viewing. All that is about to change with Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which, as that doozy of a title suggests, is putting the multiverse at the front and centre of the MCU in a…

Those of us old enough to remember going to our local video-rental shop have fond memories of picking out that evening’s entertainment, perusing wall-to-ceiling shelves lined with brightly covered cases offering every conceivable genre of cinema. Well, now things are very different – the rental shop has long since disappeared and many movie lovers have rejected physical media altogether, decluttering their homes and relying on streaming services and digital downloads for at-home viewing. It may seem the whole world of movies is just a few clicks away, that more films are accessible than ever, but in fact the opposite is true. When Netflix existed as a physical media company, posting DVDs to its customers, it reportedly had more than 100,000 films available, significantly more than all the current streaming services…

UNRELATED 2007 Joanna Hogg’s debut feature is a searing study of family and sexual tension, giving Hiddleston his first film role and beginning an actor/director relationship that continued with 2010’s Archipelago and 2013’s Exhibition. THOR 2011 Hiddleston auditioned for Thor, but landed Loki, parlaying a bit-part into a decade-long scene-stealer. His dry delivery, emo looks and Shakespearean complexity made him a fan fave, bringing Loki back from the dead after Infinity War. THE HOLLOW CROWN 2012 Hiddleston joined this BBC four-parter as callow Prince Hal, evolving the role to Henry V with nuance. Having first impressed in a production of Othello, Hiddleston took on Coriolanus at the Donmar and Hamlet for director Kenneth Branagh. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE 2013 Jim Jarmusch’s treatise on commitment and purpose sees Hiddleston as a…

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS An absorbing fly-on-the-wall portrait of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who at the time of writing is serving a lengthy jail sentence in a penal colony. The bulk of Canadian director Daniel Roher’s suspenseful documentary was shot in Germany during the autumn of 2020, when Navalny was recuperating with his family after an attempted Novichok assassination by suspected Russian operatives. Roher conjures the tangible feel of a spy thriller while offering ample evidence of his subject’s charisma, mastery of social media and courage in returning to Moscow.…

★★★★☆ 20 MAY CINEMAS 27 MAY PRIME VIDEO DIRECTOR Carey Williams STARRING RJ Cyler, Donald Elise Watkins, Sebastian Chacon, Sabrina Carpenter, Maddie Nichols SCREENPLAY K.D. Dávila DISTRIBUTOR Republic Films/Amazon RUNNING TIME 105 mins College friends Sean (RJ Cyler) and Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) are chalk and cheese in their approach to their studies. Kunle is an ambitious biologist one science experiment away from graduating with flying colours, while Sean’s attention to detail is devoted to the weed he can toke and his immediate social calendar. But they can both agree on the need to hit every frat house party in one night in order to complete the so-called ‘legendary tour’. What’s more, as Black students acutely attuned to racial aggression and privilege on a white-majority campus, they’re both well aware…

★☆☆☆☆ OUT 16 MAY DVD, DIGITAL American G.I.s are hunting for looted gold in a cemetery. Their only guide is Marie (Nina Bergman), a disgraced, duplicitous Nazi collaborator. Marie provides the unusual motor for Jesse Johnson’s World War 2 thriller; unfortunately, her ambiguous motives are all that distinguish it. Largely confined to one location, Hell Hath No Fury has scope for a complex chamber piece about wartime morality, but any potential is sunk amid wooden acting, subpar action and ludicrous coincidences to further the plot. The tonal disconnect between its apparent aims and its tawdry execution leaves a bad taste.…

★★★★☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS, DIGITAL Taking her title from the opening lines of Philip Larkin’s subversive poem ‘This Be The Verse, ’ Dutch filmmaker Klaartje Quirijns turns the camera on herself in order to uncover a devastating secret that has lain buried in her family for more than five decades. Weaving together frank interviews and unsettling archival footage with extracts from filmed psychotherapy sessions in which the director’s friend Michael Moskowitz seeks to understand his toxic relationship with his own Holocaust-surviving mother, this poignant documentary reveals how trauma can be passed down between generations.…

★★★★☆ OUT 6 MAY CINEMAS Architect Kazem (Hadi Hejazifar) is a man so respected that his neighbours’ reverence earns him the title ‘Atabai,’ or ‘great man’. While Kazem keeps himself busy with work and mentoring his hotheaded nephew, he is beset with loneliness – struggling both with past heartbreak and a fear of falling in love again. Director Niki Karimi’s Iranian romantic drama is a tender, intimate portrait of a conflicted man, played with warmth and depth by Hejazifar. Set against gorgeously shot landscapes, Atabai is rich in character and vivid depictions of the diverse cultures that reside within Iran.…

★★★☆☆ OUT NOW CINEMAS Sega’s videogame mascot proves his previous big-screen adventure was no flash in the pan as the shiny speedster (voiced by Ben Schwartz) and fox Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) hunt for the all-powerful Master Emerald. Jim Carrey’s villain Dr. Robotnik returns, alongside Idris Elba as bristling echidna Knuckles, a worthy physical threat to Sonic. Meandering middle third and well-worn story beats aside, Sonic 2 gives Carrey and the numerous CGI scraps room to shine, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and adult in-jokes helping to ensure a snappy sequel.…

★★★★☆ OUT NOW ALL 4 Commissioned by Film4, Foresight groups together five bold and persuasive sci-fi shorts that were each inspired by the Brexit vote and subsequent conversations around escalating racism and intolerance. Across the anthology, familiar sci-fi subjects highlight the experiences of being a person of colour in the UK, with biotechnology innovations bringing religious consequences, space travel raising questions around immigration, and confrontations with the future exploring issues of Black parenthood. The result is a compelling mix of inventive plots and powerful storytelling, with naturally dystopian overtones.…

2013 ★★★★★ OUT NOW BD, DIGITAL EXTRAS ★★☆☆☆Commentary Based on Peter M. Bracke’s exhaustive book, and narrated by series alumnus Corey Feldman, Daniel Farrands’ Friday The 13th doc is an absolute blast – not to mention an absolute beast. Running nearly seven hours long, it explores the making of all 12 F13 films, giving almost everyone involved – bar Kevin Bacon and Crazy Ralph – space to gossip and air their grievances, while keeping the tone playful throughout. Though the only extra is a commentary, Jason fans will feel that all their Fridays have come at once.…

1997 ★★★☆☆ OUT 13 MAY CINEMAS A 25th-anniversary re-release for Jan Kounen’s exhilarating, ultraviolent tale of French bank robbers, starring then-husband-and-wife Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci. Cassel is the titular gang leader, Bellucci his girlfriend and Tchéky Karyo the unhinged Parisian police commissioner out to stop them. It’s all fairly one-note – cranked up to fifth gear, rarely relenting – but filled with memorable moments of flash and fury. Most noteworthy is the high-speed in-car battle between Dobermann and Karyo’s Christini, which will leave you thrilled (and slightly nauseous).…

2009-20 AVAILABLE ON DVD, BD, DIGITAL, NETFLIX, NOW Given the divisive political turmoil the world has endured in recent times, it’s easy to forget that a little over a decade ago there was a real feeling of optimism in the air. Following a campaign that saw artist Shepard Fairey’s ‘Hope’ poster become one of the most iconic images of the millennium, 2009 saw Barack Obama sworn in as the first ever Black president of the United States. That same year also saw the debut of Parks And Recreation, the show perhaps most emblematic of that sense of political hope. The brainchild of The Office (US) co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, Parks And Recreation came about through NBC’s desire for a spin-off from that popular sitcom. But rather than simply…

★★★★☆ JAMES FIELD ABRAMS One of the strengths of Matt Reeves’ DC reboot was the depth of its rain-lashed, neon-streaked Gotham. So it’s fitting, then, that this official tie-in has an expansive coffee-table heft, with space to probe every alleyway of the world. As is to be expected with authorised guides, the tone verges on backslappy, but that’s a small price to pay for the buffet of access and info here. Author Field makes for a brisk guide, corralling interviews with key players to dive into characters, gadgets, themes and locations. As in the film, Batman is front and centre; there’s geeky glee in the development detail of his tech, including a fingertaser (!), plus some nunchucks that didn’t make the final film. Cinema references also abound: Bats’ grappling hook…