Why Thunderbolts is the best Marvel movie in ages April 30, 2025 It’s a time of great peril in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world’s biggest film franchise has struggled ever since Avengers: Endgame, a fact highlighted by March’s Captain America: Brave New World. The drab action thriller that illustrated every superhero trope audiences have tired of. As the MCU looks to reset, could their saviours come [...]
Freaky Tales review: Pulp pleasure for Grindhouse lovers April 30, 2025 It’s a busy year for the internet’s daddy Pedro Pascal. Currently wowing audiences in the second season of The Last Of Us, he’s soon to try and revive the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of the new Fantastic Four film. In between all these big budget efforts, however, is the flawed but charming cult actioner [...]
The Penguin Lessons: Steve Coogan stars in lovable crowd pleaser April 30, 2025 Cinema has an inexplicable fascination with Penguins. From award-winning docs like March Of The Penguins to animation like Happy Feet, there’s something about these flightless birds that sells a movie as well as any A-lister. New drama The Penguin Lessons will certainly hope that continues to be the case, as it pairs Steve Coogan with [...]
Warfare review: Alex Garland returns with a April 30, 2025 Alex Garland imagined a future conflict in last year’s dystopian drama Civil War, and will do so again in the summer as the writer of long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later. Before that, however, he returns to the director’s chair to portray real-life combat in the absolutely haunting Warfare. The film is a re-enactment of co-writer/director [...]
Dealer’s Choice review: Poker play returns after three decades April 29, 2025 Dealer’s Choice | ★★★☆☆ | Donmar Warehouse Anyone who plays poker knows its potential to create stories. It’s a game that’s perfectly in step with our age of individuality, an analogue for capitalism in which – so the myth goes – anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and a run of bad luck [...]
The Return review: Uberto Pasolini’s take on The Odyssey April 29, 2025 Uberto Pasolini’s new drama comes to cinemas with the curious fate of being compared to a filmthat isn’t even out yet. Christopher Nolan is currently filming his next project The Odyssey, based on Homer’s epic poem. The Return is an adaptation of the final parts of that same poem, meaning scrutiny will be paid to [...]
Holy Cow: A delightfully uplifting , scrappy comedy April 29, 2025 The pursuit of prize-winning cheese is the unlikely goal for an orphaned boy in this unusual but fulfilling comedy-drama. Holy Cow stars Clément Faveau as Totone, an 18-year-old boy living in rural France whose life of drinking and partying comes to a halt when his father dies in a drink-driving accident. Alone and left to [...]
One To One: John & Yoko: John Lennon’s life after the Beatles April 29, 2025 Do we need another film about The Beatles? Hollywood certainly thinks so. Last week the castwas revealed for a four-film series of biopics on the band, directed by Sam Mendes andexpected in 2028. As speculation builds towards those dramatic endeavours, director Kevin MacDonald (The Last King Of Scotland) shines a light on the later years [...]
The Brightening Air: Unbearably tense and brilliantly acted April 29, 2025 After seeing The Brightening Air at the Old Vic, I left the theatre with the overwhelming urge to seize control of my own destiny. It follows an extended family as they prepare to meet after a long time apart. The occasion: the birthday of the blind ex-clergyman Father Pierre. It is a play in which [...]
Why dining alone is the last taboo April 12, 2025 During a recent solo trip to a new wine and oyster bar, I was directed to a dim corner of the restaurant far away from other diners. It was as if the patrons needed to be protected from the sad, friendless clown doing a sudoku and enjoying an alcohol free beer. As the waiter came [...]