22 h. ago Sinners is a horror film about the highs and lows of the Black experience | Andrew Lawrence

Ryan Coogler’s wildly ambitious period vampire movie is set around the great migration and uses supernatural and real-life horrors to smartly make its pointWhen it comes to centering the Black experience on film, director Ryan Coogler has carved a fruitful and unprecedented niche. Fruitvale Station reconstructs the final hours in the life of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Oakland man killed by a transit cop on New Year’s Day. The Creed franchise tarries in the space between Black athletic genius and fatherlessness. The Black Panther franchise meditates on the relationship between Black Africans and the global diaspora. Now comes Sinners, a Jim Crow period piece that frames the Black experience in America as a horror show – complete with real scars.The film, which made its theatrical debut over the weekend, follows Sammie – a young guitar hero (played by newcomer Miles Caton) itching to break away from his preacher father and the family church to play the blues for the unsaved masses. He...

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65 h. ago Outrage as Trump’s coal expansion coupled with health cuts: ‘There won’t be anyone to work in the mines’

Agencies protecting coal miners from hazards such as ‘black lung’ among those gutted by government cutsThe Trump administration’s efforts to expand coal mining while simultaneously imposing deep cuts to agencies tasked with ensuring miner health and safety has left some advocates “dumbfounded”.Agencies that protect coal miners from serious occupational hazards, including the condition best known as “black lung”, have been among those affected by major government cuts imposed by the White House and the unofficial “department of government efficiency” (Doge) run by the billionaire Elon Musk. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago ‘She had no interest in the comfort zone’: celebrating the centenary of Celia Cruz, Cuba’s Queen of Salsa

Exiled from Castro’s Cuba, she became a superstar – and a trailblazer in the macho world of salsa. Fans and collaborators including Angélique Kidjo hail an icon of Black empowermentOn 13 November 1973, at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico, Celia Cruz took to the stage in a bejewelled, psychedelic blue dress and vast afro, saluting the 12,500-capacity arena with her trademark rallying cry: “Azucar!” – sugar.The Cuban singer had been a star for more than two decades by this point, but this concert marked a rebirth. Backed by the Fania All-Stars, the in-house orquesta of the label that brought salsa to the US, Cruz performed Bemba Colorá. Devotees have variously decoded its lyric and “big red lips” metaphor as a repudiation of a neighbourhood gossip, a commentary on anti-Black racism or an anthem for female empowerment. Stretched out to a righteous 12-minute call-and-response in Puerto Rico, she recast the song as a cry of anguish over her exile from her homeland, adding lines l...

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5 d. ago Netflix documentary 'where no element isn't disturbing' and just days left to watch

Stinson Hunter poses as a 14-year-old girl to expose paedophiles in the hard-hitting documentary The Paedophile Hunter, which will be removed from Netflix on April 30

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6 d. ago The Penguin Lessons review – Steve Coogan seabird comedy drama tries to sell feelgood mood

Coogan does his best, but there’s a tonal mismatch here: the animal-teaches-lonely-human narrative jars with a depiction of lives in totalitarian ArgentinaHere is a well-meaning, awkward tonal jumble of a movie, based on the bestselling memoir by former teacher Tom Michell; it is a quirky true-story heart warmer, in which an adorable penguin is apparently supposed to redeem not merely the human hero’s personal heartbreak but maybe even the agony of Argentina during the 70s junta. It stars Steve Coogan, who has often in the past shown brilliant technique as a straight actor, and in Philomena with Judi Dench proved he is perfectly capable of carrying an un-ironised emotional story. But his performance here is bafflingly underpowered and opaque, as if he is slightly perplexed by the script he’s been given.Coogan plays Tom, who takes a job in Peronist Argentina in 1976, teaching English at a stuffy private school for the sons of wealthy expatriates, and is wary of the overbearing headte...

Events

6 d. ago 'I was a Disney Princess and there's one change we make when new film comes out'

A woman who previously worked at a Disney park as a character performer has said there is a strict protocol they must follow if their character is featured in a new film

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6 d. ago Johnny Depp unrecognisable with long grey hair and new eyes for Hollywood return

Actor Johnny Depp looks very different after he recently landed a role in an upcoming film that marks the star's comeback to the silver screen after years of very public personal and legal issues

Politics

6 d. ago Do you need a TV licence to watch Netflix and other streaming sites?

The corporation is nearing the end of its current charter period, giving Labour the opportunity to change how it is funded

Politics

6 d. ago Home Alone 2 director says he fears he will be deported if he cuts Trump cameo

Chris Columbus calls cameo ‘an albatross’ but worries he’d ‘have to go back to Italy or something’Film-maker Chris Columbus says he has come to regard Donald Trump’s cameo in his movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as “an albatross” that he wishes to remove.But, Columbus added, he fears the president’s administration would deport him if he followed through with nixing the scene from more than 30 years ago. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Jay McGuinness opens up about 'poignant' moment he broke down in tears for Tom Parker

The Wanted star Jay McGuinness was left devastated after the death of bandmate Tom Parker and he struggled to come to terms with his grief while filming for BBC's Pilgrimage.

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8 d. ago Eclipse review – Tom Conti stars in intriguing but elusive tale of a mysterious death

Conti plays twin brothers, one of whom is suspected of the other’s murder, in this dreamy but frustrating fableSimon Perry’s elusive, lugubrious, faintly bizarre psychodrama from 1977, based on a novel of the same name by author and travel writer Nicholas Wollaston is now re-released; it is a dreamily directionless movie which resists, or almost resists, categorisation. It seems as if it is going to be a thriller or supernatural mystery, and you can wait almost until the final credits for some final narrative flourish or definitive plot shock that would prove what it’s all been about. And in fact there is a revelation, but it is presented so coolly that you will be expecting something else to come afterwards. An unsympathetic producer might well want to cut this film by two-thirds and present it as an episode of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, but that would be to lose the flavour and perhaps the meaning. I’m still not sure what I think about Eclipse, but it’s certainly distin...

Events

8 d. ago Eclipse review – Tom Conti stars in intriguing but elusive 70s tale of a mysterious death

Conti plays twin brothers, one of whom is suspected of the other’s murder, in this dreamy but frustrating fableSimon Perry’s elusive, lugubrious, faintly bizarre psychodrama from 1977, based on a novel of the same name by author and travel writer Nicholas Wollaston is now re-released; it is a dreamily directionless movie which resists, or almost resists, categorisation. It seems as if it is going to be a thriller or supernatural mystery, and you can wait almost until the final credits for some final narrative flourish or definitive plot shock that would prove what it’s all been about. And in fact there is a revelation, but it is presented so coolly that you will be expecting something else to come afterwards. An unsympathetic producer might well want to cut this film by two-thirds and present it as an episode of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, but that would be to lose the flavour and perhaps the meaning. I’m still not sure what I think about Eclipse, but it’s certainly distin...

Events

9 d. ago Ted Kotcheff, director of First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s and Wake in Fright, dies aged 94

Prolific Canadian director also made one of the country’s first internationally successful films, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, starring Richard DreyfussTed Kotcheff, the prolific Canadian director of films including First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s, Wake in Fright and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, has died aged 94. His daughter Kate Kotcheff told the Canadian Press that he had died of heart failure on Thursday in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, where he lived. His son Thomas said: “He died of old age, peacefully, and surrounded by loved ones.”In an amazingly varied career, Kotcheff’s work ranged from hardhitting TV plays and low-budget features in the UK, to hit Hollywood comedies and prestige-laden award-winners and cult films. Kate Kotcheff said: “He was an amazing storyteller. He was an incredible, larger than life character [and] he was a director who could turn his hand to anything.” Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Pillion, Phoenician and Panahi: superb lineup set to extend Cannes’ Oscar

After a tricky few years, the world’s pre-eminent film festival has come roaring back and is set to feature new work by Kelly Reichardt, another Joachim Trier drama starring Renate Reinsve and Cannes icons the Dardenne brothersThe Cannes film festival selection has been unveiled by its director Thierry Frémaux, with all its auteur heavyweights and cineaste silverback gorillas, including new work by Kelly Reichardt, Julia Ducournau, Ari Aster, Wes Anderson, Joachim Trier and Carla Simón. Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible movie is showing out of competition; Robert De Niro is getting an honorary Palme d’Or – and probably treating audiences to a characteristically tightlipped onstage interview – and Bono arrives at the red carpet for Andrew Dominik’s documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender. Actor turned director Scarlett Johansson comes to Cannes with her Eleanor the Great, a quirky New York tale starring veteran player June Squibb.There is also, of course, an appearance from the B...

Politics

1 week ago 7 Netflix shows just like Black Mirror including 'hidden gem' you've probably never heard of

Black Mirror fans have plenty to tune into after binge-watching the latest season.

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2 w. ago Netflix's new crime thriller with 'insane' twists leaves viewers gobsmacked

Karma, which premiered on Netflix on Friday (April 4), has been branded 'disturbing and satisfying' and 'insane' by viewers who have been binge-watching the series

Events

2 w. ago ‘Incompatible with the symbolism’: Yorgos Lanthimos denied permission to shoot new film at the Acropolis

The country’s best-known director was refused by Greece’s culture ministry when he applied to shoot scenes for sci-fi comedy Bugonia at iconic Athens siteGreece’s leading contemporary director has had a request to shoot footage for his new film at the Acropolis in Athens denied by his country’s culture ministry.Yorgos Lanthimos had filed a request to film scenes for sci-fi comedy Bugonia at the fifth-century BC site in April. But in a statement on Thursday, the culture ministry said permission had been refused because “the proposed scenes are incompatible with the symbolism and the values the Acropolis represents”. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Sky offering 50p per day TV and Netflix package that can help slash April price hikes

The UK's largest broadband provider has been giving customers peace of mind thanks to one feature

Politics

2 w. ago ‘To me it’s still funny it’s still stupid’: Bill Murray speaks out about sexual misconduct allegations

The actor said he was ‘barbecued’ after a complaint on the set of Being Mortal in 2022, which shut down production on the filmBill Murray has said he feels he was “barbecued” by a sexual misconduct allegation on the set of a 2022 comedy, which led to the film being cancelled and his reaching a financial settlement with the woman who accused him of straddling her and kissing her. “It wasn’t like I touched her,” said Murray to the New York Times in a new interview. “I gave her a kiss through a mask. And she wasn’t a stranger.”Murray defended his actions to the paper, saying that the complainant was “someone that I worked with, that I had had lunch with on various days of the week”. The actor put his actions down to trying to be amusing in a strained and claustrophobic setting. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘To me it’s still funny it’s still stupid’: Bill Murray speaks out about sexual misconduct allegation

The actor said he was ‘barbecued’ after a complaint on the set of Being Mortal in 2022, which shut down production on the filmBill Murray has said he feels he was “barbecued” by a sexual misconduct allegation on the set of a 2022 comedy, which led to the film being cancelled and his reaching a financial settlement with the woman who accused him of straddling her and kissing her. “It wasn’t like I touched her,” said Murray to the New York Times in a new interview. “I gave her a kiss through a mask. And she wasn’t a stranger.”Murray defended his actions to the paper, saying that the complainant was “someone that I worked with, that I had had lunch with on various days of the week”. The actor put his actions down to trying to be amusing in a strained and claustrophobic setting. Continue reading...

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