52 h. ago The Carpenter’s Son review – Nicolas Cage is predictably miscast in dull biblical horror

A grim, grave-faced look at Jesus realising he is in fact the son of God is a bafflingly acted and messily made boreIt’s hard to know how seriously one should take a film that casts Nicolas Cage as Joseph, the carpenter who acted as the adoptive father of Jesus. One might expect, with the actor still relying on his trademark California intonation and histrionic outbursts, that this would be another one of his late-stage career larks, like playing Dracula or himself. But in The Carpenter’s Son, a bafflingly serious stew of horror, drama and fantasy, it slowly starts to dawn on us that this is in fact, not a joke. What it is I couldn’t tell you but entertaining it most definitely isn’t.The film, from Egypt-born, London-raised writer and director Lotfy Nathan, is inspired by the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a text seen as heretical by some, which offers highly debated “insight” into the early years of Jesus. Nathan begins by clueing us into the fact that this isn’t your vicar’s Sunday sch...

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2 d. ago Nicolas Cage's 'The Carpenter's Son' turns an apocryphal text about Jesus' youth into a horror film

Filmmaker Lotfy Nathan has turned the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas into a supernatural thriller called “The Carpenter’s Son,” starring Nicolas Cage

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3 d. ago Celebrating literature is good – but I’m running out of patience with celebrity book clubs | Emma Brockes

Sarah Jessica Parker swept all before her at the Booker prize ceremony, but is fame the best way to encourage reading?In these turbulent times, we take small joys where we can find them. And this week we’ll take this: the spectacle of various literary people at the Booker prize award ceremony jamming themselves into photos alongside Sarah Jessica Parker. The actor – if you missed the long piece about it in the New York Times, or the many social media posts promoting Parker’s involvement – served as a judge for the Booker this year, a process that required her to read 153 books, some of them on the New York subway while being followed by a film crew. “Oh let me try!!!!” Parker had posted to Booker organisers last year, and for reasons that became obvious this week, they did.I know what you are going to say; that anything short of full-throated support for Parker’s adorable engagement with books in general and the Booker prize in particular is just unacceptable snobbery. There is noth...

Culture

3 d. ago Should I care what Sarah Jessica Parker thinks about books? | Emma Brockes

She swept all before her at the Booker prize ceremony, but I’m running out of patience with celebrity influence in publishingIn these turbulent times, we take small joys where we can find them. And this week we’ll take this: the spectacle of various literary people at the Booker prize award ceremony jamming themselves into photos alongside Sarah Jessica Parker. The actor – if you missed the long piece about it in the New York Times, or the many social media posts promoting Parker’s involvement – served as a judge for the Booker this year, a process that required her to read 153 books, some of them on the New York subway while being followed by a film crew. “Oh let me try!!!!” Parker had posted to Booker organisers last year, and for reasons that became obvious this week, they did.I know what you are going to say; that anything short of full-throated support for Parker’s adorable engagement with books in general and the Booker prize in particular is just unacceptable snobbery. There ...

Politics

4 d. ago Nicolas Cage biblical horror film The Carpenter's Son blasted as 'dreary' and 'misguided' in first reviews

The reviews are in, and critics are saying Nicolas Cage has another stinker on his hands with his latest film, The Carpenter's Son.

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2 w. ago Rust gun supplier sues Alec Baldwin and producers over ‘scapegoat smear campaign’

Seth Kenney alleges film’s lead actor, producers and crew defamed him to deflect blame for fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

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2 w. ago Colin Farrell upset Tom Cruise with boozy antics on set and admits 'it was terrible'

Hollywood star Colin Farrell has admitted he got on the wrong side of his co-star Tom Cruise while shooting the 2002 sci-fi movie Minority Report due to his boozy behaviour

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2 w. ago Exclusive | UK paid $41M to shoot new ‘Knives Out’ Netflix movie in London instead of New York

Exclusive | UK paid $41M to shoot new ‘Knives Out’ Netflix movie in London instead of New York  New York Post

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3 w. ago Stellan Skarsgård says he is living ‘on overtime’ since having a stroke three years ago

The 74-year-old actor said he had fallen ill between shooting the two parts of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies – and puts it down to having ‘lived a naughty life’The actor Stellan Skarsgård has revealed that he suffered a stroke three years ago and has been finding filming considerably more challenging since.Speaking to Vulture to promote Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier’s Oscar-contender about a film director struggling to connect with his daughters, the actor said he had fallen ill between shooting the two parts of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies, as well as the seasons of Star Wars series Andor. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Nicolas Cage wins over Luton film crew with Greggs feast while shooting new movie Fortitude

The Con Air star has been getting a taste for Britain as he reunites with director Simon West on a new World War II spy drama

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3 w. ago Malicious prosecution lawsuit by Alec Baldwin in 'Rust' shooting moves to federal court

A lawsuit by actor Alec Baldwin alleging malicious prosecution in the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie has been reinstated and moved to federal court

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4 w. ago ‘Have we done ourselves out of a job?’: concerns in film and TV industry over on

Actors unclear on rights over their data and what it will be used for, as cast and crew alike fear for future of their rolesOlivia Williams says actors need ‘nudity rider’-type controls for AI body scansFor performers on TV or movie sets, it is not unusual to receive a request to enter a booth filled with scores of cameras ready to capture their likeness from every possible angle. Yet with the cast and crew of productions already fretting over the coming role of AI in the industry, it is an increasingly troubling undertaking.“It happens without warning,” says Olivia Williams, who adds she has been scanned more times than she cares to remember during a career that has spanned from The Sixth Sense to Dune: Prophecy. Continue reading...

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