43 h. ago The Brightening Air at the Old Vic review: this slice of 1980s Irish life is hilarious and achingly moving

Conor McPherson is a singular writer and a phenomenal director

Politics

5 d. ago How accurate is movie Conclave and what was Catholic Church's review of it

Following the news of the death of Pope Francis had died, the Vatican will soon select the new leader of the Catholic Church - but how close to the truth is film Conclave?

Politics

1 week ago The Legend of Ochi review – visually dazzling throwback kids movie

There’s an 80s vibe to this ET-adjacent family adventure with Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson, relying on impressive practical effectsThe Legend of Ochi creates such a complete visual experience that studio heads who have led countless multimillion-dollar trips to the green-screen warehouse should hang their heads in shame when they see it.It’s not that writer-director Isaiah Saxon and his collaborators have abstained, monk-like, from modern technology in assembling this children’s fantasy film; though it consciously throws back to puppetry, matte paintings and other practical effects that were more common in live-action family films of the 1980s, The Legend of Ochi clearly makes use of digital tricks, too. (When its trailer first dropped, online hordes were even convinced – wholly incorrectly – that its relatively low-budget world-building must be the product of generative AI tech.) But all of these non-AI techniques, as well as vivid location shooting in Romania, have been pulled to...

Politics

1 week ago The Balcony Movie review – funny/sad film that offers a view into strangers’ lives

Pawel Lozinski’s documentary collects conversations with passers-by he talks to from the window of his Warsaw flatPolish film-maker Pawel Lozinski has curated this amusing, cumulatively melancholy documentary which he has shot from the first-floor balcony in his flat in the Saska Kępa district of Warsaw. Over a number of years, and with a microphone discreetly attached to the chainlink fence at street level, he simply calls down to people going past and asks them to stop and talk about something, anything.There are a lot of dog-walkers and people with babies; most people smile or grimace politely and say they are not special enough to be featured in a film. A priest says he can’t talk because he is carrying the Holy Sacrament. Others obligingly talk: one woman sings a rather beautiful song, a man talks about being homeless, having just got out of prison. People confide their sadness at the loss of a loved one, though one woman sheepishly confesses her profound happiness that her abu...

Culture

2 w. ago Shoppers can get M&S' £18 LEGO Easter Bunny set for £3 as a perfect gift for Easter

Marks & Spencer's £18 LEGO Easter Bunner set is the perfect alternative gift this Easter, and there's a way that shoppers can grab one for £3

Economics

2 w. ago MOVIE REVIEW: We chill and check out tech thriller 'Cold Wallet'

Inconsistent tones short change what could have been a gripping, contemporary story.

Science

3 w. ago A Minecraft Movie review – Jack Black and Jason Momoa star in seriously cobbled

Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess’s adventure based on the world’s favourite video game feels like one big cash-inIt’s a curious choice of title. A Minecraft Movie implies that this cynical intellectual property-rinsing exercise is one of numerous film adaptations of the enduringly popular sandbox video game. Perhaps there’s an alternative out there, a sharper, smarter, funnier version of a Minecraft movie. One with actual jokes. Or, God forbid, there may even be a worse iteration, although that’s hard to imagine. What becomes clear is that one of the key elements in the game’s popularity – the latitude it affords gamers to create their own experience – is a big stumbling block for any film adaptation of Minecraft.In the absence of a single fixed storyline the screenplay can follow, A Minecraft Movie has a cobbled-together feel, borrowing a device from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – and, in Jack Black, a star – and superimposing an all-purpose quest-for-an-artefact structure o...

Politics

3 w. ago In A Minecraft Movie, Jack Black is like a desperate clown at an underattended children’s party

Jason Momoa also stars in this underwhelming adaptation of the hit video game

Society

3 w. ago Sylvanian Families: The Movie review – bunny goes looking for gift in danger

Set in the bucolically bland world of the toy franchise, the adventures of Freya the rabbit stay well away from any kind of jeopardyIn the very first scene of this film, a woman (well, a female bunny rabbit), broom in hand, sings happily as she sweeps the kitchen floor. Welcome to the wholesome 1950s nostalgia of the Sylvanian Families brand. And while other adaptations of toy franchises whack the audience over the head with irony, skateboards and smart alec gags, this film based on the fuzzy woodland creatures stays firmly on-message. It’s very sweet, slightly dull, and such a throwback that if you stumbled across it on a streaming platform you’d be forgiven for thinking it was made in the 1970s.It’s set in the bucolically blissful land of Sylvania (though one character pronounces it “Syl-van-ia” so perhaps we’ve all been saying it wrong for years), where bunny Freya is on a mission. It’s her mum’s birthday and Freya wants to give her the perfect present. Each of the film’s chapter...

Politics

3 w. ago Sikandar Movie Review & Release Live update: Salman Khan's London fans dance in the theatre

Sikandar Movie Review & Release Live update: Salman Khan's London fans dance in the theatre  TOI Etimes

Culture

4 w. ago The Life List review – overly neat Netflix weepie leaves dry eyes

Carry-On’s Sofia Carson is a young woman whose mother sends her messages beyond the grave in a mushy PS I Love You-esque dramaThere are big, all-consuming emotions contained within the cosy Netflix weepie The Life List, a film about grief, family, love, dreams, heartbreak and the courage to strive for the life you truly want rather than the one you’ve settled for. Based on the bestselling novel by Lori Nelson Spielman, it’s a proudly heart-over-head confection and given how the platform has become a reliable provider of movies and shows aimed at younger women who have been underserved elsewhere, it’ll probably find its audience.But writer-director Adam Brooks, who knows this world better than most, having been involved in sturdy star-led studio films such as Definitely, Maybe; Wimbledon; and the hugely underrated Meg Ryan romcom French Kiss, can’t quite squeeze the tears or cheers out of material that so desperately wants them. It’s a film about experiences many of us should be able...

Politics