4 h. ago The Smashing Machine review – Dwayne Johnson only possible casting for crisis

Former pro wrestler Johnson takes on the role of man-mountain Kerr who goes into meltdown when the unthinkable happens – he losesBenny Safdie has written and directed a solid bro drama for the UFC fanbase and maybe a little way beyond. It is about the central crisis in the life of man-mountain Mark Kerr, America’s pioneering MMA and ultimate fighting champ, who in 1997 found himself in the ring, or maybe the cage, with his demons after the unthinkable humiliation of losing for the first time.This feature is in fact developed from a 2002 documentary about Kerr with the same title. He confronted his substance abuse, relationship anxieties and the question of what the heck life is for if you can’t simply win all the time. Kerr is played by Dwayne Johnson, a colossus of muscle topped off with a head the size of Indiana Jones’s boulder, a body on which the only visible fat is rippling at the nape of his neck. Johnson’s appearance is modified by close-cut frizzy hair and facial prosthetic...

Politics

4 h. ago The Smashing Machine review – Dwayne Johnson only possible casting as crisis

Former pro wrestler Johnson takes on the role of man-mountain Kerr who goes into meltdown when the unthinkable happens – he losesBenny Safdie has written and directed a solid bro drama for the UFC fanbase and maybe a little way beyond. It is about the central crisis in the life of man-mountain Mark Kerr, America’s pioneering MMA and ultimate fighting champ, who in 1997 found himself in the ring, or maybe the cage, with his demons after the unthinkable humiliation of losing for the first time.This feature is in fact developed from a 2002 documentary about Kerr with the same title. He confronted his substance abuse, relationship anxieties and the question of what the heck life is for if you can’t simply win all the time. Kerr is played by Dwayne Johnson, a colossus of muscle topped off with a head the size of Indiana Jones’s boulder, a body on which the only visible fat is rippling at the nape of his neck. Johnson’s appearance is modified by close-cut frizzy hair and facial prosthetic...

Politics

5 h. ago Emily Blunt steals the show in a dazzling strapless gown as she puts on a playful display with The Rock at The Smashing Machine premiere during The Venice Film Festival

Emily Blunt made sure to turn heads in a glamorous strapless gown as she attended The Smashing Machine premiere during the 82nd Venice Film Festival on Monday. 

Culture

6 h. ago Emily Blunt steals the show in a dazzling strapless gown as she joins The Rock at The Smashing Machine premiere at 82nd Venice Film Festival

Emily Blunt made sure to turn heads in a glamorous strapless gown as she attended The Smashing Machine premiere during the 82nd Venice Film Festival on Monday. 

Culture

6 h. ago The Smashing Machine, Venice review – Proof that Dwayne Johnson is a real actor, and potentially a future Oscar winner

Filmmaker Benny Safdie asks the star to be raw and vulnerable for the first time in his career – and it’s a sight to behold

Politics

8 h. ago Dwayne Johnson, 53, stuns fans with 'much slimmer' frame and 'loss of muscle mass' while promoting The Smashing Machine

Dwayne Johnson has stunned fans with his 'much slimmer' frame, after unveiling a new look during the Venice Film Festival. 

Politics

9 h. ago The Testament of Ann Lee review – strikingly strange portrait of radically ecstatic Shaker leader

Venice film festivalAmanda Seyfried plays the 18th-century missionary who took her message to the New World, in Mona Fastvold’s elusive film‘Our ordeal is worth it!” This is the cry of one of the faithful in Mona Fastvold’s movie, co-written with her partner Brady Corbet, with whom she co-wrote The Brutalist. It is a vehement, fervent, striking but sometimes baffling drama about the historical figure of Ann Lee, who endured religious persecution in 18th-century England as leader of the fundamentalist Shaker movement.As the embodiment of Christ’s second coming, Lee took her radical message to the New World and in pre-revolutionary America founded an enduring community of souls, persecuted all over again by the new patriarchy for being a woman and a pacifist. Her Shakers were known among other things for their skill in stylishly elegant and minimalist furniture – although the connection with Christ’s profession is unstressed. Lee is played by Amanda Seyfried, with Lewis Pullman as her...

Politics

19 h. ago Dwayne Johnson, Oscar contender? ‘The Smashing Machine’ starts buzz at Venice Film Festival

Dwayne Johnson takes a serious turn as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine,” premiering Monday at the Venice Film Festival

Politics

28 h. ago Lando Norris will ‘give it everything’ in F1 title race after Dutch GP hopes dashed

‘I can just chill out about it and just go for it,’ says BritonRace winner Oscar Piastri 34 points clear in standingsLando Norris has said he will “chill out and just go for it” in an effort to bridge the gap to his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, after the British driver was forced to retire from the Dutch Grand Prix and the Australian took a 34-point lead in the world championship.Norris was just nine points behind Piastri going into the 15th round of the season at Zandvoort but an oil leak cost him dear. With seven laps to go when he was in second place and just over one second behind Piastri, Norris was left helpless as his car ground to a halt by the side of the track. Continue reading...

Politics

33 h. ago The Wizard of the Kremlin, Venice review – Jude Law is an intense, torso

Olivier Assayas’s new film – starring Paul Dano as a fictional Russian politician – has some anarchic energy to it, but it lacks nuance and insight overall

Politics

54 h. ago Frankenstein, Venice review – Guillermo del Toro’s elegant adaptation is all show and little substance

Jacob Elordi is a very sympathetic monster in this visually stunning but thematically lacking film, which co-stars Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth

Politics

4 d. ago Jay Kelly, Venice review – George Clooney is raw and revealing as an ageing movie star

A star-studded cast – including Adam Sandler, Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig – surround Clooney’s egotistical A-lister in Noah Baumbach’s new Netflix film

Politics

5 d. ago Pedro Pascal set to REPLACE Joaquin Phoenix in gay romance film after pair's tense exchange over 'salute'

Pedro Pascal is being tipped to replace Joaquin Phoenix in a gay romance film - one year after the Oscar winner dropped out days before filming began.

Politics

1 week ago Going nuclear: Kathryn Bigelow back in geopolitical territory with atomic thriller

A House of Dynamite, told from perspective of White House officials, will premiere at Venice before Netflix rolloutAn unattributed missile is launched at the US, setting off a desperate effort inside the White House to determine who fired it and how to respond: not the latest news headline but the premise of Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller A House of Dynamite, which will premiere at the Venice film festival.The film marks a return to the large-scale, geopolitically attuned storytelling that made Bigelow one of the most decorated directors of her generation. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Highest 2 Lowest review – Denzel Washington is surprisingly one

The Oscar-winner’s latest collaboration with Lee – based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 masterpiece ‘High and Low’ – is short on emotional depth

Politics

1 week ago Anora star Mikey Madison breaks a golden rule of Hollywood with bold career decision after Oscar win

The Oscar-winner, 26, has revealed she is not on social media and doesn't ever 'regret' skipping a party.

Politics

1 week ago Oscar winner Ariana DeBose devastated by mum's death at 57 as she pays tribute

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose announced that her mother, Gina DeBose, died, aged 57, over the weekend, three years after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer

Events

2 w. ago Rugby player banned after shouting 'get your baps out' at female referee

Casey Johnson said he 'had no real explanation' for why he shouted the 'abhorrent' phrase at the match official

Sport

2 w. ago Denzel Washington shares why he doesn’t care about cancel culture

‘What made public support so important to begin with?’ asked Oscar winner

Politics

2 w. ago 'Hidden gem' crime drama starring British Oscar winner is on TV tonight

The film first hit cinemas in 2019

Events