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Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (Netflix) Rating: Verdict: One for Ferrell fans Irresistible (Amazon Prime Video, Apple and other digital platforms) Rating: Verdict: Uneven political satire For those still feeling bereft after the cancellation of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest — and there must be one or even two of you out there … Read more
When I was a child, my mother took me to see the famous French mime artist Marcel Marceau perform in London, telling me, a little extravagantly, that he was the world’s funniest clown. My excitement began to abate pretty much as soon as he began gurning and after five minutes had evaporated altogether. Then acute … Read more
BRIAN VINER: Every new Woody Allen film used to be a cinematic event. Any hand-wringing over it was always strictly artistic. Had he lost his touch? Was it as good as his early ones?
This week, I conclude the ten-week countdown of my 100 favourite English-language films. So I’m taking a little more space than usual, both to champion my Top 10 and to remind you of the full list. I’m aware that I’ve left out lots of all-time classics. There’s no Citizen Kane or It’s A Wonderful Life … Read more
Best In Show (Amazon Prime, 12) Verdict: Barking parody Rating: A Mighty Wind (Amazon Prime, 12) Verdict: A hurricane of silliness Rating: Waiting For Guffman (Amazon Prime, 12) Verdict: Small-town spoof Rating: Over in that parallel universe without Covid-19, the 73rd Cannes Film Festival would be drawing to a close this weekend and I would … Read more
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Prime Video, Vudu, 15) Verdict: Gritty teen story Rating: The quirky title of Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always seems like blurred whimsy on the part of the writer-director until about halfway through, when it comes into sharp focus. The words are the multiple-choice answers to a grim series of questions. … Read more
The Assistant (various streaming platforms, including Curzon Home Cinema, 15) Verdict: Subtle but powerful Rating: The Assistant is not the first film to broach the subject of sexual harassment by powerful men in the entertainment industry, which spawned the #MeToo movement, and it certainly won’t be the last. But it will always be one of the … Read more
It’s a mystery… but let’s not panic just yet: Emergence of a new strain of coronavirus that targets children is ‘incredibly unlikely’, writes Professor RUSSELL VINER By Professor Russell Viner For The Daily Mail Published: 22:13 BST, 28 April 2020 | Updated: 22:31 BST, 28 April 2020 The first thing I want to stress about … Read more
Extraction (Netflix, 15) Verdict: Violent and derivative Rating: Extraction. It seems fitting that a film that sounds like a dental training video should set your teeth on edge. It stars Chris Hemsworth as that staple character of modern action movies, the former ‘special ops’ soldier, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, now working as … Read more
Bacurau (Amazon Prime, 18) Verdict: Genre-defying but terrific Rating: Who You Think I Am (Curzon Home Cinema, 15) Verdict: Sexy and beguiling Rating: The Host (various streaming platforms, 15) Verdict: Psycho rip-off Rating: The pick of this week’s homestreaming options is a pair of foreign-language films. The strange but compelling Bacurau, plunging us into the … Read more