At 85, the award-winning actor is preparing for her directorial debut and starring in a new film. She talks about Trump, feminism and the accident on The Exorcist set that still leaves a bitter taste? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the day?It?s terrifying!? Ellen Burstyn isn?t talking about her war with a demon in The Exorcist. Nor is she recalling her battle with amphetamine addiction in Requiem for a Dream. Rather, as I sit down opposite her, she is talking about the current US president.He has become an inescapable topic, especially in New York where we are, but for the 85-year-old, his reign has an added sting. Burstyn was not only a vocal supporter of his predecessor but was a visible part of Barack Obama?s campaign. Continue reading...
British film director asks if Charles Michel had examined the evidence before accusing him of anti-Jewish comments? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the dayKen Loach has responded with fury at a hastily convened press conference to a suggestion by the Belgian prime minister that a leading university was wrong to honour him following complaints that it had overlooked allegations of antisemitism.An hour before the 81-year-old British director received his honorary degree from the free university of Brussels (ULB) on Thursday, he told reporters he could not allow Charles Michel?s comments to go unanswered. Continue reading...
John Trengove?s boldly transgressive film tells the story of a city kid?s traditional initiation ritual and the secret gay sexuality of his mentors in a mountain retreat? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the dayThe Wound of the title has a number of metaphorical applications, mostly to do with the agony involved in suppressing the truth about your sexuality, and also in revealing it. It could be a symbol for the secret emotional pain that exists alongside the male aggression and male adventure that is effectively using it as fuel, maybe calling to mind Philoctetes, the warrior in the Iliad, abandoned by his comrades on the remote island of Lemnos before the Trojan war because of a noxious suppurating wound and yet rescued because his magical bow is needed. Related: Nakhane: 'For as long as I need to, I'm going to talk about being a gay artist' Continue reading...
The Deminer follows a Kurdish mine-disposal expert as he risks life and limb every day. But are documentary-makers ? and the audience ? complicit?? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the day Fakhir Berwari ? or ?Crazy Fakhir?, as the Americans dubbed the Kurdish Peshmerga colonel ? did some of the deadliest work on the planet. Without robots or blast suits, he disarmed thousands of mines; first in the aftermath of the second Gulf war, then, after a layoff enforced by the loss of his right leg, during the reconquest of Iraq from the Islamic State. The latter was more dangerous: Isis packed abandoned houses with IEDs in entranceways, under rubble, inside furniture. We see the colonel teetering from fatigue, but always ready to go the extra mile. ?Fakhir knew he was the fastest and the most experienced,? says Hogir Hirori, director of The Deminer. ?If he didn?t do it, then many more people would die.?The Deminer makes for nervous viewing. Each of the four detonations we see ratchets up the sense of inevitability. It?s not quite a snuff movie, though haunted by a similar balefulness. What moral responsibilities do documentary-makers have when their subject is a danger to himself? Continue reading...
Will the post-credit sequence prove key? Is Josh Brolin?s Titan the villain the franchise has been waiting for? And how about that ending? ? WARNING: This article is for readers who have seen Avengers: Infinity War and contains major spoilers ? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the dayIt is tempting to wonder quite how the bigwigs at Disney must have reacted when the ending of Avengers: Infinity War was first revealed to them. ?So let me get this straight,? they might have said, visions of billions of dollars in lost merchandise revenue whirling in front of their eyes. ?You?re going to kill off half of all the superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the only guy ? Doctor Strange ? capable of bringing them back??In terms of far-out creative decisions, this one is right up there with Luke Skywalker?s declaration in Star Wars: The Last Jedi that he wanted nothing to do with laser sword-wielding space monks. Except that this time, we have to wait a whole year ? until the sequel to Infinity War ? to see if there?s any way of reversing it. Continue reading...
Dench, Smith, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright engage in a round-table war of theatrical anecdotes in this outrageously funny film? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the dayThe laughter and pure hysteria are infectious in this wildly enjoyable film. I can?t for the life of me think of any other recent documentary in which I have laughed pretty much all the way through. It is nothing more nor less than an acerbic round-table chat between four of British theatre?s most famed dames: Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins and Maggie Smith, which takes place at the country home Plowright shared with her late husband, Laurence Olivier (I seem to remember it being the site of Melvyn Bragg?s South Bank Show special on Olivier in the 80s).This is basically an Avengers: Infinity War of theatrical anecdotery: outrageously camp, with sensational stills and archive footage and very brisk assessment of the past ? utterly unsentimental. Why is it when female stars of this calibre appear in a fiction feature together it?s always a horribly twee ordeal ? when this shows they can be brutally funny? Continue reading...
Family announces death on social media sitesStatement: ?Verne was an extremely caring individual?The actor Verne Troyer has died, according to a statement posted to his social media pages on Saturday. He was 49. Related: Verne Troyer: a cult star who sustained a career with dignity and good humour | Peter Bradshaw Continue reading...
Despite the fickle British weather, ticket sales to watch films in the open air have tripled in three years? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the dayBritain is in the middle of a boom in outdoor cinema, as people brave the unpredictable British climate to watch films ?on location? in castles, aircraft hangars and even beach huts.George Wood, founder of Britain?s biggest outdoor film company, the Luna Cinema, says ticket sales have tripled in the past three years. ?You strike gold when you can actually pair the film to the venue,? said Wood. Continue reading...
Verne Troyer, who at 2ft 8in was one of the world?s shortest men, racked up 30 film credits in a career spanning 24 yearsActor who played Mini-Me in Austin Powers films dies age 49 Continue reading...
Jerusalem-born actor was due to receive 2018 Genesis prize but cancels saying she ?cannot in good conscience? attend ceremony ? Sign up for Film Today and get our film team?s highlights of the dayNatalie Portman has pulled out of a major award ceremony due to take place in Israel, citing her ?distress? at recent events in the country.Portman, who was born in Jerusalem and holds dual Israeli and US citizenship, was named in November as the recipient of the 2018 Genesis award, a yearly prize for ?outstanding achievement by individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields [who] embody the character of the Jewish people?. Continue reading...
So you've finally seen Avengers: Infinity War, and you need someone to talk to about the whole damned mess? Head on into our Rate and Discuss story for this week, and let it all out. We're all in this together.
Avengers: Infinity War was every bit the paradigm shift of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we expected it to be, but it was what happened after the credits rolled that really got some people talking.
It's finally here. Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters. A movie we have been anticipating for years, and discussing -- in many different formats -- for an equal amount of time.
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