movies
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LBJ review: Woody Harrelson compelling if physically unconvincing in firm biopicHarrelson might not look like Lyndon B Johnson – even with the benefit of heavy prosthetics – but he gives a convincing performance of a troubled leader in Rob Reiner’s conventional presidential drama -
The Headhunter's Calling review – Gerard Butler redemption story never convincesButler plays a workaholic whose son’s cancer forces him to become a better man in this treacly drama
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Denzel Washington on diversity western The Magnificent Seven: ‘Audiences like to know who they’re rooting for’The veteran actor joins Chris Pratt to discuss his remake of the classic western. But why are they so keen to play down its obvious radical political subtext? -
Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids review - Jonathan Demme's no-frills docThe megastar proves himself to be a fabulous entertainer in film following the final few nights of his 20/20 Experience tour in Las Vegas – there’s no resisting
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Amanda Knox review – slick documentary excels with unprecedented accessNetflix’s sharp look at the murder of Meredith Kercher has no big revelations, but is an expansive and detailed account
fall film festivals
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Michelle Rodriguez defends 'transphobic' [re]AssignmentActor says she took part in drama about a hitman whose gender is changed maliciously ‘to express frustration’ at Hollywood’s lack of creativity
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Barry review: this year's second young Obama movie boasts hope and audacityVikram Gandhi’s college years biopic is a plotless yet compelling look at a nascent power, with a startling good central performance
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Brain on Fire review: Chloë Grace Moretz fails to ignite disease-of-the-week dramaThe true story of a journalist’s struggle with a rare brain disease has initial promise but soon descends into well-worn territory
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a swirling, sugar-coated melodramaMichael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander give heartfelt performances in a tale of love and sacrifice that isn’t afraid to hit cymbal-crashing levels of sentimentality
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cranked-up Frankenstein from the family ScottRidley and son Luke turn in a passable sci-fi thriller, but the horror turns to shlock as the film heads for a predictable twist ending
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one in the eye for decency from Denmark's gross-out duoRacism, sexism, inappropriate coupling: Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen cheerily mine every taboo for a laugh in this sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit
video & audio
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Amanda Knox: trailer for Netflix documentary – videoNetflix’s documentary on the American student convicted and then acquitted for the murder in 2007 in Italy of her British room-mate
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The Girl With All the Gifts: a clip from the zombie teen thriller – videoAdapted from MR Carey’s post-apocalyptic YA novel, The Girl With All the Gifts is set in a future society where a mysterious disease has turned almost everyone into zombie-like ‘hungries’ who feed on human flesh
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Edward Snowden: 'I'm willing to make a lot of sacrifices for my country' – video interviewNSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tells the Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill why he should be granted a pardon by the US government
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Celebrities read the poem 'What They Took With Them' to support refugees – videoOscar winner Cate Blanchett leads a cast including Keira Knightley, Stanley Tucci, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jesse Eisenberg and Kit Harington in performing the film which UN refugee agency UNHCR released to support its WithRefugees petition. The poem was written by Jenifer Toksvig and was inspired by the stories and testimonies of people fleeing their homes and the items they took with them
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Free Fire trailer: Ben Wheatley's shootout starring Brie Larson – videoBen Wheatley’s followup to High-Rise is a Boston-set 70s shootout feature starring Brie Larson, Arnie Hammer and Cillian Murphy
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Live by Night trailer: Ben Affleck directs 1920s gangster drama – videoMarking his return to directing after Argo, Live by Night stars Ben Affleck as the son of a Boston police captain who becomes a gangster
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Is it time for Ben Affleck's 'Batfleck' Batman to bring back Robin?Ryan Potter, the brilliant star of Big Hero 6, has made a viral video touting himself as Batman’s new boy wonder. Should Ben Affleck be listening?
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Sullied: with Sully, Clint Eastwood is weaponizing a heroIn depicting government investigators as petty and clueless, the Hudson plane crash film trumpets a libertarian worldview at the expense of passenger safety
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I, Daniel Blake: Ken Loach and the scandal of Britain’s benefits systemThe veteran director’s latest movie lays bare the cruel realities for those who fall through the cracks of society. We look at Loach’s work and the politics that drive it, while, below, campaigners, artists and analysts react to the film
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Bridget Jones: how to turn a female character into half a billion dollarsHelen Fielding’s comic creation won women over by oversharing and messing up and despite her advancing years, Hollywood can’t let Bridget Jones grow up
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Eight Days A Week: how Ron Howard brought the Beatles back to lifeHoward’s new film captures the sweat, screams and cultural significance of the band’s touring years. He explains why the Fab Four still fascinates him
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John Malkovich: ‘In relationships, I’ve had an addictive personality’The actor and director on addiction and success, Trump’s bankruptcies, and the film he wrote that no one will see for 100 years
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Diane Kruger: ‘I truly believe the best is yet to come’‘Too beautiful’… ‘ex-fashion model’… Will perennially underrated Diane Kruger finally throw off such disparaging tags with her new film, The Infiltrator?
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Viggo Mortensen on actors behaving like babies and why he won't vote for HillaryGangster, killer, Aragorn ... Mortensen is not known for his comedy. But in new film Captain Fantastic, his grizzled deadpan is the funniest thing in a very funny film. But get him on to politics and prima donna colleagues, and he is deadly serious
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Damien Chazelle on La La Land: 'Los Angeles is full of people chasing dreams'The Whiplash director is tipped to net a second Oscar nomination as his third movie heads to Toronto film festival following ecstatic receptions at Venice and Telluride. He talks about swinging for the fences with his love letter to Hollywood, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling
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Mathieu Amalric: ‘Cinema has a way of transforming itself’The French star on playing a Bond villain, learning from Spielberg and calling the shots in his erotic thriller The Blue Room
regulars
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UK box office reportUK box office reportDon't Breathe spooks Ben-Hur's horses at the UK box officeSausage Party still on the top shelf as the housebound horror hit and galloping Roman epic give chase
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Charlie Lyne's home entertainmentCharlie Lyne's home entertainmentOne Mississippi: Tig Notaro's cancer comedy embraces triumph and tragedyNotaro is the latest comedian to take her troubles and turn them into prestige dramedy. Unlike some recent attempts, she rises to the challenge
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Silent but deadly!Silent but deadly!Sunset Boulevard: what Billy Wilder's satire really tells us about HollywoodThe scathing black comedy offers up bitterness and grotesquery but also a revealing, and complicated, look at the end of the silent era
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Guy Lodge on DVDs and downloadsGuy Lodge on DVDs and downloadsEmbrace of the Serpent; Bad Neighbours 2; Our Kind of Traitor; I Saw the Light; The Measure of a Man and more – reviewCiro Guerra’s trippy exploration of the Amazon is deeply impressive, as is Zac Ephon’s comic shallowness, but Le Carré is poorly served by a gloomy adaptation
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Week in geekWeek in geekWhy Daniel Radcliffe and Anne Hathaway should think twice about returning to past gloriesThe Harry Potter star has refused to rule out resurrecting the Boy Who Lived, while Hathaway is keen to pull on Catwoman’s leathers once more. Both should proceed with caution
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John PattersonJohn PattersonEight Days A Week: how Ron Howard brought the Beatles back to lifeHoward’s new film captures the sweat, screams and cultural significance of the band’s touring years. He explains why the Fab Four still fascinates him
you may have missed
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Fifty Shades Darker – the first trailer deconstructedFrom painfully ejaculatory fireworks to dry-humping in the shower, Stuart Heritage provides a handy guide to the highlights of the new Fifty Shades film
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Alexis Arquette and The Lady Chablis: deaths a reminder of barriers they brokeThe two transgender women were activists and entertainers who dared to be themselves – and set the tone for future generations
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Kubo and the Two Strings: how I made the samurai stopmotionTravis Knight, director of the new animation, talks to Mike McCahill about piecing together the children’s epic
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Bad omens: Blair Witch and the trouble with the horror franchise revivalReboots are big business: The Omen, The Ring and Carrie have all been adapted by studios keen to cash in. But the new sequel to The Blair Witch Project will struggle to replicate the impact of the original
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Renée Zellweger: so much more to her than Bridget JonesAfter a six-year absence, the actress returns to our screens this month as cinema’s highest profile singleton. But don’t mistake the much-analysed star for the character she plays
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Love, rock and rebellion in TunisiaAs I Open My Eyes tells the story of a Tunis band and the Ben Ali regime. But even after the Arab spring, the region’s youth are still waiting for freedom, says its director, Leyla Bouzid
‘It’s impossible to be vulnerable’: how Moonlight reflects being a black gay man in the US