Spike Lee's controversial Chi-Raq receives strong reviews
The Amazon film, which takes a satirical look at increased gun violence in Chicago, has given the director his best notices in yearsSpike Lee’s much-discussed comedy drama Chi-Raq has received strong...
View ArticleChi-Raq review: Spike Lee's urgent, angry – and very sexy – midlife masterpiece
The film-maker is back at the top of his game with this incendiary look at life in a gang-ravaged Chicago, featuring a break-out performance from Teyonah Parris – and giving Amazon Studios a terrific...
View ArticleEdward Snowden meets Arundhati Roy and John Cusack: ‘He was small and lithe,...
The Indian novelist recalls an extraordinary encounter in a Moscow hotel with the NSA whistleblowerThe Moscow Un-Summit wasn’t a formal interview. Nor was it a cloak-and-dagger underground rendezvous....
View ArticleSpike Lee and cast condemn Chicago mayor at Chi-Raq premiere
Director of film about city’s gun violence said ‘more heads are gonna roll’ after Rahm Emanuel fired police chief over video showing Laquan McDonald shootingSpike Lee and the stars of his new film...
View ArticleDragon Blade review – slow-moving sword-fighting spectacular
Even Jackie Chan’s action flair falters in this bombastic tale of Imperial Rome’s clashes with the Chinese The chance to see Jackie Chan sword fighting with John Cusack in 50BC China doesn’t come along...
View ArticleDragon Blade review – historically fanciful romp
Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody take up swords and sandals for this epic Silk Road crowd-pleaserA crowd-pleasing theatrical hit in China, Daniel Lee’s visually lavish romp gets only a limited...
View ArticleCell review – Stephen King zombie satire lacks a pulse
John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson are phoning it in as survivors of a crisis that turns mobile users into mindless gruntsAnyone who’s seen a city pavement crammed with people stumbling along staring at...
View ArticleSouthern Fury review – Nicolas Cage in a fatuous burst of righteous revenge
This crass, violent crime thriller, with Cage as a bulbous-nosed mobster, is laden with sentimental self-importanceNicolas Cage’s fake nose is the realest thing about this crass, boring crime thriller...
View ArticleMuscles, mullets and Malkovich: has Con Air got even weirder with age?
When Hollywood strapped Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich and a host of bad guys into a plane and crashed it on Vegas, what was the result? An action hit that was half prison flick, half rock video – and...
View ArticleDisney plots High Fidelity TV series with female lead
A new version of Nick Hornby’s romcom will focus on a female record-store owner chronicling her past relationships and will be shown on the studio’s streaming serviceDisney is reportedly planning a...
View Article'When you grow up your heart dies': how the coming-of-age film got smart
From Pretty in Pink to Dirty Dancing and Say Anything - Hadley Freeman describes the emotions that got her hooked on films about growing up•Sign up for Film Today and get our film team’s highlights of...
View ArticleJohn Cusack under fire for antisemitic 'follow the money' tweet
Actor posts message alongside popular far-right motto before backtracking amid barrage of criticismJohn Cusack has apologised after coming under fire for an antisemitic tweet.Cusack retweeted a...
View ArticleBeing John Malkovich at 20: why the surrealist comedy demands a rewatch
One of the most fascinatingly strange and unpredictable films of 1999 still carries with it more pleasures to be discoveredWhen Being John Malkovich opened in 1999, nobody knew the name of its...
View ArticleHigh Fidelity at 20: the sneakily dark edge of a comedy about bad breakups
Stephen Frears’ smart adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel of stunted growth remains as compelling as ever with one of John Cusack’s best performancesRob Gordon is kind of a jerk. And High Fidelity, based...
View ArticleJohn Cusack: ‘I have not been hot for a long time’
John Cusack talks about political activism, Hollywood, the highs and lows of his 30-year career – and Utopia, the new TV series set to warm him upTwo o’clock, Chicago time. The curtains are down...
View ArticleHear me out: why The Paperboy isn’t a bad movie
Continuing our series of writers highlighting unfairly criticised films is a defence of Lee Daniels’ starry and steamy noirTo begin, a confession of professional negligence: I wasn’t at the...
View ArticleThe dweeb and the hot girl: Matt Hancock’s affair belongs to an 80s movie |...
Who knows, perhaps Hancock’s entire career was just a ploy to entice his university crushAmong the many, many words that have been spoken and written by now about Matt Hancock’s relationship with his...
View ArticleKiefer Sutherland and Rob Reiner: how we made Stand By Me
‘River Phoenix was like a 13-year-old James Dean. There was so much soul there’This was the only audition where I did the reading and was hired right there in the room. I absolutely adored Spinal Tap,...
View ArticleVolcano films – ranked!
Missing the heatwave? With the release of Sara Dosa’s hotly tipped new documentary Fire of Love, we round up the most epic, exploding-mountain movies ever madeSteve Reeves seeks vengeance for his...
View Article‘Bruce Springsteen was very nervous about his cameo’: Nick Hornby and Stephen...
‘I thought the film was dead. But then one morning my newsagent, a fellow Arsenal fan, gave me a note that said: “Call Stephen Frears.” It was an unconventional approach’There was a version of High...
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