Concluding our series of Guardian writers’ all-time Academy picks, Benjamin Lee explains why this harrowing 1946 winner is still one of the most vital films about alcoholism ever made
When the Academy chooses to reward a film that revolves around an “issue”, it’s usually one that takes said issue, smooths out any jagged edges and then uses it to bludgeon the audience into exhausted submission. Subtlety and even a vague awareness of reality are concepts that get ignored in favor of an after-school special full of simplistic preaching (*coughs* Crash *ends cough*).
Related: My favorite best picture Oscar winner: Titanic
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When the Academy chooses to reward a film that revolves around an “issue”, it’s usually one that takes said issue, smooths out any jagged edges and then uses it to bludgeon the audience into exhausted submission. Subtlety and even a vague awareness of reality are concepts that get ignored in favor of an after-school special full of simplistic preaching (*coughs* Crash *ends cough*).
Related: My favorite best picture Oscar winner: Titanic
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- 2/24/2017
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
Benjamin Lee makes the case for Barry Jenkins’ heartfelt and artful look at the life of a black gay man in America
An all-too-frequently used response to the call for increased diversity on screen is based around a rather defensive notion. It’s that a piece of entertainment may be enjoyably consumed without the need for unequivocal identification with the characters being viewed. Just check out the comments section of any article arguing for a more varied set of narratives from Hollywood.
Related: Why La La Land should win the best picture Oscar
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An all-too-frequently used response to the call for increased diversity on screen is based around a rather defensive notion. It’s that a piece of entertainment may be enjoyably consumed without the need for unequivocal identification with the characters being viewed. Just check out the comments section of any article arguing for a more varied set of narratives from Hollywood.
Related: Why La La Land should win the best picture Oscar
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- 2/20/2017
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
In our countdown’s top spot, Benjamin Lee salutes a poetic and poignant movie that depicted the life of a gay black man with heart-swelling humanity
• More on the best culture of 2016
In an industry that still prefers a limited set of straight, white narratives above all else, the arrival of this ambitious, slow-burn drama was a game-changer.
Telling the story of a gay black man coming to terms with his sexuality in three devastating chapters, it prioritised raw authenticity over minority-based cliches, and the result was like nothing we’ve ever seen. Director Barry Jenkins, adapting the loosely autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, avoids drowning the deprived Miami setting in grimy stereotypes and dazzles viewers with unconventional, often poetic stylistic choices that never distract from the heartfelt narrative and flawless ensemble cast.
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• More on the best culture of 2016
In an industry that still prefers a limited set of straight, white narratives above all else, the arrival of this ambitious, slow-burn drama was a game-changer.
Telling the story of a gay black man coming to terms with his sexuality in three devastating chapters, it prioritised raw authenticity over minority-based cliches, and the result was like nothing we’ve ever seen. Director Barry Jenkins, adapting the loosely autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, avoids drowning the deprived Miami setting in grimy stereotypes and dazzles viewers with unconventional, often poetic stylistic choices that never distract from the heartfelt narrative and flawless ensemble cast.
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- 12/16/2016
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
As our countdown continues, Benjamin Lee applauds, in joint third place, Paul Verhoeven’s devious Elle, which gave full rein to a fearless Isabelle Huppert
• More on the best culture of 2016
Before this year’s Cannes film festival, the idea of a new Paul Verhoeven thriller was undeniably intriguing but hardly the suggestion of a sure thing. The once infamous film-maker has been rather quiet since 2006’s Black Book and, as much fun as it is to get drunk and rewatch Showgirls, it’s still a remarkably awful and hilariously self-serious piece of work.
Elle was predicted to be nothing but a curio, tagged on to the end of a festival filled with more obvious surface-level substance and pomp. But it turned out we were all underestimating what perverted pleasures he had in store. How on earth could we have prepared for something quite so brazen and demented as Elle?...
• More on the best culture of 2016
Before this year’s Cannes film festival, the idea of a new Paul Verhoeven thriller was undeniably intriguing but hardly the suggestion of a sure thing. The once infamous film-maker has been rather quiet since 2006’s Black Book and, as much fun as it is to get drunk and rewatch Showgirls, it’s still a remarkably awful and hilariously self-serious piece of work.
Elle was predicted to be nothing but a curio, tagged on to the end of a festival filled with more obvious surface-level substance and pomp. But it turned out we were all underestimating what perverted pleasures he had in store. How on earth could we have prepared for something quite so brazen and demented as Elle?...
- 12/14/2016
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
Our countdown continues as Benjamin Lee welcomes a surprisingly candid portrait of Jackie Kennedy by Natalie Portman
• More on the best culture of 2016
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of Hollywood’s increasing trend toward end-of-year prestige biopics is a rise in film-makers who are equally tired with the musty format and keen to craft something unconventional instead.
Last year’s vastly underrated Joy succeeded by embracing dreamlike whimsy over formula. Pablo Larraín’s Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as Us first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, similarly replaces dry predictability with thrilling experimentation.
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• More on the best culture of 2016
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of Hollywood’s increasing trend toward end-of-year prestige biopics is a rise in film-makers who are equally tired with the musty format and keen to craft something unconventional instead.
Last year’s vastly underrated Joy succeeded by embracing dreamlike whimsy over formula. Pablo Larraín’s Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as Us first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, similarly replaces dry predictability with thrilling experimentation.
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- 12/12/2016
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” entered fall with serious Oscar buzz. But after the curtain was lifted at last night’s Nyff world premiere, director Ang Lee’s excitement for the new technology that brought his story to the screen — with a presentation in 3D, 4k resolution and 120 frames-per-second — appears to have been his undoing. Indiewire’s Eric Kohn gave the film a B-, noting that it’s “just a decent story laced with attempts to make it larger than life.” Reviews across the board greeted the movie with something of a shrug, and critics had many problems with the technology. Some notable industry takes:
The Guardian‘s Benjamin Lee
It’s a strange test subject for this technology and Lee’s two-hour argument that this will be how all films should be viewed in the future is a failed one.
Uproxx‘s Mike Ryan
I never felt like I was watching a movie.
The Guardian‘s Benjamin Lee
It’s a strange test subject for this technology and Lee’s two-hour argument that this will be how all films should be viewed in the future is a failed one.
Uproxx‘s Mike Ryan
I never felt like I was watching a movie.
- 10/15/2016
- by William Earl
- Indiewire
Garth Davis’ debut feature film “Lion,” about the true story of Saroo Brierley (played by Dev Patel as an adult and Sunny Pawar as a child), who was separated from his birth mother for 25 years eventually finding her using Google Earth, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last night. Critics gave the film mostly positive reviews, describing it as powerful tearjerker and a possible award winner for the Weinstein Company.
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
Uproxx’s Mike Ryan describes it as a “crowd-pleasing story” and calls Dev Patel’s performance the best of his career. “You will cry during the greatest Google Maps commercial ever made,” he says. “Maybe bring a tissue.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney says the film is “a sober and yet profoundly stirring contemplation of family, roots,...
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
Uproxx’s Mike Ryan describes it as a “crowd-pleasing story” and calls Dev Patel’s performance the best of his career. “You will cry during the greatest Google Maps commercial ever made,” he says. “Maybe bring a tissue.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney says the film is “a sober and yet profoundly stirring contemplation of family, roots,...
- 9/11/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Oliver Stone’s latest film “Snowden” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival yesterday to mixed reviews. The film follows the story of Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the man who leaked classified Nsa information to The Guardian in 2013, but critics say that the better version of the tale was told in Laura Poitras’ documentary “Citizenfour.”
On the positive end of the spectrum, Variety’s Owen Gleiberman says that “Snowden” is “the director’s most exciting work since ‘Nixon'” and calls it “the most important and galvanizing political drama by an American filmmaker in years.” He continues, “But whether you’re pro-Snowden, anti-Snowden, or somewhere in between, Stone’s movie is sure to deepen your response to his actions, and to the whole evolution of the American intelligence community in the age of meta-technology. ‘Snowden’ isn’t leftist-conspiratorial propaganda (though some may accuse it of being that). It’s...
On the positive end of the spectrum, Variety’s Owen Gleiberman says that “Snowden” is “the director’s most exciting work since ‘Nixon'” and calls it “the most important and galvanizing political drama by an American filmmaker in years.” He continues, “But whether you’re pro-Snowden, anti-Snowden, or somewhere in between, Stone’s movie is sure to deepen your response to his actions, and to the whole evolution of the American intelligence community in the age of meta-technology. ‘Snowden’ isn’t leftist-conspiratorial propaganda (though some may accuse it of being that). It’s...
- 9/10/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Sasha saw Moonlight this morning in Telluride and we’ll have her review online momentarily. In the meantime, here’s a look at what other critics are saying: Benjamin Lee...
- 9/5/2016
- by Ryan Adams
- AwardsDaily.com
From Park Chan-wook, the celebrated director of Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Thirst and Stoker, comes a ravishing new crime drama inspired by the novel ‘Fingersmith’ by British author Sarah Waters. Having transposed the story to 1930s-era colonial Korea and Japan, Park presents a gripping and sensual tale of a young Japanese Lady living on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman who is hired to serve as her new handmaiden, but who is secretly involved in a conman’s plot to defraud her of her large inheritance.
Powered by remarkable performances from Kim Min-hee (Right Now, Wrong Then) as Lady Hideko, Ha Jung-woo (The Chaser) as the conman who calls himself the Count and sensational debut actress Kim Tae-ri as the maid Sookee, The Handmaiden borrows the most dynamic elements of its source material and combines it with Park Chan-wook’s singular vision and energy to create an unforgettable viewing experience.
Powered by remarkable performances from Kim Min-hee (Right Now, Wrong Then) as Lady Hideko, Ha Jung-woo (The Chaser) as the conman who calls himself the Count and sensational debut actress Kim Tae-ri as the maid Sookee, The Handmaiden borrows the most dynamic elements of its source material and combines it with Park Chan-wook’s singular vision and energy to create an unforgettable viewing experience.
- 7/28/2016
- by The Tiger
- AsianMoviePulse
The director of The Neon Demon is joined by his star, Elle Fanning, to speak to Benjamin Lee about making a horror movie set in the world of fashion and why everything comes back to beauty – and to Los Angeles. At its premiere at Cannes in May, opinion was split as to its worth; Refn discusses how he enjoys being the ‘Sex Pistol of cinema’ and why ‘quality control is a thing of the past’
• The Neon Demon is on release in the Us and out in the UK on 8 July
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• The Neon Demon is on release in the Us and out in the UK on 8 July
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- 7/1/2016
- by Benjamin Lee and Jonross Swaby
- The Guardian - Film News
The stars and directors of Captain America: Civil War – including Chris Evans, who plays the Marvel Comics superhero – talk to Benjamin Lee. They discuss bringing realism into the superhero genre, the influx of similar films and the hurdles of being part of a massive ensemble. The latest film in the Marvel cinematic universe is released in the UK on 29 April and in the Us on 6 May
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- 4/27/2016
- by Benjamin Lee and Jonross Swaby
- The Guardian - Film News
The Horrible Bosses star is out of his depth in this mawkish weepie about a depressed architect who strikes up a friendship with a homeless girl
In Demolition, which recently opened in the Us, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a well-off banker who sparks a friendship with a stranger to help cope with his wife’s recent death. The film deservedly tanked with critics – the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee said it “crashes into emptiness”.
Now comes The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, another drama about a widower who finds solace in the company of a wayward teenager. As well as its plot being eerily similar to that of Demolition, it’s just as misguided.
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In Demolition, which recently opened in the Us, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a well-off banker who sparks a friendship with a stranger to help cope with his wife’s recent death. The film deservedly tanked with critics – the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee said it “crashes into emptiness”.
Now comes The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, another drama about a widower who finds solace in the company of a wayward teenager. As well as its plot being eerily similar to that of Demolition, it’s just as misguided.
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- 4/15/2016
- by Nigel M Smith
- The Guardian - Film News
The Horrible Bosses star is out of his depth in this mawkish weepie about a depressed architect who strikes up a friendship with a homeless girl
In Demolition, which recently opened in the Us, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a well-off banker who sparks a friendship with a stranger to help cope with his wife’s recent death. The film deservedly tanked with critics – the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee said it “crashes into emptiness”.
Now comes The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, another drama about a widower who finds solace in the company of a wayward teenager. As well as its plot being eerily similar to that of Demolition, it’s just as misguided.
Continue reading...
In Demolition, which recently opened in the Us, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a well-off banker who sparks a friendship with a stranger to help cope with his wife’s recent death. The film deservedly tanked with critics – the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee said it “crashes into emptiness”.
Now comes The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, another drama about a widower who finds solace in the company of a wayward teenager. As well as its plot being eerily similar to that of Demolition, it’s just as misguided.
Continue reading...
- 4/15/2016
- by Nigel M Smith
- The Guardian - Film News
The star of Eye in the Sky, a thriller about the backroom dealing behind a drone strike talks to Benjamin Lee about playing a female commanding officer, the moral implications of remote warfare and working with Alan Rickman in his last on-screen role. Eye in the Sky, which stars Mirren as a British colonel pushing for the authority to attack an Al-Shaabab terrorist cell, is directed by Gavin Hood and is released in the UK today
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- 4/15/2016
- by Benjamin Lee, Mashaal Mir and Federico Ercoli
- The Guardian - Film News
The star of Dheepan, Jacques Audiard’s drama about a former Tamil Tiger who, along with two strangers, pretends to be part of a family in order to seek refuge in a gangland estate in the Paris underworld, talks to Benjamin Lee about which parts of the film mirror his own experience of being a militant and a refugee. Audiard, who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year for the film, explains why he doesn’t feel precious about the news that there will be an American remake of his 2009 prison drama A Prophet
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- 4/7/2016
- by Benjamin Lee and Jonross Swaby
- The Guardian - Film News
If creating your own first-person shooter game has ever been a lifelong dream of yours, Gunscape is the video game you’ve been waiting for all these years. Part shooter, part world-building sandbox game in the same vein as Minecraft, Gunscape gives players all the tools they need to build their own retro shooter. Get building!
The focus of Blowfish Studios’ game is obviously on encouraging players to build their own experiences to play and share with friends, but the developer has also crafted its own campaign to get you started. Speaking of sharing with friends, up to 20 players can take part in one session of shooting, building and testing, with local co-op also supported for all platforms. However, only four player split-screen is supported on the PlayStation 4 version, as opposed to eight for Xbox One and PC.
Here’s the features you can get stuck with:
Create, share and...
The focus of Blowfish Studios’ game is obviously on encouraging players to build their own experiences to play and share with friends, but the developer has also crafted its own campaign to get you started. Speaking of sharing with friends, up to 20 players can take part in one session of shooting, building and testing, with local co-op also supported for all platforms. However, only four player split-screen is supported on the PlayStation 4 version, as opposed to eight for Xbox One and PC.
Here’s the features you can get stuck with:
Create, share and...
- 3/2/2016
- by Joe Pring
- We Got This Covered
The film team review this week’s big releases, including Rebel Wilson rabble-rousing as dating pro and Kurt Russell chasing cannibals across the American west
Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks to review the latest cinema releases. This week the team are roaming the New York dating scene with the romcom How to Be Single; losing their grip as they take in lousy cancer drama Freeheld; flying full pelt with grisly western Bone Tomahawk; and celebrating a serious, sensitive take on end-of-life care as Tim Roth plays a palliative nurse in Chronic
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Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks to review the latest cinema releases. This week the team are roaming the New York dating scene with the romcom How to Be Single; losing their grip as they take in lousy cancer drama Freeheld; flying full pelt with grisly western Bone Tomahawk; and celebrating a serious, sensitive take on end-of-life care as Tim Roth plays a palliative nurse in Chronic
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- 2/19/2016
- by Presented by Xan Brooks with Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee. Produced by Tom Silverstone Ian Anderson Andrea Salvatici and Rowan Slaney
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee review How to be Single, a rom-com starring Dakota Johnson as a freshly separated New Yorker who must be taught the rules of the dating game by her more experienced friends. Also starring Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie and Leslie Mann, How to be Single is released in UK cinemas on Friday 19 February
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- 2/18/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee, Catherine Shoard, Tom Silverstone, Ian Anderson and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee and Catherine Shoard review Freeheld, based on the true story of Laurel Hester, a New Jersey police detective who fought to have her pension transferred to her domestic partner after she contracted terminal cancer. Starring Julianne Moore as Hester and Ellen Page as her partner, Stacie Andree, Freeheld is released in the UK on Friday 18 February
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- 2/18/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Benjamin Lee, Tom Silverstone, Ian Anderson and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks to review the latest cinema releases. This week the team are roaming the New York dating scene with the romcom How to Be Single; losing their grip as they take in lousy cancer drama Freeheld; flying full pelt with grisly western Bone Tomahawk; and celebrating a serious, sensitive take on end-of-life care as Tim Roth plays a palliative nurse in Chronic
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- 2/18/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Benjamin Lee, Tom Silverstone, Ian Anderson and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee and Catherine Shoard review Michel Franco’s drama about a veteran palliative care nurse (Tim Roth) who tends to three patients with terminal illnesses as they come to the end of their lives. Chronic, which won Franco the best screenplay award at last year’s Cannes film festival, is released in the UK on Friday
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- 2/18/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Benjamin Lee, Tom Silverstone, Ian Anderson and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Each day before the Academy Awards ceremony on 28 February, one of our critics makes the case for an Oscar contender. Here, Benjamin Lee argues that George Miller’s frenetic action reboot deserves to come away with the top prize
Peter Bradshaw on why The Revenant should win best picture OscarRead the Guardian’s review of Mad Max: Fury Road
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Peter Bradshaw on why The Revenant should win best picture OscarRead the Guardian’s review of Mad Max: Fury Road
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- 2/16/2016
- by Benjamin Lee, Tom Silverstone and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee discuss the big questions raised by the 2016 Baftas
Your daily update of the latest news and reviews from the Guardian film team. Now showing: all the big questions answered from this year’s Baftas. Including: should The Revenant have swept the board? Why was Carol snubbed? Did Rebel Wilson overstep the mark? And who nicked Julie Walters’s bling?
Follow us on Twitter (GuardianFilm, Henry, Ben, Catherine and producer Rowan) and check out our Facebook page. Comment on the show below.
Further reading:
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Your daily update of the latest news and reviews from the Guardian film team. Now showing: all the big questions answered from this year’s Baftas. Including: should The Revenant have swept the board? Why was Carol snubbed? Did Rebel Wilson overstep the mark? And who nicked Julie Walters’s bling?
Follow us on Twitter (GuardianFilm, Henry, Ben, Catherine and producer Rowan) and check out our Facebook page. Comment on the show below.
Further reading:
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- 2/15/2016
- by Presented by Catherine Shoard with Benjamin Lee and produced by Rowan Slaney
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our regular weekly look at the big film releases.
Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our regular weekly look at the big film releases. In this first edition of 2016, the team set their sights on Quentin Tarantino’s new western, The Hateful Eight; go on patrol with the Danish-made Afghan-conflict drama A War, and take a leap with Bolshoi Babylon, the documentary about Russia’s crisis-torn ballet company.
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Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our regular weekly look at the big film releases. In this first edition of 2016, the team set their sights on Quentin Tarantino’s new western, The Hateful Eight; go on patrol with the Danish-made Afghan-conflict drama A War, and take a leap with Bolshoi Babylon, the documentary about Russia’s crisis-torn ballet company.
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- 1/8/2016
- by Presented by Xan Brookswith Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee produced by Rowan Slaney
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee review A War, the Danish-made film set during the Afghan conflict. Directed by Tobias Lindholm, A War focusses on the difficulties faced by an army unit from Denmark on patrol in Afghanistan, as well as the the effect on their families back home. A War is released in the UK on 8 January
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- 1/7/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee, Henry Barnes, Mat Heywood
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our regular weekly look at the big film releases. In this first edition of 2016, the team set their sights on Quentin Tarantino’s new western, The Hateful Eight; go on patrol with the Danish-made Afghan-conflict drama A War, and take a leap with Bolshoi Babylon, the documentary about Russia’s crisis-torn ballet company.
The Hateful Eight, A War and Bolshoi Babylon are released in the UK on 8 January Continue reading...
The Hateful Eight, A War and Bolshoi Babylon are released in the UK on 8 January Continue reading...
- 1/7/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee, Henry Barnes, Mat Heywood
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee review Bolshoi Babylon, the documentary about Russia’s celebrated ballet company. Directed by Nick Read and Mark Franchetti, Bolshoi Babylon examines the notorious incident that saw artistic director Sergei Filin attacked with acid, and the effect that the revelation that a jealous dancer may be to blame has on the rest of the company. Bolshoi Babylon is released in the UK on 8 January
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- 1/7/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee, Henry Barnes, Mat Heywood
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee review The Hateful Eight, the latest film from Quentin Tarantino. Starring Samuel L Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth and Kurt Russell, The Hateful Eight follows a disparate group of people in the old West who hole up in an isolated building because of a blizzard – with typically brutal and disturbing results. The Hateful Eight is released in the UK on 8 January
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- 1/7/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee, Henry Barnes, Mat Heywood
- The Guardian - Film News
The stars of Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film, The Hateful Eight, talk to Benjamin Lee about race in America; Tarantino’s involvement with the Black Lives Matter campaign; and whether the director is as manic on set as he appears in the media. The Hateful Eight, a drama set in a snowed-in haberdashery after the American civil war, is released in the UK on Friday
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- 1/6/2016
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
In 2016, space invaders will take over from zombies, we shall laugh at international conflict and see Michael Bay finally getting serious
Aliens were curiously absent from big screens in 2015. Even The Martian was a deceptively titled tale of human ingenuity. But with zombies and vampires becoming very old hat, space invaders are set to make a comeback. Twenty years after most of the world was decimated in Independence Day, the landmark-exploding baddies are back to finish the job in the sequel, with Jeff Goldblum returning to fend them off. A more cerebral take on a similar set-up is explored in Sicario director Denis Villeneuve’s Story of Your Life, with Amy Adams playing a linguist tasked with discovering whether extraterrestrials have come to earth to make nice or nasty. There’s less confusion in young-adult tale The 5th Wave, which has Chloë Grace Moretz trying to save her brother as alien attacks hit.
Aliens were curiously absent from big screens in 2015. Even The Martian was a deceptively titled tale of human ingenuity. But with zombies and vampires becoming very old hat, space invaders are set to make a comeback. Twenty years after most of the world was decimated in Independence Day, the landmark-exploding baddies are back to finish the job in the sequel, with Jeff Goldblum returning to fend them off. A more cerebral take on a similar set-up is explored in Sicario director Denis Villeneuve’s Story of Your Life, with Amy Adams playing a linguist tasked with discovering whether extraterrestrials have come to earth to make nice or nasty. There’s less confusion in young-adult tale The 5th Wave, which has Chloë Grace Moretz trying to save her brother as alien attacks hit.
- 12/31/2015
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Director Tom Hooper and star Alicia Vikander of The Danish Girl – a biopic about Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo gender reassignment surgery – talk to Benjamin Lee about the rise of transgender stories, the controversy over casting cis-gender actor Eddie Redmayne in the lead role and whether they’re nervous about how the trans community will receive the film
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- 12/30/2015
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
The stars, screenwriter and director of Carol, a romance based on the the book by Patricia Highsmith, talk to Benjamin Lee about the paucity of lesbian relationships on screen and the tendency for gay love stories to end in tragedy. Carol, in which Rooney Mara stars as a young shop assistant who falls in love with a rich, older woman (played by Cate Blanchett) is directed by Todd Haynes and released in the UK on Friday 27 November
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- 11/24/2015
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
The film team review this week's new cinema releases, including the final part of The Hunger Games saga and Gaspar Noé's 3D sex film, Love
Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the new releases. This week the team join Katniss and co in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 franchise; duck, wince and wonder at Gaspar Noé's 3D sex film, Love; size up bonkers Kate Winslet melodrama The Dressmaker; and get sold a false bill of goods by flat-out bad thriller The Perfect Guy.
• Watch this week's film show
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Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the new releases. This week the team join Katniss and co in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 franchise; duck, wince and wonder at Gaspar Noé's 3D sex film, Love; size up bonkers Kate Winslet melodrama The Dressmaker; and get sold a false bill of goods by flat-out bad thriller The Perfect Guy.
• Watch this week's film show
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- 11/20/2015
- by Presented by Xan Brooks with Henry Barnes and Benjamin Lee. Produced by Andrea Salvatici and Rowan Slaney
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes review The Dressmaker, in which Kate Winslet plays an Australian seamstress returning to her small town home after being accused of murder and driven out as a young girl. With nothing but her skill at the sewing machine she must find a way to stitch up the people who did her wrong. The Dressmaker, which also stars Hugo Weaving and Liam Hemsworth, is released in the UK on Friday 20 November
Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...
Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...
- 11/19/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes, Benjamin Lee, Dan Susman, Andrea Salvatici and Richard Sprenger
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes and Benjamin Lee review The Perfect Guy, featuring a man who - guess what? - turns out to be anything but in David M. Rosenthal’s wonky erotic thriller. Starring Sanaa Lathan as Leah, a 30-something exec who falls for a charming man with a secret, The Perfect Guy is released in the UK on Friday 20 November
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Watch this week’s full Guardian film show Continue reading...
- 11/19/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee, Henry Barnes, Dan Susman, Andrea Salvatici and Richard Sprenger
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes and Benjamin Lee review the final part of The Hunger Games franchise, in which, having bested two televised fights to the death, rebel hero Katniss Everdeen leads the armies of Panem into the Capital to finally dispose of President Snow. Also starring Josh Hutchinson, Natalie Dormer and Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is released in the UK today
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Watch this week’s full Guardian film show Continue reading...
- 11/19/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes, Benjamin Lee, Dan Susman, Richard Sprenger and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the new releases. This week the team join Katniss and co in the final part of The Hunger Games franchise; duck, wince and wonder at Gaspar Noé’s 3D sex film, Love; size up bonkers Kate Winslet melodrama The Dressmaker; and get sold a false bill of goods by flat-out bad thriller The Perfect Guy
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- 11/19/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes, Benjamin Lee, Dan Susman, Richard Sprenger and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes and Benjamin Lee review Enter the Void director Gaspar Noé’s new film, a sexually-explicit 3D film about a young man reflecting on his sexual relationship with two women. Love, which features copious amounts of sex, is Noé’s attempt to examine the nature of a loving, physical relationship that turns sour. It’s in UK cinemas from Friday 20 November
Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...
Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...
- 11/19/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Henry Barnes, Benjamin Lee, Dan Susman, Richard Sprenger and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases
This is the audio version of The Guardian Film Show Video. Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases. This week the team see Saoirse Ronan chase love across the sea and back again in the film adaptation of Colm Tóibín's Brooklyn; roast Bradley Cooper in chef drama Burnt; pay tribute to a modern hero with the documentary He Named Me Malala; and watch Nicholas Hoult snort, shag and slaughter his way through the 90s as a nasty music exec in Kill Your Friends
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This is the audio version of The Guardian Film Show Video. Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases. This week the team see Saoirse Ronan chase love across the sea and back again in the film adaptation of Colm Tóibín's Brooklyn; roast Bradley Cooper in chef drama Burnt; pay tribute to a modern hero with the documentary He Named Me Malala; and watch Nicholas Hoult snort, shag and slaughter his way through the 90s as a nasty music exec in Kill Your Friends
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- 11/6/2015
- by Presented by Xan Brooks with Benjamin Lee and Peter Bradshaw Produced by Rowan Slaney
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee and Peter Bradshaw review Kill Your Friends, a rabid satire about the 90s music scene that stars Nicholas Hoult as a music executive who snorts, shags and slaughters his way to success. Co-starring James Corden and Craig Roberts, Kill Your Friends is released in the UK on Friday 6 November
Watch the full Guardian film show
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Watch the full Guardian film show
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- 11/5/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee, Peter Bradshaw, Henry Barnes, Dan Susman and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee and Peter Bradshaw give Bradley Cooper’s reputation a singeing as they review John Wells’s overcooked chef drama. Burnt stars Cooper as angry-genius chef Adam Jones, struggling to whip his cooking career back into shape after a drink and drug-fuelled breakdown. Sienna Miller, Omar Sy and Alicia Vikander are among the kitchen staff in for a verbal battering as he turns up the heat. Burnt is in UK cinemas from Friday 6 November
• Watch this week’s full film show
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• Watch this week’s full film show
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- 11/5/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee, Peter Bradshaw, Henry Barnes, Dan Susman and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee review John Crowley’s adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s Booker longlisted novel, about an Irish teenager (Saoirse Ronan) who is sent to find work in New York in the 1950s. Torn between America and home, she finds love on both sides of the sea and her loyalties divided. Brooklyn, which is scripted by Nick Hornby, is released in the UK on Friday 6 November
Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...
Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...
- 11/5/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee, Dan Susman, Henry Barnes and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases. This week the team see Saoirse Ronan chase love across the sea and back again in the film adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn; roast Bradley Cooper in chef drama Burnt; pay tribute to a modern hero with the documentary He Named Me Malala; and watch Nicholas Hoult snort, shag and slaughter his way through the 90s as a nasty music exec in Kill Your Friends
• Listen to the audio version
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• Listen to the audio version
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- 11/5/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee Dan Susman, Henry Barnes and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
Saoirse Ronan, who stars in Brooklyn, the film adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s Booker longlisted book about a young Irish girl’s emigration to New York in the 1950s, talks to Benjamin Lee about the expectations placed on women at the time and how the Irish fare in Hollywood today. Crowley and Tóibín explore the parallels between the film and the current refugee crisis
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- 11/4/2015
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Fresh Dressed, a documentary directed by Sacha Jenkins, tells the story of the love affair between hip-hop and fashion, from the early looks developed in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens to the multi-million dollar labels developed by rap stars like Sean Combs. Benjamin Lee explains why the film, which features contributions from Combs, as well as Kanye West, Pharrell and Nas, is worth your time this week
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- 10/30/2015
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz and director Yorgos Lanthimos talk about their romantic satire The Lobster, which is set in a world where single people must pair off or face being turned into an animal. They tell Benjamin Lee about the pressure to couple-up; dating in the internet age; and whether a film that is sceptical about true love can be called romantic. The Lobster is released in the UK on Friday
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- 10/14/2015
- by Benjamin Lee and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
In this excerpt from the Guardian film show Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee review Woody Allen’s latest, about an anguished philosophy professor (Joaquin Phoenix) who finds a new lease of life after being thrown into an unreal situation. Also starring Emma Stone and Parker Posey, Irrational Man is released in the UK on Friday 10 September
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- 9/10/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Benjamin Lee,Dan Susman, Henry Barnes, Jonross Swaby and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
In an excerpt from this week’s Guardian film show Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard and Benjamin Lee review Abel Ferrara’s day-in-the-life biopic of another infamous film director, Pier Paolo Pasolini. Ferrera’s film follows Pasolini’s last 24 hours, talking to reporters, wandering by the beach and picking up rent boys on the way. Pasolini, which stars Willem Dafoe, is released in the UK on Friday
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- 9/10/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Benjamin Lee,Dan Susman, Henry Barnes, Jonross Swaby and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
In an excerpt from this week’s Guardian film show Xan Brooks, Benjamin Lee and Catherine Shoard review Tom Hardy’s performance as both Reggie and Ronnie Kray in the east end gangster biopic Legend. Directed by Brian Helgeland, the film follows Reggie as he attempts to tame the increasingly violent behaviour of his twin. Legend, which also stars Emily Browning as Reggie’s wife, Frances, is released in the UK on 11 September
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- 9/10/2015
- by Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Benjamin Lee,Dan Susman, Henry Barnes, Jonross Swaby and Andrea Salvatici
- The Guardian - Film News
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