Film
Woody Allen: a life of jazz, laughter, depression —and a few misdemeanours
Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg), the prolific, Oscar-winning auteur, New Orleans-style jazz clarinettist, doyen of New York delicatessen society,…
It will tear your heart out: 99 Homes reviewed
99 Homes is an American drama about house repossession. Bummer, you might think, but here is what you don’t yet…
Palio exposes the bribery and violence that lies at the heart of Siena’s lawless ritual
Siena’s Palio is steeped in violence, bribery and corruption. But it matters to its people more than anything, says Jasper Rees
All about the climb (and little else): Everest reviewed
‘Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side,’ sang Miley Cyrus. ‘It’s the climb.’ She’s not usually a musician to…
I was Reggie Kray's penpal
Harry Mount once idolised the Kray twins. He’s since seen the error of his ways
Tom Hardy is dazzling — but the film isn’t: Legend reviewed
Legend is a biopic of the Kray twins starring Tom Hardy as Reggie and Tom Hardy as Ronnie, so it’s…
A film in which nothing happens — yet everything happens: 45 Years reviewed
Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as a long married couple whose relationship is disturbed by…
Gemma Bovery does not work as a film in any way whatsoever
Gemma Bovery is a modern-day refashioning of Gustave Flaubert’s literary masterpiece Madame Bovary, and while such refashionings can work well…
What I learned from reshooting the dullest film ever made
Stephen Smith finally sees the point of Empire, one of the dullest films in cinema history
Trainwreck wastes Amy Schumer’s talents
Trainwreck is a romcom as written and directed by Amy Schumer, the American comedy prodigy whose Comedy Central sketch show…
The plot has enough holes to file the Albert Hall: The Gift reviewed
Were you ever not very nice at school? A bit of a tosspot to others, perhaps. Ever so slightly a…
Fashion tips - and replacement hips - from a nonagenarian style icon: Iris reviewed
Iris is a documentary portrait of Iris Apfel, the nonagenarian New York fashion icon. Nope, me neither, but that’s irrelevant,…
The Legend of Barney Thomson reviewed: comedy is sought but, alas, never properly found
The Legend of Barney Thomson is the directorial debut of actor Robert Carlyle, and it’s one of those black comedies…
John Waters interview: ‘We can’t make fun of Bruce Jenner?’
No one does transgression like the filmmaker John Waters. Jasper Rees talks to him about political correctness, post-ops and pubes
I honestly had no idea how rubbish The Choir would be
If heartwarming, against-the-odds, triumph-over-adversity, wrong-side-of-the-tracks films float your boat and you are in no way demanding then The Choir is…
Masterly and heartbreaking: Amy reviewed
Asif Kapadia’s documentary about Amy Winehouse, whom Tony Bennett describes as ‘one of the truest jazz singers that ever lived’,…
She's Funny That Way isn't funny at all
The writer and director Peter Bogdanovich has made three of my favourite films of all time (The Last Picture Show,…
Why is a festival of Israeli film fighting for censorship in London?
The attempt to ban Jewish men from seeing ‘The Gift of Fire’ sets a very dangerous precedent
Don’t tell me not to be scared of sharks
If naturalists accept they’re terrifying, we’ll have a better chance of saving them
I dozed through it quite significantly: Mr Holmes reviewed
Mr Holmes stars Ian McKellen as the great detective in his old age and while it could have proved a…
The choreographer that does things to tango couples that Relate would not recommend
I often regret that I’m writing in the past tense here, but never more than about milonga. It is such…
Stunning, riveting, horrifying: Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence reviewed
With Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing you’d be minded to think that’s it, that’s the Indonesian genocide (1965–66) done,…
Completely unmemorable - even though I saw it yesterday: Queen & Country reviewed
Queen & County is John Boorman’s follow-up to his 1987 semi-autobiographical film Hope & Glory, although why a sequel now,…
Man Up review: a film that treats female singledom as if it were cancer
Man Up is a British rom-com starring Simon Pegg as Jack and Lake Bell as Nancy. Nancy’s problem, at the…
We Are Many reviewed: does anyone think this anti-Iraq War film will change anything?
Big-screen documentaries never change the world. Blackfish has not shortened the queues to see maltreated killer whales leap through hoops…
