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I’ve never seen Rocky

An underdog fighter wins hearts and respect then gets punched below the belt by the jingoism of Reagans America Ill tell you in one word why I have never watched Rocky: Ronald Reagan. Sure, the film came out in 1976, before he reached the White House, likewise Rocky II. But he was US president in 1982, when Rocky III appeared, my poster of him and Margaret Thatcher in a Gone with the Wind embrace with an atom bomb and another Stallone double-punch of Rocky IV and armed with the weapon…

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Small talk and ready-made sandwiches: things I don’t miss about normal life | Hadley Freeman

Ive been thinking about Nora Ephrons lists, not because Im dying, but because normal life has, for now, died for all of us Ive been reading a lot of breasts werent bigger. (Honestly, Nora, the breast thing? Its overrated.) When Ephron died in 2012, obituarists were spoiled for choice about which of her writings to quote: a pithy line from Heartburn, her novel about her divorce, or an irresistible bit from every journalist who covered her death quoted from I Remember Nothing, which she wrote when she and almost no…

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Trump’s Oscars rant? He just wants Hollywood to see he’s a star

The US presidents tirade against Parasites best picture Oscar, preferring Sunset Boulevard and Gone With the Wind, masks his own frustration at being cold-shouldered by Tinseltown The only real surprise was what took him so long. Nearly two weeks after Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win the Oscar for best picture, hadnt actually seen Parasite: Was it good? I dont know. Clearly he is less concerned about the movies quality than its provenance. Here he is, trying to make America great again, and a foreign movie takes Hollywoods…

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Minamata review Johnny Depp attempts redemption in heartfelt look at disaster that struck Japanese town

Johnny Depp plays real-life US photojournalist W Eugene Smith who travels to cover the story of mercury poisoning that caused horrendous disfigurements Minamata is not a masterpiece and there are one or two cliches here about western saviours and boozy, difficult, passionate journalists who occupy the perennial Venn diagram overlap between integrity and alcoholism. This movies producer-star Johnny Depp has form on this score, with his W Eugene Smith whose glory days were in the second world war and the decades following, working for Life magazine in that now-forgotten era…

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The Lost Boys review a bloody, ingenious reflection on youth

Joel Schumachers vampire romp endures for its wonderfully grown-up treatment of being young This sprightly and satirical 80s spin on JM Barries lost boys from director Joel Schumacher is now rereleased in UK cinemas. Screenwriter Jeffrey Boam was reportedly drafted in to sexngoth up a story that was originally much more innocently Peter Pan-ish, and yet this version probably has more to say about the concept of staying for ever young. The film is certainly an amazing time capsule for the 80s and arguably one of the great 80s kids-heroism…

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Billie Eilish: No Time to Die review a Bond theme befitting the Craig era

The pop sensation sidelines her trademarks for a tasteful track that matches the haunted solitude of its leading man the Beatles without earmuffs. The Beatles had the last laugh 007 presumably had to reach for hearing protection when Paul McCartney was commissioned to write the theme song for Live and Let Die but for years, the Bond themes pandered to their heros tastes, invariably coming from artists who were more likely to be found playing the Talk of the Town than the Marquee club. That changed dramatically in the 80s.…

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Banned, snubbed, and saved by Colin Firth my life in Oscars parties

The 2020 Academy Awards will be my seventh. Ive yet to win one but Ive brought home some great stories When you read this, I will be in Los Angeles, which is nice. I love LA, which is not a sentence you hear often, especially in Britain, where the city is often derided as too shallow, too full of celebrities and too hot, none of which are negatives in my book. The British antipathy to LA is rooted in a suspicion that anything that pleasant cant be good for you,…

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Stellan Skarsgrd: I dont give advice to my children

The actor, 68, tells James McMahon about dreaming of being a diplomat, smashing telephones with skill and the days before Marvel ruled the world I intended to become a diplomat. That was my dream. I didnt take acting seriously until I was 16 and got a role in a Swedish show that made me extremely famous right away. There were screaming girls, all that stuff. Id never had any girl take an interest in me before that. Suddenly being a diplomat didnt seem half as attractive as it had done.…

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Golden Globes: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler follow Ricky Gervais as hosts

Poehler poses as NBC publicist to make announcement after British comedian caused controversy with monologue Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/11/golden-globes-tina-fey-amy-poehler-ricky-gervais-hosts

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Streaming: all eyes on the Netflix crown

Apple TV+, Britbox and the long-awaited Disney+ are circling, but one streaming giant continues to reign supreme Last year was transitional for the streaming scene, at least in the UK: the promised avalanche of major new outlets to dent mixed reviews, punched through into public consciousness, while Apples plans to take on Netflix in the prestige film stakes got off to dropped from thewarily regarded in some quarters. Why pay a monthly subscription for the free-to-air content covered by my licence fee, runs the argument not helped by a The…

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Its Day of the Triffids for todays Britain, but with antidepressants as the monster

Controversial look at dependence on drugs in sci-fi film by Austrian director Jessica Hausner has divided critics An award-winning science-fiction thriller billed by critics as a modern Day of the Triffids takes a provocative approach to Britains growing dependence on mood-lifting chemicals and antidepressants. Little Joe, released in UK cinemas in February, and starring Ben Whishaw, Emily Beecham and Kerry Fox, has odd, disturbing story of a newly bred plant designed to spread joy. On set in a vast greenhouse laboratory, the acclaimed Austrian director Jessica Hausner first told her…

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Moral of the story: 2019’s boldest culture asked what it means to be good

At a time when deceit is trumping decency, artists from Kanye West to Greta Gerwig and Phoebe Waller-Bridge have taken it upon themselves to pose questions about virtue and privilege In Little Women, a haughty publisher dismisses Jo Marchs stories as unfashionable. Morals dont sell nowadays, he tells the aspiring author. People want to be amused, not preached at. Hopefully the statute of limitations has expired on spoiling a 151-year-old story: March an avatar for her creator, Louisa May Alcott proves him wrong. As has Gerwig, reviving Little Women in…

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The 50 best films of 2019 in the US: 41-50

We begin our countdown of the best movies released in the US this year with a giant leap for mankind, a triumphant Eddie Murphy, and a vicious take on the Fox News scandal 41 Apollo 11 A front row seat for the moon landings? Few could resist this astonishing documentary featuring previously unseen footage, released for the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrongs lunar walk. Read the full review. 42 Ray & Liz Richard Billingham mined his own family for this bleak debut, capturing the claustrophobic loneliness of a couple cut…

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