Anna Smith

Comedy gets no respect, no respect at all. Sure, everyone loves to laugh, and just about every film buff has a comedy movie they hold close to their heart. But for some reason, when it comes to awards and canonisation, comedies still get short shrift in the history of cinema. That’s probably because, more than any other genre, comedy is dependent on context. What’s funny in 1924 might land with a thud in 2024. And that’s to say nothing of varying tastes in humour.  That makes coming up with the best comedy films of all time especially tricky. We had to ask ourselves: what makes a truly great comedy? There’s many criteria, but one of the most important is the question of: ‘Is this film still funny now, and will it still be funny five years, ten years… a century from now?’ With the help of comedians like Diane Morgan and Russell Howard, actors such as John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker and a small army of Time Out writers, we believe we’ve found the 100 finest, most durable and most broadly appreciable laughers in history. No matter your sense of humour - silly or sophisticated, light or dark, surreal or broad - you’ll find it represented here.  Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time🤣 The best comedies of 2024 (so far)🥰 The greatest romantic comedies of all time

Comedies are the omelettes of the movie world: they seem easy to do, so you get very little credit when they come off – and definitely no awards – but people sure as heck notice when they’re a sticky, shell-filled mess. But we’re giving that misconception a slapstick boot to the backside, because nothing could be further from the truth. A good comedy – and definitely a great one – is a work of alchemy dependent on perfect comic timing, performances, storytelling and, obviously, a LOL-filled script all have to come together to produce gold. And a comedy that endures and appeals across different language and cultural barriers? That’s called a miracle.This may be why you’d have to be all funny bone to call this a vintage year for big-screen comedy. But things are ramping up, with Hit Man, The Fall Guy and the more PG-funny IF all delivering mid-year mirth, and the anarchic Deadpool & Wolverine and Hundreds of Beavers topping up the feelgood vibes later in 2024. Here’s where to find the uplift, silliness and pratfalls amid all the worthy Oscars fare and grown-up dramas. RECOMMENDED:  The 50 best movies of 2024The 100 best comedy movies of all timeThe greatest romantic comedies of all time

It started slowly but 2024 came through for us at the cinema – and, to a lesser extent, on streaming. Nothing quite matched the cultural behemoth that was Barbenheimer – much as noble marketing folk tried to turn Gladiator II and Wicked into something called ‘Glicked’ – but there were monster hits and critical raves aplenty. The huge success of Deadpool & Wolverine and Despicable Me 4 surprised almost no one, but who saw Inside Out 2 becoming the 11th biggest film of all time? And Moana 2 – once intended as a Disney+ series – smashing box office records like Maui on a rampage?Our list of the best films of 2024 offers the perfect chance to give flowers to the lesser-heralded cinematic offerings of the past 12 months too, like the superb A Different Man, brilliantly boisterous documentaries like Grand Theft Hamlet and Scala!!!, and the odd fun flops like The Fall Guy. Genre fans, meanwhile, got a mighty kick out of inventive new horrors like Longlegs and Late Night With the Devil, and any year with new offerings from Hirokazu Kore-eda, Alice Rohrwacher, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrew Haigh, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi is not short on riches for the arthouse crowd either. Here are 50 gems to track down. NB We’ve included a few films that were released towards the end of 2023 for Oscar qualification purposes. RECOMMENDED: 📺 The best TV shows of 2024 (so far) you need to stream🔥 The best horror movies and shows of 2024🎥 The 100 greatest movies ever made

What is war good for? Absolutely nothing, of course. That said, war has produced some pretty good movies, and none more than World War II. It has fascinated filmmakers more than any other conflict, which is understandable, given the atrocities it involved and its impact on human history. So many movies have been made about it that it stands apart from other war movies as a genre unto itself.  It’s rather daunting, then, to choose the best World War II movies ever made. But we know someone who has thoughts on the subject: director Quentin Tarantino, a man who knows quite a bit about making a great WW2 film himself. He and a grizzled squad of Time Out writers helped craft this definitive list of the greatest movies centred around that global battle, and it includes screen-filling epics, intimate dramas, devastating documentaries, and even a comedy or two.  Written by Tom Huddleston, Adam Lee Davies, Paul Fairclough, Anna Smith, David Jenkins, Dan Jolin, Phil de Semlyen, Alim Kheraj & Matthew Singer Recommended: ⚔️ The 50 best war movies of all-time🎖️ The best World War I movies, ranked by historical accuracy🇺🇸 The 20 best Memorial Day movies

Even for someone who’s been mainlining movies since they were in diapers – and one of those film geeks who wants to know what the thousandth and second film they need to watch before they die is – I’m constantly awed by the cinematic canon. From the early silents of Keaton, Chaplin, Wiene and Eisenstein, which established the building blocks for the horror, comedy and action movies we still flock to see today, not to mention their editing and storytelling techniques, to the epic visions of contemporary auteurs like Christopher Nolan, film is an artform that continues to evolve and astonish. The medium has survived the advent of telly, the arrival of streaming and the filmography of Pauly Shore, and I’m optimistic it will continue to blow us away for decades to come. So what are those definitive masterpieces that continue to dazzle and delight many years after they first came out? Our team of experienced film writers debated, squabbled like kids and finally parsed down thousands of choices into a list of a mere hundred. It’s totally subjective, of course, but we believe this century of classics belongs in the pantheon. And even if you disagree with the picks, my hope is that every one of them will spark joy – whether for new viewers or anyone looking to revisit them. Possibly for the umpteenth time in the case of The Godfather, Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark and a few others. Have a browse and share your thoughts with us on social media.  🔥 The best films of 2024 (so f

Has movie music ever been better? With legends like John Williams and Howard Shore still at work, Hans Zimmer at the peaks of his powers, and the likes of Jonny Greenwood, AR Rahman, Mica Levi, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross knocking it out of the park, the modern film score is a Dolby Atmos-enhancing feast of modernist compositions, lush orchestral classicism and atmospheric soundscapes.What better time, then, to celebrate this art form within an art form – with a few iconic soundtracks thrown in – and pay tribute to the musicians who’ve given our favourite movies (and, to be fair, some stinkers) earworm-laden accompaniment? Of course, narrowing it all down to a mere 100 is tough. We’ve prioritised music written for the screen, but worthy contenders still missed out, including Dimitri Tiomkin’s era-defining score for It’s a Wonderful Life and Elton John’s hummable tunes for The Lion King.To help do the narrowing down, we’ve recruited iconic movie composers, directors and broadcasters like Philip Glass, Carter Burwell, Max Richter, Anne Dudley, AR Rahman, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Edgar Wright and Mark Kermode to pick their favourites. Happy listening!Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all time.🪩 The 50 best uses of songs in movies.💃 The greatest musical movies ever made.

A comédia é um género frequentemente ignorado pelos prémios e pela crítica. Mas produzir uma grande comédia, uma comédia intemporal, é uma das maiores conquistas no cinema. É uma forma de arte em grande parte dependente do contexto: aquilo que faz uma plateia chorar a rir em 2024 pode ser recebido mais tarde com olhares vazios – nem sequer é preciso passar meio século, como é muitas vezes o caso; bastam alguns anos de diferença. Por isso mesmo, aqueles que nos fizeram rir durante décadas são verdadeiramente especiais. Para elaborar esta lista das 100 maiores comédias de sempre, pedimos a comediantes como Diane Morgan e Russell Howard, a actores como John Boyega e Jodie Whittaker e a uma pequena legião de escritores da Time Out sobre os filmes que mais os fazem rir, e por mais tempo. Ao fazê-lo, acreditamos ter encontrado as melhores, mais intemporais e amplamente apreciáveis 100 comédias da história do cinema. Independentemente do seu sentido de humor – disparatado ou sofisticado, leve ou sombrio, surreal ou mais abrangente – vai encontrá-lo representado aqui. Recomendado:🔥 Os 100 melhores filmes de sempre🥰 As melhores comédias românticas de sempre

⭑⭑⭑⭑✩ Al ver The Woman King me viene a la mente la frase "ya era hora". Ya era hora de que hubiera una epopeya dramática de gran presupuesto sobre guerreras negras, inspirada en hechos reales. Ya era hora de que una película ambientada en el siglo XIX tuviera un elenco predominantemente negro, y que la esclavitud fuera solo una parte de la historia. Ya era hora de que esta película fuera dirigida por una mujer. También es hora de que a Viola Davis se le dé un papel principal de acción. Su única esperanza es que una película tan atrasada también sea realmente buena.  Uff, Está... Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, 2012 ) dirige una epopeya apasionante y accesible, mientras que Davis es carnosa y magnífica como la general Nanisca, líder del legendario Agojie. Esta unidad de guerreras compuesta exclusivamente por mujeres lucha para proteger el reino africano de Dahomey de los traficantes de esclavos y los invasores violentos. Ellas entrenan a la próxima generación, incluyendo a Nawi, de 19 años, bellamente interpretado por Thuso Mbedu de The Underground Railroad. Después de resistir obstinadamente los intentos de su padre de casarla con hombres abusivos, Nawi es arrojada a las puertas de Agojie y aprovecha la oportunidad de aprender a decapitar a un hombre con un golpe limpio de espada.  Como muchas de sus guerreras, Nanisca es víctima de múltiples violaciones, y aunque esto se suma a su motivación para patear traseros masculinos abusivos, no la define: es muchas cosas,

What makes a filmmaker cool? In the heyday of the studio system it might have been about creative autonomy, an office on the lot and the studio barman knowing how to mix your Martini. In the heady, revolutionary days of the ’60s and ’70s, a devil-may-care attitude, radical new stories to tell, and ideally a beard of some description might have marked you out as the hipster’s auteur of choice. Times have changed, though. The moviemaking world has fewer boundaries, more entry points and finally, slowly but surely, more hunger to share stories by women and people of colour.  There’s a long way to go but we wanted to celebrate a time of gradual change by singling out the filmmakers who are genuinely moving the dial. The ones swinging for the fences in their choice of material and the way they’re bringing it to the screen. They’re not all new names – you’ll find some old stalwarts on here – but they all have in common a restless urge to do something different, exciting, bold. They come from across the planet and reflect all genres, and every kind of movie and moviemaking style. To take it a step further, we’ve asked a few of them – Rian Johnson, Barry Jenkins and Lynne Ramsay, among others – to share what makes them tick as movie lovers: the scenes that make them laugh hardest, the cinemas they stan for, the cities that inspire them, and the movies that have left them cowering in the back row. Even the posters that they had up on their bedroom walls growing up. Turns out that a lo

O potencial cinematográfico (e não só) da ficção científica é quase infinito. É nestes filmes que os nossos maiores pesadelos podem tornar-se realidade e os nossos sonhos concretizar-se, ao mesmo tempo que é dito e posto em causa algo sobre o nosso presente. E o género sempre fez as delícias do público, desde o tempo dos efeitos especiais básicos e rudimentares dos filmes mudos ao excesso digital dos blockbusters contemporâneos. Hoje, no entanto, é a própria crítica quem aplaude e celebra muitos destes filmes, tal como acontece com os super-heróis e o terror. A pensar nisso, elegemos os 100 melhores filmes de ficção científica de sempre. Recomendado: Filmes em cartaz esta semana

The best comedies in the history of cinema achieve more than just making you laugh (although, granted, it’s not a great comedy if it barely makes you crack a smile). Classic romcoms like ‘Notting Hill’ have us yearning for true love while teen movies like ‘Mean Girls’ get us cringing at memories of being too dorky to join the cool gang at school (and ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ ticks both boxes). Then there are the political satires, like ‘The Death of Stalin’, which serve up uncomfortable truths alongside the funnies. And finally, when we need to get into the festive spirit, the Christmas film archives are crammed with titles that leave you giggling into your eggnog.  All of which makes choosing the 100 best comedies of all time a little tricky. To help us with the task, we enlisted the help of comedians (such as Russell Howard and Diane Morgan), actors (John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker, among others), directors and screenwriters (including Richard Curtis), as well as several Time Out writers. So the next time you need something to turn that frown upside down, you’ll know where to start. RECOMMENDED:  London and UK cinema listings, film reviews and exclusive interviews

Everyone has their favorites – that’s why any debate over what makes the best movies of all time can take hours (or, in our cases, a lifetime). Can there ever be one list to rule them all? A canon, as critics like to call it, updated with today’s game changers, that would glance upon all tastes, all genres, all countries, all eras, balancing impact with importance, brains with heart? The challenge was daunting. We just couldn't resist. Our list includes some of the most recognized action, feminist and foreign films. Please let us know how wrong we got it. Written by Abbey Bender, Dave Calhoun, Phil de Semlyen, Bilge Ebiri, Ian Freer, Stephen Garrett, Tomris Laffly, Joshua Rothkopf and Anna Smith RECOMMENDED:– The best movies on Netflix right now– The 100 best comedy movies– The best romantic movies of all time– The 101 best action movies ever made– The best documentaries on Netflix

‘The living are always more dangerous than the dead,’ observes a character in this icy noir – and it’s one of this Icelandic-set film’s key themes. It’s the 1870s and psychological torment awaits after an isolated group makes a brutal choice: do they rescue the survivors of a shipwreck or do they prioritise their own survival? With food supplies dangerously low, you can guess where this goes, but it’s tense watching the fallout as each person wrestles with their conscience in punishing snowy conditions.  Shirley’s Odessa Young stars as Eva, a widow who runs a remote fishing outpost and has hired a crew for the winter, which is particularly harsh this year. Nobody really wants to be there, but they’ll take the money and share it with their loved ones when they get back home. If they get back home. After a very disturbing episode, the group starts to fret about ‘draugr’ – undead men who seek revenge. Draugr are a common feature in Icelandic folk tales and it’s slightly confusing that this is an English-language film with an international cast, yet the implication is that everyone is Icelandic. Do they rescue the survivors of a shipwreck or do they prioritise their own survival? Still, Icelandic director Thordur Palsson (The Valhalla Murders) steers the ship with a steady hand and each actor delivers the goods. Young is terrific as the grieving young woman who is naturally emotional but driven by pragmatism in extreme circumstances, and it's interesting that she is the one who

One of Layla’s most memorable scenes sees the titular Arab drag queen (Bilal Hasna) performing at a bland London event for a ready meal brand called Fork Me!. After being paid in Fork Me! coupons rather than cash, Layla takes to the mic for a viscous and entertaining takedown of performative wokeness by corporate brands, while highlighting the prejudice they encounter on a daily basis. It’s a sharp, funny riff, and it also introduces romantic interest Max, a smitten white marketing executive whom Layla whisks off to their beloved queer club, Feathers. After a whirlwind start, the path for Layla and Max is rocky, as their differences become increasingly clear. Written and directed by drag queen Amrou Al-Kadhi, the story clearly comes from a very personal place, subtly exploring a specific culture clash and the compromises both characters attempt to make it work. While there is a palpable tenderness in the love scenes – along with a dash of kink – Layla flirts with romantic drama without ever quite committing. As each character veers between confidence and awkwardness, it feels credible but doesn’t dig terribly deep. As that early scene suggests, there are wider cultural contradictions to explore. The rooftop of the flamboyant, inclusive Feathers looks out onto the city of London, where Max works. The glistening buildings of the city represent the gentrification that is threatening Feathers' very existence, while its inhabitants simultaneously pay lip service to diversity by sp

Daisy-May Hudson became a documentary maker when her family was suddenly made homeless. The result, Half Way (2015) launched her career, and her feature debut explores similar territory. Posy Sterling stars as Molly, who comes out of prison to discover the children she’d left with her mother have been put into care. With no fixed abode, she can’t get them back – but she can’t find a place to live, either. Her situation is borderline Kafkaesque, but the tone is realism as Molly desperately tries to reunite with her two children and find a place they can all live. It’s a quietly compelling watch anchored by a strong performance from Sterling, whose moods range from denial to fury, despair to hope. Scenes with her daughter and son range from heartbreaking to joyful: Hudson’s writing frequently subverts expectations and bucks stereotypes of homeless people, ex-convicts, single mothers and more. Molly is a complex character who has moments of wisdom, resourcefulness and responsibility, as well as rashness. It’s refreshing to see a character like this written by a woman who really knows her inside out.  Hudson’s writing bucks stereotypes of homeless people Some of the dialogue is a little on-the-nose and street-cast actors’ inexperience shows. But it’s deeply moving to see the bond that is rekindled between Molly and her old friend Amina (Idil Ahmed). There is a memorable moment in which the two women cry together, full of frustration yet also compassion and sisterhood. Another po

At a dinner party in Québec, attractive 40-somethings drink, chatter and meet new people. It’s initially hard to tell who’s with who – and who’s meant to be with whom. Sophia (Magalie Lépine Blondeau) questions this herself: is she really happy in her routine relationship with Xavier – or should she bed the brash, bearded construction contractor who comes to renovate their new holiday home?  What starts as a lustful relationship with Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) turns into something more serious. But well-heeled philosophy professor Sophia becomes increasingly, excruciatingly aware of the cultural differences between them. Is passion alone enough, she wonders? With enjoyable characters and smart dialogue, French-Canadian director Monia Chokri makes her dilemma a very entertaining ride. The French title of this film translates as ‘Simple like Sylvain’, and his simplicities are certainly a target of humour, beautifully delivered by Cardinal. Take lines like: ‘Fruit is for women’, and in response to Sophia’s body insecurity: ‘You’re perfect… you make me hard.’  It may not be deeply romantic – but it certainly is funny But there’s much more to the film’s comedy, and implicitly Sylvain, as Sophia wrestles with her feelings. While many romantic comedies overuse the best friend trope to let us know what the heroine is thinking, Sophia nervously muses out loud on her actions – sometimes during sex. ‘It’s totally irrational…’ she says breathlessly while in a hasty tryst with Sylvain

Italian writer-director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, The Hand of God) is known for making wonderfully cinematic films, typically with male protagonists, so it’s refreshing to see him focus on a female hero in this languorous, gorgeous-looking period piece.  Parthenope is born in Naples, 1950, and grows into a conventionally beautiful young woman (newcomers Celeste Dalla Porta). So beautiful that she’s getting flirty looks from her own brother, Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo), as well as friend Sandrino (Dario Aita). Imagine the chaos when this threesome heads to Capri, the playground of the rich and famous. Heads turn wherever Parthenope goes. Acting agents scout her. Men in helicopters invite her for picnics.  An intelligent anthropology student, Parthenope navigates this with grace and humour, choosing to hang out with a drunken novelist, John Cheever (Gary Oldman), who prefers boys. An incident in Capri changes Parthenope’s life forever, and we follow her over the ensuing years as she meets an array of eccentric characters. Parthenope is split into chronological sections, and the superior early chapters have shades of everything from Death In Venice to The Dreamers. Porta puts in an enjoyable performance, whether delivering sharp one-liners or affecting that glassy straight-ahead look that all pretty young women must – especially in 1970s Italy.  It’s refreshing to see Sorrentino focusing on a female hero Given that context, the attention Parthenope receives seems remarka

Writer-director Rungano Nyoni has a wonderful way of drawing you into a world and intriguing you from the start, gradually peeling back the layers of enigmatic characters to explore Zambian culture. Her follow up to the lauded I Am Not A Witch sees Shula (Susan Chardy) driving along a road in futuristic garb – she could be in a sci-fi film, though we later learn she’s been at a fancy dress party. She discovers a dead body on a deserted road: it’s her Uncle Fred. As she gazes at the body with a steady expression, we glimpse the younger Shula staring down at him. There is a reason that  Shula isn’t crying about her Uncle Fred – and as her cousin Nsansa (Elizabeth Chisela) rocks up drunkenly, demanding to be let into Shula’s car, you begin to wonder about both their relationships with the deceased.  There are surreal flashbacks, but the focus is on Shula rather than Fred. Like other recent abuse films such as She Said, the perpetrator is a shadowy, absent figure. The filmmaker doesn’t show their crimes, but the results of them are painfully clear. As Shula dutifully takes part in funeral proceedings with her large middle class family, the impact of Fred’s actions ripples through the community.  What makes Guinea Fowl especially thought-provoking are the ambiguous relationships between women of different generations. Shula begins to question the reactions of her mother and her aunties, who tend to brush complaints under the carpet rather than challenge the patriarchy. Dark, pulsa

Lauded Singaporean director Anthony Chen has made award-winning films on his home turf, such as Ilo Ilo, a Cannes prize winner in 2013. Drift is his English-language debut, and it’s an assured and compassionate portrait of a displaced, desperate woman trying to cling onto her pride.  Casting the mighty Cynthia Erivo (Widows) is a smart move. As West African refugee Jacqueline, she carries herself with quiet composure, her soulful eyes and her soft voice hinting at past traumas. She is on a Greek island, sleeping in a cave, washing her clothes in the sea and trying to grab leftover restaurant food that tourists have left on restaurant tables.  Flashbacks reveal her to have had two quite different lives: one with a girlfriend (The Souvenir’s Honor Swinton Byrne) in the UK, and one at home with her family in war-torn Liberia, where they were reliant on private security to protect them from harm. Aside from one very disturbing scene, these flashbacks are told in brief, economical bursts, as if they are memories popping into Jacqueline’s head. They contrast with her life drifting around the island, unable to appreciate the beauty of the place through her hunger and fear.  Casting the mighty Cynthia Erivo is a smart move It’s a thought-provoking and involving scenario, inviting us to learn the details of Jacqueline’s daily challenges, whether she is having to massage the feet of rich tourists for cash, or contemplating stealing much-needed sanitary products. A glimmer of hope come

‘Treat fat people like people,’ says Aubrey Gordon in this thought-provoking documentary. It might sound simple, but as the American influencer says: ‘Even with good intentions you can still do harm.’ The daily prejudice she encounters is a key takeaway from the fly-on-the-wall film from British director Jeanie Finlay, who turned her keen and compassionate lens onto a pregnant transgender man in 2019’s Seahorse. Your Fat Friend is another intriguing portrait of a characterful person marginalised by society.  Finlay started filming Gordon in 2017, after a letter she posted anonymously went viral. At the time, she was a size 26 (roughly 30 in the UK), and explained how it felt to get refused to be seen by doctors, kicked off planes, and listen to thin friends talk about dieting. Also entitled ‘Your Fat Friend’, it’s a compelling piece of rhetoric that brought Gordon a podcast, a book deal and worldwide fame, something we see evolve over the course of the film. It’s an intriguing portrait of a characterful person marginalised by society Not all the attention was good, of course. It’s distressing to see the kind of language used by online trolls who threaten Gordon with violence based on her appearance – and implicitly, her daring to speak out about it.  More subtle and disquieting are the moments when Gordon is with her family, whose well-meaning comments about eating can have a crushing effect. Credit to Finlay and her editor, Alice Powell, for capturing and highlighting these,

Ever wonder about the moped thieves who snatch your phone out of your hand? This gang thriller puts them at the centre of a relatively traditional crime movie. Boosted by familiar actors and an authentic city setting, Gassed Up isn’t always a gas, but it does have something to say. Directed by George Amponsah, the film follows 20-year-old Ash (Blue Story’s Stephen Odubola), a dreamer who swipes phones in the hopes of paying for his mother’s £25,000 rehab bill (apparently he’s given up on the NHS). While Ash brags about his exploits on social media like a gangster, at home he’s a nice guy trying to look after his sister while his mother is largely absent. The film rather aimlessly follows him between home, ‘work’ and club nights, before getting a handle on the tension rather late in the day. This comes courtesy of the Albanian crime family connected to his friend, Dubz (Taz Skylar). Dubz’s cousin is Shaz (Jelena Gavrilović), a severe femme fatale who receives stolen goods in a dramatically-lit bunker flanked by heavies.  Gassed Up is a little more original when it’s exploring the backgrounds of these Londoners, including undocumented immigrants like Dubz. Skylar co-wrote the film, and gives his character some on-the-nose lines. ‘It’s a job, for those of us who need to catch up on some of the privileges we didn’t inherit,’ he says, asking Ash to step up to a particularly tough task. This gives an insight into the culture of desperation, even if the fast-paced moped culture also

Filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab bared her soul in the Oscar-nominated documentary For Sama, a devastating watch set over five years during the uprising in Aleppo, Syria. Now based in the UK, Al-Kateab takes a personal, passionate approach to following fellow refugees as they hope to join the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It’s a gripping, character-driven doc that pays tribute to incredible strength and perseverance amid many obstacles – including the Covid pandemic. After appearing in an emotional prelude, Al-Kateab moves behind the camera to quiz her subjects gently, letting her voice be heard as they share their most vulnerable moments. We first meet five sportspeople from Iran, Syria, South Sudan and Cameroon, before they find out if they’ve got through to the team. We watch as they sit on zoom calls with the selection committee, their nerves on edge. One applicant doesn’t get through, but instead of dropping them - or not even including them, as many docs would do - this film follows their journey after the bitter disappointment. Meanwhile, four athletes train up while nervously awaiting more results: a positive Covid test could potentially ruin all their dreams in one fell swoop.  It’s a reminder that every single displaced person has a deeply moving story to tell Each player is a fascinating character. Anjelina Nadai Lohalith is a runner who has fled South Sudan for Kenya, and desperately misses the family she left behind. Saeid Fazloula is an Iranian c

Sex, birth, death… the whole cycle of life is reflected in Smoke Sauna Sisterhood. Shot in an Estonian retreat, Anna Hints’ affecting debut moves to the rhythm of rituals and chants as the smoke sauna is heated and bathers whisk their bodies with plants, before witnessing intimate discussions between a group of women. Speaking individually, they talk openly and honestly about body image, the expectations of their parents, sexuality, dreams, trauma.  While a traditional doc might pull back and show the big picture – both literally and figuratively – this one zooms in on its subjects, showing fragments of bodies dripping in steam and sweat. Often they are intermingled, but this is about sisterhood, not sex. This is a tender portrayal of women in a safe space where they can let it all hang out without fear of the judgement that so frequently comes up in conversation. Some describe painful comments about their bodies that marked them as they grew up. One talks about coming out, and the cruel reaction of the woman she confessed her love for. There is a devastating account of a rape.  This is a tender portrayal of women in a safe space where they can let it all hang out Most of the women’s faces are tactfully obscured as they speak, but their words – even in subtitles – are riveting, whether they are disturbing, inspiring or funny. Yes, there is laughter here as well as tears: many watching will giggle along, recognising the release of sharing embarrassing stories, and the bonding

As three teenage girls race giggling into their hotel room in Greece, their excitement is infectious. Comically, and revealingly, they marvel at the size and location of a bog-standard apartment. It transpires that Tara (Mia McKenna Bruce), Em (Enva Lewis) and Skye (Lara Peake) have decided to await their GCSE results in a Crete hotel awash with pre-party shots and sexual opportunity.  Tara is the one remaining virgin, and there’s jokey pressure on her to pop her cherry. It’s clear the weight of expectation hangs heavy as she nervously flirts with the Northern boys in the room next door. The film’s title takes on a more complex hue as it goes on to explore communication, social pressure and the dynamics between genders and sexualities in this heady little group of new mates, well played by a mixture of established actors and newcomers. It’s an absorbing watch that’s given added authenticity by the shifting tone: this doesn’t just go dark and stay there. Like the girls’ moods, or a real holiday, it ebbs and flows between fun and serious, uplifting and troubling, exciting and mundane. Cinematographer-turned-director Molly Manning Walker captures what it’s like to be a teenager with sensitivity and compassion, refusing to judge characters or fall into cliché. She mines her giddy teens for laughs, but also with affection and an eye for detail. This is set in a culture of clumsy sexual hedonism, where boys are pulled up on stage for blow jobs from strangers. This particular scene

The Oscar nominations had a few surprises this year – I gasped out loud several times watching the nominations, cheered several more times, and booed at least once. I’ll come to that in a minute.  Leading the nominations is Everything Everywhere All At Once, the inventive multiverse sci-fi that scored Michelle Yeoh’s first Leading Actress nomination (at the age of 60), making her the first Asian actress to figure in that category. There were also nods for all the other central cast members, namely Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and – less widely predicted – Stephanie Hsu, who plays Yeoh’s daughter in the film. These are not just highly deserving nominees but injected some much-needed diversity into the actor categories. Aside from the brilliant Angela Bassett for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Black actors were conspicuously absent. And there was nothing for Viola Davis for The Woman King. The hit action epic is up for BAFTAs and is leading the nominations at the ‘Girls On Film’ Awards, but has been completely overlooked by the Academy. Nothing either for Danielle Deadwyler for Till, the heartbreaking and deeply moving story of a mother searching for justice. These are both films directed by Black women – Gina Prince-Bythewood and Chinonye Chukwu respectively – which makes their absence particularly uncomfortable. My booing, as you may have now guessed, was reserved for the Director category. Now, I loved Triangle of Sadness and The Banshees of Inisherin, but was dismayed to

This low-key buddy drama about a wounded soldier showcases Jennifer Lawrence at her best ★★★★ Two lost souls find comfort in each other in this effective slow-burner set in New Orleans. Directed by New Yorker Lila Neugebauer, Causeway features one of Jennifer Lawrence’s best and most subtle performances as Lynsey, a soldier who is recovering after an explosion in Afghanistan. She’s told that it will require considerable physio and time for her to recover both physically and mentally. When she’s eventually discharged home, it’s clear that she is still suffering from PTSD and memory issues – and that ‘home’ isn’t exactly where the heart is.Strains soon appear in her relationship with her mother Gloria (Linda Emond). When she winds up at a random garage after her beat-up truck breaks down, she meets mechanic James (Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry), who subtly clocks her memory problems and makes small gestures to help her out. It becomes clear that he’s got his own demons, and the pair begin a hesitant friendship borne more out of need than desire. It’s one of Jennifer Lawrence’s best and most subtle performances Causeway offers an involving portrait of disparate people who make a connection over occasional beers and frequent loneliness. Both actors are terrific: Lawrence is understated and compelling while Henry is by turns sympathetic, amusing and heartbreaking. Neither appear used to courting friendships, unschooled in the art of platonic overtures. Perhaps because of this,

In sci-fi horror comedy 'Attack the Block', a group of south London teenagers defend their council estate against an alien invasion. Ten years' after the film’s release, writer and director Joe Cornish explains why he wouldn’t have set it anywhere else. Why did you set the film in south London?  ‘I’ve lived in south London all my life and thought up the idea for the film while roaming around my neighbourhood. I was born and bred in Stockwell so I knew the streets where the story could happen, the buildings it could happen in and the people it might happen to. I wanted to film in as many of those real places as possible.’ Were there challenges while filming on location? ‘We made sure the gang in the film were wearing the right colour bandanas and once we’d done that, we were pretty much fine. There was a night when a woman in her dressing gown marched into shot and shouted ,“Take your poxy, two-bit film and fuck off!” We were just excited to hear someone using the term “two-bit”.’ What were John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker like on set? ‘My main memory is seeing them in full costume, loaded up with weapons and fireworks, teaching each other dance moves. And Jodie going out of her way to embarrass the young cast by using as much street slang off camera as possible – in a Yorkshire accent.’  Want more iconic London films? Check out our top 30 list.

Oscars ceremonies aren’t just a useful reminder of who’s dating who (Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara!), they can also throw us a few surprises. The Academy rocked the boat in various ways this time around, while also delivering the usual mix of witty moments and faintly painful ones. Here’s a catch-up of the most memorable things that happened while you were asleep:  1. ‘Parasite’ beating ‘1917’ to Best Picture What a moment! The Oscars aren’t always known for recognising the film that’s really the best of the year, and the South Korean black comedy is also the first non-English-language film to take the big one. Even Bong Joon-ho’s translator started looking excited when he scored Best Director as well as International Feature Film, making a fourth Bong hit look like a distinct possibility, rather than a film critic’s wistful dream. The director eagerly promised to have a drink after his first prize, so goodness knows how many chandeliers he is still swinging from as you read this. 'Parasite' 2. Joaquin Phoenix’s acceptance speech The internet is divided on this one, but if Phoenix was putting it on then he really does deserve Best Actor. His impassioned speech painted him as a reformed ‘scoundrel’ committed to tackling injustice and promoting veganism – his vivid description of the treatment of cows must have had breakfast viewers spluttering on their cornflakes. The ‘Joker’ actor delivered a nice message about using his position to help others, and topped it off with a

If you didn’t already love Greta Gerwig as an actor, her debut as a solo director, ‘Lady Bird’, probably sealed the deal. A brilliant coming-of-age film, it scored her a nomination for the Best Director Oscar. Her follow-up, ‘Little Women’, is firm proof that she’s one of the most exciting filmmakers out there. Entertaining and, yes, expertly directed, it mixes a feminist message with comic chops, warmth and at least three all-timer Meryl Streep moments. It captures the thrills and frustrations of being a young woman in the 1860s – and a fair few of those of being a woman in 2020 too. So when the Academy failed to nominate a single woman in the Best Director category, #GretaGerwig was soon trending on social media. Singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis even posted an in-depth poem on the subject (sample verse: ‘Oscar noms/What the flip?/Where are Adam Sandler/And Greta Gerwig?’). In Entertainment Weekly, ‘Little Women’ star Florence Pugh noted the irony: ‘Greta made a film about women working and their relationship with money and with working in a man’s world.’ The Oscars is still a man’s world, in other words. oscar noms what the flip?where are @AdamSandler & greta gerwig? lupita, @awkwafina safdie bros noah’s the Baumbut some of these OG songs tho? brad pitt nom is tight but Scarjo twice ?whatevs i’ll be watching the @OnCinemaOscars special all night 🖤 — jenny lewis (@jennylewis) January 13, 2020 On my feminist film podcast ‘Girls on Film’, I’ve championed many women who could

The former Empire cinema at Leicester Square was a familiar part of the London movie scene but it was long overdue a makeover, especially when it came to the sound: I remember straining to hear muffled dialogue on a few occasions during screenings there. Since acquiring the site in 2016, the folks at Cineworld have been busying away making it as hi-tech as possible. That includes a big new IMAX cinema and the most recent addition, a 4DX auditorium aiming to blow audiences away with a series of effects whirring around them. 4DX was invented in South Korea and first launched in the UK in 2015 at Cineworld Milton Keynes, believe it or not. And now it’s come to London.I trotted down the red carpet at Cineworld Leicester Square to check out this immersive experience on its launch night. After a glass of bubbly, I headed in for the big event: a 4DX screening of The Rock’s new monster movie, ‘Rampage’. The impressive 136-seater screen (pictured above) comes complete with a cloakroom – no bags allowed, and we soon found out why. The big, roomy seats are programmed to respond to the rhythms, jumps and bumps in the showing film by jolting around quite wildly, so open drinks are out, too (I was quite relieved when a couple with runny ice creams decide to sit elsewhere). Just watching the ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ trailer before the movie had us in a spin: there were squeals and giggles as the seats vibrated and rolled. During ‘Rampage’ 4DX (3D glasses included), there were more surprises

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe… unless you’ve already been to Secret Cinema presents ‘Blade Runner – The Final Cut: A Secret Live Experience’. The immersive movie event first did the sci-fi classic ‘Blade Runner’ in 2010, transforming an East End warehouse into futuristic LA complete with strippers and snakes (were they real? I think so). It was a blast, and since then they’ve grown much bigger, from the ambitious ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ to the impressive ‘Star Wars’. As with any evolving event, there have been teething problems – but with this ‘Blade Runner’, I reckon they’ve got sussed. Before the event, I fill in an online empathy test to gain an identity. I try to fix it so I come out as a Replicant (cooler costumes) but I’m a detective in the Replicant Trafficking Division named Vicki Mallory, and must wear a mac and carry various items, including an umbrella. I figure Vicki must go undercover at some point so I cyber-punk it up, and it turns out I was right. When we arrive at the secret London location, our group of VIP ticket holders is briefed by a detective and lead into the heart of rebel land, where we must gather information to report to a police chief, who is a rather good actor, and also gives us whisky. This detective thing is getting better. As ever with Secret Cinema, the clue’s in the name (even though they now reveal the film in advance), so I'll describe the rest of the experience in broad terms. The setting is exciting, evocative and loaded wit

Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock   From stunt doubles to costume designers, we talk to the people who've helped make some of London's most iconic films. 'Bend it Like Beckham' kickstarted the career of Keira Knightley and put Hounslow on the cinematic map. Producer, writer and director Gurinder Chadha shares what it was like filming in her neighbourhood and how her mum ended up on the movie poster. The film is set in Hounslow – how important was the location to you? ‘The film is autobiographical; I grew up in west London. It’s always fun to film in your own hood and it’s become a record of British Asian lives, and Southall and Hounslow from 16 years ago.’ Did any locals get involved? ‘We always had locals wanting to be part of the film. India has a huge film culture, so there’s never any shortage of extras! My extended family all feature in the film, including my mum, who made it on to the poster as one of the women in the line as Jess takes her penalty at the climax of the movie.’  How does it feel to revisit the film’s locations now? ‘I recently went to Sutton Square in Heston, where we shot the exteriors of Jess’s family home. While we were there a group of young lads came up and said, “Did you know this is the house where ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ was shot?” I nodded. He said, “Lots of people like you come here and take photos – shall I take one of you?” That made me smile. The film is so important for so many people around the world, particularly the Asian diaspora and female

From stunt doubles to costume designers, we talk to the people who've helped make some of London's most iconic films. In rom-zom-com ‘Shaun of the Dead’, London experiences a zombie apocalypse. Director Edgar Wright explains why the setting still resonates with him. Most of the film was shot in north London. Why that area? ‘“Shaun of the Dead” was conceived by me and Simon Pegg when we were both living in north London. He lived in Crouch End and I lived in Islington, so making the movie was literally like having a zombie apocalypse on our doorsteps. It holds a very special place in my heart as it’s a document of where and how we lived at the time.’  How important was it to you to shoot the film in London? ‘At one point in the development of the movie, our line producer asked if we would consider shooting on the Isle of Man for tax reasons. I said I would rather not make the movie if we couldn’t shoot it in London. We loved the idea of having the living dead invade the suburbs that you’d usually only see in Mike Leigh films.’  Do you still hang out at any of the places featured in the film? ‘The only scene not shot in north London was at the Winchester. That was at the Duke of Albany in New Cross (now turned into flats). It would make me misty-eyed if I went back. I have been back to the corner shop in Crouch End. I think fans go there and buy Cornettos. I’m not sure if the owner finds that funny.’  Here's everything you need to know about the BFI London Film Festival.