Phil de Semlyen

Is it safe to laugh again? Over the last decade, comedy movie from all but disappeared from cinemas – and those that emerged on streaming weren’t exactly keeping us in hysterics. But so far, 2026 is looking like something of a rebound for both big- and small-screen comedies. Granted, nothing is breaking the box office like back in the aughts, but surprise hits like The Drama and under-the-radar gems like Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie have cracked us up harder than anything we’ve seen in a few years – and there’s more on the way. For now, here are funniest movies we’ve seen in 2026 so far. RECOMMENDED: 📽️ The best movies of 2026 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2026😂 The 100 greatest comedy movies ever made

Whichever city you call home, there’s likely to be a tonne of films that bring it to the screen in timeless style (and if you live in New York, double that). But for many, the city is more buzzy backdrop than lived-in metropolis – a character rather than a storyline in its own right. But dig past When Harry Met Sally, Amélie, Notting Hill et al – great as they are – and you’ll find a few urban-set films that really nail the uniqueness of our cities. To celebrate ‘Return to the City’, a new season at London’s Barbican Cinema, we asked curator Alex Davidson to marry up 14 cities with 14 movies. Find out which movie really reflects what it’s like to live in your hometown.

LA has Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly, New York has its share of classic picture houses, Paris has a world of old-fashioned repertory cinemas to explore, and Amsterdam boasts one of the most beautiful cinemas in the world. But none of them can hold a flickering projector to London’s vast array of multiplexes, arthouses, luxe cinemas and cult spots. There’s more than a hundred cinemas of all shapes and sizes, and the chances are, if you live in or outside the city, one of them is a short bus or Tube ride away. Plus, with 2025 bringing us the brand new, super-swanky Everyman Brentford and London’s first dedicated LGBTQ+ cinema, The Arzner in SE1, the city’s moviegoing options have continued to swell. Meanwhile, beloved stalwarts like the Prince Charles Cinema and East London’s Genesis are laying down plans to safeguard their futures. But not all cinemas are created equal: some are worth travelling that little bit further for – whether for the incredible value they offer, the tech set-up, crazy-comfy seats, the cult programming, or the gastronomic treats on offer. To sort the elite from the just-merely-really-good, we’ve canvassed Londoners for their pick of favourites and tallied their votes, with a few of our own picks, to rank the best movie houses inside the M25. From PeckhamPlex to The Phoenix, they’re an inestimable bunch, representing London’s past and with any luck, its future too. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free ​Time Out ​f​ilm newsletter for the best of the ​

Apple TV’s strongest suit has never been movies – at least, not compared to television. In fact, the streamer is home to some of the best shows currently on television, between Severance, Pluribus, Widow’s Bay and Slow Horses. But its film selection has always felt like an afterthought, offering little licensed content and only a few original productions that rise much above ‘solid.’ Slowly, that’s starting to turn. In the last year, the Brad Pitt racing drama F1 landed a surprise Best Picture nomination – it never had a chance, but it wasn’t unearned – while Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest found Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky going head-to-head in a generational battle of badasses. Also, Matthew McConnaughey drove a bus through a raging wildfire, while John Travolta slapped on a le filmmaker beret for his surprisingly touching directorial debut.   What else is there worth watching on Apple TV? Here’s the best of what’s fallen from the tree – so to speak – so far.  Recommended: 💻 The best movies on Netflix right now🇭 The best movies to watch on Hulu right now🦚 The best movies on Peacock📺 The best movies on HBO and Max

We’re living in the era of peak documentary. That’s different from a golden age of documentary, mind you. Yes, with the content avalanche of streaming services, it seems like film studios are churning out more docs than ever before, and that’s produced quite a few good ones. But the rush has also created a visual and narrative sameness, with many docs having all the artfulness of a corporate training video. All that is to say that creating a truly great, lasting documentary requires a lot more than stringing together a few talking heads with bits of archival footage. The best docs don’t just tell true stories: they aim to make us understand the world around us and the people who live in it, and sometimes even rethink our ideas of ourselves. From David Byrne in an oversized suit to Andy Warhol staring at the Empire State Building for eight hours, here are our picks for the best documentaries ever made. Written by Joshua Rothkopf, Cath Clarke, Tom Huddleston, David Fear, Dave Calhoun, Phil de Semlyen, Andy Kryza, David Ehrlich, Matthew Singer and Ava Scott-Nadal Recommended: ✅ The best movies based on true stories🎸 The best musical documentaries to rock out to🔎 The best true crime documentaries on Netflix🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time

Most movie years post-pandemic have felt like rollercoasters, but 2026 so far has been particularly up-and-down – and at its highest points, especially exciting. Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day disappointed while Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey took on one of the oldest epics in literature and surpassed even the loftiest expectations. Several titanic franchises flopped hard, while smaller films like Obsession and Backrooms, made by total unknowns,  have come bursting through the box-office glass ceiling. The likes of Project Hail Mary and Toy Story 5 may not qualify as ‘original stories’, but both displayed an intelligence, emotionality and sense of crowd-pleasing fun missing from many of the IP-flogging blockbusters of the recent past. All-in-all, a pretty good year – and we haven’t even hit awards season yet. For now, though, here’s the best of what we’ve seen to this point. 📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2026 (so far)😂 The best comedy movies of 2026📕 15 book-to-movie adaptations to get excited about in 2026🔥 The 100 greatest movies ever made

Parents hear all about the difficulties of raising a teenager, but the tween years aren’t much better. Sure, they may not yet be a hormonal know-it-all insisting upon their independence, but now they suddenly have ‘opinions’ and ‘feelings about things’, and they expect you to respect them. That includes movie nights. Where your happy little butterball could once be pleased with anything loud and fast-moving, now they’re getting more discerning. At the same time, they’re not so desperate to prove their maturity that they’re demanding a legal thriller or a Merchant Ivory costume drama. So how do you choose the right flick to please all audiences? To help you through this short-lived but awkward time, we’ve rounded up 36 movies guaranteed to excite and entertain anyone between the ages of ten and 12. And the good news is that much of what works for that demographic is the same stuff you loved at the age, from ’80s blockbusters to silly comedies to adventure flicks to movies about young love and the struggle of growing up. Stream one of these and hold off on the headaches for at least another day. Recommended: 🎒 The 100 best teen movies of all-time👪 The 50 best family films to stream on movie night🤣 The 35 best family comedy movies

Outdoor cinema season is up and running in the capital. There’s a summer of moonlit movies ahead in an array of scenic park, rooftop and riverside spots and the projectors will soon start whirring at Rooftop Cinema Club, Adventure Cinema and many others. On the slate for 2026 are the usual mix of crowdpleasers, cult classics and recent blockbuster hits. But expect some exciting new additions from the past 12 months, too, including F1, Zootropolis 2, to Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, La La Land and all the old favourites. Are there any free outdoor cinemas in London this summer? Yes, Everyman on the Canal, Vauxhall Summer Screens, Devonshire Square’s Cinema Under the Stars, Waterloo’s Lower Marsh Lates and Canary Wharf Summer Screens are all open to all-comers, free of charge. Can I bring my own food and alcohol? As a rule of thumb, if it’s a free screening you’ll be able to bring food and beverages, including the alcoholic kind, but it’s always best to check ahead. The websites listed below will provide the do’s and don’ts for any planned picnics. Recommended: 📽️ The 100 greatest cinemas in the world right now🎞️ The 25 best cinemas in London💰 London’s best cheap cinemas

Whether you’re in one of the UK’s diverse, underrated cities, our picture-perfect seaside towns or anywhere in between, there’s always a museum to educate, explain, enlighten. Far from just places to hide from grim weather, Britain’s greatest museums tell stories, explore histories and get you fascinated by stuff you’d never previously spared a thought for. Here at Time Out, we are, obviously, huge museum nerds. You’ll find countless of the cultural institutions peppered throughout our UK city guides, whether that’s a mighty, storeyed national behemoth or an adorably niche local exhibition space. Even better, plenty of those museums are totally free to visit (and they remain so, despite suggestions of change). But which British museums are most essential to visit this year? Which ones are having a moment, basking in a refurb, putting on the most tantalising exhibitions? We’ve rounded up the most unmissable, all chosen by Time Out UK editors who’ve recently visited them. Before we get stuck in, a quick note. The vast majority of the list below is outside London, and that’s intentional. If you’re looking for stuff in the capital, we have an excellent guide to the city’s museums here. We’ve also steered clear of conventional art galleries – watch out for a dedicated upcoming guide. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The UK’s top places to visit in 2026.🎨 The UK’s best new things to do in 2026.🎵 The best music festivals in the UK.🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK. At Time Out, all of our 

2026 has officially landed. An entire year of adventure awaits, with Britain set for a deluge of thrilling new things to see and do. Beyond the individual openings, however – the new bars and restaurants, museums and attractions – where should be on your radar for places to visit in the UK?  If you’re up for being inspired here at Time Out, as always, we’ve got you covered. We’ve scoured the listings of all that’s happening in Britain in 2026 and consulted our nationwide network of writers and editors, harnessing all that info to put together a guide to the places that should be on your radar over the next 12 months.  Destinations made it onto Time Out’s list for a vast range of reasons. Some have swaggered onto the scene with a quickfire burst of thrilling new attractions. Others have built their cred slower and reached a point of quiet brilliance, while others still are established spots that simply remain very much worth their rep. Several places will be made even more tempting by those aforementioned 2026 openings, whether that be delicious places to eat and drink, game-changing new transport options or unmissable cultural events.  From trendy seaside towns to revived industries cities, medieval forts to ‘the new Berlin’: here are the UK’s 14 top places to visit in 2026. RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.📍 The 26 best stuff to see and do in London in 2026. 🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK.

In 2026, the UK’s coastline is more in the spotlight than it has been in a long, long time. The opening of the long-awaited King Charles III Coastal Path means that the entire coasts of England, Wales and Scotland are now fully walkable – giving you even more of a reason to visit this nation’s extraordinary roster of seaside towns. Of course, being an island nation, the UK has no shortage of coastal spots. Prim, proper, picture-postcard-worthy idylls? Check. Remote, blustery retreats from stormy seas?  Yep, plenty of that. Thrill-packed resort spots with something for everyone? Britain has all of the above and much more. If you’re on the hunt for British seaside towns that are worth checking out right now – the ones that should be on your radar specifically in 2026 – that’s what we’re here for. Time Out assembled our UK travel experts to pick out the country’s most exciting seaside, port, harbour and resort towns to visit this year. RECOMMENDED: 🏖️ The best beaches in the UK (and mapped).📍 The best places to visit in Britain in 2026.🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK. Time Out’s best seaside towns, mapped Image: Time Out

Are we still in the Golden Age of Television? Probably not. Since the end of Succession, it hasn’t felt like there’s been a major prestige series to grip the culture in a way similar to Breaking Bad, Mad Men et al. But it doesn’t mean there isn’t still great stuff to watch – stuff that, as they go along, could grow into one of those zeitgeist-gripping all-timers. In 2026, that includes the likes of HBO’s Industry, which has grown from cult fave to must-watch over four seasons, and The Pitt, still probably the best show currently on despite its, let’s say, fervent fanbase. And don’t forget Heated Rivalry, Bait and yet another Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of Seven Kingdoms. We’ve put off sleep and watched them all to determine the best TV of the year so far.  Recommended: 📽️ The best movies of 2026 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025📺 The 100 greatest TV shows of all time

Jason Statham’s latest action flick is set on a cargo ship and occasionally moves like one too. Directed by Frenchman Jean-François Richet, who once made the superb gangster epic Mesrine, it’s a po-faced revenge flick that has you pining for the wackadoodle energy of Under Siege. Unlike Steven Seagal’s boat-borne classic, the villains here are a criminally nondescript bunch without a memorable character among them, so the brutal offings land with a shrug. And you’d need a fetish for dank cargo holds to get a kick out of the setting. Statham plays Cole Reed, an ex-British bobby and soldier now working as a bodyguard for Thai shipping tycoon Tibu (Ramon Tikaram). Tibu is a father figure for the hard-bitten special forces man, welcoming him into the family and relying on his protection as he sells his business. Viewers of a certain age will remember Tikaram as Ferdy from This Life and the pair’s scenes bring a half-twinkle to the stoney-faced Statham. It’s soon extinguished when an ambush in Bangkok leaves Reed grief-stricken – or at least, fairly annoyed – and on a mission for revenge that takes him aboard one of Tibu’s ships. Some nasty surprises await, including a really dull stretch at the midway point. It’s Statham playing an ultra-violent game of peekaboo with a variety of anonymous henchmen Peaky Blinders’ Annabelle Wallis does her best as a third mate with first-base dialogue who joins Reed’s crusade and serves as the half-capable Erika Eleniak to his Seagal in the bruis

That high-altitude action sequence in Where Eagles Dare has sudden new competition for the most knuckle-whitening cable-car moment in cinema.  In August 2023, in the Pakistan province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a group of teenagers, travelling to school by cable car across a valley in the Himalayan foothills, were left dangling 900 feet up when two of the three cables above them abruptly snapped. The obstacles facing would-be rescuers were formidable: swirling cross winds, desperate family members, choking crowds of locals on either side of the ravine. Oh, and the prospect that the third cable could give way at any moment. Directed by Pakistani filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi, this terrifically tense documentary tells the story of that nightmare commute, using a wealth of media and cameraphone footage, plus interviews and reenactments with the people involved, to piece together the 12 or so hours of bedlam that followed.The cable car, hanging at a canted angle like a frame from a horror movie, is a heart-in-mouth sight that Naqvi never cuts away from for long. Alerted to the unfolding story, the Pakistani media and then international networks arrived to capture the rescue efforts. Drone footage zooms in on the calm-looking boys inside the gondola and you wonder how they seem so cool when their lives are hanging in the balance.  The ticking-clock tension will leave you breathless Naqvi assembles all the key figures, from the determined police chief and broadcast journalist who were

With the AA’s Best English Hotel award tucked under one arm and The Sunday Times’ hotel of the year under the other, this recently renovated and supremely cosy Peak District bolthole – the most upscale hotel on Derbyshire’s regal Chatsworth Estate, a mile or two from Chatsworth House itself – would have every excuse for feeling smug. If 2025 was a big year for The Cavendish, it’s wearing all that acclaim lightly judging by my two nights there with my nine-year-old in tow. The default is family-friendly and helpful, with low-key excellence that unfolds quietly around you. A ‘de-stressing device’ is how its manager, Steve Daly, likes to think of the place. Somewhere to escape and unplug at the end of a long week. That process is eased into thanks to the watercolour views across a rolling Derbyshire valley from every window, as well as a kitchen that turns locally-sourced ingredients into unpretentious works of arts.  What are the rooms like at The Cavendish Hotel? The bedrooms offer a comforting slice of English country life, with the usual mod cons taking a back seat to writing desks, lamps, glazed ceramics and armchairs to sink into. There are 28 in total, each with a view out across the rolling countryside and elegant bathrooms with roll top baths. Each is named after a Chatsworth duchess or a gardener from the estate’s past. Ours had a four-poster bed, and if it wasn't quite as extravagant as the 14-foot one you’ll find in Chatsworth’s royal chambers, it felt fairly regal.

America has Six Flags, Germany has Europa-Park, Holland has Efteling. We Brits, though, can lay claim to the classiest theme park of the lot: Staffordshire’s legendary 500-acre estate, now 46 years old and as sprightly as ever. Two thirds adrenaline rush, one third zen haven, Alton Towers feels like a speed freak has seized control of a National Trust property. In a good way. Of course, you can just hop on the Sky Ride and skip right past all those manicured lawns, pagodas, and woodland walks, and pile straight onto the dystopian-themed The Smiler, the world's first 14-loop rollercoaster, or Oblivion, with its sheer drop providing the chance to play chicken with your lunch. But the picturesque landscaping and sense of history – the 19th century mansion house was once home to the Earls of Shrewsbury – really elevates the experience when you’re not travelling at 50mph upside down. The food has levelled up too – at least for the summer, where street food stalls next to the lake (try the bao buns or Argentinian asado) provide adventurous alternatives to the hotdogs, burgers and pizza. The app is helpful for up-to-date ride queue times and has a handy interactive map. Sure, there’s still room for improvement: World of David Walliams feels like an atomic test site – Gangsta Granny: The Ride is clearly losing the battle of the nannas against the delightful new family coaster Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies! – and the 18-hole minigolf course needs a little love. But there’s so

It’s ‘Anthony Bourdain: The SpongeBob Years’ in this seaside coming-of-age story about the much-mourned chef, writer and globe-trotting gastronaut. With The Holdovers’ Dominic Sessa playing Bourdain as a restless 19-year-old, Tony is nearly two hours of crustacean chopping and lying to girls at Cape Cod’s answer to the Krusty Krab restaurant. There’s even a starring role for old Burger Beard himself, Antonio Banderas, as this film’s answer to Mr Krabs, a trusting restaurateur who points the tearaway in the right direction. It’s loosely based on a few chapters of Bourdain’s fabulously indiscreet restaurateur confessional Kitchen Confidential. Unfortunately, that rich stew is here somehow rendered thin and flavourless. Bourdain is introduced as a fledgling writer and full-time bullshit artist, trying to blag a college fellowship to pen his own collision of Kerouac and Orwell. His main focus, though, is on impressing the unattainable Nancy (Coda’s Emilia Jones) with his intellect and bad-boy vibes. The unironically worn nunchucks prove a powerful deterrent for his fellow student.  Not having had much luck with the fellowship either, the penniless Bourdain pursues Nancy to the well-heeled island of Cape Cod. It’s 1975, the summer of Jaws, but no shark is more voracious than the boozy, horny Bourdain. Soon, he’s getting turfed out of Banderas’s seafood shack by Leo Woodall’s hard-living, hard-fighting sous chef – the kind of messily compelling character Kitchen Confidential is ful

‘God, that’s cool,’ sighs Tom Holland’s Spider-Man as a bunch of ninjas descend on him in Marvel’s well-established slo-mo, camera-wheeling style. At this delicate stage in the Marvelverse – somewhere between the lumpen offerings of Phase 5 and the promised team-up bonanza of Avengers: Doomsday – the question needs to be asked: is it, though? Still?In the summer of The Odyssey, Backrooms and Obsession, a new Marvel movie was always going to be in danger of feeling old hat, even with Spidey, the studio’s A-list character, headlining it. Holland, now 30 but as fresh-faced as ever, remains the most likeable and exuberant of the on-screen Spider-Men, but he suffers in a movie that opts to sideline the web slinger in favour of a storyline that involves another character that could have been borrowed from Stranger Things. A whole chunk of the final act plays like a tribute act to the Netflix hit.  Like its hero, leading a solitary New York existence after 2021’s No Way Home erased his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned’s (Jacob Batalon) memories of him, Brand New Day runs the gamut of moods: at times, dark; at others, brooding. This is not the most fun of the recent Spidey outings, even with his gruff old pal The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) turning up to rampage unhelpfully about and grumble about life, Florence Pugh gleefully hamming it up as Thunderbolts*’s Yelena Belova, and the dependable Mark Ruffalo back as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. The trio’s scenes together are a delight

Historians will claim that Richard Nixon opened China, but as this knotty, celebratory and rather moving doc makes pretty clear, it was actually a pair of big-haired Brits singing ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ that got the whole Sino-Western rapprochement thing going.   When they were flown into communist China in April 1985, part of a PR wheeze cooked up by their manager Simon Napier-Bell, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were the fresh faces behind one of the world’s biggest pop bands, Wham!. They were there, perversely, to help launch them in the US, where their two showcase gigs – in Beijing and Guangzhou – and a host of awkward formal engagements and photo opps would propel them onto American TV news. That was the theory, at least. But as director Mike Christie’s fascinating documentary reveals, there was a much richer, stranger and more complicated reality in the week-and-a-bit the two confused celebrities spent behind the Bamboo Curtain. At first, Michael, looking barely more than a teenager and struggling to find a foil for his flamboyant persona amid all the dour-faced dignitaries, seems amused by the procession of functions and photocalls at the Great Wall. Ridgeley cuts a more circumspect figure, at odds with the hacks from the British tabloids who follow the band everywhere. It’s like watching a man on a pub crawl with a bunch of people he really hates, and no alcohol.  Ridgeley gamely revisits the highs and lows of the trip as one of the talking head interviewe

It’s hard to know which star you’d have been wishing on for this puppeteered horror riff on Carlo Collodi’s childhood fable to be the answer to your dreams. ‘The twisted childhood universe’ – as Brit filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield and his producer partner Scott Chambers have dubbed their gory bastardisation of Winnie-the-Pooh and Bambi – continues with another grisly spin on a kids-lit staple.   Having lost his parents and best friend, schoolboy James (Cameron Bell) falls under the care of his granddad Geppetto (Richard Brake) in a creepy gothic pile. The old man has been beavering away on a new creation to help keep the ‘kiddo’ happy: a talking wooden boy he’s whittled for James in his dank basement. Finally, James will have a companion he won’t lose to mortality. Like Collodi’s tale, we’re not encouraged to preoccupy ourselves with how Pinocchio (voiced by Jude-Evan Lloyd) can talk or how his consciousness works. Instead, goaded by his ‘tree mother’ in the wall downstairs, and the demonic Jiminy Cricket – no jaunty umbrella and top hat for this creepy bastard – whispering in his ear, Pinocchio embarks on a killing spree to protect his young human friend from any tenuous threat. In Collodi’s story, his nose grows when he lies. Here, it also does it when he wants to gore a schoolyard bully to death. Another grisly spin on a kids-lit staple Frake-Waterfield works wonders with his wooden monster and meagre budget, but Pinocchio: Unstrung isn’t funny enough to work as a fairy t

Homer’s The Odyssey first engaged Christopher Nolan when he was attached to direct Troy, 20-odd years ago, and he’s been stealth-adapting Western literature’s foundational text ever since. Interstellar puts a time-bending spin on the story of a man trying to make it home; Inception, beyond its mille-feuille of dreamscapes, is about trauma and homecoming; and The Dark Knight Rises sends Batman into the underworld to find his way home. Dunkirk… well, you get the point. So maybe The Odyssey has been the British filmmaker’s real odyssey all along. It’s a movie he could only make at this point in his career, with the full array of tools and treasure at his disposal. It may or may not be his best film – a lot of Greek island dust needs to settle before that debate kicks off – but it’s definitely Nolan at his most formidable. The ending, one of his very best, is even stronger than that of its main rivals for the crown, Inception and The Dark Knight. And who else would even try to bring this madly ambitious vision to the screen? Least of all entirely in 70mm IMAX, right down to the quiet bits. Albeit, there’s about two of those. The thunderous near-three-hours of storm-tossed seas, clashing steel, vengeful dei ex machina, awe-inspiring monsters, and Oscar-bound A-listers takes unpacking – and maybe a motion sickness tablet. Nolan and his cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema pat a seat aboard Odysseus’s (a never-better Matt Damon) ill-fated longboat and invite you to follow the Ithacan m

We’ve all visited a village pub as an out-of-towner where it’s like you’ve strolled into an old wild-west saloon. The clock stops, the beer freezes mid-pour, the fingers twitch on the holsters – or at least, the mobile phones to message the neighbourhood WhatsApp group to say there’s ‘another one of them in today’. Surrey’s The Merry Harriers is emphatically not that pub. You can walk in positively reeking of urban heatwave trauma and Pret coffee and still be assured of the warmest imaginable welcome. This much-loved spot manages to be all things to all people: a village pub that prides itself on being a home-from-home for its tight local community, and a dreamy bolthole for Londoners looking to unwind under its 600-year-old oak beams and enjoy the walks and bucolic air of this little dell in the rolling Surrey countryside. It’s easy to see why it’s so beloved: there’s a ‘can do’ ethos, a gentle ambition to do more with the land around the pub, including raising the landlord’s mum’s rams and other livestock, and the kitchen is elite. It’s very Paul McCartney and Wings circa 1971, only with elegant design touches, all the mod cons and the odd charmingly quirky tradition – like the Saturday afternoon meat raffle (£1 to enter). And they do Skips and Quavers at the bar. You have to love that, too. What are the rooms like at The Merry Harriers? There are four rooms in the pub itself, all with low beams, all on the cosy side. The six garden rooms are newly refurbished and further f

A tribe of people with self-limiting horizons whose need to rediscover a sense of adventure has become existential, Disney bosses are writing their own metaphors with this pointless Moana remake.  Even by the deadening standards of The Lion King and Mufasa, this animation-to-live action transplant has all the freshness of a washed-up marlin. If you reach the midway point without the question ‘why are we here?’ popping into your mind, you’ve either never seen the 2016 animated classic that Broadway director Thomas Kai reconstructs in airless fashion using large swathes of green screen, or you’re the ultimate Moana completist. For the few newbies out there, the story follows young Pacific Islander (and non-princess) Moana (Catherine Laga'aia). She learns how demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole a jewel from the goddess Te Fiti that set off a blight that’s now afflicting her atoll’s plants and fish. Her impish Gramma Tala (Rena Owen) encourages her to defy her chieftain dad and set out beyond the reef to restore balance to the world.  Disney bosses are writing their own metaphors with this pointless remake Owen, who once had a similar breakthrough role in 1994 Maori drama Once Were Warriors, makes a nice foil for newcomer Laga'aia, bringing a warmth and soul that dissipates as soon as Moana’s stormy voyage starts delivering familiar story beats via flat VFX environments and studio water tanks. In awkward timing, another, vastly superior seafaring adventure lands in cinemas this

Pierre Coffin’s gang of yellow pill-shaped anarchists are back with a helter-skelter third spinoff outing that romps along at a million miles an hour. It’s far more fun and inventive than the Despicable Me franchise the Minions spun out of, not to mention 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, and delivers a barrage of giggles and an unexpected movie history lesson. This time Coffin and his long-time Minions co-writer Brian Lynch plonk the gang back into the moviemaking era that helped inspire their slapstick: the 1920s Hollywood of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. It’s a home run of an idea, right down to the opening montage of old Universal idents and silent film title card. In this alternative cinema timeline, the Minions were there at the birth of the talkies and even assisted in the partial demolition of the old ‘Hollywoodland’ sign. Damien Chazelle’s Babylon gets a reference, as do a flurry of silent classics. Watching the Minions being fed through Modern Times’ industrial cogs or gatecrashing Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr is a joy.  Allison Janney’s authoritative narration provides soothing structure for all the clowning, eye-poking and small explosions. She’s a tour guide shepherding a bunch of school kids through the Academy Museum. After a George Lucas sight gag for the ages, she introduces James and Henry, two pioneering Minion filmmakers from the 1920s, before a historical flashback reestablishes their ceaseless purpose: to find a villain to do take them into ser

In news that will hearten any adult hoping to coax their child into a supermarket in the next few weeks, HUNTR/X will sharing space with Weetabix this summer. Tesco has announced that six of its store cafés are being taken over by Netflix anime smash Kpop Demon Hunters, according to the Retail Gazette. Expect to see Rumi, Mira, Zoey and co adorning the cafes’ entranceways, furniture and counters, as well as selfie stations, a Korean-inspired menu and ‘Kpop Demon Hunters themed activities’.  ‘We wanted to have some fun in our Cafés before the summer finishes and children go back to school,’ says James Pavey, director of hospitality at Tesco: ‘Kids love KPop Demon Hunters which makes it the perfect theme for a takeover, and because we’re running ”Kids Eat Free”, popping in for a bite and a selfie won’t cost the earth.’  Photograph: TescoTesco’s Kpop Demon Hunters activation The participating stores are in Coventry, Watford, St Helens, York, Ashby De La Zouch and Hatfield. The selfie stations, activities and Korean inspired menu will also be present in another 135 supermarkets. The location of the six stores:  Resolution Road, Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1TE  Arena Park, Coventry, CV6 6AS  James Roby Way, Saint Helens, WA9 5DT  239-241 Lower High St, Watford, WD17 2BD  Stirling Road, Clifton Moor Centre York, North Yorkshire, YO30 4XZ  Great North Road, Oldings Corner, Hatfield Hertfordshire, AL9 5JY The first kids into the six cafés will receive a free goodie b

The streaming era has given us many things – limitless choice, watch parties, about six million true-crime documentaries – but it’s still very easy to feel nostalgic for the golden age of the video store. There’s good news, then, for anyone who misses that sensation of striding into their local Blockbuster to peruse shelves of videos in search of that perfect Friday night watch. Two UK software engineers have launched a new website that reinvents the video store experience for the streaming era. The handiwork of twin brothers Patrick and Oliver Evans, BingeBrowse (originally Bingebuster) is an algorithm-busting way to peruse the films on your Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount+, Hulu, Tubi, Apple TV, Peacock and Disney+ accounts via any easy-to-browse interface. There’s even a family-friendly tab that will cut out all the hard-R stuff.  ‘I feel like our audience has really responded to the nostalgia of revisiting the video stores of their past, but also to having a chance to browse streaming sites without the constant invisible hand of the algorithm,’ explains Oliver Evans. ‘It's something both Patrick and I have fond memories of as children too – being 27 years old we just about remember the last days of video stores here in the UK.’  Photograph: BingeBrowseThe foreign language shelf on BingeBrowse BingeBrowse recreates the video store experience right down to the windows and return box. You can toggle around the store, zeroing in on on new releases and searching by genre – a

The Cinema Museum, London’s under-threat temple to all things silver screen, has launched a crowdfunder to secure its future.  The Elephant & Castle venue, which once pipped the Tate Modern to claim Time Out’s Most Loved Local Culture Spot, needs to raise £500,000 by December. The aim is to buy its home and banish the threat of eviction that has loomed large in recent years.  The building itself represents cinema history in its own right. It was once a workhouse where a young Charlie Chaplin lived as a boy. ‘This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to buy our home – the historic Grade II-listed Lambeth Workhouse – and we must raise the £500,000 in five months to seal the deal and end decades of insecurity – and potential eviction,’ says the museum in a statement. Founded in 1984 by cinephiles and enthusiastic collectors Martin Humphries and Ronald Grant, its collections feature everything from art deco cinema seats to 1940s ushers’ uniforms. The museum faced potential closure in 2018 when developers purchased its historic building, with over 70,000 fans signing a petition to save it.   Photograph: Laura Gallant for Time OutThe Cinema Museum In a city full of cinemas, the volunteer-run venue is a true one of a kind: a space dedicating to celebrating the cinema-going experience from the silent era and into Hollywood’s Golden Age. One of the city’s best kept secrets, it’s a big draw for cinephiles and more casual movie lovers alike. ‘People fall in love with the place,’ says

Legendary Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa and the UK’s only Carol Morley will be vying for the big prize when this year’s BFI London Film Festival gets underway on October 7.The LFF has just announced its 10 Official Competition films for the 2026 line-up, with 10 films from across the globe up for the – the festival’s answer to the Gold Lion or Palme d’Or.   On the programme are films from Ireland, the UK, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan and Poland.  Alongside Kore-eda, Loznitsa and Morley are new films from Lili Horvát, Benjamín Naishtat, Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor, Giovanni Tortorici, Malgorzata Szumowska, May el-Toukhy & Michal Englert and Rubaiyat Hossain. Photograph: BFI London Film FestivalHirokazu Kore-eda’s ‘Look Back’ The 10 Official Competition films in full:- 7 Miles Out 7 (UK, Dir. Carol Morley)  - Act 3 (Ireland-UK, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor)  - Glaxo (Brazil-Argentina, Dir. Benjamín Naishtat)  - Imperium (Germany-France-Italy-Lithuania, Dir. Sergei Loznitsa)   - Ketticè (Italy, Dir. Giovanni Tortorici)   - Look Back (Japan, Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)  - My Notes on Mars (Hungary-Austria, Lili Horvát)  - The Difficult Bride (France-Bangladesh-Portugal-Norway-Germany, Rubaiyat Hossain)  - The Idiot(s) (UK-Poland, Dir. Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert)  - Woman Unknown (Denmark-Latvia-Sweden, Dir. May el-Toukhy)  Previous winners of the LFF’s Best Film award include Jacques Audiard for A P

This year’s BFI London Film Festival will get underway with an eagerly awaited home-town story. Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman, will open the festival on October 7 at the Royal Festival Hall. The film, directed by Simon Stone (The Dig) and written by Pride screenwriter Stephen Beresford, tackles the life of Scottish actor Ian Charleson as he prepares for the role of his life: Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1974. At the same time as he stepped onto the Olivier Theatre stage, a few hundred yards from the Royal Festival Hall, the Chariots of Fire star was battling late-stage HIV. His story, and performance, helped change public perceptions of the illness.  ‘The rest is silence’ is going to be a pindrop moment in this one.  Co-starring with Scott and Colman – and walking the LFF red carpet – will be Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson, Monica Dolan, Juliet Stevenson, Heartstopper’s Joe Locke, Adeel Akhtar, Matthew Beard and Peter Mullan. ‘We couldn't be prouder to be able to present this quintessentially London film on the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival,’ says Stone. ‘Ian Charleson had many of his greatest triumphs on the stages of the West End, at the Young Vic and of course the National, where he ended his short but dazzling career playing an unforgettable Hamlet. We are so lucky to have Andrew Scott, a London Hamlet himself, breathing delicate inspiring life into this beautiful story. I can't wait to share it with the hom

L'odissea, de Christopher Nolan, és el viatge més gran que pots fer sense moure't de la butaca del cinema. Com una pel·lícula de James Bond però amb quilòmetres extres, el relat homèric de Nolan recorre localitzacions espectaculars del Marroc, Grècia, Itàlia, Islàndia i Escòcia –a més de l'habitual plató a Los Angeles– mentre segueix els esforços d'Odisseu (Matt Damon) per tornar a Ítaca des de Troia. Filmada durant 91 dies el 2025, L'odissea es va rodar enterament amb càmeres IMAX  (a Espanya només hi ha set cinemes per veure-la en mida original) en alta mar, a la muntanya, en coves i en platges des de Hjörleifshöfði, a Islàndia, fins a Essaouira, al Marroc. A Escòcia, els boscos de Moray van acollir un exèrcit de lestrígons, mentre que Ítaca es va recrear davant la costa de Sicília. "Al final, tothom estava absolutament esgotat d'una manera que no havia experimentat mai en cap pel·lícula", explica Nolan a Empire. "Quan vaig tornar a casa, Ben [Affleck] em va preguntar sobre el rodatge. I li vaig dir: 'Quina mena de localització d'aquesta pel·lícula hauria estat la més dura de totes les que he fet mai'". La bona notícia per a qualsevol que vulgui seguir els passos de L'odissea és que no ens cal patir tant. Continua llegint per descobrir una pràctica guia de viatges d'aquesta epopeia mitològica: on anar, com arribar-hi i on allotjar-se. Ítaca es va rodar a l'illa de Favignana, Sicília El palau d'Odisseu i Penèlope (Anne Hathaway), envaït per pretendents, es va rodar als estud

You’ve heard of The Long Walk, now prepare for The Long Sit. Neon, the studio/distributor behind Anora, Parasite and a host of other awards-y titles, has a new trick up its sleeve: a marathon film screening of its new horror flick It Ends. Unlike the promise of its title, The Endless Screening will have no end – at least, not for the 36 hours that teams of four will have to endure to be ‘Last Person Standing’ and win the big cash prize. The film is 87 minutes long, which translates into roughly 25 – twenty five – viewings. The rules? ‘Each group member will receive $0.25 for every minute they remain in the competition, up to $540 per person. If every member of a group makes it through the entire 36-hour marathon, each member will receive an additional $500 bonus.’ It all kicks off at Metro Private Cinema, 131 8th Avenue, at 7pm on August 21, continuing through until 7am on August 23. Gulp.  There will be surprises along the way, designated breaks and a $250 theater credit for snacks and drinks during the marathon (excluding alcohol). You just need to be 21 or older and live in New York City. You also need to find three friends willing to embark on this fiendish undertaking with you and submit a 60-second video explaining why you’re up for the task on Instagram. Head here for all the small print.  Directed by Alex Ullom, It Ends follows four graduates on a late-night Jeep drive for food. Unwittingly, the quartet of friends turn onto a never-ending, two-lane hellscape where hor

La Odisea, de Christopher Nolan, es el viaje más grande que puedes hacer sin moverte de la butaca del cine. Como una película de James Bond pero con kilómetros extras, el relato homérico de Nolan recorre localizaciones espectaculares de Marruecos, Grecia, Italia, Islandia y Escocia –además del habitual plató en Los Ángeles– mientras sigue los esfuerzos de Odiseo (Matt Damon) por volver a Ítaca desde Troya. Filmada durante 91 días en 2025, La Odisea se rodó enteramente con cámaras IMAX  (en España solo hay siete cines para verla en tamaño original) en alta mar, en la montaña, en cuevas y en playas desde Hjörleifshöfði, en Islandia, hasta Esaouira, en Marruecos. En Escocia, los bosques de Moray acogieron a un ejército de lestrigones, mientras que Ítaca se recreó frente a la costa de Sicilia. "Al final, todo el mundo estaba absolutamente agotado de una manera que nunca había experimentado en ninguna película", explica Nolan a Empire. "Cuando volví a casa, Ben [Affleck] me preguntó sobre el rodaje. Y le dije: '¿Qué tipo de localización de esta película habría sido la más dura de todas las que he hecho nunca?'". La buena noticia para cualquiera que quiera seguir los pasos de La Odisea es que no nos hace falta sufrir tanto. Sigue leyendo para descubrir una práctica guía de viajes de esta epopeya mitológica: dónde ir, cómo llegar y dónde alojarse. Ítaca se rodó en la isla de Favignana, Sicilia El palacio de Odiseo y Penélope (Anne Hathaway), invadido por pretendientes, se rodó en lo

Queens’ own James Gray will be opening this year’s New York Film Festival (NYFF) with his new crime drama Paper Tiger.The 64th NYFF kicks off on September 25 with the US premiere of Gray’s gritty period piece and the prospect of its cast, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Miles Teller, walking the Lincoln Center red carpet.   Selma director Ava DuVernay’s new civil rights documentary, 14th, will bring the curtain down on the festival on October 12.  The NYFF’s newly announced 2026 slate is full of big-hitting new movies – and includes several major coups for the festival. The 32 feature films on the main slate boasts new films from Mike Leigh (Tender Loving Care), Ira Sachs (The Man I Love), Pedro Almodóvar (Bitter Christmas), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (All of a Sudden), Paweł Pawlikowski (Fatherland), Sandra Wollner (Everytime), Valeska Grisebach (The Dreamed Adventure), Andrey Zvyagintsev (Minotaur), Andrew Haigh (A Long Winter), Julia Loktev (My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile) and Chris Rock (Misty Green). The centrepiece film is the world premiere of Tony Gilroy’s much-anticipated new musical drama, Behemoth!, starring Pedro Pascal as a composer on a feverish search for inspiration.  Also getting a world premiere at the festival is Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero, the follow-up to the Japanese filmmaker’s epic kaiju 2023 movie Godzilla Minus One, on September 26. There’ll also be an international debut for I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms

Cinema, as they say, is back. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey combining to produce the biggest weekend in US box-office history, the situation for America’s movie theaters suddenly seems that much rosier. After all, a $400 million weekend goes a long way to help keep the lights on.  But how ‘back’ is it? A new documentary shares a bleaker story that’s playing out in heartland America.  In The Last Picture Shows, indie filmmaker Rustin Thompson takes to the road to tell the melancholy story of America’s ‘cinema deserts’. These swathes of the country from the Pacific Northwest to the Rockies were once served by local, single-screen theatres that have subsequently closed. They may not be big multiplexes or boast giant IMAX screens but the loss of these venues should keep film execs up at night. It stands to rob film studios of generations of potential customers, as well as deprive small communities of vital third spaces. When the lights go out on their old-timey marquees, there’s often something more worrying at work.  Photograph: Rustin Thompson/Foghorn FeaturesWest Theatre in Grants, New Mexico Thompson took to the road to find out what it is. Travelling 10,825 miles, he took in 123 theaters, meeting owners, managers, cinemagoers and the odd feline cinema mascot along the way.  ‘I hadn’t heard the term “cinema desert” until I talked to (University of California film professor and Cinema Treasures co-founder) Ross Melnick, and I thought that’s just a great phr

In news we did not see coming, a new Welsh language dub of Star Wars: A New Hope is coming to screens later this year. Star Wars: Gobaith Newydd will be airing on S4C and across its platforms from Christmas Day, an early and linguistically specific 50th anniversary pressie for George Lucas’ legendary space opera.  The new Welsh dub of Star Wars will boast the vocal talents of some of the country’s most accomplished actors, including Matthew Rhys as Han Solo, Rhys Ifans as the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Slow Horses’ Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Princess Leia. Up-and-comer Osian Morgan will be providing the Luke Skywalker. The big winner, though, is surely Mark Lewis Jones, who played First Order captain Moden Canady in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and who scores the ultimate promotion to voice Darth Vader in the new dub.The Welsh cast also includes Llyr Ifans (C-3PO), Nia Roberts (Aunt Beru, who sounds a bit Welsh anyway), Richard Harrington (Grand Moff Tarkin), Owain Arthur (Red Leader), and Rhodri Meilir (Gold Leader).  Lucasfilm and Disney will be producing in collaboration with free-to-air TV channel S4C and the Welsh Government. Directing it will be voice actor and Lupin III director Ellyn Stern.  Photograph: Lucasfilm Ltd™‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ ‘We're really excited about this project for many reasons,’ says producer Michael Kohn. ‘I've been involved in a few indigenous dubs of Star Wars over the years that aim to preserve and revitalise interest in learning the language. The

Jesse Eisenberg’s new comedy-drama, The Debut, will be bringing the curtain down on this year’s BFI London Film Festival. An all-star cast will be touching down on the Royal Festival Hall red carpet on October 18 as the Real Pain director introduces his third feature film to LFF audiences on the South Bank and at simultaneous cinema screenings across the UK. As well as writing and directing, Eisenberg co-stars alongside Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Tuner’s Havana Rose Liu, and Bernadette Peters of Annie and The Jerk fame.  The Debut follows Mona (Moore), a shy woman who finds herself cast in a local production of an original musical. Runs the synopsis: ‘Under the spell of the strong-willed and enigmatic director, she loses herself in the role and the high-stakes world of this community theatre production.’ Watch the trailer below.  ‘What a wonderful thrill to be the closing night gala, and I can’t wait to share the incredible performances by the cast with a London audience,’ says Eisenberg. Festival director Kristy Matheson describes it as a ‘deliriously funny and heartfelt film’. ‘With its knockout performances and brilliantly sharp script, we’re excited to share this film, which will have audiences in its thrall and renewed by the joyous and soulful power of cinema,’ she adds. Shakespeare drama Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman, will get the festival underway on October 7.The 70th BFI London Festival runs from October 7-18. Tickets