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Total Film|December 2019WELCOME TO TOTAL FILMTHE SMARTER MOVIE MAGAZINEThe end is nigh…, yep, this month we mourn the end of an era (or is it?) with our access-all-areas coverage of The Rise Of Skywalker – an undertaking that forced our reporter, Jack, to travel to Disneyland and ride in the Millennium Falcon for research. The things we have to do, eh? While he was doing that, I was chatting to some excellent women – Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh – about their new imagining of Little Women, plus Gugu Mbatha-Raw, on a hot streak with Motherless Brooklyn and The Morning Show. We also looked at life beyond Star Wars with Adam Driver, chatted with Stephen Graham about chucking dairy products at Al Pacino (he also does a stellar Pacino impression) and probed the…1 min
Total Film|December 2019DialogueEMAIL totalfilm@futurenet.com WRITE Total Film, 1-10 Praed Mews, London W2 1QY (postal addresses will be used for the sole purpose of sending out prizes) gamesradar.com/totalfilm twitter.com/totalfilm facebook.com/totalfilm Drop us a line totalfilm@futurenet.comSTAR LETTERDoes it annoy anyone else when some films are shown in two sections many months (or even years) apart, as with It Chapters 1 and 2? When I saw the respective first parts of Steven Soderbergh’s Che and Kill Bill, I felt like staying in the cinema until they screened the second parts – only the ushers would have had to hoover around my skeleton. Maybe it isn’t feasible to show an entire four- or five-hour film, though a gap of a few weeks between sections is surely better than months or years, so the first segment stays…5 min
Total Film|December 2019SOMETHING WICK-EDWhen my brother [screenwriter] Max said, ‘A ghost story in a lighthouse,’ I pictured Rob [Pattinson] and Willem [Dafoe] at dinner, and that crusty, musty, dusty, cable-knit sweater, salt cod, pipe smoke, facial hair, kerosene lantern…” Director Robert Eggers grins as he recalls the genesis of The Lighthouse, which he co-wrote as he was financing his acclaimed debut, The Witch. “I pictured that, and black-and-white. That atmosphere couldn’t be articulated in colour.”Premiering to ecstatic notices in the Directors’ Fortnight section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Eggers’ sophom*ore movie was dubbed ‘The Shining in a lighthouse’, as two men go stark raving mad on a wind-lashed rock. Tom Wake (Dafoe) is the veteran ‘wickie’ who insists, somewhat mysteriously, on having sole access to the light, while newbie Ephraim Winslow (Pattinson)…2 min
Total Film|December 2019EXCELLENT ADVENTURE01“There’s a tree in the Amazon that possesses unparalleled healing powers,” says explorer Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt). An up-river odyssey overflowing with thrills and spills is in store.02Judging from the way that Lily scales a ladder and swings out of a second story window onto a doubledecker bus, she’s made of anything-Indy-can-do… stock.03Frank (Dwayne Johnson) runs the cheap-and-cheerful Jungle Cruise company. He’s clearly paid off the natives to fake an attack on his boat to wow the tourists.04Said natives are similar to those found on the venerable Disney ride this movie is based on, and the ride’s big hippo moment is also here, although it’s another of Frank’s ruses.05The two plots converge when Lily pays Frank to transport her up the Amazon. They initially bump heads but come together as…1 min
Total Film|December 2019MICHEAL WARDIf young actors worry about typecasting, they should take a lesson from Micheal Ward. “I just know that won’t happen to me,” says the 22-year-old British breakout star from the Drake-produced revival of Top Boy. Now heading up intense urban drama Blue Story, he’s armed with ambition. “I’m very versatile,” he grins. “I believe in my ability.” How’s that for confidence?Do you see Blue Story as something similar to Kidulthood or Adulthood?Kidulthood and Adulthood were good and they did what they did at that time, but Blue Story is a lot grittier. I’d compare Blue Story to Boyz N The Hood and Menace II Society because those are movies that people never forget from the urban world. It’s so gritty, and you realise these are the things that are going…2 min
Total Film|December 2019RED ALERTYou might think a documentary about the Russian political landscape since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fate of exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky wouldn’t hold any UK interest. Think again. As documentarian Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie) says at the beginning of his new film Citizen K, “Like so many Russian stories these days, this one begins in London”.“That was a joke,” clarifies the 69-year-old Gibney, when Teasers meets him in Venice. “But there are a lot of Russians in London. Some of them own football teams! And then there are all these people who die there – that I found interesting! The other thing about London is that it ends up being a very powerful tax haven for very wealthy people who can keep their money in…2 min
Total Film|December 2019GRAVE GRIEVANCEWhy does legendary horror producer Sam Raimi think now is the right time to resurrect the Grudge franchise? It’s all down to the director. “We found Nicolas Pesce,” Raimi says of the New York-raised filmmaker. “With The Eyes Of My Mother he really created an original space in the horror genre. Plus now he can make it with an R-rating and show the new Grudge is in the hands of a madman.”That madman enthusiastically agrees. “Being rated R, the movie is way more f*cked up,” Pesce laughs. “Not that the wave of J-horror at the beginning of the 2000s wasn’t f*cked up, but this is really f*cked up.”Grudge originated in that wave before being remade into an American franchise. The central shtick concerns a curse that’s created when someone dies…2 min
Total Film|December 2019KNIVES OUTCERTIFICATE 12A DIRECTOR Rian Johnson CAST Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer SCREENPLAY Rian Johnson DISTRIBUTOR Lionsgate RUNNING TIME 130 minutesOUT 27 NOVEMBERIt’d be tempting to call Knives Out a palate-cleanser film for writer/director Rian Johnson, given that it’s a scaled-down passion project arriving between Star Wars juggernauts: after The Last Jedi and before Johnson oversees an entirely new trilogy in the galaxy far, far away. But to call it a palate-cleanser would be doing it a disservice, as it’s much more than just a blockbuster antidote, and there’s nothing throwaway about this meticulously crafted murder mystery.An old-fashioned whodunit given some contemporary frills (it’s set in the present day), Knives Out is inspired by the Agatha Christie template and understands what makes…4 min
Total Film|December 2019THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARYOUT 19 NOVEMBERThe magician of the title is John Szeles, a terminally ill shock-illusionist given a year to live. The doc starts three years later, when the very much alive Johnathan attempts a comeback. It gets meta quickly, as director Ben Berman discovers he’s not the only documentarian following the belligerent yet charismatic performer. The unfolding mystery grips, but Johnathan’s never the easiest character to stomach, and Berman’s insertion of himself in the narrative can feel indulgent, especially as it lacks a knockout final reveal.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019BLUE STORYCERTIFICATE 15 DIRECTOR Rapman CAST Stephen Odubola, Micheal Ward, Khali Best, Max Fincham, Rapman SCREENPLAY Rapman DISTRIBUTOR Paramount RUNNING TIME 91 minsOUT 22 NOVEMBERThe British urban drama gets a serious boost with this intense and propulsive tale of London gang rivalry, written and directed by grime artist Rapman. Like his preceding hit YouTube-released short trilogy Shiro’s Story, Rapman can be seen at points on-screen narrating the action with one of his rhymes, lending Blue Story a unique musical flavour that sets it apart from the likes of Kidulthood and Adulthood.With deadly knife crime currently so rife in London, the story feels unfortunately timely. We follow the Deptford-raised Timmy (Stephen Odubola), who goes to school in Peckham where he befriends local kid Marco (Micheal Ward). But events – and miscommunication –…1 min
Total Film|December 2019HONEY BOYCERTIFICATE 15 DIRECTOR Alma Har’el STARRING Shia LaBeouf, Noah Jupe, Lucas Hedges, FKA Twigs, Maika Monroe, Byron Bowers SCREENPLAY Shia LaBeouf DISTRIBUTOR Sony RUNNING TIME 95 minsOUT 6 DECEMBERWhen Shia LaBeouf was arrested for drink driving in 2008, he was ordered to go to rehab, where he was diagnosed with PTSD. He was also told to write down his memories. They came in the form of a script, which has now become a movie. Honey Boy, then, is essentially a frank look at his abusive upbringing at the hands of his father – whose counterpart here is played, intriguingly, by LaBeouf himself.The action begins on the set of a huge action movie (a nod, no doubt, to the Transformers franchise of which LaBeouf was such an integral part), but it’s…2 min
Total Film|December 2019THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARMOUT 29 NOVEMBEREngaging, hopeful and gorgeous to look at, documentarian John Chester’s film recounts his eight-year struggle alongside wife Molly to create a 200-acre biodynamic farm outside LA. As drought, coyotes, bugs, floods and wildfires threaten his photogenic livestock and rolling fruit orchards, Chester’s eagle-eyed cameras capture everything: from tiny insect swarms to infrared pillaging by nocturnal predators. Big on organic solutions to manmade problems, it’s a heart lifting, family-friendly alternative to the current eco-doom docos. A peach of a film.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019INTO THE MIRROROUT 22 NOVEMBERWhen quiet office drone Daniel (Jamie Bacon), grieving for his mother, meets drag queen Jennifer (Charles Streeter) on a night out, it unlocks long-repressed desires. Written by the stars and directed by Lois Stevenson, this study of transvestism is a sincere, if overly sombre, alternative to the buoyancy of mainstream drag culture. Instead, it’s an enigmatic, expressionistic film, low on exposition but conveying Daniel’s complex psychology through fragmented editing, Cocteauesque fantasy sequences and vivid, neon-soaked cinematography. Not all of it works, but its ambition is admirable and, at a brisk 65 minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOODOUT 6 DECEMBERCERTIFICATE PG Direct or Marielle Heller STARRING Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Wendy Makkena, Tammy Blanchard Screenplay Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster Distributor Sony Running time 109 minsFor those who haven’t seen acclaimed 2018 doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor? or didn’t grow up Stateside with his lilting, gentle advice, Mr Rogers may be at best a mystery and at worse, an irrelevance. But Can You Ever Forgive Me? director Marielle Heller expertly manages to satisfy both fans and the uninitiated with this warm, cosy hug of a film.Based on Tom Junod’s 1998 Esquire cover feature (‘Can you say… hero?’ is worth a read), A Beautiful Day introduces us – via whimsical miniature sets – to life-worn journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), whose estrangement from his boorish dad…3 min
Total Film|December 2019SO LONG, MY SONOUT 6 DECEMBERClocking in at three hours (you might briefly wonder if that title’s a weary warning), Xiaoshuai Wang’s composed drama unfurls into a captivating study of grief and the corrosive effects of guilt. Skipping back and forth across three decades, it follows the quiet struggles of working-class couple Yaojun (Wang Jingchun) and Liyun (Yong Mei) in the aftermath of their son’s drowning, while deftly painting a portrait of a country undergoing seismic cultural change, with China’s one-child policy playing a crucial, heartbreaking role. Its cumulative emotional power is considerable…1 min
Total Film|December 2019DOCTOR SLEEPOUT NOWStephen King famously loathes Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film version of The Shining. So how do you adapt King’s follow-up novel while ensuring your film works as a sequel to an iconic horror? It seems that you can’t, fully – not even by giving it to Mike Flanagan (The Haunting Of Hill House). Centred on the now-adult Dan(ny) Torrance (Ewan McGregor) and his efforts to aid a traumatised girl, it favours storytelling over cheap shocks. But there are scenes inside the hallowed Overlook that – no spoilers – just don’t work. Rebecca Ferguson is a dark delight as Rose the Hat but, just like the novel, Doctor Sleep can’t compete with its predecessor.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019ORDINARY LOVEOUT 6 DECEMBERCERTIFICATE 12A DIRECTORS Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn CAST Liam Neeson, Lesley Manville, David Wilmot, Amit Shah SCREENPLAY Owen McCafferty DISTRIBUTOR Universal RUNNING TIME 92 minsThe contemporary cancer drama often follows a familiar trajectory, taking its stoically suffering protagonist on a journey that starts with diagnosis and ends with either deliverance or its tragic opposite. Though based on the personal experience of writer Owen McCafferty and his wife, Ordinary Love can’t help seeming like a compilation of clichés that viewers will recognise from the recent likes of Me And Earl And The Dying Girl and Miss You Already.In the end, then, it’s up to its actors to bring sincerity and gravitas, qualities Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville exude in this tale of a long-married couple facing up to…1 min
Total Film|December 2019COMING SOONCATS OUT 20 DECEMBERGet set for the most paw-some spectacle since George Galloway stuck his face in a saucer in the Big Brother house. If even half the people who tweeted about that trailer show up to this all-star miaow-sical on opening weekend, it’ll have Endgame’s box office in shreds in no time.LITTLE WOMEN OUT 26 DECEMBERGreta Gerwig follows Lady Bird with another sure-fire awards magnet: a fresh adap of the book that, lest we forget, broke Joey Tribbiani. Turn to p72 for exclusive interviews with the big Little stars.SPIES IN DISGUISE OUT 26 DECEMBERWill Smith spreads his wings as a secret agent who gets turned into a pigeon: yes, it’s The Spy Who Dumped On Me. Tom Holland’s the whizkid who gets Will into this (bird) mess, Ben Mendelsohn’s…1 min
Total Film|December 2019BooksmartJo was my North Star,” Greta Gerwig tells Total Film in her idiosyncratic breathless, sing-song cadence that makes everything sound giddily exciting when we catch up with her for a brisk October walk through New York. “I think it’s almost indistinguishable for me – wanting to be a writer and a creator, and my love for Jo. I don’t know what came first.” She’s rhapsodising about Jo March, the gusty, uncompromising, direct and honest tomboy in Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel following four Victorian-era sisters through adolescence to adulthood via joy, heartbreak, death and singed skirts.Jo – with her lust for the arts, clear-eyed sense of self and ear for language – is a character who could be Gerwig after last year’s triumphant directorial debut with Lady Bird, which took…9 min
Total Film|December 2019LADY GUGUI was a little bit star-struck by Alec Baldwin,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw admits with a smile as she curls up in a huge chair in the library of Soho Hotel and contemplates her stellar co-stars on Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn. “He’s just a cultural icon, really, and now he’s so famous with the Trump stuff as well. And he’s got such a presence on screen and in person. He’s slightly intimidating initially…” She trails off as she politely flags down a passing waiter to ask for tap water. Turning back, she asks, “Where were we?”We were in the middle of discussing the amount of legends, dames and icons the unflappable 36-year-old Brit has worked with since graduating from RADA in 2004. After numerous high-profile stage roles and TV jobs, she made…8 min
Total Film|December 2019THE LION KING PGFILMEXTRASOut 18 November DVD, BD, 3D BD, 4K, Digital HDExtras Intro, Commentary, Featurettes, Music Videos, Song selection, Sing-along optionAccording to his engaging commentary, Jon Favreau struggled to get on-song for one scene in his latest Disney redo. When it came to the evil lion Scar’s big musical moment, Favreau feared the flamboyant villainy of ‘Be Prepared’ wouldn’t suit his reality-slanted CGI reanimation of the 1994 Lion King. How could he overhaul a pivotal song without sapping its spirit?If that makes Favreau sound stuck between a (Pride) rock and a hard choice, so it proves on-screen. Fav’s King was a roaring hit in many respects. Even if the summer’s franchise letdowns delivered few worthy challengers, King’s $1.6bn haul still suggests Disney perfected the market kill here. Scar would approve.The employment of…2 min
Total Film|December 2019THE AR T OF SELF-DEFENSE 15FILMOUT NOW DIGITAL HDKicked to the curb – literally – meek accountant Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) signs up at the local dojo under the tutelage of a self-possessed Sensei (Alessandro Nivola)… Writer/director Riley Stearns twists the familiar zero-to-hero formula into blackly satirical shape. Imagine The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos ambushing a Will Ferrell sports comedy and you’ll get an idea of what an unusual, unsettling beast this is. This ultra-deadpan dig at alpha-maledom rarely feels on the nose, unlike some of the stinging mat action.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019QT8: THE FIRS T EIGHT TBCFILMOUT 13 DEC DIGITAL HD16 DEC DVD, BDSamuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Zoë Bell… but Tarantino himself is nowhere to be found among the talking heads of this doc spanning Reservoir Dogs to The Hateful Eight. The nearest we get is a few interludes starring cartoon Quentin and some behind-the-scenes snippets. Controversies (the n-word, Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill car crash, Harvey Weinstein) are ticked off more than explored. Celebratory in tone, it’s a feature that feels more like a polished DVD extra. Highlights include a segment tracing connections between films; QT was ahead of the shared-universe curve.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019THE TAKE 15FILMSEXTRAS1974 OUT NOW BD, DVD EXTRAS NonePutting the ‘D(ee)’ in double denim, Billy Dee Williams cuts a very ’70s dash in a pre-Lando role as an ambitious cop who may or may not be taking backhanders. Variety carped that it “looks more like a pilot than a theatrical release”; while that’s a fair point, there’s enough pizzazz here (tough exchanges, hectic chases, Williams’ ludicrously expansive collars) to make you want to tune in next week, despite the frequently foggy plot. The cynical vibe is disappointingly reflected in the menu screen: no extras, no subtitles, just Billy giving us the finger.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019RED HEAT 18FILMEXTRAS1988 OUT NOW DVD, BD, 4K, Digital EXTRAS FeaturettesArnold Schwarzenegger: Communist! That’s basically the entire hook for Walter Hill’s thriller, as Arnie’s dour Soviet cop partners with brash James Belushi to take down a fugitive drug dealer. Made during Glasnost, it essays a thaw in Cold War attitudes, but historical novelty can’t eclipse the film’s overreliance on second-hand tropes. Hill pioneered the mismatched buddy action flick with 1982’s Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte vehicle 48 Hrs, but this is neither funny nor exciting enough to stand comparison with his best work.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019HOME RUN01 STORMTROOPER BEERRRP £24.99 | FIREBOXChoose between Lightspeed Pilsner or Galactic Pale Ale; we’ll need to see some identification…02 MONTY PYTHON PRODUCTSRRP £VARIOUS | SHOP.BFI.ORG.UKCelebrate Python’s 50th by turning your kitchen into a flying circus of mugs and NSFW aprons and tea towels.03 TOY STORY BOOKENDSRRP £20 | VARIOUS RETAILERS“You’ve got an end in me…” Um, you know what we mean.04 STAR WARS FACE MASKSRRP £3.99 | ASOS.COM/PRIMARKFan-friendly fizzog-fresheners. Yoda’s is, of course, cucumber-scented.05 PENNYWISE POWERBANKRRP £14.99 | FIREBOXNeed to buy for a horror fan with a flat battery? This should float their boat.06 DOCTOR WHO ESPRESSO SET/DESK TIDYRRP £14.99/£24.99 | AMAZONA Who collectible that’ll give you room for more Who collectibles? We’ll sip to that!07 SPIDER-MAN NIGHT LIGHT RADIO ALARM CLOCKRRP £24.99 | AMAZONPerfect for interrupting nightmares about Spidey…1 min
Total Film|December 2019SANTA’S PLAYLIST01 FROZEN 2RRP £10.99 | VARIOUSNow that the stranglehold of ‘Let It Go’ on kids has loosened, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have readied a snow-fresh batch of sequel earworms. Returnees include Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell and – as snow-doofus Olaf – Josh Gad, while newcomers include Kacey Musgraves and Norway’s Aurora, of John Lewis Christmas ad (Oasis cover, the moon…) renown. Parents, be ready.02 JOKERRRP £9.99 | VARIOUSSince most people’s Christmases involve a smiley chap in garish get-up, send in the clown. Controversies aside, Joker boasts a flawless beast of a score from Chernobyl innovator Hildur Guðnadóttir. A sick-puppy symphony of mournful melodies, monotonic cello and tense drones, it builds to a pulverising punchline like a ticking time bomb – or maybe a seasonal knees-up gone gruesomely wrong.03…2 min
Total Film|December 2019hardcore henryHenry Cavill, dressed in black and with silver locks flowing down his back, stands in a gloomy sanctum, sunlight barely illuminating the archways in the background. As the camera turns, he’s deep in conversation with Adam Levy’s druid Mousesack. “Were you followed?” Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia growls, before they talk of an army amassing nearby, “a sea of black and gold”. Welcome to the set of The Witcher, the latest fantasy show looking to fill the Game Of Thrones-sized hole in your life.When Small Screen pitches up in Baj, a small town in Hungary some 70km outside of Budapest, it’s near the end of a gruelling seven-month shoot. It’s May 2019; principal photography is set to finish at the end of the month on a hugely ambitious adaptation of Polish…4 min
Total Film|December 2019ON LOCATIONWHAT? The ladies of Monterey drive over this scenic bridge for the school run during the title sequence of award-winning TV drama Big Little Lies.WHERE? Bixby Creek Bridge, Big Sur, Highway 1, CaliforniaGO? This 1932 bridge on California’s famed coastal highway is 13 miles south of Carmel and features car pull-ins at either side for snap-happy tourists. It also features in Play Misty For Me and The Sandpiper. Thanks to Susan SpringsteeSnapped yourself at a film location? Send us the details at totalfilm@futurenet.com…1 min
Total Film|December 2019OR ARE THERE TOO MANY LOGOS AT THE START OF FILMS?Back in the day it was so simple. A quick blast of the Fox fanfare or glimpse of the Warner Bros. shield and we’d be off to the races. So dominant was the studio imprimatur that no additional preamble was needed. How, then, have we reached the point that every film has so many company logos tacked on the top of it you could probably take a trip to the restroom and back without missing a plot point?Take the recent drama Hotel Mumbai, for example, which subjects us to no fewer than six separate intertitles before finally getting round to the movie proper. No doubt each one of the entities trumpeted (Screen Australia, Arclight Films, Singapore-based Xeitgeist Entertainment Group and so on) played an integral part in making this gruelling…2 min
Total Film|December 2019CALL SHEETJORDAN FARLEYNEWS EDITORWent on an extremely exciting set visit this month. Can’t say much as I’ve been Bond… I mean bound to secrecy.MATTHEW LEYLANDREVIEWS EDITORChatted with Anthony Daniels, who was worried my son liked Count Dooku and the Emperor. It’s his fave thing about Star Wars, I explained: the nasty old men.MATT MAYTUMDEPUTY EDITORI was on a night shoot for a hush-hush movie and was sad to leave before lunch was served at midnight. I went to In-N-Out Burger for animal-style fries instead.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019LONG SHOTIt was always one shot in my head,” explains Sam Mendes, “two hours of real time.” Enjoying a cuppa with Teasers in his Soho office, he’s talking about his blistering new World War 1-set film, 1917, a staggering achievement that even bamboozled none other than Steven Spielberg, whose Amblin outfit co-produced it. “When he saw it, he said, ‘There are some shots, I need to know… how?’”It’s been an idea Mendes has toyed with for years, encouraged by tales told by his grandfather, Alfred Mendes, of his time serving in Flanders. “There’s a fragment of one story – he was given a message to carry. He was given several actually. And it’s what happened to him on this journey, in my grandad’s case a quite different journey [to what happens…5 min
Total Film|December 2019CRIMES OF PASSIONThis is a return to my roots,” says Guy Ritchie of The Gentlemen, a crime caper bursting with banter and bickering, blackmail and bribery. After a run of studio behemoths – two Sherlock movies, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword and Aladdin – Ritchie’s 11th feature revisits the colourful territory of his breakout hits Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. “It’s on that frequency, but 20 years later,” he continues. “So everyone evolves – well, hopefully evolves.”The Gentlemen is a movie about a drug kingpin, but it might not be the movie you’re expecting, as Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), an expat in London, looks to cash in his highly profitable marijuana business. The decision is chum in the water for a bunch of swirling…2 min
Total Film|December 2019HEAVEN AND EARTHMalick’s lost his mojo. That’s been the consensus gaining traction in the last seven years, as To The Wonder, Knight Of Cups and Song To Song – a trio of flimsy, flyaway movies on love and relationships – have seen his tics begin to stick and his tropes tire. The singular master who gave us Badlands, The Thin Red Line and The Tree Of Life has become a pastiche of himself.Happily, A Hidden Life puts that one to bed. It is based on the real story of Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), an Austrian farmer who refused to fight in the Wehrmacht in World War Two. His conscientious objection based on spiritual beliefs, made pariahs of both himself and his wife, Franziska (Valerie Pachner), in their Edenic rural community, and everyone…2 min
Total Film|December 2019SOUND BYTES“I mean that’s like saying Bugs Bunny ain’t funny. Films are films.”Samuel L. Jackson SHIELDs Marvel from recent criticism.2,445The number of years Heath Ledger’s Joker would spend in prison if found guilty of all his crimes in The Dark Knight, according to Vanquis Bank.£249,563,492.07Cost of the energy required to fire the Death Star’s superlaser once, according to businesselectricityprices.org.uk“IF THERE’S SOMETHING ELSE WE CAN DO WITH JOKER, THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTING.”Joaquin Phoenix isn’t ruling out a Joker sequel.“I WAS ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED THAT THERE WAS A MAGICAL CURSE PLACED UPON ME BY ALAN [MOORE].”Damon Lindelof probably regrets adapting Watchmen.GOOD THING BAD THINGKEEPING IT UNREALRyan Reynolds and John Krasinski are teaming up for high-concept comedy Imaginary Friends about… well, you can probably guess what it’s about.ROBERT FORSTER RIPUS character actor Robert Forster has…1 min
Total Film|December 2019IT SHOULDN’T HAPPEN TO A FILM JOURNALISTOne of the most common questions I’m asked as a film journalist is, “what’s it like to meet your heroes?” The adage, of course, is you never should – how can they possibly live up to their public personas and your expectations? And people want to know if Robert De Niro intimidates like his gangsters, if Meryl Streep is imperious in real life too, and just how tall is Tom Cruise?An equally interesting question is, “What’s it like to meet your enemies?” OK, ‘enemies’ is far too strong, though I’m not about to let that get in the way of an attention-grabbing headline. But there are times when humble film journos must interview an actor or director whose work they don’t, shall we say, hold in the highest esteem. Do…3 min
Total Film|December 2019KAREN GILLANWhat’s the first thing you do when you get to set?When I was shooting Jumanji: The Next Level, the first thing I would do is an arm workout. When you’re in a film with The Rock, you’ve got to do at least five minutes on the biceps! When I directed The Party’s Just Beginning, everyone was looking at me for all of the answers. It was just surreal. So cool. And basically I had all the answers, because I wrote the piece, visualised it, and storyboarded the whole thing.What on-set superstitions do you have, if any?I actually really try to stop any superstition from getting too powerful in my life. If I allow it to build, then it could take over. I’m prone to that. I’ve definitely had things in…3 min
Total Film|December 2019MARVEL’S RECKONINGWhen Martin Scorsese declared war on Marvel last month, it opened the floodgates. “Despicable,” grumbled Francis Ford Coppola. “I’m not interested,” mumbled Fernando Meirelles. “Like hamburgers,” sniffed Ken Loach. It can only be a matter of time before Nuri Bilge Ceylan calls Ant-Man a crime against humanity.It’s understandable why the old guard might be feeling threatened by the new world order. Superhero cinema currently dominates the box office to an unprecedented degree. Super-folk, some argue, are sucking the oxygen out of cinemas. Going hand-in-hand with Marvel’s stratospheric ascent is Hollywood’s increased dependance on money-spinning franchises. How many Butch Cassidys, Sixth Senses or Pulp Fictions have we missed out on because studios are no longer willing to bankroll the more creatively fertile mid-budget movie that offers a more modest return on…2 min
Total Film|December 2019Q&A ANDREA RISEBOROUGHHow did Grudge compare to your previous horror film experiences?Mandy was like this metal opera – cinematically dramatic and otherworldly. With this, the way that Nick has engaged with the most pedestrian, mundane, domestic parts of the story is going to make it totally f*cking terrifying. There’s some beautiful camerawork; the film is going to be a very intimate experience for the viewer.What’s Muldoon’s role in the story?She’s investigating the case and she’s the person we really follow through the film. We learn about the Grudge through her, because she’s trying to make some logical sense out of what has happened historically, and against her better judgement she just can’t deny that these things are connected. She is a victim but she’s certainly not playing the victim. She’s doing everything…1 min
Total Film|December 2019MARRIAGE STORYOUT 15 NOV CINEMAS 6 DEC NETFLIXCERTIFICATE TBC DIRECTOR Noah Baumbach STARRING Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Azhy Robertson, Merritt Weaver SCREENPLAY Noah Baumbach DISTRIBUTOR Netflix RUNNING TIME 137 mins TBCLove is a battlefield for the antagonists of Noah Baumbach’s forensic dissection of a showbiz couple’s acrimonious divorce – partly drawn from his own split from Jennifer Jason Leigh. Boasting arguably career-best performances from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson and a literate script that fizzes with zingers and invective, it’s the kind of sophisticated adult drama we see all too seldom nowadays.Charlie (Driver) is a New York director who has a child, and a theatre company, with actress wife Nicole (Johansson). Nicole was a big film star back in the day, but since meeting Charlie and becoming…3 min
Total Film|December 2019JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOTOUT 29 NOVEMBERKevin Smith’s slacker duo (Jason Mewes, Smith) go up against originality-starved Hollywood bigwigs (including Smith, this time playing a hackier version of himself), in a bid to stop a reboot of the Bluntman And Chronic film they failed to nip in the bud in 2001’s Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. Along the way, they amass an increasingly annoying array of sidekicks, including Smith’s real-life daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, as Jay’s long-lost daughter, Millennium Falcon. Cameo-heavy but light on laughs, it’ll likely only please super-fans of Smith’s View Askewniverse.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019LAST CHRISTMASOUT 15 NOVEMBERCERTIFICATE 12A DIRECTOR Paul Feig STARRING Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh SCREENPLAY Emma Thompson, Bryony Kimmings DISTRIBUTOR Universal RUNNING TIME 103 minsLoosely inspired by Wham!’s perennially popular 1984 hit, Last Christmas casts Emilia Clarke as a down-on-her-luck Christmas shop elf, with Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) as her charming-stranger love interest. Their romance plays out in a twinkly London so Richard Curtis-esque you keep expecting it to cut to Hugh Grant in No 10.Aspiring singer Kate (Clarke) has her ambitions constantly thwarted, often by self-sabotage. Luckily, Golding’s on hand to espouse the benefits of good deeds. Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) gets a few more acerbic laughs than you’d expect from such a fluffy-sounding premise, with co-writer/star Emma Thompson giving herself the biggest chuckles. Clarke is very easy…1 min
Total Film|December 2019OPHELIAOUT 22 NOVEMBERDaisy Ridley makes a splash as the Prince of Denmark’s ill-fated lover in this Shakespeare shake-up. A female-focused retelling of Hamlet, it also beefs up Queen Gertrude’s role, with Naomi Watts on double duty as the bored monarch’s newly invented witchy twin. Despite the shift in character emphasis, the tweaked plot simply borrows from elsewhere in the Bard’s canon. Meanwhile, the dialogue may be accessible (this is a YA adap, after all) but it’s also unmemorable. Still, Ridley’s spirited turn is echoed in the increasingly brisk pace and colourful design – gorgeous gowns, lavish wigs, skulls all over the shop.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019EYES WIDE SHUTOUT 29 NOVEMBER“I can’t believe it’s not Butter!” reads a spread tub in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 swansong. Nothing is as it seems in Kubrick’s Arthur Schnitzler riff, a dream film that emerged draped in enigma and still eludes easy summation. Tom Cruise’s doctor embarks on a woozy, nocturnal odyssey after a spat with wife Nicole Kidman over sex. As his desires are repeatedly deferred, ambiguities mount. Is Eyes Wide Shut a meta-satire of machismo? An acute meditation on fidelity? A stealth Shining sequel? Either way, it rewards reinvestigation as a devilishly slippery art-core mystery, lit up by star power and directed with dazzling control.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019ATLANTICSCERTIFICATE TBC DIRECTOR Mati Diop STARRING Mame Sane, Traore, Amadou Mbow, Aminata Kane SCREENPLAY Mati Diop, Olivier Demangel DISTRIBUTOR Netflix RUNNING TIME 104 minsOUT 29 NOVEMBER CINEMA/NETFLIXThe first Cannes competition entry ever from a black female filmmaker (it won the Grand Prix), writer/director Mati Diop’s dreamily poetic, surprise-packed first feature doesn’t play by anyone’s rules.It kicks off as a sharp look at worker exploitation in Dakar, as the long-unpaid Souleiman (Traore) and his friends board a migrant boat to Spain. Atlantics then segues elegantly into a ruptured Romeo-and-Juliet-style romance. Souleiman’s besotted, left-behind lover Ada (a sensitive Mame Sane) can’t dodge an arranged marriage to the wealthy Omar (Babacar Sylla). But then a mysterious wedding-night fire prompts Inspector Issa (Amadou Mbow) to investigate a series of supernatural crimes that erupt around…1 min
Total Film|December 2019HARRIETOUT 22 NOVEMBERSlave-turned-abolitionist Harriet Tubman is overdue a big-screen biopic. This earnest exploration of her indelible impact on US history is serviceable if not entirely satisfying. It’s saved by solid performances, notably Cynthia Erivo in the title role and Janelle Monáe as the educated boarding-house proprietor who puts Harriet up when she flees bondage in Maryland for the free state of Philadelphia. Alas, director Kasi Lemmons and co-writer Gregory Allen Howard never quite unlock the dramatic potential of Tubman’s story, but at least with Erivo leading the way you’ll still be willing Harriet on.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019STARDOG AND TURBOCATOUT 6 DECEMBERThis UK-produced toon hedges its Transatlantic bets by having leads Nick Frost and Luke Evans put on US accents. Sadly, it’s unlikely viewers on either side of the pond will take much notice of a generic caper in which a misplaced astronaut pooch (Frost) and feline Batman wannabe (Evans) protect an oddly underpopulated town from a threat whose identity is revealed long after the preschoolers will have worked it out. Bill Nighy provides slight relief as an ’80s throwback robot, albeit a thematic throwback to 2011’s The Muppets. The Puss-In-Boots steal is even more shameless.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019I LOST MY BODYOUT 22 NOVEMBER CINEMA/NETFLIXCERTIFICATE TBC DIRECTOR Jérémy Clapin STARRING Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat, George Wendt SCREENPLAY Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant DISTRIBUTOR Netflix RUNNING TIME 81 minsBased on a novel by Amelie screenwriter Guillaume Laurant, this French animation about a severed hand trying to reconnect with its owner is a darkly funny adventure-drama that’s packed with pathos.After escaping a Parisian hospital, the independent hand traverses the city – fending off oncoming traffic, erratic pigeons and feral rats along the way – in an impossible quest to rejoin the body it once belonged to, that of clumsy loner Naoufel. The latter’s unfortunate circ*mstances – and his budding romance with whip-smart librarian Gabrielle – are unpacked in flashbacks that also bring us ever closer to discovering the cause of the hand’s violent separation.On…1 min
Total Film|December 2019THE NIGHTINGALEOUT 29 NOVEMBERCERTIFICATE 18 Direct or Jennifer Kent Starring Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Michael Sheasby Screenplay Jennifer Kent Distributor Vertigo Releasing Running time 136 minsWith her debut The Babadook, Australian director Jennifer Kent conjured a fantastical creature who knocked at the doors of our nightmares for weeks after the credits rolled. The monster in her follow-up feature is taken not from a child’s imagination but from blood-soaked history: it is white colonialism, a prospect far more horrifying.Set in Tasmania in the 1820s, The Nightingale begins in a settlement where British soldiers rule over convicts who have been shipped in from England and Ireland. Clare (Aisling Franciosi) has served her seven years for a petty crime. But Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) procrastinates on signing off her release papers, preferring…2 min
Total Film|December 2019THE CIRCLE IS COMPLETEYour journey nears its end..” The familiar, haunting voice of Emperor Palpatine echoes around the D23 convention centre as the teaser for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, the final instalment in the Skywalker saga, debuts before an elated crowd. The thunderous applause, though, starts a few seconds later – as Rey’s double sided red lightsaber alights. Fans jump to their feet. Twitter goes ballistic. Has the saviour of a galaxy far, far away turned to the dark side?“It’s f*cking awesome,” Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, teases of the answer, decidedly not getting any more specific. Total Film meets the British actress at a Beverly Hills Hotel the day after Darth Rey’s public unveiling in August 2019, and Ridley’s giddy with excitement, finally able to speak about a moment that’s…16 min
Total Film|December 2019ASSEMBLINGTHE AVENGERSWhat does it take to be a superhero? Just ask Sarah Finn, Marvel’s long-standing casting director. She’s been there from the beginning, when she handed Robert Downey Jr. the role of Iron Man, and she has spent the better part of 12 years personally selecting the perfect actors to play Marvel’s roster of heroes.“You don’t ever know what you’re going to find,” Finn tells Total Film of her often global searches, when we meet in London’s Corinthia Hotel. “Somebody might walk in and breathe life into a character in an unexpected way and you realise, that’s it, that’s the most exciting version [of the character].”Now that Phase 3 of the MCU is complete, Finn is speaking about her work for the first time. “It’s nice to take a minute and…7 min
Total Film|December 2019STEPHEN GRAHAM“It was never my goal to make it in America. For me, it’s just been trying to be as truthful as possible”When Stephen Graham was a child growing up in Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, he’d command attention in his front room by acting out impressions of Idi Amin and Margaret Thatcher. Now in his mid-forties, and nearly 30 years into his onscreen acting career, Graham is renowned for playing bad guys.There’s more to Graham, obviously, as evidenced earlier this year by his shattering performance in Shane Meadows’ Channel 4 miniseries The Virtues, in which he plays alcoholic Joseph, who returns to his hometown in Ireland and unearths horrific memories that he’s long suppressed. But he’s best known for playing anguished, disturbed and incendiary men: racist skinhead Andrew ‘Combo’…19 min
Total Film|December 2019jon favreauHow did directing this compare to traditional live action?I tried to make it as similar a process as I could. I’m extremely collaborative, so it was incumbent upon me to create an environment and a platform – this multiplayer VR filmmaking game – where we can all jump in there, and it feels like we’re on a real set. We create it as photo-real as possible. It’s lo-res compared to what is in the film. But it’s videogame quality. So it’s like the first Halo. [laughs]Did you want to go all-digital from the start?That was the pitch. “What would happen with The Jungle Book if you pulled Mowgli out of the equation?” Everything could be done digitally, and you could really double down on what that part of the process…3 min
Total Film|December 2019SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME 12FILMEXTRASOUT NOW DVD, BD, 4K, DIGITAL HDEXTRAS Short, Featurettes, Deleted scenes, Pre-vis, Gag reelI’ve never worn that much spandex and doubt I ever will again,” says a protesting-too-much Jake Gyllenhaal, having a (glass) ball as the new cape on the block. Even if the mystery of Mysterio isn’t hard to solve, few Spidey characters have made the page-to-screen leap so successfully: Gyllenhaal is a multi-dimensional foil for Tom Holland’s superpowered everyteen, in a comic-faithful suit that avoids potential fashion horror. A breezy package includes deleted scenes (snippets, really), a new short, handy Easter egg guide and Holland sneeze-spoiling a take.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019THE BEFORE TRILOGY 15FILMEXTRAS1995 – 2013 OUT NOW BD EXTRAS Commentary, Documentary, Featurettes, Video essayHalf-jokingly referred to as “the lowest-grossing trilogy in film history” within the expansive extras, Richard Linklater’s Before series is far more adored than its box-office receipts suggest. At once everyday and experimental, the peripatetic romantic saga follows Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) from the youthful idealism of first-sight love to the challenging realities of married life.These new-to-the-UK 2K transfers are pristine postcards from the past. Before Sunrise (1995) sees the pair spend 24 hours in Vienna; Before Sunset (2004) catches up with them in a ‘chance’ rendezvous in Paris nine years later; and the same amount of time elapses again for Before Midnight (2013), as the now-married couple holiday in Greece.Viewed together in proximity, the films’ themes…2 min
Total Film|December 2019THE PALM BEACH STORY UFILMEXTRAS1942 OUT 11 NOVEMBER BD EXTRAS Featurettes, Radio adap, Short, BookletAfter the screwball one-two of The Lady Eve and Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Sturges went for the triple with this less-loved but equally inspired tale of a couple (Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea) who decide that splitting up is the only answer to their financial woes. The final, highly unlikely twist is entirely in keeping with Sturges’ go-for-broke absurdism. “It’s indulgent… but it’s great,” sums up Bill Hader in a fun video interview (he treats us to a script reading), alongside the very un-screwball Sturges short Safeguarding Military Information.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019THE DARK HALF 18FILMEXTRAS1993 OUT NOW Dual Format EXTRAS Commentary, Making of, Deleted scenesGeorge A. Romero’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1989 novel (published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman) is unlikely to ever be regarded as a top-tier effort by fans of either horror titan. Nonetheless, this story of a writer threatened by his murderous alter ego (a memorable dual performance by Timothy Hutton) offers the pleasure of seeing the two greats probe their artistic muse with playful malice. Despite lapses in logic, this is an incisive portrait of the unrepressed id, and one that that has also matured into a prescient exposé of toxic male egotism.WARNER/CRITERION, ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO, UNIVERSAL, COLUMBIA-WARNER, ARROW, COLUMBIA TRI-STAR…1 min
Total Film|December 2019ON THE BUTTONS01 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARERRP £49.99 | PS4, XBOX ONE, PCNot, as the title might suggest, a remaster of 2007’s genre-defining shooter, but a series reboot some would say is long overdue. The much-admired co-operative Spec Ops mode returns, while zombies are off the menu. The solo campaign, meanwhile, promises a provocative, Sicario-inspired take on contemporary conflict, with a score-based ‘threat assessment’ mechanic that rewards you for avoiding collateral damage.02 GOOGLE STADIARRP £119The end of the console? Google’s cloud service streams games to smartphones, smart TVs and tablets in up to 4K resolution, with no need for extra hardware. For those with high-speed internet, it could be a godsend, though latency concerns suggest it won’t be ideal for all games. Still, the prospect of playing on the equivalent of…2 min
Total Film|December 2019TECH NOTE01 MANHATTAN T3-RRRP £169.99 | MANHATTAN-TV.COMRecord/pause/rewind 85 Freeview channels and access all the usual catch-up services with this subscription-free 4K smart recorder.02 NAIM MU-SO 2NDRRP £1,299 | NAIMAUDIO.COMBring audiophile quality sound to your movies via HDMI link-up or stream your music wirelessly on this stunning, space-saving speaker.03 Sony NW-A100TPS WALKMANRRP £400 | SONY.CO.UKWhen Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill busted out an original Sony Walkman in Guardians Of The Galaxy, it kickstarted a cassette craze. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original TPS-L2 Walkman, Sony’s latest digital music player sports a case styled on the original TPS-L2 and a swish interface that makes it look like there’s a tape playing on the screen.04 JBL BAR 2.0 ALL-IN-ONERRP £159.99 | UK.JBL.COMIf you haven’t got a lot of space or want to boost…2 min
Total Film|December 2019Game Of Thrones S8 15FILMEXTRASOut 2 December DVD, BD, 4K, Digital HD Extras Commentaries, In-episode guides, Documentary, Featurettes, Deleted/extended scenes, HistoriesHow many battles have we survived between us?” asks Tyrion Lannister, grasping for hope as war looms. Between S5’s pacing, S7’s rushed zombie-catching set-piece and more, HBO’s fantasy behemoth has itself survived pointed criticism from online and elsewhere. And with the finale, despite the odd injury, it goes down fighting.At its best, Game Of Thrones has scrupulously braided thematic rigour with a sense of how war and power change people. As the wheel spins full circle for a string of reunions in the final season, character shifts resonate deeply. Even if lapses into bullet-point exposition underserve George RR Martin’s unfinished novels, grace notes emerge in fan-service-done-right meetings between Jon (Kit Harington) and Arya (Maisie…2 min
Total Film|December 2019keeping it royalTHERE’S A CHANGING OF THE GUARDAs Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip enter middle age, so The Crown S1-2 stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith have morphed into Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies. “We were thinking about maintaining the original cast because they were so good,” says exec producer Andy Harries. “But we decided if we were going to change one or two leads, we should change everybody. It’s a bold experiment!” Other new faces in old(er) places include Helena Bonham Carter (Princess Margaret), Ben Daniels (Lord Snowdon), Josh O’Connor (Charles) and The Boys’ Erin Doherty (Anne). The line-up’s set to stay the same for the next two seasons, with Peter Morgan continuing as showrunner.IT’S ABOUT TALENT, NOT LOOKALIKES“When we made The Queen [2006], people at first rightly said that Helen…3 min
Total Film|December 201910 OF THE BESTMACGUFFINS01 CITIZEN KANENewspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane uses his last breath to say “Rosebud”, and spawns arguably the most famous MacGuffin in cinema history. The hunt for its meaning is the whole point of the film – and nobody suspected Kane was talking about a sledge…02 SAVING PRIVATE RYANAs the tagline succinctly put it, “The mission is a man.” Private James Ryan barely even ranks as a supporting player in Steven Spielberg’s D-Day classic, but finding this “needle in a stack of needles” gives a sprawling war movie some focus.03 THE BIG LEBOWSKIIt’s the rug that ties the room – and the film – together. When a hired goon looking for the other Jeffrey Lebowski pees on the Dude’s mat, a very lazy man embarks on a Chandleresque odyssey of…2 min
Total Film|December 2019TOTAL FILM WINGMANDEAR WINGMANBeing completely uncultured, I’ve only just watched Monty Python And The Holy Grail. I found it hilarious but the more I laughed, the more I realised British comedies aren’t as great as they used to be. I’m a young person so this isn’t a nostalgia thing. I just can’t help but think my generation is growing up watching comedies that aren’t as entertaining as Life Of Brian, The Full Monty or Shaun Of The Dead. Can you name a recent British comedy that can prove me wrong?JOSEPH SMITH, CHELTENHAMWINGMAN SAYS…It depends – are we counting The Inbetweeners Movies as one film or two?! Certainly ‘grownup’ Brit comedy does seem to be bigger on the small screen these days, but let us remember a sheep called Shaun and a bear…1 min
Total Film|December 2019ZOË KRAVITZDespite celebrity parents in Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, Zoë Kravitz didn’t see major Hollywood roles as her birthright. “I truly believed I didn’t fit into that world,” she said, declaring a preference for pursuing theatre and indie roles.After formative indie gigs and recent deviations from such, Kravitz has sunk her claws into a role that should change that. Following in the paw-steps of Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway and others, Kravitz will play Selina ‘Catwoman’ Kyle in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, where she’ll join Jeffrey Wright’s Gordon and Paul Dano’s Riddler alongside Robert Pattinson’s Bats.Kravitz’s stepdad and fellow DC lead Jason Momoa (Aquaman) celebrated the casting, declaring himself “freaking stoked” on Instagram. Pitched between indie cool and stealthy Hollywood in-roads, Kravitz’s CV gives Cat-fans…2 min
Total Film|December 2019YOU TALKIN’ TO ME?IN THE CROSSHAIRS THIS MONTH KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEYAre you talking to me?Yes, I am definitely talking to you and at this particular moment about the movie that started it all for me. I was 13 and my aunt had a VHS cassette that she had rented from the video store. She had no business showing me that movie, but I wouldn’t be here talking to you today if she hadn’t been such an outlaw.Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?Yes. His name was Steve, he was a crack addict and he was sitting in the passenger seat of my 1976 Buick LeSabre. So if you ever meet the devil in the pale moonlight, go, “Steve? Is that you? Keegan says ‘hi’.” No, actually, “Keegan says you owe…4 min
Total Film|December 2019MUSICAL YOUTHThis movie probably breaks every f*cking rule they recommend you don’t break!” laughs Trey Edward Shults, writer-director of the searing new teen movie Waves. Centred on an African-American family from southern Florida navigating a terrible tragedy, Shults’ third film takes real structural risks, switching protagonists halfway through. “My goal,” he adds, “is to try and make movies we haven’t seen before.”Shults’ starting point was crafting “a movie about kids and music” – a teen soundtrack film to end them all. “The music was always so much a part of the DNA,” says Shults, who lines up tracks as varied as Dinah Washington’s ‘What A Difference A Day Makes’, Frank Ocean’s ‘Godspeed’ and Radiohead’s ‘True Love Waits’. “I wanted it to function as a mixtape in its own right,” he says,…2 min
Total Film|December 2019RAISING THE BARFrances McDormand introduced the concept of the ‘inclusion rider’ to many via her 2018 Oscars acceptance speech and there has been some industry change since. But for Michael B. Jordan it’s not just an ideal, it’s a mission statement for his newly formed production company, Outlier Society.Which is why he felt such a good fit for the latest project of Short Term 12’s Destin Daniel Cretton – an adaptation of lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s memoir, Just Mercy, tracking his fight to provide fair legal representation to death row inmates banged up on dodgy evidence in a discriminatory American justice system. In his book, Stevenson recalls his attempts to overturn a murder conviction on Walter McMillian in ’80s Alabama while exposing the institutionalised racism of a region built on slavery.“There was something…2 min
Total Film|December 2019BLUE JEANAugust 30, at the Venice Film Festival, turns out to be a rather significant day to speak to Benedict Andrews for his new movie, Seberg. The story of Hollywood actress Jean Seberg, it’s exactly 40 years ago to the day that she died – aged just 40. “She’s really on my mind,” say Andrews, although that’s unsurprising – he’s been living with her tragic story for more than two years.Famous in both America and France, even starring in Jean-Luc Godard’s New Wave classic À Bout De Souffle, Seberg was also an activist, a Black Panther supporter and FBI target. But marking his second film after 2016’s Una, the Australian director didn’t want to make a traditional bio. “I wanted this to have the intimacy of a love story and, in…2 min
Total Film|December 2019SHORT CUTSPUZZLE MASTERWho’s afraid of the big, black bat? Not Paul Dano, who’s just signed on to play the Riddler in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The standalone reboot will pair Dano with Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne as the tongue-twister-loving Edward Nygma. We’ll have to wait until 2021 to find out if he’ll wear a skin-tight green onesie like Jim Carrey in 1995’s Batman Forever.COMPUTER THRILLSStill surprised The Matrix is getting rebooted? Just wait ’til you get a load of the cast. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist) and Neil Patrick Harris are all plugging in for the fourquel, which is being overseen by Lana Wachowski and is due in 2022. Meanwhile, Jada Pinkett Smith will return as Niobe, alongside Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss.TRUE NORTHHaving conquered the hearts of…1 min
Total Film|December 2019SINKING FEELINGThey say working with kids and animals is the toughest, but try making an entire movie underwater!” Director William Eubank can laugh about it now, but staging a claustrophobic Alien-esque sci-fi horror seven miles beneath the surface of the ocean was every bit as difficult as it sounds.“I’m not gonna lie, it was tricky,” says Eubank. “We had our cast sweating in 200lb dive suits every day, and we had to contend with water, darkness, pressure and a million other things. But I knew right away that it was the perfect place to set a scary movie. Being in a situation where you’re miles from even being able to take a breath – that’s terrifying. It was scary even holding the script.”His third feature after sci-fi indie hits Love (2011)…2 min
Total Film|December 2019RON HOWARDStarting his career as an actor in the 1950s, Ron Howard impacted popular culture in Happy Days and as part of a stellar ensemble in George Lucas’ American Graffiti. He moved into directing features in 1977, and now boasts a CV that includes Splash, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. In recent years he’s made documentaries on Jay-Z, The Beatles and now, with his latest on-song effort, Pavarotti…Pavarotti’s star quality leaps out in the doc. Is there a through-line as to what makes a star?Yes. Pavarotti’s charisma and his ability to entertain us in an interview were as significant to him being a global superstar as was his talent. Talent, hard work, charisma and an honest measure of humility… the very best of them share…3 min
Total Film|December 2019THE TWO POPESOUT 29 NOV CINEMAS 20 DEC NETFLIXCERTIFICATE 12A TBC DIRECTOR Fernando Meirelles STARRING Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins SCREENPLAY Anthony McCarten DISTRIBUTOR Netflix RUNNING TIME 125 minsWhile The Two Popes doesn’t scream out for a cinema debut ahead of its Netflix launch, its production values do benefit from that expanded scope. Ultimately, though, it’s a film that makes the Papacy feel more human, as this pair of pontiffs are presented as somewhat doddery bumblers.The real selling point is the odd-couple bromance between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and the future Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce), aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Based on a true story (and screenwriter Anthony McCarten’s own play), the film imagines the meeting between the two men towards the end of Benedict’s reign, as Jorge’s considering hanging up his cassock.Hopkins…2 min
Total Film|December 2019MOTHERLESS BROOKLYNOUT 6 DECEMBERCERTIFICATE 15 DIRECTOR Edward Norton CAST Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe SCREENPLAY Edward Norton DISTRIBUTOR Warner Bros. RUNNING TIME 144 minsA 20-year labour of love for writer/director/star Edward Norton, this smart, slow-burn ’50s gumshoe mystery digs into New York’s dodgy civic history with relish. Based on Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel about a Tourette’s-afflicted ’tec, Norton’s loner Lionel vows revenge when his boss and mentor Frank (an unflappable Bruce Willis) is murdered after a secret client meeting.Doggedly piecing together a twisty clue trail running from Harlem jazz joints to the murky workings of City Hall, the film revels in its hardboiled film-noir voiceover, trench-coated thugs and pitch-perfect period settings. It’s shooting for that Chinatown/L.A. Confidential mix of low-life menace and high-level treachery, and often…1 min
Total Film|December 2019TERMINATOR: DARK FATEOUT NOWCERTIFICATE 15 DIRECTOR Tim Miller STARRING Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis SCREENPLAY David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, Billy Ray DISTRIBUTOR 20th Century Fox RUNNING TIME 128 minsThe post-Cameron Terminator sequels have all been different flavours of dismal, so it may seem like damning with the faintest praise possible to declare Dark Fate the series’ best offering since Judgment Day. But director Tim Miller’s propulsive T2 follow-up is an intermittently fun ride, albeit a clear step down from the franchise’s early heyday.Sticking to the T2 template, it sees Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), human super-soldier Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and ‘Carl’ (Arnold Schwarzenegger) team up to protect young Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) from the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna), a new breed of murder-bot.Effectively two-plus hours of breathless metal-on-metal mayhem, Dark Fate excels…1 min
Total Film|December 2019PROMAREOUT 29 NOVEMBEROstensibly about firefighting, this expansive anime takes in ‘flame terrorists’, warp-drive technology, superweapons, giant mecha and mass human combustion.London’s Burning was never like this. The debut feature from Studio Trigger, it flares up quickly and intensely, simmers down for an extended spell, then sparks an inferno of action that’s both riot and racket. Intriguing moral ambiguities go up in smoke, but burnout is contained by an agreeable tongue-in-cheekiness (a device literally called Deus Ex Machina) and the visuals’ near-abstract, pastel-hued panache.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019SECOND SPRINGOUT 29 NOVEMBERAmong the last features shot using Fujifilm stock, director Andy Kelleher’s poignant debut is a no-budget piece about a woman whose memories and inhibitions fade as she develops dementia. Cathy Naden gives a steady performance as Kathy, a married teacher who begins forgetting things and embarks on an affair with a rugged boatman, warmly played by Jerry Killick. While themes of change, progress and the loss of personal and public histories underpin Martin Herron’s script, the mix of scenic images with an emotional reserve results in a drama that’s respectable rather than actively engaging.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019LUCY IN THE SKYOUT 6 DECEMBERCERTIFICATE 15 DIRECTOR Noah Hawley STARRING Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm SCREENPLAY Brian C. Brown, Elliott DiGuiseppi, Noah Hawley DISTRIBUTOR 20th Century Fox RUNNING TIME 124 minsNoah Hawley’s astronaut drama crash-landed at the Toronto International Film Festival to savage reviews, but it’s unfair to write it off entirely. If you think you can handle its g-force absurdity, there’s plenty of interest to be gleaned.Inspired by the true story of astronaut Lisa Nowak, but very much following its own trajectory, Lucy In The Sky sees Natalie Portman’s Lucy Cola struggling to readjust to normal life after a lengthy space mission. After witnessing the grandeur of Earth from space, domesticity with her sappy husband Drew (Dan Stevens) doesn’t quite cut it. Seeking a thrill, Lucy starts an affair with hunky fellow…1 min
Total Film|December 2019THESTREETOUT 29 NOVEMBERFrom churches to chippies, pie shops to pub closures, Zed Nelson’s watchful, patient documentary serves an unvarnished portrait of East London’s Hoxton Street over four years of gentrification, austerity, Brexit and worse. A conceptual photographer with a sharp social eye, Nelson gets unguarded interviews from local characters as they sound off on community, tradition and rocketing rents. Nelson doesn’t prettify the picture. But as communities struggle and luxury apartments spring up, a purposeful, poignant picture of loss and neglect takes shape.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019LA BELLE ÉPOQUEOUT 22 NOVEMBERKicked out by wife Marianne (Fanny Ardant), jaded cartoonist Victor (Daniel Auteuil) is given the chance to relive the day he met her via an elaborate theatrical recreation. Meanwhile, the on-off relationship between the production’s perfectionist director (Guillaume Canet) and his star performer (Doria Tillier) is tested when her flirty turn as the younger Marianne proves a little too good. Brisk, witty and superbly performed, Nicolas Bedos’ high-concept romcom has enormous fun blurring fantasy and reality, while balancing acid-tongued humour with bags of heart, this deserves to be a breakout hit.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019MIDWAYOUT 8 NOVEMBERAfter his dogfight-heavy ID4 films and cod-historical outings (Stonewall), Roland Emmerich’s WW2 movie struggles to splice the two extremes. Based on the 1942 Pacific conflict, Midway mounts some assaultive attacks but favours CGI and a choppy, grandstanding script over psychological or moral nuance. Despite a solid cast, the emotions at stake rarely achieve lift-off.NETFLIX, WARNER, STUDIO SOHO DISTRIBUTION, MODERN FILMS, LIONS GATE, DARTMOUTH FILMS, 606 DISTRIBUTIO, SONY, BULL DOG FILM DISTRIBUTION, UNIVERSAL…1 min
Total Film|December 2019BOX OFFICE CHARTSJOKERThe highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, heading a top 20 that includes the first two Hangovers. Babysitters: whenever there’s a new Todd Phillips film out, be sure to whack up your hourly rate.JUDYOther Judys we want to see Renée Zellweger knock out of the park: Blume, Jetson, Murray (with Andrew Garfield as Andy), Finnigan (with Sacha Baron Cohen as Richard Madeley as Ali G).GEMINI MANMaybe they should’ve remade the Gemini Man TV show instead, which centred on invisibility. Much cheaper than de-aging: all you need is a few bandages and guns bobbing about on fishing lines.MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVILFailed to surpass the first on most levels, save for the amount of fluff wafting about, which almost required an allergy warning. Dandelions haven’t been this overworked since Ridley Scott’s Legend.ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAPThe…1 min
Total Film|December 2019HOW TO… MAKE A HER OWhen it comes to casting an Avenger or a Guardian, Finn says there’s no hard-and-fast rule. “Each character is unique,” she explains. “Black Panther has such a different energy and quality to Star-Lord, Ant-Man and the Hulk. There are so many incredible heroes we’ve been able to cast and each one has their own identity.”That being said, there are a couple of things that are non-negotiable. Aside from a willingness to hit the gym, actors have to be up for more physical, uh, alterations – such as when Karen Gillan played Nebula. “She did have to shave her head for the first film,” Finn nods. “We had to walk her through the character design, the hair, all of that.”Meanwhile, actors must be able to skip between drama and comedy. “There’s…1 min
Total Film|December 2019FIVE STAR TURNSSNATCH 2000After appearing in Guy Ritchie short The Hard Case, Scouser Graham played a cheeky co*ckney chappie in the writer-director’s sophom*ore feature. Brad Pitt’s Irish traveller won the headlines, but Graham won hearts.THIS IS ENGLAND 2006One of the formative films of Graham’s youth was Made In Britain, and the actor’s skinhead Combo is a match for Tim Roth’s breakout performance in that Alan Clarke classic.PUBLIC ENEMIES 2009Michael Mann’s Depression-era crime biopic focuses on bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and G-Man Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), but Graham’s Baby Face Nelson impacts like lead from a machine gun.BOAR DWALK EMPIRE 2010-14Say hello to my little friend: the 5ft 6in Graham traces the growth of Chicago crime boss Al Capone, aka Scarface. He takes what he wants, and what he wants is…1 min
Total Film|December 2019THE IRISHMAN 15FILMOUT NOW CINEMAS 27 NOVEMBER NETFLIXDe Niro, Pesci, Keitel. Wiseguys, gleaming Cadillacs, pinkie rings, doo-wop music, the Copacabana. The Irishman is, unmistakably, a Martin Scorsese picture, the long, rich shadows of Mean Streets, GoodFellas and Casino stretching through its 209-minute running time. But it’s also colder and more distant than its predecessors, with the mob lifestyle rendered less glamorous, more utilitarian. Themes of ageing, guilt and death haunt the film. This is Scorsese’s summation, his twilight masterpiece, his Once Upon A Time In America.It starts in the early-noughties, as Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) looks back on a road trip he made with Pennsylvanian crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci, terrific) in 1975. They’re heading for a wedding in Detroit – and some bigger business en route – and from…2 min
Total Film|December 2019FAST & FURIOUS: HOBBS & SHAW 12FILMEXTRASOUT 22 NOV DIGITAL HD / 2 DEC DVD, BD, 4KEXTRAS Commentary, Deleted/extended scenes, FeaturettesNever that great, never that bad, this could well be 2019’s most consistently whelming blockbuster. Set-pieces walk the classic F&F line between visceral and ridiculous (sentient motorbike!), though the ‘family’ stuff isn’t quite so cheesily irresistible, especially in the draggy pre-climax. Hobbs hogs the extras; even Dwayne Johnson’s dog gets its own featurette. Anecdotes are misty-eyed and diamond-hard: Dwayne explains how a biting scene is a homage to his late grandfather, and chuckles about that time his cousin ‘power-bombed’ him into spitting up blood.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019POLYESTER 15FILMEXTRAS1981 Out now BD EXTRAS Commentary, Featurettes, PSA, Deleted/alternate footage, Odorama test/card, BookletJohn Waters’ suburban satire stars Divine as an alcoholic housewife trapped in a twisted version of a Douglas Sirk melodrama and blessed with a sensitive hooter that leads to its big gimmick: a scratch ‘n’ sniff card allowing you to partake in the film’s smellier moments. Bridging the trash auteur’s early underground gross-out masterpieces like Pink Flamingos and subsequent, more mainstream, black comedies like Serial Mom, this hilariously overwrought comedy stinks in all the right ways.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019EATING RAOUL 18FILMEXTRAS1982 Out now BD EXTRAS Commentary, Featurettes, Short films, Gag reel, BookletDeath Race 2000 director Paul Bartel broke away from making car pictures for Roger Corman with this shockingly underrated black comedy about an uptight married couple (Bartel and Mary Woronov) who stumble upon a novel way of making money: killing and robbing swingers they’ve lured to their apartment for sex. Also featured on the restored Blu-ray are two early Bartel shorts, including the fascinating 1966 Truman Show precursor The Secret Cinema, which Bartel himself later remade as an episode of Amazing Stories.…1 min
Total Film|December 2019SPEND GAME01 DROP-DOWN WOODYRRP £79.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSSay “Someone’s coming!” and the cowboy hits the deck like he’s been on the eggnog since noon. Say “No one’s here” and he’s awake like a kid at 4am on Christmas morning. Pull his string and he goes full Hanks. Also available: collapsing Buzz Lighthead, sorry, Lightyear.02 ULTIMATE WALKING BUZZRRP £34.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSThis isn’t your daddy’s Buzz; that one merely talked, lit up and sprouted wings. This one also walks forward, backward and has a secret, special move… it’s the flamenco from TS3, isn’t it? Please say it’s the flamenco.03 STAR WARS SCREAM SABERRRP £27.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSFeatures three audio options: your regular zhoom-zhoom lightsaber sound; noises from around the SW galaxy (from screaming TIE Fighter to screaming Porg); and raddest of all,…2 min
Total Film|December 2019WEAR NECESSITIES01 CHEWBACCA CHRISTMAS JUMPERRRP £24 | SAINSBURY’SWill we see Chewie after Episode IX? Yes – every Christmas until we’ve worn this to destruction.02 CAPTAIN MARVEL SLIPPERSRRP £11.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSOr Carol-blingers, if you will.03 THANOS GLOVESRRP £6 | ASDAWho wields the Infinity Stones? George at Asda, that’s who.04 THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS LIGHT-UP JUMPERRRP £35 | SHOPDISNEY.CO.UKSandy Claws is coming to town… and he’s lit!05 AQUAMAN CHRISTMAS JUMPERRRP £36.99 | MERCHOIDIt’s beginning to look a lot like Atlantis…06 ALIENS T-SHIRTFeel free to wear this anytime, anywhere, man07 JOKER T-SHIRTIs it just us, or is it getting cosier out there?08 THE LITTLE MERMAID CHRISTMAS JUMPERRRP £36.99 | MERCHOIDDarling it’s better, down where it’s sweater.09 FRIENDS CHRISTMAS JUMPERRRP £36.99 | MERCHOIDCould this be any more on trend?!DIE HARD T-SHIRTRRP £20 | LASTEXITTONOWHEREMUST…1 min
Total Film|December 2019SAFE SETS01 STANLEY KUBRICK COLLECTIONRRP £99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSA magnificent seven from Stan, including 4K versions of 2001 and The Shining.02 FRIENDS 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITIONRRP £53 | VARIOUS RETAILERSRemastered for its Blu debut; don’t look directly at Ross’ over-whitened teeth.03 TOY STORY COLLECTIONRRP £24.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSSimilar to the trilogy boxset, but with an extra 96 minutes of peace and quiet from the kids.04 TWIN PEAKS FROM Z TO ARRP £120 | VARIOUS RETAILERSThe whole cherry pie, 1990-2017; plus make your own Red Room! (Doppelgänger sold separately.)05 MCU PHASE THREE: PART TWORRP £39.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSSix gems, bringing the Infinity Saga to a head. It’s kind of a glove story.GAME OF THRONES COMPLETE COLLECTIONRRP £299.99 | VARIOUS RETAILERSMUST HAVE MUST HAVEEight seasons of ice, fire and sexposition in a swanky limited-edition…1 min
Total Film|December 2019parting shotsWhat do you picture the future holding for your characters?ISAAC HEMPSTEAD-WRIGHT (Bran) I mean, I can’t imagine [Bran’s] government being a barrel of laughs. I think it might be quite serious. And I guess, to all intents and purposes, Westeros is now a surveillance state, with Bran aware of everything that everyone is doing.MAISIE WILLIAMS (Arya) I’m sure [Arya’s] having a wonderful time, like Dora the Explorer, minus the bob. But maybe she’s had a bob cut; [the people] west of Westeros might like the bob, who knows?JACOB ANDERSON (Grey Worm) I think he’s starting a new society, with a Wakanda kind of vibe, in another part of the world. People keep telling me he gets there and there’s poisonous butterflies! But I think he’s keeping his promise to Missandei,…3 min
Total Film|December 2019IS IT BOLLOCKS?THIS MONTH MEMENTOQ In Christopher Nolan’s 2000 thriller, an insurance investigator (Guy Pearce) with anterograde amnesia uses photos and tattoos to solve his wife’s murder. Does Nolan do the science justice?A DR. SALLIE BAXENDA LE, NEUROPSYCHOLOGYAnterograde amnesia is a real medical condition. In AA, an individual remembers everything stored in their memory prior to the onset of the condition, but they are unable to make new long-term memories, trapping them in a perpetual ‘present’. The inability to store new memories results from the destruction of a part of the brain called the hippocampus. We have two hippocampi on each side of the brain. If they are both destroyed, our ability to make new memories is lost. One of the most famous cases of anterograde amnesia reported is from 1953, when…2 min
Total Film|December 2019ANG LEEWhen it came to casting Gemini Man, Ang Lee needed an action star who had been killing it on-screen for 30 years. Tom Cruise? Will Smith? “Tom was busy,” quipped Lee. Yet even if Cruise were stuck for work, what would he make of the film’s high frame rate, with its resemblance to the motion-smoothing horrors that recently rattled his cage?While Lee’s attempts to push the tech envelope are laudable in theory, the pay-offs in practice are lacking. Opinions have wobbled – deep-fake or dazzling? – on his use of 120fps and 3D, but what’s more damning is the sense the script for Gemini Man received less care over its two-decade gestation. The promise of a digitally de-aged Smith pursuing an older Smith simply devolves into a rote smash-’em-up, of…3 min
