Slow Horses is a darkly humorous espionage drama that follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House. Season four opens with a bombing that detonates personal secrets, rocking the already unstable foundations of Slough House.
Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but misanthropic leader of the spies. The spies end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes, as they frequently find themselves blundering around the smoke and mirrors of the espionage world.
The returning ensemble cast includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan and Jonathan Pryce.
Karim Aïnouz directed Firebrand, based on a screenplay by Jessica Ashworth and Henrietta Ashworth from the 2013 novel Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle.
The story is about the royal relationship in blood-soaked Tudor England. Twice married, accomplished, and educated, Katherine Parr, played by Alicia Vikander. She reluctantly agrees to become the sixth wife of the tyrannical King Henry VIII, played by Jude Law.
Katherine’s decision to marry Henry carries immense personal risk, considering the fate of her predecessors, who were either divorced, beheaded, or dead. Her situation becomes even more perilous when Henry appoints her as regent, the nation’s ruler, during his absence for overseas battles, setting her on a treacherous path.
Amidst Henry’s court’s political intrigue, Katherine’s sympathies for the radical Protestant beliefs that have taken root in the kingdom become a cause for suspicion. The courtiers, fearing the threat to their power, conspire against her and sow seeds of doubt about her loyalty to the increasingly ailing and paranoid king.
Once Henry returns to England, his courtiers convince him to turn his fury on the nation’s radicals, including Katherine’s childhood friend Anne Askew, played by Erin Doherty. Anne becomes one of the many people convicted of treason and burned at the stake.
Horrified and privately grieving, Katherine finds herself under ever-increasing scrutiny and suspicion. Knowing that even a whisper of scandal might lead to her downfall, Katherine must unleash her own scheme to fight for survival.
Other supporting cast include Eddie Marsan, Simon Russell Beale and Sam Riley.
Aïnouz is an award-winning director and screenwriter. Firebrand is his first British/American film.
Noel Fielding, which you’ll recognize from The Great British Baking Show, portrays Dick Turpin in the Apple TV series The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.
Turpin is a legendary British motorway robber. He seeks fresh adventures with his gang of rogues, trying to escape the thief-taker.
The trailer looks hilarious, and the talented supporting cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Mark Heap, Tamsin Greig, and Marc Wootton.
A dynamite cast directed by Shekhar Kapur brings us a rom-com we might enjoy. What’s Love Got To Do With It? presents an old question: How do you find lasting love in today’s world?
For documentary-maker and dating app addict Zoe, played by Lily James, swiping right has only delivered an endless stream of Mr. Wrongs. Yet, her eccentric mother, Cath, played by Emma Thompson, shows dismay.
For Zoe’s childhood friend and neighbor Kaz, played by Shazad Latif, the answer is to follow his parents’ example and opt for an arranged (or “assisted”) marriage to a bright and beautiful bride from Pakistan.
As Zoe films his hopeful journey from London to Lahore to marry a stranger his parents chose, she wonders if she might have something to learn from a profoundly different approach to finding love.
Watch the trailer, and you’ll see a beautifully crafted story of forbidden love and changing social conventions.
Based on the book by Bethan Roberts, Michael Grandage directs My Policeman. The story follows three young people: policeman Tom, played by Harry Styles, teacher Marion, played by Emma Corrin, and museum curator Patrick, played by David Dawson.
They embark on an emotional journey during the 1950s in Britain. Flashing forward to the 1990s, Tom, now played by Linus Roache, Marion, played by Gina McKee, and Patrick, played by Rupert Everett, are still reeling with longing and regret.
But now they have one last chance to repair the damage of the past.
Grandage sculpts a visually transporting, heart-stopping depiction of three people caught up in the shifting tides of history, liberty and forgiveness.
Written by Will Tracy and Seth Riess and directed by Mark Mylod, The Menu follows a couple, played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult. They travel to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef, played by Ralph Fiennes, has prepared a great menu with a few shocking surprises.
Mylod is a British film and television director and executive producer. Entourage, Game of Thrones and Succession are some of his best works on television.
Joining the couple are three young, already inebriated tech brothers, Bryce and Dave, an older wealthy couple and repeat clients, Anne and Richard, renowned restaurant critic Lillian Bloom and her slavish magazine editor Ted, and a famous middle-aged movie star with his assistant Felicity.
With the immaculately dressed front-of-house staff led by general Elsa, the evening unfolds with increasing tension at each of the guest tables as secrets are revealed and unexpected courses are served. With wild and violent events occurring, Slowik’s motivation begins to rattle the diners as it becomes increasingly apparent that his elaborate menu is designed to catalyze a shocking finale.
Directed by Tom George, the story happens in London’s West End in the 1950s. There are plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play to come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal crew member ends up murdered.
When world-weary Inspector Stoppard, played by Sam Rockwell, and eager rookie Constable Stalker, played by Saoirse Ronan, take on the case, the two find themselves puzzling whodunit within the glamorously sordid theater underground, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril.
Adapting author Paul Gallico’s famous 1958 novel Mrs.’ Arris Goes to Paris for the screen, writer and director Anthony Fabian create a modern-day fairy tale. The message is about pursuing your dreams, friendship’s power, and the importance of remaining true to who you are.
In post-World War II London, Ada Harris, played by Lesley Manville, earns money cleaning houses. She’s led a lonely life since her beloved husband, Eddie, went missing in action, but she’s not the type to brood over any misfortune or complain about her circumstances.
Still, the ever-pragmatic Ada sees an unimaginably lovely Christian Dior gown hanging in the master bedroom of a wealthy client. She’s surprised to feel an overwhelming pang of desire—owning something so otherworldly, so beautiful, an actual work of art — why that could change things for a person.
Ada takes on extra jobs and saves as much as possible, trying her luck at the racetrack. Ada can finally afford to pay for a Dior dress when all seems lost. She bids farewell to close friends Vi, played by Ellen Thomas, and Archie, played by Jason Isaacs.
She goes to Paris to visit the prestigious House of Dior and turn her dreams into reality. Yet when she arrives, Ada is met with a series of surprising setbacks, not least of which is Dior’s intimidating Madame Colbert, played by Isabelle Huppert, who bristles at the notion of a common charlady wearing haute couture.
Ada refuses to leave Paris without her dress, whatever obstacles come her way. Her unwavering commitment charms idealistic Dior accountant André, played by Lucas Bravo, kindly model Natasha, played by Alba Baptista, and the aristocratic Marquis de Chassagne, played by Lambert Wilson, Paris’ most eligible bachelor.
Ada soon discovers that, in changing her own life, she changes the lives of all those around her. She might even help save the House of Dior itself.
Fabian’s feature film work up until that point was mainly family dramas based on true stories, yet he felt a particular affinity for the material. Having lived in Paris as a boy and attending boarding school in England, he could appreciate both cultures at the heart of the story. “I understood these two worlds extremely well, London and Paris,” Fabian says. “I felt it was a story that I could tell in an authentic and accurate way.”
Initially brought on as a director for hire, Fabian eventually gained the rights to adapt and produce himself. He began working on an entirely new screenplay while searching for other partners to collaborate with. He turned to Carroll Cartwright, with whom he had previously worked on the feature Louder Than Words. Together, they wrote the first drafts, while prolific film and television writer Keith Thompson and A Girl with a Pearl Earring writer Olivia Hetreed gave the script a final polish.
Fabian wanted to clarify why getting a beautiful haute couture artifact became such an obsession for Mrs. Harris throughout the adaptation process. “The book gives you the bones of the story, but not the flesh,” he says. “It doesn’t really explain why Mrs. Harris wants this dress, other than in the most frivolous and superficial terms—it had to be more profound. Ultimately, I wanted to suggest that Ada Harris’ heart is healed by going on this journey. She is a widow who has put her heart on ice, and this dress is an inanimate object that she can love without betraying her husband. Somehow, the dress becomes a catalyst for opening her heart and allowing her to love again.”
Directed by Peter Jackson, The Beatles: Get Back follows the intimate recording sessions during a crucial period in music recording history. The documentary features the warmth, friendship, dynamic talent, and genius that define the iconic foursome. Over 60 hours of unseen footage were filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1969, with over 150 hours of unheard audio, all gloriously restored.
Jackson was the only person in five decades to have access to the private footage.
The Beatles: Get Back captures John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr while planning their first live show in over two years. Lindsay-Hogg captures them writing and rehearsing 14 new songs expected for release on an accompanying live album.
The movie showcases the entire last live performance as a group for the first time—the memorable London’s Savile Row rooftop concert. The documentary includes other songs and classic works featured on the Beatles’ last two albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be.
Thank you, Collider, for helping with the information.
Directed by Simon Curtis, Downton Abbey – A New Era arrives in March 2022. With the screenplay written by Julian Fellowes, its creator, the movie will be just as good, if not better, than its predecessor.
