Home Life & Leisure Birmingham Culture Film & TV

Olly pins a tale on a donkey

A British thriller about sexual deviancy and death is making waves at the box office. Alison Jones caught up with director Oliver Blackburn to discover who’d want to punch a donkey Read

Dragon's tongue

Business giant Peter Jones is the most intimidating dragon in the den. But, as he tells Sarah O’Meara, he is a soft touch who has had his share of professional knock-backs Read

Time for the great action hero to finally slow down

When Jackie Chan first heard about the fantastical concept of his new movie The Forbidden Kingdom, he certainly had his doubts. Read

Dancing queen Meryl Streep makes all the right moves

Having spent almost a decade persuading Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus that she wasn’t looking to either do an ABBA tribute show or tell the band’s story, in 1995 producer Judy Craymer finally convinced them to let her use their songs for a stage musical. Read

Mamma Mia! Meryl Streep is Bjorn again

Mike Davies reviews the latest cinema releases, including Mamma Mia, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, The Forbidden Kingdom and Couscous. Read

Meera Syal shouts up for 1970s comedy

Black Country writer and actor Meera Syal is campaigning for the 1970s to be declared the best decade for TV comedy. Read

Rock'n'roll survival the Marianne Faithfull way

Born survivor Marianne Faithfull is back with a new film. She tells Alison Jones why she is more innocent than her rock chick image would lead us to believe. Read

Keeping up with the boneses

Kate Whiting gets down to the bones of it with Hugh Bonneville Read

Dustin Hoffman discovers his inner panda

As far as actors go, Dustin Hoffman is probably one of those who could now merit the title of living legend, writes Kate Whiting. Read

Mike Davies gets a weather report from Frank Darabont

Mike Davies gets a weather report from Frank Darabont Read

Will Smith flexes more muscle in Hancock

Mike Davies reviews the week's cinema releases, including Will Smith in Hancock, plus Kung Fu Panda, The Mist and Hell On Wheels. Read

Looking at Thomas’s romantic square from a fresh angle

Alison Jones hears from the stars of a new film about legendary Welsh poet Dylan Thomas what life is like living on the Edge of Love Read

Midlands sitting pretty at Edinburgh Film Festival

Roger Shannon reports from the Edinburgh Film Festival where he finds independent productions in rude health. Read

A blooming fresh rose of Hollywood

Actor Ben Barnes is ready for a bit of on-screen swash and buckle as the new prince of Narnia. Alison Jones caught up with him as he paused to smell the roses at the NEC. Read

Female Agents Cert 15 117 mins Subtitled

We've had Charlotte Grey and Black Book but, by and large, there have been surprisingly few films about the role women played in the French Resistance during the Second World War. Read

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Cert PG 144 mins

A year after their return from Narnia, Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) have cabin fever in wartime London when, while awaiting the tube, they find themselves transported back to the land of which they were once kings and queens. Read

The Edge of Love Cert 15 110 mins

There's a Tom & Viv style tale to be told about the volatile relationship between womanising, hard drinking Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and libidinous spitfire Irish wife Caitlin. That film, however, is more likely to be the one by Marc Evans, starring Miranda Richardson and Rosamund Pike as the older and younger Caitlin. As the opening shot of Keira Knightley's airbrushed features as she serenades in an air raid shelter makes it abundantly clear, it's certainly not John Maybury's. Read

Wanted Cert 18 110 mins

Even more of an unlikely Hollywood action hero than Matt Damon, James McAvoy proves equally adept with this adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novels. An apathetic, spineless Chicago accountant who's bullied by his boss and whose girlfriend is cheating with his best friend, life changes for Wesley Gibson when he goes to collect his anxiety attack medication and finds himself in the middle of a gunfight between two assassins. Read

Hollywood's latest most wanted

A slight, unassuming Scottish actor is suddenly much sought after in Hollywood. James McAvoy talks to Kate Whiting about locking lips with Angelina and why Harrison Ford is his hero. Read

Noel multi-tasks to motivate future movie makers

In Adulthood former Doctor Who sidekick Noel Clarke emerges as a film maker with a finger on the pulse of youth culture. Read

Quick Links

Get Involved

We want your local stories, videos & pics.

Your reviews

Typing

What did you think?

If you've seen a show or concert, tell us what you thought of it. Read