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Yesterday, we shared the news that season 2 of the Apple TV+ thriller series Surface, which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, is set to premiere on Friday, February 21st. Now, Variety reports that Mbatha-Raw has signed on to star in a thriller mini-series called Inheritance, a Sky Original. Jonny Lee Miller (Covenant), Sheldon Shepherd (Bob Marley: One Love), and Bel Powley (The Morning Show) star alongside Mbatha-Raw.

Written and created by Karla Crome (Carnival Row) from an original idea by Jefferson Bannis, Inheritance is being directed by Storm Saulter (Sprinter) and produced by Snowed-In Productions, in association with Sky Studios. The show is described as being a five-part limited event series that takes place in Bristol, U.K. and Jamaica, and it will tackle the enduring legacy of colonialism. Mbatha-Raw is taking on the role of Claudia, an ambitious young bi-racial lawyer who embarks on a journey to Jamaica to challenge an...

Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Surface”) will star opposite Jonny Lee Miller (“Covenant”), Sheldon Shepherd (“Bob Marley: One Love”) and Bel Powley (“The Morning Show”) in “Inheritance,” a Sky Original thriller from Karla Crome (“Carnival Row”).

Set in Bristol, U.K. and Jamaica, “Inheritance” is a five-part limited event series tackling the enduring legacy of colonialism. Soon entering production, the mini-series is directed by Storm Saulter (“Sprinter”) and produced by Snowed-In Productions, in association with Sky Studios.

Mbatha-Raw stars as Claudia, an ambitious young bi-racial lawyer who embarks on a journey to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim filed by an unknown local resident, Cudjoe East (Sheldon Shepherd), against Oliver Connaught (Jonny Lee-Miller), a wealthy white aristocrat.

Claudia’s “quest takes an unexpected turn when the contested estate reveals the ominous house that has haunted her nightmares: the Connaught family’s Jamaican plantation, Hope Hill. As Claudia and Oliver investigate, they uncover a...

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jonny Lee Miller, Sheldon Shepherd and Bel Powley will star in a new Sky Original thriller Inheritance.

From writer-actor Karla Crome (Am I Being Unreasonable, Carnival Row) and set in Bristol, U.K. and Jamaica, Inheritance is a five-part limited event series directed by Storm Saulter (Better Mus’ Come, Sprinter) and produced by Snowed-In Productions in association with Sky Studios.

Claudia (Mbatha-Raw), an ambitious young lawyer, embarks on a journey to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim filed by an unknown local resident, Cudjoe East (Shepherd), against Oliver Connaught (Lee Miller), a wealthy white aristocrat.

Her quest takes an unexpected turn when the contested estate reveals the ominous house that has haunted her nightmares: the Connaught family’s Jamaican plantation, Hope Hill. As Claudia and Oliver investigate, they uncover a chilling connection between historical horrors and present-day injustices. Inheritance is pegged as “an ambitious genre-bending series that boldly...

A rag-tag bunch of misfits are tasked with making a different kind of crowd-pleaser in Think Of England. Check out some first-look images below.

Indie satirical drama Think Of England has wrapped filming in the UK this week and – lest you think we’re only doing this stuff for clicks – it is actually about the making of a porn film. In the national interest, of course: we don’t tolerate smut here at Film Stories*.

Set in the run-up to the allied invasion of France in WWII, Think Of England follows a rag-tag bunch of scoundrels and filmmakers tasked with improving our boys’ morale with, er, a very special film.

Natalie Quarry (Credit: Vianney Le Caer)

Want a synopsis? Here’s a synopsis. As far as synopses go, it’s a good one…

It’s the summer of 1943. A small and very disparate group of people arrive on a remote...

Principal photography has wrapped on “Think of England,” a satirical WWII drama from BAFTA-nominated writer/director Richard Hawkins.

The newly-announced film is set in the run up to the Allied invasion of France, when two British film projects are commission at the very highest level. For one, Winston Churchill himself insists that Laurence Olivier immediately embark upon a lavish production of Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” securing for him a state-of-the-art, 3-strip Technicolour camera and all of the available film stock.

As the description goes, “Think of England” is the story of the other, following a small and very disparate group of people sent to a remote Orkney island beach and tasked with a top secret mission — the making of pornographic films for the boys at the front. “For who knows how long this war still has to run, and fighting morale — as we learned only too well from the last one — is everything,...

It's tough for actors to shake off franchise roles, but Pattinson & Stewart are thriving in diverse genres post-Twilight. Pattinson's Batman & Stewart's Oscar nomination show their range & talent beyond Twilight. Movies like The Lighthouse & Love Lies Bleeding highlight Pattinson & Stewart's growth as actors since breaking onto the scene in the supernatural teen movies.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart both shot to fame for their roles in the Twilight movies, but they have gone on to have successful careers since the franchise came to an end in 2012. It can be difficult for young actors to break free from the restraints of a big franchise. Audiences often associate them so closely with one particular character that they aren't given the opportunity to prove themselves in other roles.

Pattinson and Stewart are still associated with the Twilight saga, but they are now developing more diverse careers in a wider variety of genres. Pattinson has worked with Christopher Nolan,...

The much-awaited return of the ghost detectives on the silver screen is finally available on Netflix, and the fans seem to love it. Based on the DC Comics characters of the same name by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, the Netflix series is created by Steve Yockey and it follows the story of two ghost detectives who decide not to ascent to their afterlives to stay on Earth and investigate the crimes involving the supernatural. Dead Boy Detectives exists in the same universe as Netflix’s hit DC fantasy drama series The Sandman, and while it is different from The Sandman in its story and visuals, the Dead Boy Detectives seem to be connecting with the fans. So, if you loved the charm and supernatural shenanigans in Dead Boy Detectives here are some similar shows you should check out next.

The Sandman (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Netflix

The Sandman...

The project stars American actress/model Devon Ross.

The production of director Dominik Sedlar’s Second World War feature Vindicta is underway in Croatia.

The film stars Devon Ross (HBO’s Irma Vep), Jack Bandeira, Sam Hazeldine (Peaky Blinders), Pip Torrens, Suzanne Bertish and Anna Madeley.

Austrian producer Veit Heiduschka, who has produced several of Michael Haneke’s films including Happy End, Amour, The White Ribbon and Hidden, is producing alongside Croatia Film’s creative director Zeljko Zima, Stephen Ollendorff, Alan Green, Wendy Benge and Sedlar.

It is Croatian-born US filmmaker Sedlar’s third successive feature with a Second World...

Just when we thought things were good between Catherine Sarah Lancashire) and Clare (Siobhan Finneran), Happy Valley Season 3 Episode 3 promises to shake up their dynamic like never before.

In an exclusive first look at the next episode, we see the two sisters come to blows over Ryan's (Rhys Connah) communication with Tommy (James Norton).

The sisterly bond hasn't been as strong in recent years, and this latest bump in the road could change everything for them.

As viewers are well aware, Tommy is one of TV's most despicable characters, and his actions have shaped the lives of everyone in Happy Valley.

As a result, it's not easy to see why Catherine is so shocked by her sister's actions.

Check out the TV clip below.

In this final season of the multi-bafta award-winning BBC drama created by one of the UK's most celebrated and critically acclaimed screenwriters, Sally Wainwright (Gentleman Jack...

It's been a long wait, but Happy Valley's third and final season finally premieres Monday, May 22, on Acorn TV, AMC+, and BBC America.

As has been teased in the teasers and trailers, we're in for another edge-of-the-seat thriller from start to finish.

TV Fanatic scored an exclusive first look at Happy Valley Season 3 Episode 1, and it's a great indicator of what's to come.

The clip features Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) being quizzed about another crime, and he's somehow scarier than before.

The role has been a change of pace for Norton, and he plays the darkest shades of Royce's personality to perfection.

Undoubtedly, he'll cause many problems for Sft Catherine Cawood throughout the last-ever episodes of this hit series that has been off the air since 2016.

Yes, after a seven-year hiatus, we're being treated to a compelling new mystery, filled with shocking twists and turns.

Check out...

From writer/director Joe Cornish (Attack the Block, The Kid Who Would Be King, Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn), “Lockwood & Co.” premiered on Netflix back in January, and we’ve learned that the series has already been given the axe.

Netflix has cancelled “Lockwood & Co.” after one season, the latest in a long line of streaming shows that have been cancelled by Netflix before they had a chance to build an audience.

Variety reports this afternoon, “Variety understands that while Netflix was very pleased with the show, and especially the work that had gone into it, viewing numbers didn’t meet the threshold to greenlight a second season. But Complete Fiction, which was founded by Cornish together with Edgar Wright, Nira Park and Rachael Prior, will continue to work with Netflix. The companies already have a number of projects in development.”

Complete Fiction said in a statement of their own,...

Besides its slate of original shows like “Daisy Jones & the Six,” “Swarm,” and “The Power,” Prime Video’s March selection has plenty of films in the rotation, including Oscar contender “Top Gun: Maverick” and two films starring Keke Palmer — “Akeelah and the Bee” and Jordan Peele’s sci-fi thriller “Nope” — that show the actress at different points in her acting career.

If you’re looking for a thriller, “Nerve” starring Dave Franco and Emma Roberts promises an adrenaline-filled adventure. And those that miss the late Robin Williams can get a glimpse into one of his Oscar-winning roles alongside young Matt Damon.

Let us help narrow down your choices with our picks for the best new movies on Amazon Prime Video in March 2023.

Also Read:

The 41 Best Movies on Amazon Prime (March 2023) “Good Will Hunting” (1997) Miramax

The trifecta of Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and the late Robin Williams makes this...

The time has come: we must say goodbye to Happy Valley forever. It was almost too good to be true when it was announced that Sally Wainwright’s hit police procedural would be returning to screens for a third season, some seven (!) years after series two – so we should be grateful for that, at least.

Over the past six weeks, viewers have been reintroduced to the finest police officer in all of Halifax, Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) and her arch-nemesis, devious criminal Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton). Along the way, we’ve come across familiar faces and encountered new ones, too. What has remained the same, though, is Wainwright’s writing, which – with its realism, suspense and stew-focused humour – is as superb as ever. And this week’s fiery finale is a prime example of that. Let’s dig into the last ever episode of Happy Valley. *Cue the...

Netflix’s Lockwood & Co. includes a cast of renowned stars and talented newcomers whose performances seamlessly create a believable universe ridden with ghosts. Lockwood & Co.’s story is based on the first two books of the series of the same name by Jonathan Stroud. Set in 2022’s London, the show follows an alternative timeline where the Problem happened. Ghosts started appearing, haunting the places where their violent deaths took place.

Elite teams of teenagers from detective agencies work to contain ghosts, as only the youngest people can use their peculiar abilities to identify and fight them. Lockwood & Co. soon becomes the protagonist Lucy’s place of employment. With a tone similar to a season of Netflix’s dark fantasy Locke & Key, Lockwood & Co. season 1 follows Lucy, Anthony, and George as they try to keep their psychic private investigator firm afloat while fighting against powerful ghosts,...

It’s almost the end! The finale of Happy Valley – meaning the last ever episode given that this is the last ever season – is just around the corner, with the penultimate chapter airing this week. Lucky for us, it’s a doozy.

Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) is a newly free man with a plan, but Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) – who is already facing family dynamics almost as messed up as a Greek tragedy – won’t let him go easily.

Ouch

With Tommy on the loose, it’s time to board up the doors and lock up the windows for Catherine and co. Good thing Nev (George Costigan)is such a hospitable host. He invites Catherine, Clare (Siobhan Finneran), Neil (Con O’Neil) to stay until Tommy is caught. Of course, Ryan (Rhys Connah) too – only he goes Mia for a moment after ditching Richard’s (Derek Riddell) house, where...

Say it isn’t so, we’re already more than halfway through this season of Happy Valley. We’ve been waiting seven years for a new series and all we get is a measly six hours? It doesn’t seem fair. But by this point, we’ll take what we can get. Luckily enough, Sally Wainwright has made those six hours thoroughly entertaining – and the drama certainly kicks into high gear with episode four…

Tweedledee and Tweedledum run into trouble

Matija (Jack Bandeira) and Ivan (Oliver Huntingdon) begin this week’s episode in a less than ideal situation. The terrible twosome must tell Viktor (Anthony Flanagan) that the police got to Josip before they did – meaning that Josip is currently in a cell possibly spilling the beans on the criminal activities of their gang boss Darius Knezevic (Alec Secareanu) and his ominous brother Zeljko (Greg Kolpakchi). Plus, they stole a...

Netflix has debuted a trailer for the upcoming series ‘Lockwood & Co.’

In a world plagued by ghosts, where giant corporations employ psychic teens to battle the supernatural, only one company operates without adult supervision, and its name is Lockwood & Co. Run by Anthony Lockwood, a rebellious young entrepreneur haunted by his mysterious past, his brilliant but eccentric sidekick George and a newly arrived, supremely gifted girl called Lucy, this renegade trio are about to unravel a terrifying mystery that will change the course of history.

Ruby Stokes, Cameron Chapman, Ali Hadji-Heshmati, Ivanno Jeremiah, Jack Bandeira, Luke Treadaway, Morven Christie, Hayley Konadu, Rhianna Dorris, Paddy Holland star.

Also in trailers – Trailer for Pamela Anderson documentary ‘Pamela, a love story’ drops

The series premieres on the streamer on the 27 January.

The post Trailer debuts for Netflix series ‘Lockwood & Co’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

"All it takes is a few big cases" Netflix has revealed the full-length official trailer for Lockwood & Co., a new supernatural series made by the acclaimed UK filmmaker Joe Cornish (director of Attack the Block and The Kid Who Would Be King). This is based on a book series that involves a ghost-hunters group called Lockwood & Co. - a small agency in London that runs independent of any adult supervision. A tiny startup, run by two teenage boys and a newly arrived, supremely psychically gifted girl, a renegade trio destined to unravel a mystery that will change the course of history. Starring Ruby Stokes as Lucy Carlyle, Cameron Chapman as Anthony Lockwood, Ali Hadji-Heshmati as George Karim, plus Ivanno Jeremiah, Jack Bandeira, Morven Christie, Rhianna Dorris, and Paddy Holland. Yeah this concept still looks like Ghostbusters + Harry Potter, but with Joe Cornish behind the lens it actually looks awesome anyway!

From writer/director Joe Cornish comes “Lockwood & Co.,” a brand new Netflix series.

The series premieres on January 27, and the official trailer promises a ghost-busting adventure that should entertain all audiences. Watch the “Lockwood & Co.” trailer below.

Here’s the official synopsis for “Lockwood & Co.”…

“In a world plagued by ghosts, where giant corporations employ psychic teens to battle the supernatural, only one company operates without adult supervision, and its name is Lockwood & Co.

“Run by Anthony Lockwood, a rebellious young entrepreneur haunted by his mysterious past, his brilliant but eccentric sidekick George and a newly arrived, supremely gifted girl called Lucy, this renegade trio are about to unravel a terrifying mystery that will change the course of history.”

Ruby Stokes, Cameron Chapman, Ali Hadji-Heshmati, Ivanno Jeremiah, Jack Bandeira, Luke Treadaway, Morven Christie, Hayley Konadu, Rhianna Dorris, and Paddy Holland star.

Executive Producers include Nira Park,...

Finally! After almost seven years, Happy Valley is back, and this BAFTA-winning crime drama’s third and final season is set to be as nail-biting as ever. These six fresh episodes from writer Sally Wainwright are definitely worth the wait.

Series Three dives back into the action around five years after the explosive events of the Series Two finale, beginning with Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) discovering the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, a discovery which will lead her all the way back to her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).

Catherine still lives with her grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah) who’s now sixteen and working out what kind of relationship, if any, he wants with Royce, the man who fathered him when he raped Catherine’s daughter Becky. Needless to say, Catherine won’t take this well.

Still battling with the local drug problem,...

The story of June and Jennifer Gibbons is one of those “strange but true” curiosities. It’s pitched somewhere alongside the Enfield poltergeist and the dancing plague of 1518. The writers – twins born in 1963 – grew up in Haverfordwest, Wales, the daughters of first-generation Barbadian immigrants. From an early age, they refused to speak to anyone but themselves.

There were other ways to communicate with the world – through poems and stories, or when they were older, drugs, sex and acts of petty crime. At 19, they were found guilty of 16 counts of burglary, theft, and arson. The sisters were institutionalised with an indefinite sentence at the infamous Broadmoor psychiatric hospital where they remained for 11 years.

People tend to fixate on the reasons behind the sisters’ selective mutism. But Agnieszka SmoczyÅ.ska’s The Silent Twins, in its own impassioned and lyrical way, asks an entirely different question: is their choice really that hard to comprehend?...

Sarah Lancashire and James Norton are set to reunite when “Happy Valley” returns to screens in January, the BBC confirmed today.

The third and supposedly final season of the show will drop in the U.K. on New Year’s Day, airing on BBC One and streaming platform iPlayer. (A U.S. release date has not yet been confirmed).

Lancashire returns as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the six-episode season, this time navigating relationships with her teenage grandson Ryan (played by Rhys Connah) and sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) whilst attempting to solve what appears to be a gangland murder. Norton, meanwhile, once again steps into the shoes of murderer and rapist Tommy Lee Royce.

The BBC have also released a 10-second teaser of the new season, in which Royce can be seen brooding in prison while Seargant Cawood, dressed in uniform, is on assignment, with a siren blaring behind her.

Joining...

Polish film and TV writer/director Agnieszka Smoczyńska's biographical film "The Silent Twins" is heading to Peacock. The movie is inspired by the book of the same name written by investigative journalist Marjorie Wallace. Published in 1986 under the title "The Silent Twins: A true story of love and hate, dreams and desolation, genius and destruction," Wallace's book is itself based on the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, twin sisters who only communicated with each other, and came to be known as "the silent twins."

Smoczyńska's film is heading to Peacock after getting a very limited theatrical release from Focus Features on September 16, 2022 -- meaning, this is probably the first time most people have even heard of the movie. So, before it joins acclaimed 2022 films like Scott Derrickson's "The Black Phone" on NBCUniversal's streaming service, here's everything you need to know about the film ahead of time.

Netflix has unveiled the first look teaser trailer for a new series arriving in January 2023 titled Lockwood & Co., made by the acclaimed UK filmmaker Joe Cornish (director of Attack the Block and The Kid Who Would Be King). This is based on a book series that involves a ghost-hunters group called Lockwood & Co. - a small agency in London that runs independent of any adult supervision. A tiny startup, run by two teenage boys and a newly arrived, supremely psychically gifted girl, a renegade trio destined to unravel a mystery that will change the course of history. This is only the first of many books in this series, so if this does well expect to see more of these ghost hunters. This stars Ruby Stokes as Lucy Carlyle, Cameron Chapman as Anthony Lockwood, Ali Hadji-Heshmati as George Karim, plus Ivanno Jeremiah, Jack Bandeira, Morven Christie, Rhianna Dorris, and Paddy Holland.

We've known for a while now that Happy Valley will return for a third and final season on AMC+ and Acorn TV.

We now have our first look, courtesy of some photos.

In this final season of the multi-bafta award-winning BBC drama created by one of the UK’s most celebrated and critically acclaimed screenwriters, Sally Wainwright (Gentleman Jack), Sarah Lancashire (Julia) returns to her iconic role of Sergeant Catherine Cawood for six new episodes.

Also returning are James Norton (The Nevers) as Catherine’s nemesis, the murderer and sex-offender Tommy Lee Royce; Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey) as Catherine’s sister, the recovering addict Clare Cartwright, and Rhys Connah as Catherine’s sixteen-year-old grandson Ryan, eight years after he first played the role as a young boy.

In the first-look photos, Catherine is pictured with a bloodied nose in the aftermath of a police raid, while Tommy Lee Royce (James...

First look images have been revealed of the third and purportedly final season of crime drama “Happy Valley.”

The six-part final season, made by Lookout Point for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in co-production with AMC Networks, will see Sarah Lancashire return as Sergeant Catherine Cawood and James Norton as Tommy Lee Royce.

The first images show Lancashire sporting a bloody nose following a police raid while Royce, with a new look, is locked in his prison cell.

Sarah Lancashire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Courtesy of BBC)

Siobhan Finneran stars as Catherine’s sister Clare and Rhys Connah as her teenage grandson Ryan.

Also returning are Ishia Bennison as Joyce, Shane Zaza as Shaf, Chord Melodic as Sledge, and Mete Dursun as Gorkem as well as Con O’Neill, George Costigan, Charlie Murphy, Derek Riddell, Karl Davies, Susan Lynch, Rick Warden, Vincent Franklin, Amit Shah, Mark Stanley, and Mollie Winnard.

Joining...

(from left) Tamara Lawrance as Jennifer Gibbons and Letitia Wright as June Gibbons in director Agnieszka Smoczynska’s The Silent Twins Photo: Focus Features The Silent Twins opens with the voices of two young girls. They narrate the credits with inviting, peppy animation, reading the actors’ names and laughing at their own.

At first, it might seem strange that experimental Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska chose for her third film a social justice drama about a pair of Black British twins and amateur novelists locked up for petty crimes. But the filmmaker’s esoteric style — “The Lure” was a bloody, lesbian take on “The Little Mermaid” — makes more sense once we get to meet June Gibbons (Letitia Wright) and her sister Jennifer (Tamara Lawrence). Identical twins born 10 minutes apart, June and Jennifer invent an entire language only for each other — and are despondent when anyone else tries to invade their fun. Smoczyńska illustrates the eccentric stories they tell each other with stop-motion puppets, musical montages and, in one Andy Warhol-inspired set piece, a deep pool of Pepsi washing ’round a living room.

Where “The Silent Twins” fails, however, is in tying that childlike expressionism to the stark grimness of the Gibbons’ real lives.

Any number of directors could have shot Andrea Seigel’s straightforwardly moving screenplay for “The Silent Twins” and turned out a straightforwardly moving film in the process. It’s hard to imagine any of those movies looking, sounding or feeling quite like the one Agnieszka Smoczyńska has made, however. Based on the desperately sad true story of two intensely connected Black twin sisters failed by Britain’s educational, legal and mental health services in the ’70s and ’80s, this brazen, tear-your-heart-out drama gets the full benefit of the Polish filmmaker’s singular imagination. Layering one wild formal flourish over another — from macabre stop-motion animation to elaborately choreographed musical fantasies — to channel the inner lives of two young women who communicated only with each other, keeping the rest of the world outside their circle, it’s a swing for the fences that sometimes, almost by design, spins out of control.

Whenever that happens,...

Jim Broadbent as Kempton Bunton, Helen Mirren as Dorothy Bunton in The Duke. Photo by Mike Eley, Bsc. Courtesy of Pathe UK. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

In this delightful, true story-based, quirky comic tale, Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren costar as a bickering couple in a tale of a working class Newcastle man with a plan to ransom a stolen painting, Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington, to provide benefits for low-income retirees. Broadbent plays the rarely practical but idealistic man with the plan, while Helen Mirren stars as his long-suffering, more practical wife. The Duke focuses on a real 1961 incident in which a portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Francisco Goya, newly purchased by the British government for 140,000 pounds, was stolen from the national gallery, the first and so far only theft from the gallery to date. The authorities are convinced a professional ring of thieves,...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on Wbgr-fm on April 28th, reviewing “The Duke,” a British heist comedy featuring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, in select theaters April 29th.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) is a perpetually unemployed dreamer, who write plays and drives his wife Dorothy (Helen Mirren) crazy with his anarchistic principles, often getting his younger son Jackie (Fionn Whitehead) involved. When collectors come for his TV license … Britain collects fees from each home for programming … he begins a protest that leads to London, and while there he gets involved in stealing a priceless painting – the Duke of Wellington by Francisco Goya – to further his cause.

“The Duke” is in select theaters beginning April 29th. Featuring Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Matthew Goode and Jack Bandeira. Written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. Directed by Roger Mitchell. Rated “PG-...

It’s a wild story of a British “Robin Hood” stealing from the government in 1961 to hopefully (and earnestly) compensate taxpayers who better deserved the funds set aside to stop a hostile takeover of ownership of Francisco Goya’s Portrait of the Duke of Wellington. Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) had already gone on record (and served jailtime) for his efforts to end the BBC license fee being charged poor pensioners who simply wanted a television to connect with the fast-growing world outside their doors. With no one listening and constant talk about England having today’s equivalent of £3 million to stop a private collector from purchasing said painting, Bunton decides to cause a ruckus nobody can ignore: stealing and ransoming it for that same price. This time for charity.

The ordeal fascinated the nation because of how absurd the whole thing looked. Everyone assumed it was a professional thief who...

Ruby Stokes, best known for playing Francesca Bridgerton in Netflix’s hit period drama Bridgerton, is set to lead the streamer’s upcoming adaptation of Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. Based on Stroud’s young adult supernatural thriller book series, Lockwood & Co. follows three teenage ghost-hunters as they fight deadly spirits in London, England. The eight-part series was written by Joe Cornish, who directed the film Attack the Block and also co-wrote Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and Ant-Man. Stokes is joined by newcomers Cameron Chapman and Ali Hadji-Heshmati in a cast that also includes Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Luke Treadaway (Ordeal by Innocence), Morven Christie (The Bay), Jack Bandeira (Silent Witness), Ben Crompton (Game of Thrones), Hayley Konadu (Imperfect), Rhianna Dorris (Secret Life of Boys), and Paddy Holland (Invasion). According to Deadline, Stokes will play Lucy Carlyle, a supremely psychically gifted girl who recently arrived in London.

Exclusive: Ruby Stokes, who plays Francesca Bridgerton in the hit Netflix period romp, is to lead the cast of the streamer’s latest book adaptation.

Stokes stars in Lockwood & Co., a series adaptation of Jonathan Stroud’s book series.

She is joined by newcomers Cameron Chapman and Ali Hadji-Heshmati in the Complete Fiction-produced series, which comes from Attack the Block director Joe Cornish.

The cast also includes Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Luke Treadaway (Ordeal by Innocence) and Morven Christie (The Bay).

Stokes plays Lucy Carlyle, newly arrived, supremely psychically gifted girl who along with Chapman’s Anthony Lockwood and Hadji-Heshmati as George Karim, run a psychic detection agency.

Set in London, where the most gifted teenage ghost-hunters venture nightly into perilous combat with deadly spirits, amidst the many corporate, adult-run agencies, one stands alone: independent of any commercial imperative or adult supervision – a tiny startup, run by a renegade trio destined...

As the big screen superhero milieu has only expanded over the last two decades, thanks to sequel after sequel, prequel after prequel, one piece has long been lacking: the really wacky spinoff that exists entirely on its own wavelength. What good is it to make dozens upon dozens of films and not allow any of them to get truly zany? Which was perhaps why Ruben Fleischer’s 2018 smash hit “Venom” was such a welcome surprise, an absolutely bonkers entry into the genre that delighted in seeing its hero dipping into a lobster tank at a swanky restaurant the way other superhero films salivate over city-destroying battles that necessitate the use of multiple good guys in capes. “Venom” was its own thing, finally, even when still hemmed in by its protagonist’s long-time association with Spider-Man.

Fans of Fleischer’s feature will not be at all disappointed by Andy Serkis’ faithful followup,...

Gunpowder Milkshake Review — Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Navot Papushado, and starring Karen Gillian, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, Chloe Coleman, Paul Giamatti, Joanna Bobin, Freya Allan, Ed Birch, Ralph Ineson, Adam Nagaitis, Angela Bassett, David Zimmerschied, Samuel Anderson, Michael Smiley, Mai Duong Kieu, Jack Bandeira, Ivan Kaye [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Gunpowder Milkshake (2021): An Addictive Action Film Dessert...

Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren are not just thespian royalty in the UK, they have both been crowned winners at previous Venice festivals: Mirren for her regal performance in Stephen Frears’ The Queen and Broadbent for his portrayal of W. S. Gilbert in Mike Leigh’s Topsy Turvy. Together, they appear in The Duke, Roger Michell’s highly entertaining spin on a remarkable true story from 1960s Britain.

The duke in question is the Duke of Wellington, specifically a portrait painted by Goya that was purchased for £140,000 by the British government in 1961 in order for it to remain in the country. The purchase is all over the news and throngs of visitors make their way to the National Gallery in London to view it.

But this tale does not take place in the soon to be swinging capital. The setting is Newcastle upon Tyne, home to the garrulous Kempton Bunton (Broadbent) and his long-suffering wife,...