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Amazon’s Prime Video has a collection of underseen, unfairly forgotten films. The streamer’s massive film library has a Western that was robbed of the attention that it deserved by the Covid-19 pandemic, one of 2024’s best dramas and the most underrated movie made by one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the past 20 years. It even has one sci-fi film that you have likely never heard of before, despite it being the blockbuster that first united Tom Cruise with his future “Top Gun: Maverick” director.

Here are seven hidden gem movies streaming on Prime Video in July.

“A Most Violent Year” (A24) “A Most Violent Year” (2014)

Released in the midst of A24’s ascent up the independent film world, writer-director J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year” is a slow-burn crime drama that deserves to be more well-known among moviegoers. The film follows a fuel supplier (Oscar Isaac...

The crossover between the samurai and the western genres is one of the biggest and most important intersections in cinema history. Every movie buff knows that westerns influenced samurai movies, which inspired westerns, which influenced the samurai genre to evolve, with the back-and-forth repeating for several more cycles. Tornado, a new action thriller directed by John Maclean, is a love letter to both genres as it blends the tropes, conventions, and iconography of samurai and western movies to create a truly unique amalgamation. As you'd then expect, Maclean was inspired by some true classics, as well as some lesser-known gems of both genres.

John Maclean sat down with MovieWeb's George Edelman to discuss his new feature, Tornado. The film held its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in February of this year, and is set for a wider theatrical release on June 13. Tornado is far from Maclean's first western — 2015's Slow West,...

In John Maclean’s Tornado, a remote patch of British Isles highland circa 1790 becomes the convergent point for various genres, cultures, styles, and tropes. This methodical thriller is informed primarily by westerns and samurai films, finding common ground between them in an unlikely locale. Maclean’s previous feature, Slow West, was a similarly stripped-down genre exercise. Both are ground-level portraits of lives lived and lost on the fringes of history, but the earlier grisly fairy tale transpired in a curdled version of the oft-romanticized Old West while Tornado transposes such romantic frameworks to a drearily incongruous setting.

Maclean’s latest period parable begins with a young Japanese woman, the eponymous Tornado (Kôki), fleeing from a motley crew of Scottish marauders, led by the gruff Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his scheming son, Little Sugar (Jack Lowden). The extended in medias res opening—followed by a flashback sequence retracing the characters’ steps...

Michael Fassbender is among the best actors of his generation and certainly among the most daring. While many of his contemporaries have settled into their own niches, Fassbender has shown an ability to try out many different genres and rarely fails to deliver a compelling performance. While Fassbender was briefly absent from the big screen over the last few years, he delivered a tremendous comeback performance in Steven Soderbergh’s twisty spy thriller “Black Bag,” which is already the best film of 2025 so far.

Fassbender may be known for the tremendous commitment he shows in his dramatic roles, but he has also developed a strong knack for comedy. Despite being regarded as one of the more artistically minded stars working today, Fassbender has managed to be a scene-stealer in two separate franchises, having played the mutant anti-hero Magneto in the rebooted “X-Men” series and the robot David in both “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant.

Tim Roth’s next movie featuring a Shōgun star just got a thrilling new look. Roth has been set to play the lead role in Tornado, the upcoming action thriller that also stars Takehiro Hira alongside Game of Thrones veteran Rory McCann, who is famed for playing The Hound in the HBO series. Collider is thrilled to partner with IFC Films to unveil the first exclusive trailer for Tornado, which premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in February. In addition to Roth, Hira, and McCann, Jack Lowden and Kōki, have also been set for roles in Tornado, which is a thriller coming from writer/director John Maclean. Maclean made his feature debut in Slow West, the 2015 R-rated Western thriller starring Kodi Smit-McPhee opposite Caren Pistorius.

Tornado is set against the rugged backdrop of late 1700s Britain. The film follows Tornado, a young and determined Japanese woman who lands in the...

The script is lean, the sword edges keen and the characters mean in Tornado. The second feature from John Maclean – a long time coming since 2015’s Slow West – is a stripped back and propulsive affair centring on a Japanese puppeteer’s daughter, Tornado (model-turned-actress Kôki), who finds herself unexpectedly on the run from a gang of criminals led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) against the bleak and wild backdrop of 1790s Britain.

Maclean plunges us straight into a chase, with Tornado and a young boy (Nathan Malone) desperately fleeing Sugarman, his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden) and the rest of Sugarman’s cronies, before winding us back to show how a puppet show performance with her father (Takehiro Hira) – a skilful and entertaining interlude in its own right – led Tornado’s path to cross theirs.

Essentially a chase-and-fight film, it shares a lot of DNA with Slow West, just as the.

The Beta Band, the uncategorizable Scottish indie-rock band behind the beloved single “Dry the Rain,” will reunite this autumn for their first tour in over 20 years.

The foursome will launch their reunion trek in their native U.K. before heading to North America in October on a 14-date tour that begins in Vancouver and works its way eastward before concluding Nov. 1 at Brooklyn Steel.

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Over a five-year span at the turn of the millennium, the Beta Band released The Three E.

Ten years ago, John Maclean launched his directorial debut Slow West at the Sundance Film Festival, and in that 1860s Western film, the writer-director populated the story with immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Scotland who all mixed on the American frontier with Native Americans. For his second directorial effort Tornado, which opened the Glasgow Film Festival on Wednesday, the Scottish helmer applied a similar premise.

“Slow West was populated from people all over the world and I wanted to suggest the same thing in Britain,” Maclean tells Deadline of his newest film. “I had read and heard a few things about samurais turning up in Spain and, a bit later, turning up in Scotland. There was a bit of an exodus of samurais because they were changing position all the time in Japan and they were becoming less warriors and more guns for hire, or swords for hire, and they wandered.

It is now 10 years since John Maclean’s feature directorial debut Slow West and now he’s back with Tornado.

Opening this year’s Glasgow Film Festival in what is its world premiere this genre-splicing follow-up has shades of a Western all filmed in Scotland. We sit down with John Maclean, Tim Roth, Kōki & Takehiro Hira to talk gruelling shooting conditions and more.

Tickets for films and full programme available here.

You can watch the full interview below:

Plot:

A travelling Samurai show in Britain in 1790 crosses paths with ruthless criminals, but one of the performers, Tornado, hatches a plan to play them at their own game

The post John Maclean, Tim Roth, Kōki & Takehiro Hira on survival thriller Tornado appeared first on HeyUGuys.

From left, Allison Gardner, Rory McCann, John Maclean, Tim Roth, Kôki, Takehiro Hira Photo: Amber Wilkinson

Glasgow Film Festival opened its 25th edition last night - and the last with long-term director Allison Gardner at the helm - with the world premiere of John Maclean’s Scottish samurai movie Tornado.

The film, which sees a young woman (Kôki) going on the run from a gang of criminals led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden), played to packed and appreciative audience at Glasgow Film Theatre and was attended by the director, Roth, Kôki, Takehiro Hira, who plays her father in the film, and Rory McCann, who is one of Sugarman’s gang.

In a Q&a after the film, Maclean said he felt there was a similarity with his previous film Slow West.

Tim Roth, Kôki and John Maclean on Gff red carpet Photo: Courtesy of...

During the promotional tour for “Mad Max: Fury Road” back in 2015, director George Miller discussed how silent cinema had inspired the filmmaking ethos behind his chase-movie epic. His hope was that you could potentially watch “Fury Road” as a silent film and still get most of what you needed in terms of the story from the visual language and physical performances of the actors.

When it comes to milieu, the petrol-punk dystopia of “Mad Max” is far removed from the period-piece trappings of “Tornado,” writer-director John Maclean’s long-awaited follow-up to his offbeat western “Slow West” (2015). But for the length of its gripping first act, Maclean’s earthy survival thriller seems pointed towards very similar ends.

Light on dialogue and exposition, the roughly 25-minute opening stretch excels as a work of sustained tension, with the odd farcical stunt — reminding you that this is the same filmmaker behind the “Slow West...

The second feature from John Maclean is an almost surreal tale of itinerant martial arts performers and a band of thieves in 18th-century Scotland

John Maclean’s new movie is a dour, pessimistic, almost surrealistically downbeat revenge western set in Scotland in the late 18th century – but it could as well be happening in some post-apocalyptic landscape of the distant future or on another planet. This is the follow-up to his debut Slow West, and as with that film it is shot by Robbie Ryan with music by Jed Kurzel (director Justin’s brother and collaborator). I have to admit, though, that this does not quite have the energy or the fluency of that previous film, perhaps not the same production resources either – and by comparison it is more strenuously contrived. Yet the pure strangeness of the movie commands attention and there is a charismatic lead performance by Japanese actor-musician Mitsuki Kimura,...

The 21st edition of the Glasgow Film Festival kicks into gear on Wednesday (February 26) with the world premiere of survival thriller Tornado from Scottish filmmaker John Maclean. With stars Tim Roth and Japanese actors Kōki and Takehiro Hira set to be in attendance, it’s sure to be one of the highlights of the 12-day event.

But there are also another 12 world and European premieres, 66 UK premieres and 12 Scottish premieres from 38 countries as well as In Conversation talks with stars such as James McAvoy and Jessica Lange and more on offer at the festival this year. We’ve rounded up what we think are sure to be some of the key films and events during this year’s Gff.

Tornado – Opening Night

The festival is opening with the world premiere of survival thriller Tornado from Scottish filmmaker John Maclean. The film, which stars Tim Roth, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira and Kōki,...

A new James Bond favorite is slowly emerging and, much like fellow 007 favorite Henry Cavill, he’s something of a Zack Snyder staple. Scottish actor Stuart Martin, who is best recognized for his roles in Snyder’s Army of Thieves and Rebel Moon saga, has seen his odds improve as he gradually catches up with the likes of Kraven the Hunter star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, The Gentlemen’s Theo James, and Little Women actor James Norton as the top choice to take over the iconic role from Daniel Craig.

According to William Hill spokesperson, Lee Phelps (via GBNews), Stuart Martin’s emergence as another firm-favorite has been an “intriguing turn” in the ongoing search for the next James Bond, with the Slow West star now “a serious contender.”

“The search for Daniel Craig’s successor as James Bond has taken another intriguing turn, with Scottish actor Stuart Martin gaining significant attention...

Here are four more great shows to keep the spy-times rolling.

That’s a curtain call on the first season of Paramount+ with Showtime’s “The Agency,” a slick new spy thriller starring Michael Fassbender. After two months of suspenseful twists, the show aired its intense season finale on Friday, Jan. 24. Packed with espionage and emotional stakes, “The Agency” marked Fassbender’s return to TV in a big way, following his work in films like “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Slow West,” and most recently, “Next Goal Wins.”

In “The Agency,” Fassbender plays Martian, a seasoned CIA operative forced out of the shadows and back into the high-stakes world of London Station. With his past catching up in the form of old flames, unresolved missions, and dangerous new threats, Martian is caught in a web of intrigue. Alongside a stellar cast that includes Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Richard Gere,...

The Glasgow Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 21st edition this year and will host Glasgow-born Hollywood star James McAvoy to look back on his career during an “In Conversation” event.

“Across 12 packed days, Scotland’s largest annual celebration of cinema will showcase 92 world, U.K. and Scottish premieres from 39 countries,” including 12 world premieres, organizers said on Tuesday.

The gala world premiere of survival thriller Tornado, the sophomore feature from Scottish director John Maclean (Slow West), will open the fest on Feb. 26. “Set in the rugged landscape of 1790s Britain, Tornado (played by model-songwriter Kōki,) finds herself caught in a perilous situation when she and her father’s traveling puppet show crosses paths with a ruthless criminal gang led by Sugarman (Pulp Fiction star Tim Roth) and his ambitious son Little Sugar (Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden),” says a plot summary. “In an attempt to create a new life,...

The world premiere of John Maclean’sTornado, starring Tim Roth and Jack Lowden. will open the 21st edition of theGlasgow Film Festival (Gff).

The survival thriller, which shot on location in Scotland, is set in 1790s Britain. A woman named Tornado, played by Japanese model and songwriter Kōki, finds herself caught in peril when she and her father’s travelling puppet show cross paths with a ruthless criminal gang.Lionsgate UK will release the film theatrically in the UK and Ireland from May.

Maclean’s previous film was 2015 western Slow West starringMichael Fassbender.

Gff closes with the world premiere of...

As awards season heats up, From Ground Zero, Palestine’s Oscar entry that’s on the shortlist for Best International Feature, debuts this weekend at about 70 AMC locations in top 20 markets and select arthouses including the Quad in New York and Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles.

The documentary from Watermelon Pictures is a series of 22 video diaries by Palestinian filmmakers commissioned and assembled by Gaza native Rashid Masharawi that show what it’s like on the ground in Gaza trying to survive and keep families safe, fed and sheltered amid Israeli bombardments. Mostly shying away from politics, From Ground Zero is a view of life in hellish conditions that also finds hope in small moments of normalcy. Masharawi, who currently lives in France, set up a fund early in the Israel-Hamas war to support filmmaking in Gaza.

Watermelon and parent MPI Media took a risk opening soon after Oscar shortlists were unveiled,...

Slow West (2015) was never a typical Western movie. Though it contained the same genre beats, it set itself apart with its cast members, even as they followed the general tropes that have made the genre so popular and widespread. The concept of exploring the Wild West, facing off against enemies around every corner, and surviving in an inhospitable environment is downright fascinating. Yet, so far away from the Golden Age of Westerns, there is an entire swathe of Western movies that never managed to distinguish themselves in the great Western canon.

In an expansive collection of Western movies, it can be difficult to stand out against the true greats. It is almost impossible to surpass Dances With Wolves (1991), Red River (1948), or Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Luckily, there are still ways that modern Westerns can stand out. A great villain, alone, can set a movie apart from its contemporaries.

The 21st century has seen plenty of Western movies, yet there is one year in my opinion that stands out as the best for the genre. Throughout cinematic history, Westerns have been a staple of Hollywood. The stories of cowboys, gunslingers, and outlaws have risen and fallen depending on the period, but their legacy certainly remains. Certain Western tropes have permeated popular culture, and continue to be used today, not to mention all the stars born into this genre. However, I think Westerns truly reached their modern peak about nine years ago.

It may be surprising that there is one year specifically that does stick out among the rest. Admittedly, "best year for Westerns in the 21st century" is something difficult to define. Movies are often subjective, and what one viewer may love could be absolute torture for another. Yet, I loosely define the best year for Westerns in the...

Although it's a genre often associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood, Westerns have had a surprising resurgence in the 21st century. They may not dominate the box office and Academy Awards as they did decades prior, but there is certainly a good deal of modern classics that have earned their rightful place among the legends of the genre, from certified hits like Django Unchained to underrated gems like Slow West.

While it was once considered to be a genre as popular as superhero films are now, western cinema has faced somewhat of a decline in the last few years. If the box office disappointment of Kevin Costners ambitious passion project Horizon: An American Saga is an indication of anything, it's that viewers are much more adjusted to seeing sprawling westerns like Yellowstone or Godless at home. The possibility of a mass-market Western classic like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or Unforgiven existing today seems slight, but that doesnt mean that there arent filmmakers doing something interesting with the genre on a much smaller scale. John Macleans Western dark comedy Slow West has the makings of a future cult classic, which also features an extraordinary performance from Michael Fassbender.

Daniel Craig left some rather large shoes to fill after he exited as James Bond with his final Bond film “No Time to Die” in 2021. Three years on and we are seemingly no closer to finding out who the new 007 is than we were right after that movie. But… the debate around who we think should be the next Bond rages on, with every film fan having their own thoughts on who would be best suited for the role.

Craig himself was a stark departure from the ultra-suave Pierce Brosnan before him, with Craig bringing more grit, brutality, and gruff vulnerability to the role. Will producer Barbara Broccoli go for the same type as Craig, will they revert back to the smoothness of a Brosnan-type, or will they go for something different entirely? Well, here’s an extensive list of 30 actors who could theoretically take up the mantle of 007 next.

The highly anticipated “Sonic the Hedgehog” TV series spinoff, “Knuckles,” is here and it includes a smashingly great cast that’s ready to hit you with your favorite Sega characters.

The six-episode live-action series made its premiere on Friday, April 26. According to Paramount+, the series “follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior.” The show takes place between the films “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and was made by many of the same people involved in the films.

The series was created for television by John Whittington and Toby Ascher, who also serve as showrunners during production.

Here’s a complete “Knuckles” cast and character guide. All six episodes are now streaming on Paramount+.

Idris Elba as Knuckles Idris Elba and Knuckles...

Exclusive: Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films has acquired the film rights to one of the hottest theater shows around: the Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of Oscar Wilde classic The Picture Of Dorian Gray, which has recently been lighting up London’s West End.

Sarah Snook has garnered raves for her performance in the latest iteration of the show and last Sunday the Succession star scored an Olivier Award for Best Actress.

Dirty Films partner Andrew Upton is working with the show’s mastermind Kip Williams on a treatment based on the technically dazzling one woman show, which sees its protagonist play 26 roles. The part was first performed by Eryn Jean Norvill in multiple sell-out runs across Australia. Oscar winner Blanchett attended the most recent run’s opening night in London earlier this year.

Co-producers on the film will be Rachel Gardner and Jo Porter of Australian company Curio Pictures,...

Exclusive: IFC Films and Shudder have acquired North American rights to John Maclean’s survival thriller Tornado featuring Tim Roth, Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden and Japanese star Kōki.

The follow-up to 2015’s Slow West will stream exclusively on AMC streamer Shudder in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with a theatrical release through IFC Films.

Tornado stars Academy Award-winner Roth, Lowden, Takehiro Hira (Giri/Haji) and Japanese star Mitsuki Kimura, known as Kōki (Touch). Set in 1790s Britain, it follows the eponymous lead (Kōki), a young and determined Japanese woman who finds herself caught in a perilous situation when she and her father’s (Takehiro) travelling puppet Samurai show crosses paths with a gang of ruthless criminals led by Sugarman (Roth) and his ambitious son Little Sugar (Lowden). In an attempt to create a new life for herself, Tornado seizes the opportunity to take matters into her own...

Variety has a first look at “The Damned,” the upcoming psychological horror starring Odessa Young and Joe Cole.

From director Thordur Palsson (“The Valhalla Murders”) and writer Jamie Hannigan, the film, which shot in Iceland last year, follows Eva (Young), a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing outpost in the middle of an especially cruel winter. According to the synopsis, “Eva and her crew must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked and prioritising their own survival. Facing the consequences of their choice and tormented by their guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices.”

Alongside Young and Cole, the cast also includes Siobhan Finneran (“Happy Valley,” “The Stranger”), Rory McCann (“Game of Thrones,” “Slow West”), Turlough Convery (“Killing Eve,” “Belfast”), Lewis Gribben (“Somewhere Boy,...

2015 saw the release of multiple key Westerns, including but not limited to Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight and the brilliantly meditative Slow West, but that year's Natalie Portman-led Jane Got a Gun is also worthy of ongoing admiration for its visceral simplicity. While dauntingly wedged between the aforementioned stalwart films as well as the blockbuster, The Revenant, Jane Got a Gun nonetheless delivers ample excitement to go along with its considerable star wattage. Always versatile, Portman is perhaps best known for her parts in romantic dramas, comedies, and dramedies, That being said, her haunting work in Darren Aronofsky's phantasmagoric Black Swan remains close to her best work.

Tornado is the second film from director John Maclean, and it’s just started filming in Scotland. More here:

Here’s a slightly bittersweet story about a filmmaker who made an excellent debut feature and then seemed to disappear. The good bit is – he’s back!

Still, we’ll start with the bitter bit if that’s okay with you. Back in 2015, John Maclean made his directorial debut with the slim, compelling western Slow West. Starring Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee, it’s a terrific western that Maclean also wrote. Yet after he made it, those hoping for a follow-up feature soon after would be disappointed. In fact, it’s taken nearly a decade to get to that point.

He told me back in 2015, back when I was elsewhere, that he worked on one film at a time. His next movie was never going to be quick, but still: it...

UK actor Tim Roth has joined John Maclean’s survival thriller Tornado as principal photography gets underway in Scotland, with HanWay Films on board for sales.

Roth, whose credits include Pulp Fiction and TV series Tin Star, joins the previously announced cast of Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden, Giri/Haji’s Takehiro Hira and Koki, who will also appear in Baltasar Kormakur’s upcoming feature Touch.

Tornado has pre-sold in a raft of territories, including Lionsgate UK which has picked up UK and Ireland rights, The Jokers in France, September Films in Benelux, M2 in Central Europe, McF in former Yugoslavia,...

Not all classic westerns rely on high-octane action scenes; some focus on rounding out characters and conveying social commentary. Slow West, The Sisters Brothers, and True Grit are examples of western movies that prioritize character development over action. The Power of the Dog, Bad Day at Black Rock, and Killers of the Flower Moon explore psychological turmoil and societal issues within the western genre.

The western genre traditionally relies on shootouts, train robberies, and horseback chases to keep its audience entertained, but not every western movie needs to lean into high-octane action scenes to captivate viewers. Shane has a brutal bar brawl, The Wild Bunch has a blood-soaked gunfight, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly forces its characters to cross an active Civil War battlefield. But not every classic western is as action-heavy as them.

Rio Bravo spends most of its runtime hanging around with the characters while...

International filmmakers brought a fresh, critical perspective to the American western genre, showcasing morally gray antiheroes and blood-soaked violence. Films like Sukiyaki Western Django and El Topo took the western genre to new, dark, and twisted places, blending different cultural influences and unconventional storytelling. Directors like Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Leone pushed the boundaries of the western genre, creating subversive and truly iconic films like The Great Silence and Once Upon a Time in the West.

The western is a traditional American genre, but from The Salvation to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, some of the greatest westerns ever made were produced internationally. The earliest westerns directed by American pioneers like John Ford and Howard Hawks told clear-cut black-and-white stories about good triumphing over evil. When international filmmakers got their hands on the western genre, they had no emotional connection to the United States and therefore depicted the...

Early in music supervisor Lucy Bright’s career, she worked at Warner Classics and managed composer Michael Nyman. In 2020 she started Bright Notion Music, her own music publishing company, which has signed composers such as Hildur Guðnadóttir, Oliver Coates, and Anne Nikitin. She is known for critically acclaimed British films such as The Arbor and Slow West and more recently Tár, where her classical understanding and personal familiarity with the composers referenced in the script, helped create the movie that was named Best Picture by several major critics associations. Bright was also awarded the first ever prize for music supervision […]

The post “I Wish Film Schools Would Teach Directors and Producers More About Music Rights”: Music Supervisor Lucy Bright first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Early in music supervisor Lucy Bright’s career, she worked at Warner Classics and managed composer Michael Nyman. In 2020 she started Bright Notion Music, her own music publishing company, which has signed composers such as Hildur Guðnadóttir, Oliver Coates, and Anne Nikitin. She is known for critically acclaimed British films such as The Arbor and Slow West and more recently Tár, where her classical understanding and personal familiarity with the composers referenced in the script, helped create the movie that was named Best Picture by several major critics associations. Bright was also awarded the first ever prize for music supervision […]

The post “I Wish Film Schools Would Teach Directors and Producers More About Music Rights”: Music Supervisor Lucy Bright first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Michael Fassbender was born on 2nd April 1977 to a German father, Josef, and an Irish mother, Adele. When he was two, his family relocated to Killarney, a town in south-west Ireland. His parents managed a restaurant, with his father donning the hat of a chef.

Michael Fassbender. Depositphotos

Growing up in a multicultural household, Fassbender was exposed to both German and Irish culture. Despite this, he was primarily raised in Ireland and considers himself Irish. He has an older sister, Catherine, who is a noted neuropsychologist.

Fassbender’s interest in acting was stirred at a young age. At 19, he left home to study at the Drama Centre London. However, he dropped out in 1999 to perform in the play ‘Three Sisters’ with the Oxford Stage Company.

Before finding steady work as an actor, Fassbender held a variety of jobs. He worked as a bartender, postman, manual laborer, market researcher for Royal Mail,...

The Killer is Michael Fassbender's highest-rated movie since Slow West on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic score of 87%. Fassbender's movies have generally been met with mediocre reception since 2015, with Alien: Covenant and The Light Between Oceans being his best-rated films during that period. Following Fassbender's hiatus from acting and the underwhelming response to his movies before the break, he seems ready to make a comeback with The Killer and future projects.

Despite his reputation as a great actor, Michael Fassbender's movies weren't faring well critically, but the release of The Killer has broken his disappointing Rotten Tomatoes streak. Fassbender rose to prominence when he played young Magneto in the X-Men prequel movies. He then gained more respect as an actor with his performances in 12 Years a Slave and Steve Jobs, which are among Michael Fassbender's best movies, with both earning him Oscar nominations. However, since 2015, Fassbender-led movies have...

Ever since the dawn of the genre, American Westerns have been dominated by larger-than-life heroes. While this is generally a fun way to celebrate heroes that would go on to influence science fiction heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, Westerns often were led by exaggerated male archetypes. It increasingly became a rougher, more hostile genre where physicality, violence, and disrespectful treatment of women became common. Many more fictitious Westerns that didn’t incorporate any shreds of history would surely feature a lonesome hero saving a woman from danger, and the Westerns that paid closer attention to historical detail were almost guaranteed to show the more brutal side of it. It left modern filmmakers reapproaching the genre with the role of reinventing the genre, which first-time filmmaker John Maclean did brilliantly with his 2015 A24 western Slow West. A subversive, slickly stylized dark comedy-thriller, Slow West is both a sort of...

This year has seen the release of several new comedic golds, including Beef, Mrs. Davis, and Apple TV+'s Shrinking, as well as a slew of returning shows, like Ted Lasso, Succession, and Barry. While most of these have been hugely successful as they captivated audiences from the start through the end with flawless comedic timing, a handful of them have kept viewers coming back for more. To add more to the year's collection, Prime Video is releasing an exciting comedy series, Deadloch.

Deadloch is an upcoming comedy series co-created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan that will star Kate Box and Madeleine Sami. The series, produced by Amazon Studios, Guesswork Television, and Ok Great Productions, will combine a riveting mystery storyline with the Kates' signature sense of humor. That said, here's everything you need to know about Deadloch, the forthcoming mystery comedy series on Prime Video.

Deadloch: The Plot...

Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira and Kōki star.

UK sales agent HanWay Films has taken on John Maclean’s sophomore feature, survival thriller Tornado, starring Benediction’s Jack Lowden and Giri/Haji’s Takehiro Hira.

Japanese star Kōki, who stars in Baltasar Kormákur’s upcoming drama Touch, also joins the cast.

Maclean’s debut Slow West premiered at Sundance in 2015, winning the world cinema jury prize.

The producers are Leonora Darby, James Harris and Mark Lane from leading UK genre outfit Tea Shop Productions. Maclean has also written the script.

It is set in the rugged landscape of 1790s Britain. A...

Slow Horses star Jack Lowden is leading a John Maclean-helmed survival thriller that will be taken to Cannes Market by HanWay Films.

Lowden is starring opposite Takehiro Hira (Giri/Haji) and Kōki (Touch) in Tornado.

Set in the rugged landscape of 1790s Britain, Tornado travelling puppet Samurai show crosses paths with a gang of ruthless criminals led by Sugarman and his ambitious son Little Sugar (Lowden). In an attempt to create a new life for herself, Tornado seizes the opportunity to take matters into her own hands and steal the gold from their most recent heist.

HanWay has boarded and will launch sales at next week’s Cannes.

Maclean is a BAFTA-winning director whose feature directorial debut, the Michael Fassbender-starring Slow West, won the World...

Joe Cole has been announced as joining the cast of a new psychological horror from award-winning director Thordur Palsson, ‘The Damned.’

Joining Cole and previously announced Odessa Young on the cast are Siobhan Finneran, Rory McCann (Game of Thrones, Slow West), Turlough Convery (Killing Eve, Belfast), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy, Deadwater Fell), Francis Magee (Kin, The Tourist), Mícheál Óg Lane (The Guard, Calvary) and Andrean Sigurgeirsson (A Song Called Hate).

The horror follows Eva, a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when, in the middle of an especially cruel winter, a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing post. Eva and her crew must choose to either rescue the shipwrecked or survive the winter with their last remaining food. Facing the consequences of their choice and tormented by their guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they...

The conversation about who could be the next James Bond is, seemingly, eternal. And we’re here to keep peddling that topic of discussion until the new 007 is officially announced (and then we’ll start talking about who could be the next Bond after that). Bond boss Barbara Broccoli has said that a new Bond film is some way off still but given that Daniel Craig‘s final outing as Britain’s best spy came in 2021 (“No Time to Die”), surely some news on the new Bond is coming soon? Either way, here are 30 actors we think would be incredible as agent 007.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Taylor-Johnson is fast becoming the bookies’ favorite. Broccoli said that they are looking for an actor to be Bond for around 15 years. At 32, Taylor-Johnson would tick that box. Plus, the actor has some experience in a big franchise — he starred as Pietro Maximoff in the MCU...

Home to films like “Lady Bird,” “Eighth Grade” and “Mid90s,” A24 is synonymous with a certain brand of indie, auteur-driven coming-of-age story. The company’s latest is “Funny Pages,” the debut feature film from writer-director Owen Kline (who you might recognize as Frank from “The Squid and the Whale”). Set in the suburbs of New Jersey, “Funny Pages” follows Robert (Daniel Zolghadri), a talented high schooler determined to make his way as a cartoonist. When his beloved teacher suddenly passes away, he rebels against his upper-middle class upbringing and abandons future plans to attend art school.

Robert’s decision to drop out of school, rent sketchy (i.e. illegal) lodgings in a boiler room and take a low-paying assistant job bring him into the path of Wallace (Matthew Maher), a former employee at one of the comic magazines Robert idolizes. With the singular goal of getting Wallace to mentor him,...

The Western genre waned in popularity in the 1980s, but 21st-century cinema still has the occasional film that harks to its heyday. Most of these are genre hybrids, like Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” or S. Craig Zahler’s “Bone Tomahawk,” while others, like “Meek’s Cutoff” or “Slow West” attend to the genre’s classic nuances.

Read More: ‘The Fall Guy’: Emily Blunt Joins Ryan Gosling In David Leitch’s Take On The Classic TV Series With Ryan Gosling

Now, Amazon & BBC will bring their take on the Western to Prime Video this fall with an all-new limited series.

Continue reading ‘The English’ First Look: Emily Blunt & Chaske Spencer Star In New Western Limited Series On Amazon Prime Video at The Playlist.

August is here, which means summer is winding down and the options at your local multiplex are starting to become a bit slimmer. Not to worry, though, because a bevy of new titles are streaming this month, offering a ton of new movies — both newly streaming films and genuine new releases — to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. Below, we’ve rounded up a list of some of the best new movies to stream in August, which runs the gamut from a new “Predator” prequel to a vampire action comedy to a pair of brand new animated films.

Belle Studio Chizu

August 1, HBO Max

One of last year’s very best animated features, “Belle” hails from Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda. A 21st century take on “Beauty and the Beast,” “Belle” concerns a young girl who refashions herself as a pop princess in a virtual space known as the U.

And just like that, winter has come again. HBO Max’s list of new releases for August 2022 is highlighted by the return of the king. Or more accurately: the return of the queen … of the Seven Kingdoms.

Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon is set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Aug. 21, just over three years after Game of Thrones concluded in controversial fashion with “The Iron Throne.” This new series is a prequel, depicting the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons from George R.R. Martin’s lore. When dragon fights dragon, the realm will be torn asunder. But the viewer will certainly delight in all the Targaryen action.

Read more TV How House of the Dragon Is Approaching the Game of Thrones Ending Backlash By David Crow TV House of the Dragon: What Rickard Stark Means for the Game of Thrones Spinoff...

An impressive slate of A24 films are coming to HBO Max next month, including Oscar-winners like 2015’s “Room” and Alex Garland’s directorial debut “Ex Machina.”

A total of 28 A24 films will arrive on the streamer on Aug. 1, timed to the studio’s tenth anniversary and marking the largest collection of A24 films made available to stream on the platform. Much of the lineup consists of films released prior to 2016, when A24 was still a distribution house and not yet the full-fledged studio it is today.

Some buzzy titles such as “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Eighth Grade,” “Mid90s” and dozens more are not on this list because of prior deals the studio set up with other streamers. Most A24 films can be found on Apple TV+ and Showtime, who set up deals to serve as the home for a number of their digital releases in 2018 and 2019, respectively. But as those deals near a close,...

2022 Oscar nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog) has signed on to star alongside Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline in Apple TV+’s upcoming series Disclaimer created by Alfonso Cuarón, which also has Sacha Baron Cohen in talks for a role, Deadline can confirm.

The Ankler was first to report the news. Oscar winner Cuarón is writing, directing and exec producing his first-ever series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Renée Knight. In it, Blanchett will play Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past, one that reveals her darkest secret.

Cuarón’s...

Kodi Smit-McPhee has maintained a stronghold this awards season for his work as Peter Gordon in Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog,” winning the most critics prizes, including the Golden Globe for best supporting actor. However, he doesn’t take his acting craft for granted and is still learning with each new outing.

“I always treat myself as a student, not only my craft but of the world,” McPhee tells Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I’m in a constant state of observing and acting like a sponge and taking everything in. I’ve always been one, in terms of the material, I’m very picky with. I love the element of surprise. I’m sure, quite soon down the track, I’m going to have more creative control over the navigation of my industry. I like the material that shows up figuratively on my doorstep. It’s not broken in that sense.

Kodi Smit-McPhee is earning dozens of accolades for his enigmatic performance in “The Power of the Dog,” and the young star just earned his first Oscar nomination. The actor plays Peter Gordon, a sensitive young man who is tormented by his uncle.

Smit-McPhee spoke with Gold Derby senior editor Daniel Montgomery in December about finding the physicality of Peter, working alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and what it’s been like to be recognized for his work. Watch the exclusive interview above and read the complete transcript below.

SEEKirsten Dunst interview: ‘The Power of the Dog’

Gold Derby: So much of the story hinges on what’s going on in Peter’s head a lot of the time, but so much of it goes unspoken, is mysterious. How do you go about getting into that frame of mind and conveying that without sort of giving anything away and also really dancing that...