Bill Nighy

Arthur Christmas

Jolly enough, but lacking usual Aardman Animation wit and charm

14 Nov 2011

(U) 97mins In over two decades since Wallace and Gromit’s A Grand Day Out, Aardman Animation have become a byword for family entertainment, but Arthur Christmas, their latest attempt at a blockbuster, never reaches the same lovable heights. As he…

Wild Target

9 Jun 2010

(12A) 90min Hitman farce Wild Target consistently shoots wide of the mark in spite of some promising ingredients. A remake of 1994 French film, it’s directed by Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny, The Whole Nine Yards) and boasts a strong cast…

Colin Farrell kicks ass in new Total Recall trailer

Updated CGI, a Biel v Beckinsale punch-up and Bill Nighy among the trailer highlights

2 Apr 2012

Fans of 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Total Recall have had little reason to be impressed by the forthcoming remake of Arnie's second best film (it’s not a patch on T2): casting Colin Farrell in the lead alongside almost forgotten female leads…

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

By-the-numbers old age comedy drama

10 Feb 2012

Early in this by-the-numbers comedy drama, a young salesperson eagerly enthuses to retiring couple Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) that 'the grey pound is very strong at the moment'. We’re quite clearly supposed to see this…

Wrath of the Titans

Sloppy sequel with poorly defined characters, starring Sam Worthington and Liam Neeson

2 Apr 2012

From its flimsy concept to its similarly sloppy use of post-conversion 3D, Wrath of the Titans is a sequel that fails to improve on the original in any way. Set 10 years after the events of Clash of the Titans, this pointless follow-up invents a…

Chalet Girl - Crowd-pleasing film marks arrival of Felicity Jones

Watchable despite sitcom-style humour and stereotypical characters

2 Mar 2011

(12A) 96min Felicity Jones is hitherto best known as the voice of Emma Carter on The Archers but by the end of 2011 she could well be regarded as one of Britain's most talented young movie stars. A winner at Sundance for indie drama Like Crazy…

Astro Boy

28 Jan 2010

(PG) 93min A popular manga in Japan since 1952, and a cult TV show in the US since the early 1980s, Astro Boy makes a bid for worldwide domination in this flashy but flatly realised animation from director David Flushed Away Bowers. Freddie…

Hats off for Bill Nighy

Celebrity Gossip

22 Nov 2009

Bill Nighy would rather "kill himself" than wear a baseball cap. The 'Love Actually' star insists he never feels the need to disguise himself to avoid being recognised, and insists he is too old to start hiding himself under headwear. He said…

Glorious 39 - Stephen Poliakoff interview

Shooting the past

13 Nov 2009

Stephen Poliakoff wanted to take the subject of Nazi appeasement and turn it into a thriller for the big screen. Brian Donaldson hears how he succeeded

Glorious 39

13 Nov 2009

(12A) 122mins Ten minutes in to Glorious 39 and you are left in no doubt that this is a Stephen Poliakoff production. There’s the stately country pile, the lavish aristo picnic, the soaring score, a sensational cast of British talent (Christopher…

Also Released - Film

22 Jan 2009

Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans (15) 102min •• Movie mogul Len Wiseman’s madly popular horror-action hybrid series gets serious with this prequel to the first Underworld film. Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy reprise their roles as werewolf Lucian and…

Valkyrie

22 Jan 2009

THRILLER Secret Germany and the 20 July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler get the 24 treatment in Bryan X-Men Singer’s engaging new thriller. Months before the end of World War II, aristocratic Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise…

Notes on a Scandal

29 Jan 2007

Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) - note that grasping surname - is not a popular figure at the North London comprehensive where she teaches history. To the staff and the students she is, in her own words, ‘a battleaxe’, and to the headmaster, she is an…