wed 27/11/2024

TV

Paris Has Fallen, Prime Video review - Afghan war veteran wreaks a terrible vengeance

You might assume that the “Has Fallen” in the title of this Anglo-French thriller connotes the presence of Scottish lunk Gerard Butler (as in Angel Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Olympus Has Fallen), but there’s no Gerard in sight. Instead, in...

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Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, BBC One review - handsome finale for Hilary Mantel adaptation

“Previously on Wolf Hall…” It’s been nine years since Claire Foy memorably trembled her way to the block as Anne Boleyn, recapped at the start of the second and final season of the BBC’s handsome Hilary Mantel adaptation. It’s a deathbound affair...

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The Day of the Jackal, Sky Atlantic review - Frederick Forsyth's assassin gets a modern-day makeover

Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film The Day of the Jackal was successful thanks to its lean, almost documentary-like treatment of its story of a professional assassin methodically stalking his prey, French President Charles de Gaulle. Based on Frederick...

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Until I Kill You, ITV1 review - superb performances in a frustrating true-crime story

The latest true-crime adaptation about a murderous man and his female victims turns its star into a bloody mess on a hospital table, her vital signs flatlining. And that’s just halfway through, with two episodes to go. At least the second half...

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Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Disney+ review - the Boss grows older defiantly

Director Thom Zimny has become the audio-visual Boswell to Bruce Springsteen’s Samuel Johnson, having made documentaries about the making of Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, Springsteen On Broadway and several more. Road Diary takes as...

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Industry, BBC One review - bold, addictive saga about corporate culture now

All three seasons of Industry are now on iPlayer, and after watching the most recent one and then backtracking for another look at the other two, I am still in two minds about it. With its forensic display of a toxic world where people are viewed as...

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Rivals, Disney+ review - adultery, skulduggery and political incorrectness

Delirium has greeted Disney’s eight-part adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel Rivals (part of her Rutshire Chronicles series).Perhaps it’s nostalgia for the previously-unloved Eighties, or maybe it’s because its non-stop conveyor belt of adultery...

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Disclaimer, Apple TV+ review - a misfiring revenge saga from Alfonso Cuarón

It seems to be silly season for big-name directors. First, Coppola’s Megalopolis and Steve McQueen’s Blitz: why? Now Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer: double why?What happens in the minds of directors whose careers have matured and whose audiences have...

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Ludwig, BBC One review - entertaining spin on the brainy detective formula

The latest incarnation of David Mitchell, TV actor, looks at first sight much like the familar one from Peep Show and Back. Not a pufflepant in sight. His only costume change for Ludwig is a pair of wire-frame spectacles. HIs role is...

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The Hardacres, Channel 5 review - a fishy tale of upward mobility

Set in Yorkshire in the 1890s, and based on the novels by CL Skelton, The Hardacres is the story of the titular family who, it seems, were pioneers of takeaway fish, although not accompanied by chips. It’s their stall selling fried herring fresh...

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Joan, ITV1 review - the roller-coaster career of a 1980s jewel thief

If you’re looking for an advertisement for how crime doesn’t pay, Joan will do very nicely. Written by Anna Symon, this six-part series is based on the memoirs of real-life jewel thief Joan Hannington, whose light-fingered accomplishments earned her...

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The Penguin, Sky Atlantic review - power, corruption, lies and prosthetics

Is there no limit to the number of times the comic book heroes and villains from Marvel and DC can be recycled? HBO’s The Penguin (showing on Sky Atlantic) is a spin-off from Matt Reeves’s 2022 film The Batman, which starred Robert Pattinson in the...

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