movies
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Nightmares in the dream factory: how Hollywood scams would-be child starsAs awards season heats up, watchdogs warn of fashion and film scams meant to part parents from their savings by exploiting naivety and lust for instant fame -
Ruth Negga: 'There are films that really mark you. Loving is one of those for me'The Ethiopian-Irish actor has shot to fame thanks to a restrained performance in the interracial marriage drama Loving. And now she has an Oscar nomination…
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Garth Jennings: ‘I was so stressed, awake at 3am thinking: What have I done?’The writer/director of Son of Rambow on surviving his first animation, using his sons as piglets, and the French view of Brexit -
Begbie’s balcony and Spud’s cafe: classic Trainspotting haunts 20 years onAs T2 Trainspotting is released, we rediscover the original film’s gritty locations in Glasgow
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Matthew McConaughey: ‘My agent said no to romcoms. And then there was nothing’The actor reveals how his risk-taking, high-rolling parents inspired his biggest gambles – and why they’ve paid off
Sundance 2017
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The Force review – admirably layered police documentary falls short at climaxOutstanding access and an unobtrusive approach almost make up for some unexplored leads and an anti-climactic ending
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City of Ghosts review: could be the definitive Syria documentaryCartel Land director Matthew Heineman’s film on citizen journalist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently reveals the reality of life in Isis territory
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Flying Lotus reacts to walkouts at Kuso's Sundance screening: 'I tried to warn folks'Musician’s first feature-length film prompted some to leave screening due to its graphic content, with one site calling it the ‘grossest movie ever made’
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Newness review: swipe left on this shallow dating dramaNicholas Hoult and Laia Costa are a dull millennial couple addicted to Tinder in this visually slick yet emotionally vapid take on modern relationships
best films of 2016
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The 50 best films of 2016 in the US: the full listThe Guardian film team’s favourite movies released in the US this year
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The 50 best films of 2016 in the US: No 1 MoonlightOur countdown of 2016’s top films concludes as Benjamin Lee salutes a poetic and poignant movie that depicted the life of a gay black man with heart-swelling humanity
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The 50 best films of 2016 in the US: No 2 Toni ErdmannAs our countdown nears its conclusion, Catherine Shoard picks – in joint second place – a German comedy that pokes extravagant fun at work, life and imbalanced family ties
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the priciest ore is a bore in Matthew McConaughey misfireAn allegedly true story emerges as a lackluster riff on American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street with a scrappy turn from an overly disguised lead star
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Asghar Farhadi offers layers of Willy LomanA middle-class couple start to see cracks in the brickwork in the A Separation director’s new drama, a deft spin on Arthur Miller’s play
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women racers roar around the West BankEntertaining doc about a team of car nuts on the speed rally circuit hits plenty of hot-button topics without being preachy
video & audio
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John Hurt, diverse actor of screen and stage, dies at 77 – video obituaryJohn Hurt, the British actor famed for his wide-ranging roles in films as diverse as Harry Potter, Alien and The Elephant Man, has died at the age of 77
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Joan Collins in the trailer for The Time of Their Lives – videoJoan Collins stars in a British comedy about a former Hollywood sex siren stuck in a retirement home, who heads for France to be at her ex-lover’s funeral
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Among the ghosts of Cambodia’s killing fields: on the set of Angelina Jolie’s new film – podcastCan the Hollywood star’s Khmer-language film – with an all-Cambodian cast and crew – help a nation to confront the horrors of its past?
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Jawbone trailer: exclusive first look at Ray Winstone boxing movie – videoReleased in the UK on 10 March, Thomas Q Napper’s buzzy debut features Johnny Harris as a former youth boxing champion
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Cate Blanchett trash talks Trump to Jimmy Fallon – videoAustralian actor describes Donald Trump’s ascendancy as ‘absurd and ridiculous’
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David Stratton: A Cinematic Life trailer – videoNicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Geoffrey Rush pay tribute to the Australian film critic
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Amour star Emmanuelle Riva: cinematic icon in two different erasModern audiences know the formidable Riva as the stroke victim in the heartwrenching Amour, but she made her name in the French new wave with powerfully sexual performances
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In praise of Resident Evil: the horror stalwart that refuses to dieIt started as a cult game that scared a generation before spawning a film franchise that is about to call it a day. For one writer, it’s still body horror at its best
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T2 Trainspotting: discuss Danny Boyle's sequel with spoilersChoose a follow-up? What did you think of the soundtrack, the transformations and the exploits of the re-formed cast of characters, 20 years after the original?
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SAG predictions: who will win – and who should winThe acting guild rewards the best performances in TV and film and this year suggests big wins for Viola Davis, Sarah Paulson, Casey Affleck and Emma Stone
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Toni Erdmann’s Sandra Hüller: ‘Everybody knows the German clichés. Maybe they're true'The star of the Oscar-tipped German comedy talks about growing up in East Germany and why one film – however good – is unlikely to change preconceptions about her country
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Jeff Nichols on Loving: 'You can't grow up in the American south and not confront race issues'The Lovings were a Virginian couple who endured midnight raids and were forced to leave their home. Their crime? Interracial marriage. Jeff Nichols on how he filmed the explosive case that changed US history
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Janelle Monáe: ‘I am the whole package’She’s a musician whose work has brought her massive acclaim. She’s also an outspoken activist in the Black Lives Matter movement, and now Janelle Monáe is in Moonlight, one of the most talked about films of the year
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Maren Ade: ‘Toni Erdmann’s humour comes out of a big desperation’The German writer-director on how her dad inspired her surprise hit comedy-drama, why the Golden Globes was bizarre and why she won’t do a US remake
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Geeta and Babita Phogat: ‘Our father taught us never to be scared'The highest-grossing Bollywood film ever isn’t a romance, but the true story of sisters from a rural village who became world-class wrestlers. Now they’re hoping their sudden fame will inspire other Indian women to break free
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Natalie Portman: ‘JFK was a great proponent of civil rights. Trump is taking us backwards’The Oscar-tipped star of Jackie talks about playing the widowed first lady of the progressive president and why the new inauguration is an ‘upsetting moment’
regulars
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UK box office reportUK box office reportUK box office still in love with Oscars darling La La LandDamien Chazelle’s musical paean to Hollywood outshines James McAvoy in Split and Vin Diesel’s return as action hero Xander Cage
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Charlie Lyne's home entertainmentCharlie Lyne's home entertainment555: would you pay good money for a hipster sketch series?Vimeo are the next streaming site to do original programming, but their surreal show about a bunch of Hollywood misfits could be worth coughing up for
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Mark Kermode's film of the weekMark Kermode's film of the weekT2 Trainspotting review – still in a class A of their ownDanny Boyle’s long-awaited sequel to the era-defining Trainspotting is a vibrant and welcome reunion
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Guy Lodge on DVDs and downloadsGuy Lodge on DVDs and downloadsBridget Jones’s Baby; Deepwater Horizon; War on Everyone and more – reviewComforts, catastrophes and chills in a week dominated by Renée Zellweger’s return as the klutzy singleton and Mark Walhlberg’s heroics in the Mexican Gulf
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Week in geekWeek in geekCan James Cameron switch Terminator back on?The sci-fi series has long been foundering, but the return of the original film’s director to the fold could offer the chance of a creative hard reset
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John PattersonJohn PattersonMary Tyler Moore: a true cultural icon who changed the face of televisionMoore ripped up the TV rulebook by bringing feminism to the small screen and with her own company went on to produce some of the best shows ever seen
you may have missed
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The best battle scenes ever shot from Apocalypse Now to Hacksaw RidgeThe people behind the cameras, stunts and special effects on six classic war movies explain their creation
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Worth the weight? The actors who made drastic body changes for terrible moviesMatthew McConaughey was the latest to hope a major makeover would help him nab an Oscar, but tepid reviews for Gold have seen him join these unlucky actors
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The Discovery review: everyone but Jason Segel and Rooney Mara wants to dieRobert Redford has discovered the afterlife so everyone is trying to get there fast in this slack-paced, heavily-signposted love story
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The legend of Zelda: Christina Ricci’s Fitzgerald is a confused clicheZ: The Beginning Of Everything attempts to chart the flapper icon’s thrilling rise to intoxicating muse but its portrayal of the jazz age is disappointingly pedestrian
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Lost in London review: Woody Harrelson's live movie is a miraculous oddityShot in a single take and broadcast live to 500 cinemas, Harrelson’s directorial debut is a unique work that fuses technical wizardry with self-deprecating satire
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Taxi Driver: the awkward teen of US cinemaIn Travis Bickle, Scorsese, Schrader and De Niro created an embodiment of 1970s disenfranchisement. Hate-filled and fond of firearms, he speaks to our age too
And the real winner is… welcome to the Observer’s alternative Oscars