Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under “Barbican Station”. This episode I talk with Scott from the SpyHards podcast about all the action in episode one, Circle of Life. We get into shocking returns, no pay and funeral wear. We do some investigative reporting on actor heights, talk about least preferred ways to be murdered and why you should always be careful where you point your laser. Plus, who are all the surprise guests at this funeral! All that and…

The Weight begs comparison to the Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1953 French classic Wages of Fear, remade in 1977 as Sorcerer by director William Friedkin. Like his predecessors, first-time director Padraic McKinley offers a stripped-down Depression Era story about men facing perilous conditions as they transport gold through the wilds of Oregon. An action-oriented plot kicks in when the warden of a camp prison (Russell Crowe) offers Ethan Hawke’s Murphy an opportunity to win a pardon. Wrongly…

Linnea Berthelsen in Darkling, Bush Theatre. Photo: Alex Brenner A happy childhood in a play is like having a Chekhov’s gun: you are waiting for it to go off, for something to go wrong and Darkling at the Bush Theatre is no different. I confess I knew nothing of Bhopal, where the play is set, and so my thoughts were going in all different directions about what might unfold, but nothing prepared me. She (Linnea Berthelsen) lives with her father and sister and is a bubbly, happy child despite the…

I didn’t realize that the Coyote vs. Acme movie is based on a short piece in The New Yorker from 1990, by Ian Frazier. They’re both good!

A pair of short films connected more by technique than content, being playful arrangements of stock footage accompanied by music. A Movie (1958) was the first film made by artist Bruce Conner, and is usually described as being one of the first films to draw attention to the medium itself. Film-makers have been foregrounding film techniques since the silent days but Conner pulls apart established conventions: putting title cards in the wrong place, mixing comic montages with scenes of real death…

The premier of the stage play “We Interrupt This Program” (October 2026) at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois, contains string imagery in its social media advertising.

American-born dancer, singer, and actress Josephine Baker spent most of her career performing in France.

Selwyn Raab, James L. Swanson, Charles Manson, and more in today's reading round-up.

I almost decided to skip this week’s blog entry because the subject matter is sickening, but I can’t stop myself from standing on my soapbox and yelling my opinion at the world. Deacon Jim Miller, so named because he was a respected church attending man, was born in 1865. When he was 8 years old, the Sheriff concluded he shot and killed his grandparents and lied about it. His grandparents were his caretakers at the time. It was 1873 and nobody knew what to do with an 8-year-old homicidal…

The Drama 2026, Kristoffer Borgli My rating: I like it This starts like a generic romcom but soon evolves into something really fun! It’s so well put together, weaving real issues with comedy and great acting by Pattinson especially. I had a great time!

Capernaum 2018, Nadine Labaki My rating: I like it Pretty good and emotional movie, with amazing performances too. I really need to say that the baby is an incredible actor, seriously. I have no idea how they made the baby act, but they did.

Was discussing Yoji Yamada with a friend and realised I had seen none of his 97 films. Well, that seemed too many films not to have seen, so I immediately (almost) ran the intriguingly-titled DONKEY COMES ON A TANK. And then realised I was watching it on YY’s 97th birthday. Destiny, syncronicity, or co-inky-dink? Lovely […]

I recently reviewed the Movie Scene Map, an interactive map that makes it easy to find which iconic movie scenes were filmed right around the corner from your house.However, the fact that a film was shot near you doesn't necessarily mean that the movie is set in your neighborhood. In many cases, filmmakers use one location to stand in for another, either because it's cheaper, more convenient, or simply looks the part.For example, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, while set almost entirely in…

Am Sonntag, 20. September, 13:00–18:00, findet im Bürgerhaus Kalk der Kalker Kunstmarkt statt—und ich darf einer der 20 Künstler*innen sein, die dort ausstellen und verkaufen 🎉 Ich werde die Originale von KalkKunst 2025 dabei haben, verschiedene Pen Plottings im A4-Format, eine kleine Postkarten-Serie zu den Kölner Veedeln und einige gerahmte Mini-Plots. Es wird ein Rahmenprogramm mit Drinks, Snacks, Workshops und Karaoke ab 17:00 geben. Kommt gerne auf einen kleinen Plausch rum—ich freu mich…

It's been about a year since the last Dark Side of Cinema Collection, Volume XXVI, was released by Kino Lorber.I'm very happy to say that the Kino Lorber Studio Classics series has now returned with the Dark Side of Cinema XXVII Collection!It's a terrific selection of little-known movies: UNMASKED (1950), THE MAN IS ARMED! (1956), and the subject of this review, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1941).THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY isn't to be confused with the 1978 film which I reviewed here a few years ago.…

A rough start for DWTS season 34, with Conner from SLOMW dancing like a maimed gazelle during an episode that reminded our recapper Marshal Knight of a lukewarm bowl of Cream of Wheat.

Started my annual fall rewatch of Gilmore Girls.

by Eurocheese In Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut, heltered housewife Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is the only person who applies for a small role in her local community theater musical other than perennial starlet Serena Cherry (a lovely cameo from Bernadette Peters). When the diva drops out for a better part in Annie Get Your Gun, the grouchy director, Jerry (Paul Giamatti), is forced to cast Mona, much to his chagrin. The film’s trailer suggests a straightforward premise, and the audience…

Today’s recording starts with the end of Newsround. There’s a musical trail for Horrible Histories Song & Dance Special. Then it’s Dinosapien – Dinohunt. I know the idea is supposed to be that Eno is an intelligent dinosaur, but here it looks like he’s building a Tardis. The Diggers attack him with a boomerang and cut his arm. He runs out in the road and is almost hit by Lauren’s mum in a car, but she’s also distracted by a coffee falling in her lap when the car hits a pothole so she doesn’t…

Time for a brief peek ahead at the Turner Classic Movies schedule for October!Myrna Loy is the October Star of the Month. Her films will screen on Monday evenings, including silents, pre-Codes, and her films with William Powell.October 12th will feature an evening of Thin Man movies.The October Noir Alley titles are LOOPHOLE (1954), which is a TCM premiere, plus CRIME WAVE (1954), CHICAGO SYNDICATE (1955), THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (1951), and a Halloween trio of Val Lewton films: THE LEOPARD…

Elisa Giudici reporting from Venice... [EDITOR'S NOTE: this was written shortly before the awards were handed so these are Elisa's feelings rather than comments on the winners.] May el-Toukhy's WOMAN UNKNOWN won the Golden Lion but will it receive the same honor from Elisa's Jury of One? Overall Festival Impressions What a year to remember 2026 was for the oldest film festival in the world: arguably the best edition I have witnessed since I first attended with a press pass ten years ago, and…

Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they’re introduced to electronics, a new threat to playtime. Just as any other Toy Story movie, it’s all about the feelings, growing up and playing, in a world that’s becoming faster and more disconnected from each other. Six popcoorns because it’s fun for kids, teaches a lesson withoug being judgmental and is definitely a movie that kids nowadays should watch. Six popcorns and it goes into the Movie Vault. To see all 15…

Hm. I probably expected something different from this movie. Both thematically and visually. It certainly has its good (and funny) scenes. The main character is very likeable. And the tongue in cheek references to slashers are good, too. But the story was weird and too meta for my tastes. And visually this was all over the place, and I was partly really turned off by the CGI and the kitschy landscapes. So, not quite my cup of blood.

i only ever get compliments on my hair from older women ... i have a hime cut and wear the back part in two braids tht aaalmost reach my chest ... they seem fascinated by the bluntness of my fringe and say it suits me well ... thx old ladies i think so too ...

if the director knew he was satirizing traditional disaster movies, cinematic universes, plot armor characters, and the ever-creeping-longer movie runtimes, this would be ★★★★★ the cgi is bad, character design didn’t make sense, and there’s a serious misunderstanding of scale/speed between the cgi and real characters. he really tried to cram alien and prometheus into a single movie, but lost the metaphors they represent along the way the extra long poop joke saves this from a ★☆☆☆☆

A classic string map appears in City of Love (dir. Èric Boadella, 2023). ▲ City of Love (dir. Èric Boadella, 2023) ▲ City of Love (dir. Èric Boadella, 2023) ▲ City of Love (dir. Èric Boadella, 2023) ▲ City of Love (dir. Èric Boadella, 2023) ▲ City of Love (dir. Èric Boadella, 2023)

Some of you recommended or at least asked about The Lady’s Companion (2025) when it

I have always had a thing for Olivia Wilde. I now have even more of a thing for Olivia Wilde. ✍️ Reply by email

When people talk about The Shining, they are almost always talking about Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. It's a beautiful movie filled with memorable performances, eerie music, incredible cinematography, and some of the most iconic images in horror history. I like The Shining. I've watched it several times over the years and completely understand why its reputation has only grown. But when I think about The Shining, that's not the version that immediately…

2021 military SF, first of a series. Cole Shaw signed up because the alternative was waiting to die on his failing colony planet. Now he drives a mech.