Movies

Now that we're into December, I feel we can safely proceed full-steam towards all things Yuletide. If you need a little nudge to get you into the spirit of the season, here are a half a dozen films you might want to try out. The bonus is they’re British so you can enjoy Christmas number ones, those little paper crowns and a healthy helping Father Christmas!

The trailer for upcoming film Victor Frankenstein features several things that are awesome – including James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe as the titular mad scientist and his loyal sidekick, a pretty terrifying monster (even if you only see it for like three seconds), and the most amazing hair cinematic hair accessory you’ve seen in years.

Plus, it also just looks like an interesting twist on the Frankenstein story. (But, seriously! This wig!)

This Saturday (August 8) is the beginning of the Premier League football season. The Premier League is the top level of England’s professional men’s football association and it’s comprised of twenty clubs.

For those new to the concept of the English football system (and I’m not far ahead, I can tell you) here are a few of the very basics you should know.

The full trailer for upcoming James Bond film Spectre is here and it’s definitely worth the wait.

Stars Daniel Craig, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris and Ralph Fiennes are all back for this latest 007 adventure, joined by a bunch of fresh faces, including the clearly villainous Christoph Waltz and two new Bond girls in the form of Monica Belluci and Léa Seydoux.

Spectre will be the twenty-fifth installment in the Bond franchise and, thus far, appears to be director Sam Mendes biggest/most dramatic entry yet - and that’s kind of saying something, after Skyfall – if the trailer is anything to go by. (Mendes has said this will be his last go-round with James Bond in the director’s chair, so it seems he’s aiming to go out on a high note.)

This week I finally got to see the new comedy, Spy, an amusing espionage romp through Europe starring Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper. A modest yet top-notch CIA analyst, Susan transforms into a surprisingly adept field agent. Her first mission is to save the world from a rogue nuclear device currently for sale to the highest bidder.

Normally, I would have waited until this film made it to DVD; however, I felt I must show my monetary and emotional support for an actress primarily known and loved in this country as Chummy. You’ve got it. Appearing in her first Hollywood film role, Miranda Hart plays Nancy Artingstall, McCarthy’s fellow intelligence analyst and best friend. And contrary to my initial concerns, Hart gets quite a substantial amount of screen time.

If you don’t know or care about Miranda Hart (shame on you!) there are a few other Brits of interest in this rather uproarious spy adventure. Jude Law plays Agent Bradley Fine, Susan’s suave AMERICAN partner who soaks in her adoration, but never takes her affection seriously. Jason Statham is Agent Rick Ford, a loose cannon with a hilarious tendency of exaggerating his spy prowess. Probably best of all is Peter Serafinowicz as lecherous Italian informant Aldo who takes a bit too much of a liking to Ms. Cooper. He’s full of surprises as Aldo.

Anyhow, this movie got me thinking about spy comedy as a genre. I daresay it’s sort of ironic when you consider that one of the tensest and most suspenseful categories in drama has spawned so many parodies. In turn, these spoofs have given us some of the most memorable characters in film and on TV from Austin Powers to Maxwell Smart.

What do you do after you win an Oscar for playing the world’s most famous theoretical physicist? Join the Harry Potter universe, apparently.

Eddie Redmayne, who recently picked up the Best Actor statue for his performance as Stephen Hawking in biopic The Theory of Everything has officially been cast as the lead in Potter spinoff/pseudo-prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

He will play “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, author of the famous Hogwarts textbook that gives the film its title.

Full-length trailers for Crimson Peak, director Guillermo del Toro’s latest foray into Gothic horror have arrived, and if you are at all into the prospect of watching Tom Hiddleston swan about in fancy period dress as an emotionally conflicted romantic with an obvious deep, dark secret, this is the movie for you.

Provided you don’t mind blood, death or things that make you jump out of your seat.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, it’s only fitting to honor the qualities that make the moms in our lives so special to us. I have selected some maternal British film characters to illustrate these nurturing attributes. Though flawed and sometimes infuriating, you’re sure to recognize your own loving mother (or even yourself) somewhere in this list.

If you're a fan of all things British, you're probably just going to have to accept that you'll have to start seeing those big Marvel superhero films sooner or later, as the list of British Actors of Note who've nabbed roles in this particular cinematic universe is quite lengthy - and apparently growing every day.

Next up to bag a spot in the world of Marvel: Sherlock star Martin Freeman, who has officially nabbed a role in the anticipated sequelCaptain America: Civil War.

He joins a long lineup of impressive Brits who've done Marvel roles of varying sizes including Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Toby Jones (Arnim Zola), Paul Bettany (JARVIS/The Vision), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), David Tennant (Zebediah Kilgrave), Christopher Eccleston (Malekith the Accursed), Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock) and more.

The full trailer for upcoming big screen Sherlock Holmes saga Mr. Holmes has arrived and, while it represents at least the fourth mainstream portrayal of the great detective to grace popular culture in the past five years, it seems safe to say that this film is doing its best to set itself apart as something different.

Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin, the film follows the adventures of the great detective near the end of his life. At the age of 93, Holmes has retired to Sussex, where he lives with a housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her young son (Milo Parker) as he struggles with getting older and the perils of encroaching dementia.

And, of course, there’s the fact that it stars the great Sir Ian McKellen, one of those actors who is of such a caliber that most people would happily watch him read the phone book, let along play Sherlock Holmes. (I have actually watched McKellen read the phone book, for the record, and it was still a mesmerizing performance. Just so you know.)

Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin, the film follows the adventures of the great detective near the end of his life. At the age of 93, Holmes has retired to Sussex, where he lives with a housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her young son (Milo Parker) as he struggles with getting older and the perils of encroaching dementia.

And, of course, there’s the fact that it stars the great Sir Ian McKellen, one of those actors who is of such a caliber that most people would happily watch him read the phone book, let along play Sherlock Holmes. (I have actually watched McKellen read the phone book, for the record, and it was still a mesmerizing performance. Just so you know.)