Home//Empire/April 2023/In This Issue
Empire|April 2023THIS MONTHA GROUCHY PEDRO Pascal, navigating an unrecognisable planet on a mercenary mission, dodging sci-fi dangers while chaperoning an adorable sidekick. Yes, The Last Of Us rocks. Wait, what did you think I was talking about? Ah, The Mandalorian. The return of the Beskar badarse is imminent. And now he comes equipped with a Darksaber (think a lightsaber, but dark) as well as being reunited with Grogu (50 years old, still burbling). With hype levels hitting hyperspace, we’re celebrating the coolest Star Wars show in the Outer Rim Territories with a big old blow-out event issue. Yes, your hunt for bounty is over. Over 20 pages of world-exclusive images and interviews, we chat to Mando masterminds Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni about how they keep this show, plus several others, ticking…2 min
Empire|April 2023DC’s new breed of heroes are ready for actionWATCH OUT, KEVIN Feige. With James Gunn and Peter Safran at the helm of a brand-new DCU (DC Universe), Warner Bros. clearly means to match Marvel step-for-step with a superhero-stuffed slate replete with big guns, small guns and obscure guns, all under the auspices of the biggest Gunn of them all. HEROES RELOADED While Gal Gadot may or may not be returning as Wonder Woman, DC’s other two A-list heroes are being placed at the centre of Chapter 1 of the DCU, aka the ‘Gods And Monsters’ phase. There are plans for two separate Batman projects — Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II will debut in 2025, and see Robert Pattinson return in a project that is seen, like Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie À Deux, as separate to the DCU.…2 min
Empire|April 2023M3GAN: from AI to A-listerJASON BLUM WANTS to show us his wig. Well, not his own wig as such, but the wig he wore when, weeks before M3GAN hit cinemas, Blumhouse’s CEO dressed as the soon-to-be iconic character for Halloween. “That’s real hair, by the way,” he says, proudly, via video chat. Presumably the entire costume was specially made for the occasion? “Yes, of course. I mean, you don’t find a M3GAN outfit in my size off the rack,” he deadpans. That might change soon. Since the release of the horror film about an AI doll, built for parenting assistance before going, well, on a psychotic murder spree, M3GAN has been ubiquitous. There’ll be an army of them on the streets come next Halloween. “There will be,” laughs Blum. “We’ll shoot that for the…3 min
Empire|April 2023The rise of the 60+ female starDURING HER OPENING monologue with Amy Poehler at the 2014 Golden Globes, Tina Fey cracked a joke: “Meryl Streep is so brilliant in August: Osage County, proving that there are still great parts in Hollywood for Meryl Streeps over 60.” Indeed, the industry has largely under-served women in the 60-and-over bracket since its genesis, with the exception of Streep or, more recently, Frances McDormand. As late as 2021, a US study — titled ‘It’s A Man’s (Celluloid) World’ — concluded that in the top-grossing films of that year, only six per cent of speaking characters were women over 60 (11 per cent were men in that age bracket). Yet at this year’s Golden Globes ceremony, nine years after Fey’s takedown, there came glimmers of hope. Sixty-year-old Michelle Yeoh was crowned…2 min
Empire|April 2023THE ROAD BACK TO THE COLOSSEUMINTO BATTLE With 2000’s Gladiator earning half a billion dollars, work swiftly began on a sequel. The original film’s screenwriter, John Logan, wrote a story exploring, somehow, the return of Maximus (the afterlife was involved), while also focusing on his son Lucius. Ridley Scott, it would become apparent, could not let go of Maximus... CHRIST KILLER Around 2006, this resulted in a Nick Cave screenplay called ‘Christ Killer’, in which Maximus is sent back to Earth as a warrior for Roman gods. There he kills Jesus, so stopping Christianity in its tracks, becomes immortal, fights in the Vietnam War and ends up working in The Pentagon. Scott then decided, actually, no. MAXIMUS LIVES “I know how to bring him back,” Scott told press of his dead Roman hero in 2017,…1 min
Empire|April 2023DRAMA-BEARING YACHTSNo./14 TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Rocky seas plus haute cuisine cause projectile problems for the privileged in Ruben Östlund’s visceral 15-minute vomit-fest. Kudos to the sequence’s MVP: Sunnyi Melles, a real-life princess who can throw up on command. THE WHITE LOTUS: SEASON 2 Mike White’s Sicilian-set satire climaxed in an offshore shoot-up that was deliciously daft and tragic, with Jennifer Coolidge leaving no doubt that her renaissance has (sea) legs. Television that is hard to beat. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Benoit Blanc and co. sail out to Miles Bron’s (Edward Norton) Grecian getaway on his fancy yacht. With Miles serenading his pals upon arrival, this vessel may as well be named HMS Douchebag.…1 min
Empire|April 2023Putting on a one-woman pity paradeMANY WOULD SHY away from playing a wretched young woman who makes extreme, life-threatening gestures in a bid to win public sympathy. Kristine Kujath Thorp went the other way. “I thought it was hilarious,” she tells Empire of her first impression of the Norwegian social satire from director Kristoffer Borgli. “And then I felt really shameful after I finished reading it.” Her character, Signe, personifies an amplified brand of narcissism; in an early scene, she attempts to agitate a dog into biting her, hoping it will make for a sad story. It is, as Thorp says, darkly funny, but it also struck a sombre chord with her. “I think if we’re being really honest, we can see a mirror of ourselves. When we tell a story, we add a little…2 min
Empire|April 2023Welcome to the year of the SandmanTO PARAPHRASE ONE particular meme: Adam Sandler is unbothered, moisturised, happy, in his lane, focused, and flourishing. 2023 is a huge one for the actor. He has three films due to be released — including the serious sci-fi drama Spaceman, and Leo, an animated musical in which he plays a 74-year-old lizard. He is riding high on some of the best reviews of his career for last year’s sports drama, Hustle. And he’s about to start shooting what could, perhaps, be his most exciting work yet. Are we about to experience Peak Sandler? ’Twas not ever thus. In the early-to-mid-2010s, Sandler’s career seemed to hit a nadir: he was starring in a succession of critically reviled comedies; he was regularly getting nominated for ‘Worst Actor’ at the Razzie Awards; and…2 min
Empire|April 2023INTRODUCING...ON BREAKING INTO ACTING My older brother Gulliver was set to co-star in Aloft with Cillian Murphy in 2014. He got cast as a younger version of Cillian’s character, but then there were delays and he grew out of the age-gap, so the director asked if I could try out. I was ten and I ended up getting the role Gully had. ON PREPARING FOR THE SON I watched Manchester By The Sea to prepare, and tried to analyse Lucas Hedges’ accent [in the film] because I’m Australian. Lucas gives an outstanding performance. The movie is about an uncle and a kid, [which] is close enough to a father and son. ON IDOLISING HUGH JACKMAN Hugh is the nicest person you’ll ever meet. He’s humble and kind to everyone. He…1 min
Empire|April 2023WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?★★ OUT 24 FEBRUARY / CERT 12A 109 MINS DIRECTOR Shekhar Kapur CAST Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Oliver Chris PLOT Oncologist Kazim (Latif) decides to have an ‘assisted’ marriage, one set up by his parents, and his childhood friend and neighbour-turned-documentarian Zoe (James) decides to film his odyssey with all its complications. ARRANGED MARRIAGE, OR assisted marriage as it’s now known, is a tricky subject to build a very traditional romcom around. The rules of the genre almost demand a whirlwind love affair in defiance of either society or fate, and a relationship supported by one’s parents is not conducive to that. That hasn’t deterred Shekhar Kapur and screenwriter Jemima Khan from this spin on the subject, but perhaps it should have done. The problem is…3 min
Empire|April 2023CREATURE★★★★ OUT 24 FEBRUARY / CERT 12A / 88 MINS DIRECTOR Asif Kapadia CAST Jeffrey Cirio, Stina Quagebeur, Erina Takahashi A hybrid of combustible, contemporary dance courtesy of the English National Ballet and Asif Kapadia’s unobtrusive direction, Creature is a propulsive drama set against an abandoned Arctic research station. Creature (Jeffrey Cirio) is a lonely, bottom-rung worker, subjected to brutal experiments by a doctor, and pining after a kind woman under the watch of a cruel mayor. The plot is kept loose, though with Frankenstein and Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck cited as influences, there are strong themes of otherness and the dark nature of man. Kapadia’s simple approach to filming and a stark palette keeps Creature’s focus glued to the vigorous choreography. A soulful and engaging feat in collaborative filmmaking. BW…1 min
Empire|April 2023SHARPER★★★ OUT 17 FEBRUARY (APPLE TV+) CERT 15 / 116 MINS DIRECTOR Benjamin Caron CAST Sebastian Stan, Briana Middleton, Justice Smith, Julianne Moore, John Lithgow PLOT After New York bookstore owner Tom (Smith) falls in love with customer Sandra (Middleton), his life changes — in more ways than expected. As both are revealed to have complex backgrounds, an array of untrustworthy characters look to take advantage — to take, in fact, whatever they can. DO YOU LIKE films with twists? How about a film with a hundred twists? Sharper presents itself in a handful of different chapters, one for each of the main protagonists/antagonists (they’re all a bit of both), each instalment providing a new perspective, each one rewinding, peeling back onion layers and revealing spiralling levels of fuckery. It’s…3 min
Empire|April 2023CLOSE★★★★ OUT 3 MARCH / CERT 12A / 104 MINS DIRECTOR Lukas Dhont CAST Eden Dambrine, Gustav De Waele, Émilie Dequenne The pain and vulnerability of coming of age is framed with life-shattering repercussions in Lukas Dhont’s Close, a portrait of two 13-year-old boys’ intense friendship, and the huge impact of their growing apart after they experience homophobia. Eden Dambrine plays Léo with wondrous sensitivity, while Gustav De Waele’s performance as his best friend Rémi is heartbreaking. Dhont is fascinated with the wars we wage within ourselves, looking closely at the weight of performative masculinity, but carefully avoiding gratuitous violence while communicating the tragedy of their broken friendship. They run through rainbow-coloured flower fields, wear bright whites and poppy reds, and in the end, hope remains that wounds can heal.…1 min
Empire|April 2023YOU PEOPLE★★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / CERT 15 / 117 MINS DIRECTOR Kenya Barris CAST Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Before their wedding, Ezra (Jonah Hill) and Amira (Lauren London) must first deal with the in-laws from hell. This is essentially Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, given a fresh coat of 21st-century paint: not since Bradley Whitford wished for a third Obama term in Get Out has a white parent like Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ awkward mother made such uncomfortably cringey gestures to an interracial couple. Eddie Murphy’s Nation Of Islam father, meanwhile, is quietly hilarious: a terrifying, softly spoken patriarch who will “kill you and get a solid nine hours’ sleep”, as one character puts it. This is a romcom, so it is almost deliberately formulaic, with a final…1 min
Empire|April 2023KNOCK AT THE CABIN★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 100 MINS DIRECTOR M. Night Shyamalan CAST Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui PLOT Eric (Groff), Andrew (Aldridge) and their young daughter Wen (Cui) decide to get away from it all at an idyllic cabin in the woods. Their bliss is cut short when four strangers, led by the mysterious Leonard (Bautista), turn up to declare that one of them must be sacrificed to prevent the end of the world. AFTER SPECTRAL THERAPISTS, agriculturally inclined aliens and homicidal house plants, it’s quite refreshing to be confronted by an M. Night Shyamalan production in which the most ridiculous thing is the luxurious in-house library at an Airbnb. The film’s remote getaway (4.96 rating — Wi-Fi, free parking and end-of-days…3 min
Empire|April 2023SHRINKING★★★ OUT NOW (APPLE TV+) / EPISODES VIEWED 9 OF 10 SHOWRUNNER Bill Lawrence CAST Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, Lukita Maxwell PLOT Psychotherapist Jimmy Laird (Segel), still grieving over the recent death of his wife while struggling to be a good father, decides to start telling his patients how he really feels about them. His veteran colleague and mentor Paul Rhodes (Ford) has other thoughts, however. READY FOR ANOTHER ‘sadcom’? In the last few years, shows such as Fleabag or BoJack Horseman have taken morbid pleasure in offering silliness with a side order of sadness, a balance Shrinking now embraces. Along with star Jason Segel, it’s co-created by Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein of Ted Lasso fame — asitcom itself unafraid to…3 min
Empire|April 2023BABY STEPSTHE CONCEPTION As Disney seeks a Star Wars series for its impending streaming service, veteran director Jon Favreau teams up with The Clone Wars alumnus Dave Filoni — pitching the story of a Mandalorian warrior and his unexpected young charge… Dave Filoni (creator/executive producer): I was probably one of the first people to hear that pitch. Jon said, “I want to make a character that’s like a baby Yoda.” I thought, “Where are we going with this? If we’re doing that, I want to help, because Yoda is such an important character to George [Lucas]. I want to help make sure it’s going to come across as well as it can.” Jon Favreau (creator/executive producer): We knew it wasn’t Yoda — anybody who knows the timeframe [five years after…11 min
Empire|April 2023COMING THROUGHANDREA RISEBOROUGH WAS AS SURPRISED AS YOU WERE WHEN HER NAME WAS AMONG THE NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR’S BEST ACTRESS OSCAR. AT THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY, ALMOST NOBODY HAD EVEN HEARD OF HER FILM. In To Leslie, she gives the best performance of her career, as a lottery winner who loses it all and becomes a homeless alcoholic. Released last year, it was ignored at the box office and not even part of the awards-season conversation, until Riseborough and the film’s director, Michael Morris, enlisted notable celebrities — Kate Winslet, Edward Norton, Jane Fonda, Laura Dern and more — to spread the word for a film that made just $27,000 worldwide. The result was the biggest Oscar-nomination surprise in memory. Riseborough’s appearance on the shortlist couldn’t have been predicted before…12 min
Empire|April 2023MABEL NORMANDExactly three months before the Armistice of Compiègne would bring an end to the First World War, police were called to the small town of Bayside, Queens, near Long Island. It was 11 August 1918. The disturbance had nothing to do with the war, nor with the deadly ‘Spanish flu’ virus that was already creeping through the US. In fact, it was caused by a movie. The silent comedy Mickey had opened that afternoon in Bayside, and excited fans were soon jostling for position in a queue that snaked back three blocks. The cinema played the film on repeat until midnight, but the punters kept coming. Terrified of missing out, the crowd began pushing and shoving, and the cops were summoned to keep order. It was a good indication of…11 min
Empire|April 2023Charley VarrickBY HIS OWN admission, Walter Matthau became a star because he had a gambling problem. Specifically, his bookie told him that if he kept losing at the rate he was, he’d get to choose whether he wanted his arms or legs broken. While he tailed off the bets, Matthau got out of the hole by taking any TV or film gig on offer and worked his way up from bit parts and guest shots to authentic movie stardom as Oscar, the slobbier half of The Odd Couple to Jack Lemmon’s prissy Felix. Based on a play by Neil Simon, that runaway 1968 hit led to a career as a middle-aged light-comedy lead. A lot of things were possible in ’70s Hollywood that would be a stretch now, like jowly, growly,…5 min
Empire|April 2023MARK KERMODE’S MOVIE PLAYLISTENYS MEN BY MARK JENKIN As with his previous era-defining work Bait, Cornish cinematic bard Mark Jenkin has provided the score for this superbly eerie and haunting oddity. The soundtrack, which Invada have released both digitally and on limited-edition vinyl, is an atmospheric treat, full of squishy analogue throbs and plaintive, half-heard tune fragments, all blended together with the sounds of the sea and the wind, as if the music was oozing out of the landscape of the film. There are also fragments of dialogue which crackle through the ambient throng like ghostly voices at a séance. The overall effect is quite mesmerising; if you’re a fan of the OST of David Lynch’s Eraserhead, or of Mica Levi’s work on Monos, then this will be a contender for best album…2 min
Empire|April 2023THE CUT OF KIM NEWMANA NORWEGIAN KAIJU picture, Roar Uthaug’s Troll treads in the giant footsteps of found-footage hit Trollhunter but plays as a Scandi-noir homage to King Kong or Godzilla. A railway tunnel blasted through frozen mountains awakens a moss-bearded, earth-and-rock-bodied giant. Paleontologist Nora (Ine Marie Wilmann) is drafted into the team put together to stop the rampage and needs to consult her estranged father (Gard B. Eidsvold) — dismissed as mad because of his now-suddenly-proven theories on trolls — to learn how to stop the fearsome, if not unsympathetic monster before it levels Oslo. A terrific mix of spectacle, humour, politics and devastation. Iranian-born, Scandinavia-based Ali Abbasi — who made his own bizarre troll story (Border) and an underrated Frankenstein variant (Shelley) — returns home, at least in setting, with Holy Spider…3 min
Empire|April 2023Al Pacino moviesOUR CRITICS NICK DE SEMLYEN Loves ranking Pacino films. It keeps him sharp, on the edge, where he gotta be. IAN FREER Where does he keep his Al Pacino boxset? In his “Attica! Attica! Attica!” CHRIS HEWITT Carrying extra choc weight. He knows it was you, Freddo, and it broke his heart. DAN JOLIN Wishes Dunkaccinos existed in real life. Say hello to his chocolate blend. Chris: When did we first encounter Al Pacino? Ian: I grew up in a Godfather household. Dan: You were in the Mafia? Ian: Yeah. And there was a TV version of it where it was cut into episodes. We had it on VHS. That’s where I first saw him. Chris: Wasn’t it in chronological order? You would have taken a long time to get…7 min
Empire|April 2023WIN!It’s a board-game bonanza this issue, with six fab film- and TV-related titles from Funko Games up for grabs. Feast your eyes — and brains — on the Ted Lasso Party Game; Rear Window; Jurassic World: The Legacy Of Isla Nublar; Disney’s Kingdomania; Disney’s Mad Tea Party, and Funko Pop! Puzzles, featuring Elf, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Loved watching them on screen? Now step inside the stories. We’ve got a bundle of all the games up for grabs. If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning them, crack the crossword, solve the anagram and follow the entry instructions below — that last bit should pose no problem for you gamers. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BUY, VISIT FUNKOEUROPE.COM…1 min
Empire|April 2023Spartacus Chosen by MICHAEL DOUGLASMichael Douglas: “I don’t know why it comes to mind, but I remember the scene in Spartacus with my father where he was in slave-trading with Woody Strode. And Woody Strode is being kind of distant. And finally Woody Strode says, ‘You don’t want to know me; I don’t want to know you because I may have to kill you some day.’ As a young kid, that leaves a lasting impression.” INT. STEAM ROOM — DAY Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is washing himself and tending his wounds sustained earlier that day, along with some other gladiator slaves including David (Harold J. Stone) and Dionysius (Nicholas Dennis). At the back of the room, Draba (Woody Strode) descends down a ladder and, keeping his hood up, watches Spartacus intently. It’s very quiet. Steam…1 min
Empire|April 2023TALK TO USHOLY COMPLIMENT, BATMAN! Shout-outs to Amon Warmann and Simon Crook for their articles on Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm and Jim Carrey respectively [issue #411]. Both articles were incredibly well written and contained a great deal of pathos. Moreover, the article on Jim Carrey really dived deep into his psyche and made me reevaluate just how impactful and important an actor he is. Keep up the great work. MARTIN SMITH, VIA EMAIL The last time Jim Carrey and Batman were mentioned in the same breath, it was far less flattering. Thanks for your kind words, Martin — have a Picturehouse membership on us as thanks. Empire’s star letter wins a Picturehouse Membership, plus one for a friend! Valid for one year at 26 Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK, including the…2 min
Empire|April 2023BLACK IN FOCUSIT’S TIME FOR NON-WHITE ACTORS TO BREAK BAD AGAIN IN RECENT YEARS, the number of Black and brown heroes on screen has risen, and I’ve watched with gleeful excitement as Shuri, Miles Morales and more have taken centre stage and saved the day. But Black and brown villains are few and far between. It’s a point raised by Kumail Nanjiani, who recently described his desire to play the baddie, referencing Sebastian Stan’s creepy cannibal in Fresh. “He does these big Marvel movies, and then he’ll play a psychopath,” he said. “I was told that’s going to be hard because people don’t want to cast non-white people as bad guys.” Nanjiani has now got his wish, as slippery Somen Banerjee in Welcome To Chippendales. And with hype for Jonathan Majors’ big…2 min
Empire|April 2023South London gets its romcom momentWHEN RYE LANE director Raine Allen-Miller thinks of her native South London, she thinks of jerk seasoning, bright colours, and… pooches in strollers. She loves it so much that she’s made her unconventional romcom — and directorial debut — atribute to the area. “It’s an amazing cultural hub, and the oddness is brilliant,” she tells Empire. “You get people walking around with a dog in a pram, and fake Louis Vuitton laundry bags. There’s nowhere like it.” Here’s her guide to the neighbourhood… THE LANE The film’s main characters, Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson), meet in the unisex toilets of Copeland Art Gallery, before spilling out onto one of London’s busiest streets, Rye Lane. “Art is usually quite inaccessible, you feel like you have to have a degree…2 min
Empire|April 2023How Cocaine Bear got uncagedTHERE’S A PHRASE famous among screenwriters, “Save the cat” — referring to a moment early on in a movie when a character is kind to an animal, to signal to the audience that they’re a nice person. “‘Drug the bear’ is its crazy-fun, very violent cousin,” laughs Jimmy Warden, the writer behind buzzy upcoming comedy-thriller Cocaine Bear. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the film was inspired by a post Warden spotted on Twitter in 2019: a screengrab of an article about a real-life bear who, in the mid-1980s, consumed a package of drugs, discarded in the woods during a botched drug heist. “The caption was something like: ‘This bear must have been the most dangerous apex predator on Earth,’” Warden recalls. “And I just thought, ‘How do you not make that…2 min
Empire|April 2023Meet the godly sisters taking on ShazamA TRIPLE THREAT is unleashed in Shazam! Fury Of The Gods in the form of the Daughters Of Atlas. Hespera, Kalypso and Anthea — Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler — enter the DCEU as mythical antagonists hellbent on retrieving their powers from Zachary Levi’s wizard and his found family. Speaking with Empire, the actors break down their villainous team-up. What was the key to playing the nymph-daughters of Atlas? Helen Mirren: It’s tough when you’re playing a goddess, honestly. You have power, a visceral aura or sense of superiority, that’s for sure. Gods are supposed to know everything, but the physical complications of a human character don’t really come into it. Lucy Liu: Within that world of fantasy we were able to still play the dynamic in a…4 min
Empire|April 2023Payakan-mania explainedWHEN JAMES CAMER ON first briefed his design team on Payakan — the feisty ‘space whale’ who’s become Avatar: The Way Of Water’s surprise star — they immediately began thinking about how to unlock his relatability. “Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. was a reference,” laughs production designer Dylan Cole. “It started as a joke, but it’s 100 per cent the same problem: how much can you express with just an eye?” In Payakan’s case: quite a lot. “You read Payakan through it,” says concept artist Constantine Sekeris. “He’s not some killing machine: he’s a hero. An outcast, [trying] to prove himself worthy.” Lead creature designer Zach Berger adds: “He’s a freedom fighter. The other [tulkun] are passive, but Payakan sticks up for himself. There’s something relatable in that.” And this…2 min
Empire|April 2023CAPTAIN PLANET POWERS UPTHE TOPICALITY! Before Greta Thunberg was even born, Captain Planet and his Planeteers (five international kids with magic rings) united in bringing down Earth’s biggest threats, from nuclear waste to deforestation. The stereotypical depictions of the Planeteers could use some updating, but their mission couldn’t be more relevant. THE TALENT! The TBS show attracted A-listers like Jeff Goldblum as villainous part-rat, part-human Verminous Skumm; Meg Ryan, who voiced a mad scientist; and Whoopi Goldberg as “the spirit of the Earth”. With Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company lined up to back Powell’s project, we could see another A-list voice cast. THE TUNES! Well, one tune in particular: the rap-infused title song. With the show’s core messages baked into its catchy bars — “Looting and polluting is not the way / Hear what…1 min
Empire|April 2023TRAILER TALK 65Ben Travis (Deputy Online Editor): I’m very excited for this. I kind of wish they hadn’t given away what the film is, but at the same time knowing what it is — a future man battling dinosaurs on prehistoric Earth — makes me want to see it so much. The fact that the man is Adam Driver is even better. Beth Webb (News Editor): Adam Driver in this role is interesting to me. Thus far he’s gone for very unconventional roles, even in a big franchise like Star Wars. This is his first shot at playing a straight action hero. Ben: The last thing I saw him fight was that wall in Marriage Story. Beth: It’s exciting that Sam Raimi’s involved in this. John Nugent (Reviews Editor): It doesn’t scream…3 min
Empire|April 2023PINT OF MILKWhich movie have you seen the most times? Either Point Break or Platoon. My brother and I knew those word for word. We were obsessed with action movies as kids, and we had a grandmother who didn’t understand film certificates [laughs]. The first time she took us to the video shop, we pointed at The Delta Force and she didn’t bat an eyelid. From there, we were away. When in your life were you most starstruck? I was pretty starstruck meeting Angelina Jolie for the first time on Maleficent. Bordering on terrified, actually, because she was in full costume. Working with John Hurt on Brighton Rock was amazing, too. We’d have a fag together and he’d give me great practical advice on acting. And I met Clint Eastwood once when…4 min
Empire|April 2023DEVOTION★★★★ OUT NOW (PRIME VIDEO) CERT 12 / 139 MINS DIRECTOR J.D. Dillard CAST Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Christina Jackson, Joe Jonas, Nick Hargrove, Spencer Neville PLOT In 1950, at the outbreak of the Korean War, two US Navy pilots, Ensign Jesse Brown (Majors) — the first Black aviator in US military history — and Lieutenant Tom Hudner (Powell) forge a friendship while risking their lives for their country. PERHAPS IN A year where Top Gun: Maverick didn’t dominate the global box office, J.D. Dillard’s gem of a movie, Devotion, would have gotten more attention. While Maverick popped up in end-of-year lists as one of the best films of 2022, Devotion landed as a direct-to-streaming release on Prime Video with little to no fanfare. Plenty of comparisons can be made…3 min
Empire|April 2023MISSING★★★★ OUT 24 FEBRUARY / CERT 15 111 MINS DIRECTORS Will Merrick, Nick Johnson CAST Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, Joaquim de Almeida, Amy Landecker, Daniel Henney PLOT Single mum Grace (Long) and her new boyfriend Kevin (Leung) go on vacation to Colombia, leaving Grace’s teenage daughter June (Reid) home alone. When the couple suddenly go missing, June must use all the online tools at her disposal to track them down — uncovering unexpected secrets along the way. RELEASED IN 2018, Searching seemed the natural cinematic response to a generation of people raised and nourished by screens. Directed by Aneesh Chaganty, it practically invented a cinematic language, a subgenre that producer Timur Bekmambetov labelled ‘screenlife’ — where the entirety of the onscreen action takes place within the confines of…2 min
Empire|April 2023JOYLAND★★★★ OUT 24 FEBRUARY / CERT 15 127 MINS DIRECTOR Saim Sadiq CAST Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Salmaan Peerzada PLOT In Lahore, Pakistan, three generations of the Rana family live together, headed by an ageing, strict patriarch (Peerzada). When Haider (Junejo) gets a job at an erotic dance theatre, he falls for trans dancer Biba (Alina Khan) — sparking an affair that threatens to cause familial chaos. THAT A COUNTRY like Pakistan could produce a film like Joyland is, in itself, fairly remarkable. The film’s story — of an unorthodox, extra-marital relationship between a married man and trans woman — caused a huge stir in its country of origin, where conservative religious values hold sway and LGBTQ+ rights remain woefully backwards; the film’s release was banned…3 min
Empire|April 2023UNWELCOME★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 104 MINS DIRECTOR Jon Wright CAST Hannah John-Kamen, Douglas Booth, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Colm Meaney In the CGI era, practical effects are fast becoming a lost cinematic art; on that basis alone, we should welcome Unwelcome. Clearly influenced by 1980s critter horror-comedies like Gremlins or Ghoulies, this is a film that benefits greatly from the practical execution of its puckish perils. It tells the story of a young English couple (Hanna John-Kamen and Douglas Booth) who move to rural Ireland, where they encounter unfriendly locals and even unfriendlier leprechaun-esque goblins. It can be tonally jarring — there is surprisingly distressing violence towards a pregnant woman, yet it also has a giggly goblin who says things like “Silly billy!” — and has perhaps too many…1 min
Empire|April 2023JUNG_E★★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / CERT 12 / 98 MINS DIRECTOR Yeon Sang-ho CAST Kim Hyun-joo, Kang Soo-yeon, Ryu Kyung-soo The latest film from director Yeon Sang-ho will be at once recognisable and unfamiliar for fans of Train To Busan. That zombies-on-a-locomotive surprise smash hurtled towards its destination, calling at Sharp Social Commentary and Tender Parent-Child Emotion along the way; seven years later, the writer-director is at it again. JUNG_E, a dystopian sci-fi set almost 200 years in the future, centres on two family members trying to repair their relationship, amid explosions on trains in a world full of brutal class divides. Sound familiar? Look closer, and JUNG_E is more ambitious: an Elysium-esque tale about AI and what makes life worth living. The late Kang Soo-yeon is moving as ailing…1 min
Empire|April 2023THE MAKANAI: COOKING FOR THE MAIKO HOUSE★★★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / EPISODES VIEWED 9 OF 9 SHOWRUNNER Hirokazu Kore-eda CAST Nana Mori, Natsuki Deguchi, Aju Makita, Keiko Matsuzaka Hirokazu Kore-eda’s nine-part Netflix show shares many of the filmmaker's hallmarks: tenderness, compassion, enchantment in the everyday. While it lacks the emotional heft of his best work, it’s still a lovely way to spend just over 400 minutes. Set in contemporary Japan, it follows 16-year-old besties Kiyo (Nana Mori) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi), who travel to Kyoto with dreams of becoming maiko (apprentice geisha). Sumire passes muster, Kiyo does not, but finds a new lease of life as the in-house cook — the Makanai. Little of significance happens, but slowly and surely you get caught up in the tiny dramas and loves of these women. As warm and…1 min
Empire|April 2023FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE★★★★ OUT 22 FEBRUARY (DISNEY+) / EPISODES VIEWED 8 OF 8 SHOWRUNNER Taffy Brodesser-Akner CAST Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, Claire Danes, Adam Brody, Christian Slater PLOT Toby Fleishman (Eisenberg) is a doctor, a dad, and a recent divorcee. Trying to build a new life by reconnecting with old friends Libby (Caplan) and Seth (Brody), while getting lost in a whirlwind of dating apps and casual sex, his reinvention is disrupted when ex-wife Rachel (Danes) drops their kids off early and goes off the grid. HAVE YOU EVER wished you were “normal”? That’s what Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), a hepatologist going through a messy divorce and mid-life crisis, wants: “a normal life, a normal marriage, a normal girlfriend”. Sadly, life’s not quite that easy — and what even is a “normal”…3 min
Empire|April 2023THE RS STHE WAY• PORTRAITS DYLAN COULTER JON FAVREAU AND DAVE FILONI TALK A LOT Pretty much every day, in fact. And by and large, when they do they only have one thing on their minds: Star Wars. Specifically, the corner of the Star Wars universe that has become their domain since they combined forces in 2019 to launch The Mandalorian. Since then, the cultural impact of Mando, Baby Yoda/The Child/ Grogu/Whatever You Want To Call Him, and the rest has meant that Favreau — the film director-turned-showrunner, who writes virtually every episode of The Mandalorian — and Filoni — Lucasfilm’s animation ambassador, creator of the Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows and characters like Ahsoka Tano, Cad Bane and Bo-Katan Kryze, who have all made the leap to live-action — now have…14 min
Empire|April 2023LOST LEGENDSFLORENCE LAWRENCE Dubbed “the first movie star”, this excellently named actor was among early Hollywood’s biggest draws. To promote her 1910 film The Broken Oath, studio bosses told reporters she’d died in a car crash, only to reveal her alive and well before the movie opened. Top PR-ing. ANNETTE KELLERMANN Australian Kellermann found fame in 1907 when she was arrested at a beach for the then-scandalous crime of wearing a one-piece bathing suit. She launched her own swimwear range before diving into movies, notably becoming the first-ever woman to appear nude in a Hollywood film. COLLEEN MOORE A major star of the early ’20s, most of Moore’s films are now sadly lost. Luckily, she had fingers in other pies: she became curator of a doll’s house museum, author of a…1 min
Empire|April 2023WALTER MATTHAU IN NUMBERS1/10/1920 WALTER JOHN MATTHOW IS BORN ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE, NEW YORK 4 THE NUMBER OF EPISODES OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS IN WHICH HE APPEARED 3 THENUMBER OF OSCAR NOMINATIONS HE RECEIVED 1 NUMBER OF OSCARS HE WON (BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR FOR THE FORTUNE COOKIE) 1955 THE YEAR OF HIS MOVIE DEBUT, THE KENTUCKIAN 6357 HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD THE LOCATION OF HIS STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME this caper, Matthau played g Policeman and an Taking Of Pelham more tough, ct thrillers. ughs for the . OW ON DVD, 6 THE NUMBER OF MEDALS HE WAS AWARDED WHILE SERVING IN THE US ARMY AIR FORCES DURING WORLD WAR II 2000 THE YEAR OF HIS FINAL MOVIE, HANGING UP 1/7/2000 THE DATE HE DIED, IN SANTA MONICA, AGED 79…1 min
Empire|April 2023GoldenEyeBUNGEE JUMPING MAY well be the staple of many an adventurous stag/hen do (“What goes on tour, stays on tour”), but nobody does it bigger or better than James Bond in 1995’s GoldenEye. The action sees Bond (Pierce Brosnan’s debut) infiltrate a top-secret Soviet nerve-gas facility by swallow-diving 640 feet on a bungee, firing a piton gun into the facility’s roof and hauling himself down the remaining way. The result is breathtaking, full of grace and bravado, and remains one of the signature stunts of the entire series. Although we don’t see Brosnan’s face until after the stunt, not only was it the first time we meet his 007, it was the first time audiences were seeing Bond at all after a six-year hiatus following 1989’s Licence To Kill. Knowing…3 min
Empire|April 2023BrosNICHOLAS STOLLER (DIRECTED) and Billy Eichner’s (wrote; starred) Bros may not have fared well at the box office when it was released last year, but it remains a sharply observed and winningly performed comedy that follows the burgeoning relationship between Eichner’s Bobby and Aaron (Hallmark romcom stalwart Luke Macfarlane), both of whom are commitment-phobes in very different ways. Here, Stoller talks us through the movie’s key moments. THE EYES HAVE IT Is a meet cute a meet cute if the meeters cute don’t really meet (while being cute)? That’s the question posed in Bros, when Bobby and Aaron lock eyes across the crowded dance-floor of a gay club. “Luke is really fucking a camera,” laughs Stoller. We assume he means “with his eyes”. “He learned it during the Hallmark stuff.…5 min
Empire|April 20236 OF THE BESTAFTERSUN OUT 20 FEBRUARY / CERT 12 / 101 MINS A woozy, sun-kissed ’90s resort holiday with a father (Paul Mescal) and daughter (Frankie Corio) forms the basis of writer-director Charlotte Wells’ staggeringly impressive debut film. There’s a lot going on here, and also — in the lazy, long summer days — seemingly nothing at all. Told through home-video footage and flashbacks, it’s a portrait of the complex, ever-evolving relationship we have with our parents (and our memories), and a perfect distillation of that cliff-edge moment in childhood when adulthood is just around the corner yet many miles away. The filmmaking is often experimental, yet bold enough to have Chumbawamba and the ‘Macarena’ on the soundtrack. A very special, sad, evocative film. JOHN NUGENT SHE SAID OUT 6 MARCH /…3 min
Empire|April 2023The Fast family approaches the finish lineTHIS MONTH’S ESSENTIAL FILM AND TV NEWS AT SOME POINT in 2001, Louis Leterrier and Jason Statham had a bit of time off from creating car-nage aplenty on The Transporter in Paris. So the director and his star popped along to a cinema near the Champs-Élysées to check out a new release: Rob Cohen’s The Fast And The Furious. “We watched it and we looked at each other like, ‘This changes everything,’” laughs Leterrier. His instincts weren’t wrong. At the time, The Fast And The Furious was seen as an unexpectedly fun sleeper hit, a loose remake of Point Break with speeding cars and muscly stars, but over the years it turned into a series, which turned into a franchise, which turned into a billion-dollar behemoth. Now, it appears that…3 min
Empire|April 2023The twists and turns of the Oscars raceIT WAS A nominations announcement to remember. Co-hosts Allison Williams and Riz Ahmed brought their own unique energy to the proceedings, from Williams quipping that Ahmed was easier to work with than her AI co-star in M3GAN to Ahmed’s droll delivery of the title of Best Animated Short contender My Year Of Dicks (“We’ve been delighted at the hot takes,” the film’s writer, Pamela Ribon, tells Empire of the resulting internet chatter). But the most major moments came with the revealed Academy shortlist, which this year proved to be especially unpredictable. We break down the big talking points. HAPPY SURPRISES ANOTHER ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT SHELL-SHOCK The World War I trench drama — adapted from German veteran Erich Maria Remarque’s acclaimed book — released on Netflix to little…3 min
Empire|April 2023NEXT IN THE SERIESIF YOU LOVED... HAPPY VALLEY UNFORGIVEN (ITVX) This 2009 three-parter from Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright feels in retrospect like a bit of a dry run for that series, sharing as it does many of the same thematic concerns, as well as its Halifax setting. Suranne Jones plays Ruth Slater, newly released from prison having served time for killing two police officers when she was a teenager. She tries to find her sister, who was adopted soon after Slater’s conviction, but faces the anger and vengeful attacks of the locals who know her story. Also starring Happy Valley’s Siobhan Finneran in a key role, Unforgiven is thrilling yet thoughtful at the same time. JULIA (SKY ON DEMAND/NOW) While Sarah Lancashire — Happy Valley’s Catherine Cawood — is superb in every…2 min
Empire|April 2023“‘Cut the cheque!’ will always be my line on set. I know when a take is good”THE DAWN OF a new era of Anthony Mackie is upon us. The MCU stalwart, who rose through Hollywood via small roles in prestige dramas (and Best Picture winners) like Million Dollar Baby and The Hurt Locker, is now soaring into a fresh phase of his career. Soon enough we’ll see him assume the Captain America mantle in Captain America: New World Order after nearly a decade of playing Sam ‘The Falcon’ Wilson, and before then, he plays a difficult dad in the Amblin-style comedy-horror WeHaveA Ghost, alongside David Harbour as a lost, friendly spectre who befriends his son. He gives Empire the skinny on what lies ahead. We Have A Ghost sees you in your first major dad role. Was this a conscious effort to move into more family-centric…4 min
Empire|April 2023TetrisWHERE: Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Scotland WHEN: 17/18 February 2021 WHY? “They’re making a movie about Tetris? With the falling blocks?” asks the server at an Edinburgh burger restaurant when Empire tells him why we’re in town. The answer is yes, and no. Director Jon S. Baird is making a movie about Tetris, but it’s not a Pixels-style adaptation of the insanely addictive video game. Instead, this is the Big Short-esque story of the cut-throat battle to secure the rights to the game, which involved disparate players like Robert Maxwell (yes, that one, played by Roger Allam), underdog video-game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), and the Russian creator of the game, Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov). WHAT IS BEING FILMED? In Edinburgh, doubling for the Kremlin, Robert Maxwell (Allam looking…3 min
Empire|April 2023Inside an apocalyptic masterpieceIT’S ALREADY BEING hailed as one of the best episodes of television in years. ‘Long, Long Time’, the third episode of zombie video-game adaptation The Last Of Us, stunned viewers by moving away from the main Joel-and-Ellie storyline (led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey) to tell the story of Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank in an unusually romantic, largely standalone subplot. Here, the people behind the episode explain to Empire how they did it. THE GAME The original game saw Bill as a minor character who reluctantly helps Joel and Ellie. Weaved into the game are subtle hints about Bill’s relationship with Frank, whom he describes as “somebody I cared about”. Nick Offerman: I’m not a gamer. I had literally never heard of the game. Craig Mazin…4 min
Empire|April 2023Bringing a Greek tragedy to an Irish villageA MOTHER’S IMPOSSIBLE decision drives God’s Creatures, a bracing psychological drama that filmmaker Anna Rose Holmer describes as a “mythic Greek tragedy” set in an Irish fishing village. The mother, Aileen, is played by Emily Watson, who Holmer and her co-director Saela Davis wanted so desperately for the role that they wrote her a letter saying as much. “When we first got to chat to her, there was this electricity that was running through the process,” says Holmer. Playing her son Brian: a pre-Oscar-nomination, pre-Hollywood heat Paul Mescal, who read for the part fresh from Normal People. Fans of Mescal’s usual gentle-natured screen presence will be in for a shock. “He was very willing to go to these dark places in order to explore the psychology of the character,” remembers…2 min
Empire|April 2023PEARL★★★★ OUT 17 MARCH / CERT 15 / 101 MINS DIRECTOR Ti West CAST Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Alistair Sewell PLOT Texas, 1918. Pearl (Goth) has married a neighbour in the hope of getting away from the family farm and her oppressive mother (Wright) and incapacitated father (Sunderland). But her husband (Sewell) has gone to war, leaving her dreaming of movie stardom. Sometimes, Pearl gets violent. AUDIENCES FOR TI West’s effective, gruesome retro-shocker X — in which porno filmmakers run into an aged, homicidal farmwife in 1979 — were doubly surprised by the end credits. First, there was the revelation that ‘final girl’ Maxine and pension-age mass murderess Pearl were both played (extraordinarily) by Mia Goth. Then, there was a trailer for a Pearl-centric…4 min
Empire|April 2023EPIC TAILS★★ OUT NOW / CERT U / 95 MINS DIRECTOR Alaux David CAST Kaycie Chase, Rob Beckett, Josh Widdicombe, Giovanna Fletcher TAT, the French animation studio responsible for Madagascar knock-off The Jungle Bunch, returns for this similarly cheap-and-cheerless spin on Greek myths. It centres on mouse Pattie (Kaycie Chase), whose dreams of becoming a hero take her on a quest that involves a kraken-like sea beast, a bevy of cyclops and a robot. This English-language overdub (character mouths, jarringly, don’t move in sync with the dialogue) sees Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe voicing the gods of Mount Olympus, which may be the only saving grace for parents. Otherwise, an incoherent plot, godawful musical numbers and below-par animation is unlikely to justify any family-sized cinema ticket price. JN…1 min
Empire|April 2023MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON★★★★★ OUT 17 FEBRUARY CERT PG / 90 MINS DIRECTOR Dean Fleischer Camp CAST Jenny Slate, Isabella Rossellini (voices), Lesley Stahl, Dean Fleischer Camp PLOT Marcel (Slate) is a one-inch, anthropomorphic shell who lives a quiet life with his grandmother (Rossellini) in an Airbnb home. With help from a documentary filmmaker (Fleischer Camp), Marcel embarks on a quest to rediscover his missing family — and learn more about the wider world. CAST AWAY MADE you feel affinity with a volleyball; Everything Everywhere All At Once made you feel existential about a couple of rocks; now get ready to feel emotional about a shell. Adapted from the viral video shorts of the same name, Marcel The Shell With Shoes On performs a minor miracle of filmmaking. If a tiny, talking, invertebrate…3 min
Empire|April 2023SHOTGUN WEDDING★★★ OUT NOW (PRIME VIDEO) / CERT 15 / 91 MINS DIRECTOR Jason Moore CAST Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Coolidge, Lenny Kravitz Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom (Josh Duhamel) are about to get married on a beautiful island in the Philippines — but nightmare in-laws, surprise ex-boyfriends and pineapple centrepieces keep getting in the way. Their biggest obstacle? A gang of pirates that turn up and take their whole wedding-party hostage. The not-so-secret weapon of Shotgun Wedding is J-Lo herself, managing to balance being an overwhelmed bride, action hero and full-blown goofball. She and Duhamel have an easy comedic chemistry — and Jennifer Coolidge is undoubtedly the standout of the supporting cast. The action is absurd and the banter slightly try-hard at times, but this is a silly, sporadically…1 min
Empire|April 2023THE INSPECTION★★★ OUT 17 FEBRUARY / CERT 15 / 95 MINS DIRECTOR Elegance Bratton CAST Jeremy Pope, Bokeem Woodbine, Gabrielle Union, Raúl Castillo Set at the height of Clinton’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy on gays in the military, Elegance Bratton’s semi-autobiographical film sees Jeremy Pope as homeless gay man Ellis French, who enlists in the Marines to escape life on the streets. What follows is an often formulaic boot-camp-brutality drama, but one that breaks the mould by successfully tapping into French’s inner life. Outed by an untimely erection, French suffers ostracism, abuse and near-death at the hand of his squad and a sadistic drill instructor (Bokeem Woodbine), but it’s not all Full Metal Jacket-style abuse. Pope’s performance is sensitive and balanced, drawing us into a story that, while by-the-numbers, is…1 min
Empire|April 2023ELECTRIC MALADY★★★ OUT 1 MARCH / CERT TBC / 84 MINS DIRECTOR Marie Lidén PARTICIPANTS William Hendeberg With her feature documentary debut, Swedish-born filmmaker Marie Lidén wants to bring a misunderstood condition to your attention. Known as ‘electrosensitivity’, it is a self-diagnosis believed to have no scientific basis despite its sufferers experiencing pain when exposed to electromagnetic radiation. Lidén’s mother had this condition, and so does William, who lives in a remote Swedish cabin using makeshift therapy, including covering himself in layers of fabric. The effect is ghost-like and Lidén uses this image to craft a strange kind of folk horror. There’s something slightly disturbing about depicting a medical condition through genre tropes, yet Lidén at least gives William a voice, where others might be dismissive. LC…1 min
Empire|April 2023SKINAMARINK★★★ OUT NOW (SHUDDER) CERT NR / 100 MINS DIRECTOR Kyle Edward Ball CAST Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul, Jaime Hill PLOT 1995. Two young children, Kaylee (Tetreault) and Kevin (Paul), wake in the middle of the night and find their father has disappeared, along with the doors and windows of their house. Hours turn to days as the children fend for themselves — while something in the dark beckons them. IT’S IMPRESSIVE THAT such an experimental film as Skinamarink has managed to become a viral sensation. What’s even more impressive is that writer-director Kyle Edward Ball managed to make it — in his childhood home — for $15,000. The kind of analogue horror that has found success on YouTube over the past decade, spawning internet theories and…3 min
Empire|April 2023SERVANT: SEASON 4★★★★ OUT NOW (APPLE TV+) / EPISODES VIEWED 3 OF 10 SHOWRUNNER M. Night Shyamalan CAST Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free, Rupert Grint M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant started out as an atmospheric but truly warped psychological horror story about an ultra-life-like ‘newborn’ doll. But the show has become as much about a religious cult. Shyamalan and his team have skilfully juggled these elements to create an epic battle of wits between a damaged mother (Lauren Ambrose), her TV-chef husband (Toby Kebbell) and their nanny (Nell Tiger Free). Throw in Rupert Grint continuing to have great fun as Dorothy’s dissolute brother, the ornate crumbling house (a key element of the show’s mythology), and the truly unnerving plague of bedbugs, and you have the set-up for a riveting climax to…1 min
Empire|April 2023REAL STEELPEDRO PASCAL CLIMBS into his Beskar armour, dons his helmet and strides into darkness. There he awaits a flickering of light to reveal which fantastical planet he’ll be transported to. Having been led through “an anonymous, sterile parking lot into anonymous, sterile hallways”, he suddenly finds himself… well, anywhere. Every day on the set of The Mandalorian Season 3 is transformative. One minute you’re in your trailer, “doom-scrolling, listening to NPR [National Public Radio] and the news and dissociating,” Pascal tells Empire. The next, you’re walking through the bustling capital of the volcanic planet Nevarro, thanks to the groundbreaking visual-effects technology of the Volume. “It’s almost like going into Space Mountain,” he says with childlike wonder. “This perpetually dark studio that gets lit up by snow-capped planets.” This LED immersive…11 min
Empire|April 2023RESTRAINTSFaces peeling away from skulls. A syringe containing a deadly virus piercing the skin. A man vomiting blood livestreamed across the world. Few filmmakers have burst onto the big screen with such strange and agitating creations as Brandon Cronenberg. The first mental challenge for audiences came in the form of his body-horror debut Antiviral (2012), in which celebrities’ illnesses are sold to rabid fans. In his second film, 2020’s Possessor, an assassin takes control of other people’s bodies via brain implants before encouraging suicide. But the horror, lust and disquieting feeling that envelops you watching those has nothing on the nightmarish new sci-fi Infinity Pool. Holidaying in a luxury resort, author James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) and his partner Em (Cleopatra Coleman) end up embroiled in a mess of violence and…11 min
Empire|April 2023Living it upINDISPENSABLE HOME ENTERTAINMENT IN LIVING, OLIVER Hermanus’ transposition of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru to ’50s London, Bill Nighy gives the performance of a lifetime, rightly rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for Best Actor. He plays Mr Williams, a repressed civil servant who, diagnosed with fatal stomach cancer, finds a new passion for life, turning his attention to building a children’s playground as his parting shot. Interpreting a sensitive script by acclaimed novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, Nighy delivers a nuanced, extremely moving turn, as far away from Billy Mack in Love Actually (“Yes I have, Ant or Dec”) as you can get. Battling a cold and smarting from a bruising 3-0 Boxing Day defeat for his beloved Crystal Palace (he is a club patron), Nighy is, as you’d expect from a man…9 min
Empire|April 2023A Patton emergingAMONG HIS MANY accomplishments, Patton Oswalt predicted The Book Of Boba Fett. In a 2013 Parks And Rec episode, he played a pop-culture-obsessed town-hall attendee who launches into a wild (improvised by Oswalt) filibuster, predicting a project in which “the gloved, Mandalorian armour gauntlet of Boba Fett grabs on to the sand outside the Sarlacc pit and the feared bounty hunter pulls himself from the maw of the sand beast.” Eight years later, Oswalt, watching the Disney+ show, tweeted, “YOU’RE WELCOME.” His fervour for film is unmatched (see his excellent book Silver Screen Fiend), but he’s also created plenty of iconic moments himself. Here, he talks us through some milestone roles. DELMER DARION MAGNOLIA (1999) The first years of his career gave stand-up comic Oswalt all kinds of small roles…4 min
Empire|April 2023How to eat the richOF ALL THE films to rip into the wealthy and privileged lately — and there have been a fair few — none have been as scathing, or as funny, or indeed as pooey, as Triangle Of Sadness. It’s a black comedy about an ensemble of eccentrically terrible rich people whose luxury cruise ends in shipwreck and ignominy. In his English-language debut, writer-director Ruben Östlund found numerous routes to satirise the mega-rich and the mega-thick — as he explains here. STRIKE A POSE The opening sequence, which sees Carl (Harris Dickinson) and a gaggle of male models forced to demonstrate the difference between luxury-brand poses (sultry, serious looks) and high-street fashion poses (cheesy smiles), was a concept plucked from real life. “My wife is a fashion photographer,” says Östlund. “She told…4 min
