Life on Our Planet review – Morgan Freeman repeats the same cliches again and again
This CGI-fuelled nature series features such a hyperbolic voiceover from the Oscar winner that it can be hard to listen to. Particularly as it comes at the expense of facts
July 2023
TV review
Special Ops: Lioness review – like a female Mission Impossible
Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman lead a starry cast in this drama about an elite all-woman unit of marines. It’s absolute nonsense, but it’s solid, action-packed entertainment
June 2023
Paradise Highway review – not even Juliette Binoche can save this stinker
A trucker being blackmailed by a criminal gang has to flee with the 12-year-old girl she was trafficking when the drop-off goes wrong. Cue Morgan Freeman
April 2023
Morgan Freeman says the terms ‘Black History Month’ and ‘African American’ are insults
Breakups, breakdowns and baseball: the five best films added to US streaming this week
March 2023
A Good Person review – Florence Pugh lifts unsubtle US addiction drama
A Good Person review – Zach Braff’s tale of self-healing is excruciatingly ersatz
January 2023
The Minute You Wake Up Dead review – shonky mystery lets the cat out of the bag
Noirish tale of small American town, whose upstanding citizens turn out to be homicidal maniacs, features acting as feeble as the plot
July 2022
Struck dumb: why ‘the voice of God’ got booted out of documentaries
Once, no serious documentary could be without its authoritative voiceover in perfect English. But film-makers are now rejecting the whole idea. Are social media and post-truth politics to blame?
June 2021
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at 30: a joyless hit that should stay in the 90s
Kevin Costner made for a charmless and embarrassingly miscast local legend in a dark and chaotic mess that audiences in 1991 adored
May 2021
Vanquish review – Ruby Rose slugs it out on a motorbike
TV review
Solos review – a dystopian dud even Anne Hathaway can’t rescue
February 2021
Eye for an Eye review – Travolta goes sleuthing in Texas
Hardboiled private eye John Travolta tussles with corrupt casino owner Morgan Freeman in a thriller whose biggest mystery is its plot
September 2020
Pitt! Aniston! Roberts! Freeman! Was this the starriest Zoom ever?
A live-reading of 80s teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High brought together an array of big names with a surprising standout
April 2020
The classic film I've never seen
I've never seen … The Shawshank Redemption
This enduring, much-loved classic about wrongful incarceration and dreams of liberation is an unlikely but irresistible joy in the lockdown era
August 2019
Angel Has Fallen review – on the run from the Russians
Angel Has Fallen review – Gerard Butler's pyrotechnics fizzle out
November 2018
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms review – the Disney princess story respun
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms review – a festival of winter schmaltz
May 2018
'I did not assault women': Morgan Freeman responds to allegations
Actor responds to CNN report of eight people claiming misconduct, saying: ‘80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined’
