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By Darren Allison

On the 31st January, Silva Screen released two excellent BBC vinyl albums from the 1970s. Firstly, Paddy Kingsland was the first Radiophonic composer to see a solo release of his compositions, even though he’s not name-checked on the front of the sleeve. “Fourth Dimension”, first released in 1973, showcased Kingsland’s theme tunes for television and radio while at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The recordings feature a rock-style backing band and synthesisers including the Vcs 3 and “Delaware” Synthi 100, and the track “Reg” from the album was also released as the B side to the 1973 single release of the iconic Doctor Who theme tune. Kingsland remained at the workshop for 21 years, leaving in 1981, during which time he composed music for much loved TV shows The Changes, Doctor Who and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy among others. Paddy Kingsland is now part of the newly-revived independent “Radiophonic Workshop...

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman finally arrived on Netflix this week. The highly-anticipated and long-in-development gangster film sees Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci reuniting for the first time since Casino and it’s also the first time Scorsese and Al Pacino have ever worked together (if you can believe it).

And the film is apparently living up to all the hype according to critics. With a 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, folks are praising The Irishman as an epic and meditative story about mortality.

See for yourself below:

“It’s a cinematic tour de force in form and substance, representing late-career high points for director Scorsese and his lead actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci,” says the Toronto Star’s Peter Howell.

“There are 209 minutes in The Irishman and not one of them is wasted,” says Chris Hewitt of the Minneapolis Tribune.

Even our own Luke...

One of the big questions facing “Joker” after its shocking Golden Lion win at the Venice Film Festival was how film critics and journalists would respond to the film when it touched down at the Toronto International Film Festival. The comic book film’s Venice victory proved to be hugely controversial on social media, leading some to think critical backlash was going to be inevitable at Tiff. Warner Bros. can rest easy as “Joker” made its Tiff debut to more rave reactions and Oscar buzz for Joaquin Phoenix’s transformative lead performance.

“‘Joker’ doesn’t reinvent the comic book movie, but it’s certainly the scariest one — a taut psychological thriller with a few horror movie twists,” IndieWire chief critic Eric Kohn wrote after the film’s first Tiff screening. “Joaquin Phoenix, though, yikes: Looks like he stepped out of ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,’ or maybe he’s still trapped there.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, indeed, for Toronto International Film Festival audiences who caught the world premiere of director Marielle Heller’s new film starring Tom Hanks as the beloved Mister Rogers.

Written by “Transparent” scribes Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” centers on the real-life friendship between Fred Rogers (Hanks) and journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys). The cynical writer is forced to take an assignment from Esquire to write a profile on Rogers, but the job turns out to be a surprising one as Rogers’ perspective on life — sunnily documented in Morgan Neville’s 2018 doc “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” — begins to change Vogel. The supporting cast includes Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Enrico Colantoni, Maryann Plunkett, and Tammy Blanchard.

From Eric Kohn’s IndieWire review: “Director Marielle Heller… excels at pulling heartstrings from sturdy foundations, injecting smart and insightful...

The 2019 Cannes Film Festival wrapped its 72nd edition on Sunday by awarding director Bong Joon-ho with the Palme d’Or for “Parasite,” his dark comedy about a lower-class family that schemes to overtake a wealthy household. It was the first time that the Palme d’Or went to a Korean director, and many critics felt that it was the right decision: “Parasite” topped IndieWire’s annual critics survey of the best films at Cannes, with 50 critics participating from around the world.

The outcome marked the second year in a row that a Korean film topped the survey, following the first-place finish for Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” in 2018.

“Parasite” also topped the category for best screenplay. For best director, however, another Cannes favorite ranked highly. French director Celine Sciamma topped that category with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which stars Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant as covert lovers in the 18th century.

Quentin Tarantino premiered his latest film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the Cannes Film Festival and the lucky people who were able to attend loved it! After the movie ended the audience gave it a seven-minute standing ovation!

After the screening Tarantino thanked the audience saying, “Thank you for being such a fantastic audience for the first time we’ve ever showed it to an audience.” Shortly after the reviews and reactions started popping up online and almost every thing I’ve read sings its praises.

The acting in the movie is praised and it’s said to be, “Brilliant,” “Dazzling,” “Unsettling”, and features one “Holy Fuck” finale. I can’t wait to see this film for myself! It’s cool to see so many people loved it.

The film is set in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969, and it follows the lives of actor Rick Dalton...

The first screenings of Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” have touched down at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and the reactions coming in from film critics and the press are mostly ecstatic. Considerable praise is being directed towards Brad Pitt, whose last leading role was the 2017 Netflix movie “War Machine.”

“Hollywood” reunites Tarantino with his “Django Unchained” and “Inglourious Basterds” actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, respectively. The two star as a popular television actor and his stuntman trying to break big in the Hollywood movie business during the changing era of 1969. DiCaprio and Pitt’s characters live next door to Sharon Tate (played by DiCaprio’s “Wolf of Wall Street” co-star Margot Robbie), who is also trying to make a name for herself in Hollywood. Everyone’s fates get mixed up with Charles Manson and his cult. The supporting cast includes Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning, Lena Dunham,...

The Cannes Film Festival wrapped its 71st edition on Saturday with the Palme d’Or ceremony, awarding the top prize to Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Shoplifters.” Other movies recognized by Cate Blanchett’s jury included Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” (Grand Prix) and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” (Best Director). While these movies were all well-received by the media covering the festival, one major film in competition went home empty-handed — and now, it has topped IndieWire’s critics survey of the best films of the festival.

“Burning,” Korean director Lee Chang-dong’s first feature in eight years, took first place for best film in IndieWire’s annual poll. The drama, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning,” focuses on the mysterious experiences of a working class man (Ah-in Yoo) who obsesses over a seductive woman (Jeon Jong Seo) while resenting the confidant man (Steven Yeung) she spends her time around.

Two-time Best Director Oscar winner Clint Eastwood’s latest film, “The 15:17 to Paris,” starts screening nationwide tomorrow, February 9. The thriller revisits an August 2015 terrorist attack that a Moroccan man, armed with a rifle and a box cutter, carried out aboard an Amsterdam-departing train. Five of the passengers — including three Americans — worked to restrain the suspect. Of the train’s 554 passengers, only four sustained injuries, including the attacker, Ayoub El Khazzani.

This is Eastwood’s third homage in a row to heroic patriots (the others were “American Sniper” and “Sully”). After making more than 40 features, the 87-year-old decided to try a new approach, casting non-actors Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler, and and Alec Skarlatos, the aforementioned trio, who received medals for their valor from the Obama administration. Eastwood’s Warner Bros.-distributed film is an adaptation of their 2016 memoir of the same name, written with journalist Jeffrey E. Stern.

While critics...