At the heart of Henry VIII stands a towering performance by Ray Winstone, who literally grows into the role, impressively doubling in size and ageing 40 years over the course of two feature-length episodes. Focusing on Henry's relationships with his six wives, this lavish mini-series also makes a good job of explaining the complex court intrigues of the period, detailing Henry's split with ...
Compared to James McAvoy's previous picture, The Last King of Scotland, this comedy may seem trivial, but trivia has its pleasures. Produced by Tom Hanks and adapted by David Nicholls from his 2003 novel, Starter for Ten doesn't tackle major historical events, but it also takes place in the past. After a prologue establishing his childhood in provincial Essex, Brian (McAvoy) takes ...
By the marginal-or-miss standards of British TV spin-offs, Ali G in da House is well above adequate, even though it drags out every smart line or decent routine until they lie dead on the screen just begging for a laugh track. The film pulls back a bit from the absolute obnoxiousness of the Ali G TV skits, which makes Sacha Baron Cohen's character bearable at feature length, but also ...
The most durable war films tend to have a personal dimension, and Dark Blue World is no exception. This simple but affecting story of Czech air pilots serving in the RAF during the Second World War is sensitively directed by Jan Sverak from a script by his father Zdenek, whose Kolya was an unexpected but deserved hit with UK audiences. Dark Blue World focuses on the ...