Movies

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 1992 trailerThe festive season always offers a treasure trove of Christmas classics to watch all over again but it can be difficult to spot the best ones through TV guides and subscription platforms.Thankfully, there is still a healthy collection all ready to stream at no extra cost.Navigating through online libraries can be a daunting task, and the vast array of streaming services only adds to the confusion.However, this year, several timeless films are available for free streaming at your leisure via BBC iPlayer, ITVX or Channel 4.Here's a small selection of top picks that won't cost you a penny. From family favourites to 'iconic' sequels and classic comedies, there's something to match every mood.Scrooged is a modern take on A Christmas Carol and can be...

The Lion King 2019 may have ruled the box office with a gigantic $1.6 billion worldwide gross, but it was largely considered a fruitless exercise in giving a masterpiece of animation a coat of Uncanny Valley paint while extending the narrative with needless drama and a mediocre new ballad and calling it a day.Unfortunately, the frankly offensive eyesore was a massive hit, so here we are with the latest of Disney’s inevitable sequels and spin-offs to their egregious run of live-action remakes, despite the likelihood that almost no-one has sat through the “original” again since hate-watching the 2019 revamp in the cinema.Beginning a short while after the death of Scar (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), there’s peace in the Pride Lands once more and Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé Knowl...

It’s been seven years since Sir Roger Moore died, but his legacy as a Hollywood star, most notably as James Bond, continues to shine to this day.In honour of the legend, his estate and family have collaborated on a new documentary film that will be shown in select cinemas this weekend before airing on TV on Christmas Day.In the trailer, fellow Bond Pierce Brosnan features, admitting Moore was the only man he ever asked for an autograph.Meanwhile, A View to Kill Bond villain Christopher Walken is also a talking head alongside Moore’s children, Joan Collins, and Live and Let Die Bond girl Jane Seymour.The documentary film’s official synopsis reads: “From Roger Moore with Love is an exclusive behind the scenes look at the charismatic actor who redefined the role of James Bond. The film, co...

Last year, Keanu Reeves bowed out of his iconic assassin role in John Wick: Chapter 4.We saw him dying and even his gravestone, but fans are convinced the character could still be alive.In the meantime, what is essentially John Wick 3.5 will be released next year as a spin-off called Ballerina.The film is set during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum (six months prior to Chapter 4). It follows Bond girl Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, a dancer turned assassin.In the first explosive trailer, Ian McShane reprises Continental manager Winston Scott alongside the late Lance Reddick, who died at the age of 60 just prior to the release of John Wick Chapter 4 last year.His character Charon also died in the fourth movie, but he shot his scenes for the prequel spin-off Ballerina in 2022.T...

Back in 1943, MI5 successfully managed to deceive Hitler over the Allied re-invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe in World War 2.Operation Mincemeat involved British intelligence obtaining the body of a dead tramp and dressing him as a Royal Marines officer.In a move approved by Churchill and Eisenhower, the corpse was released close to the southern coast of Spain, where Spanish fishermen picked it up.Fictitious correspondence between two British generals on plans for the Allies to invade Greece and Sardinia was attached to the body.The neutral Fascist Spanish government shared the information with German military intelligence Abwehr before the originals were returned to the British.As a result, Hitler was fooled by the ruse and German reinforcements were moved to Greece and Sardinia before ...

Samara Weaving is set to star in a new thriller that's shaping up to be one of the most eccentric horror-comedy adaptations of recent times.The original film, 2021's The Trip, featured Noomi Rapace of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo fame and Aksel Hennie as a dysfunctional couple visiting a secluded cabin to mend their rocky relationship.However, the plot takes a wildly dark comedic twist when both partners secretly plan to murder each other, only for their plans to be disrupted by unexpected guests.Weaving, celebrated for her roles in Scream VI, Ready or Not, and The Babysitter series, has been cast alongside Jason Segel. The ensemble also includes Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, Paul Guilfoyle, and MMA fighter Keith Jardine.The project is under the direction of The Lonely Island's J...

Back in 1950, John Wayne starred in Rio Grande, the third of his Cavalry Trilogy (alongside Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon) with director John Ford.Cast and crew struggled terribly with the extremely hot Utah location, where sets and stages had to be built in challenging conditions.To make matters worse, the actors had to perform in heavy-period costumes of the 19th century.At least Duke was able to wear a smaller toupee to look slightly older than his Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke character.The film would also be his first of five starring roles opposite Maureen O’Hara, who shared a set tragedy from production in her autobiography.In O’Hara’s memoir Tis Herself – which also recounted the bruising left by Wayne spanking her on McLintock! – the leading lady claimed that two st...

Reviews for Sir Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 have landed almost 25 years after the release of the Russell Crowe original.Paul Mescal stars as the boy Lucius all-grown up, as he too ends up enslaved and in the arena like Maximus.At time of writing the Roman epic sequel has 83 per cent positive reviews, which is 4 per cent higher than the Best Picture Oscar-winning Gladiator.Check out the critics’ reactions below which range from 4 star fun to 2 star disappointment.Daily ExpressGladiator II is a thoroughly entertaining, bloody and blingy Roman epic, even if what is done in Russell Crowe's original is echoed pretty much entirely across this sequel.EmpireWhat could have been a ponderous, predictable sequel to a much-loved Oscar-winner instead turns out to be a fun romp.Daily TelegraphWashingt...

As Game of Thrones ended in 2019, it was clear that the franchise wasn’t going anywhere due to its ever-increasing popularity.Since then, HBO has produced two seasons of House of the Dragon and has finished shooting the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.Even more shows based on George RR Martin’s fantasy world are in the works, and now a big-screen movie has been added to that roster.Multiple sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that a big-screen Game of Thrones movie is in "very early stage development, with no filmmaker, cast or writer yet attached."But the company is keen on exploring the idea of Westeros invading cinemas."Martin himself has previously expressed interest in a Game of Thrones movie as far back as 2014.In fact, the main series almost concluded with three feat...

Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effect, possibly his last movie at 94 years old, arrives in UK cinemas tomorrow.The courtroom thriller stars Nicholas Hoult as Juror No 2, who realises while serving on a murder trial jury that he was responsible for the victim’s death.Despite little promotional fanfare from Warner Bros., the film has 96 per cent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.Check out some of the critical highlights below from what many are calling Eastwood’s best film in years.Daily Express – Read our full review hereAn edge-of-your-seat courtroom thriller. A thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking work from a Hollywood icon that went ahead and made our day.EmpireOne of Clint Eastwood's best films in years. If this is to be a swansong, it’s a fitti...