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Jaws to Oppenheimer: the seven best films to watch on TV this week
Jaws to Oppenheimer: the seven best films to watch on TV this week

The Guardian

time11-07-2025

  • Entertainment
  • The Guardian

Jaws to Oppenheimer: the seven best films to watch on TV this week

The 50th anniversary of Jaws – the Year Zero of the modern-day blockbuster – has already been well covered. However, half a century of Jaws also means half a century of Jaws sequels, which is a different kind of fun. This week, Netflix has gathered together all four films for viewers to enjoy at their leisure. The question is: which should you watch? The peerless original? Jaws 2, which is basically a remake of the first one? Jaws 3, which was shot for 3D seemingly just for the scene where a shark gets exploded? Or Jaws: The Revenge, in which a shark with a vendetta chases Michael Caine around the Bahamas? Strictly speaking, only one of these films is good. But, in their own way, they are all great. Tuesday 15 July, Netflix After its extraordinary theatrical run and silverware haul, it's safe to assume that everyone who wants to watch Oppenheimer has already watched it. But even after all the ballyhoo about seeing it on the big screen, Christopher Nolan's film loses very little impact on TV. It's still a total marvel, turning a bog-standard biopic into a puzzlebox of clashing timelines. It's still masterly to look at, transforming the planes of Cillian Murphy's face into grand topography. Best of all, we get to see what Robert Downey Jr looks like when he really puts his all into acting. A must watch. Saturday 12 July, Netflix His days as the do-no-wrong king of Hollywood behind him, Tom Hanks has long since settled into a much more rewarding second act. He writes books. He's become a Wes Anderson day-player. And, more importantly, he gets to star in films like A Man Called Otto. Hanks plays a bitter old crank who plans to kill himself, only to be shaken out of his stupor when he begins to integrate with his neighbours. It's a hard role to pull off – lean too hard one way and you become repellant, lean too hard the other and you become unpleasantly sentimental – but Hanks gets it exactly right. Saturday 12 July, 9pm, Channel 4 Very possibly the greatest Ealing comedy ever made, Passport to Pimlico has one of the most wonderful premises of the 20th century; thanks to a confusing legal loophole, an area of Pimlico is declared part of Burgundy. As such, a forgotten bit of Westminster ends up breaking away from the rest of the country and becoming its own self-governing micronation, with all the greed and pettiness that comes with it. It might have been made in 1949, but the themes in Passport to Pimlico feel incredibly current, especially in post-Brexit 13 July, 1.50pm, BBC Two Sign up to What's On Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday after newsletter promotion Channing Tatum could have made any film he wanted for his directorial debut, and it's telling that he ended up making Dog. On the surface, Dog is a Turner and Hooch rip-off about an army ranger who has to escort his dead friend's dog across the country to be put down. However, the amount of layers Tatum manages to fold in is incredible. There's comedy, and a surprisingly clear-eyed take on mental health in the military. And you'll probably cry at the end. So much better than it needed to be. Monday 14 July, 7pm, Film4 To be specific, hell is Manchester. This stunning 1960 British noir has plenty going for it, like its tight, hardboiled plot – an inspector is tasked with tracking down a murderer following a jailbreak – and the gruffly unsentimental performances from Stanley Baker and John Crawford. It deserves to be rediscovered and heralded as a classic. However, Hell Is a City was also a rare film shot in Manchester, which means that it provides a wonderful snapshot of the city as it was 65 years ago. To call it unrecognisable would be an 15 July, 2:20pm, Film4 Clint Eastwood is 95, and the likelihood is that Juror #2 will be his final movie. Criminally overlooked by its own studio, which attempted to dump it on to streaming without a theatrical release, this is arguably his best film for 20 years. A tight legal thriller about a journalist (played by Nicholas Hoult) who is called up for jury duty only to realise he may be responsible for the victim's death, the film quickly becomes a knotty morality play designed to keep you torn till the very end. If this is Eastwood's last work, he's going out on a high. Friday 18 July, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere

Michael Caine, 92, is pushed in a wheelchair by friend of 30 years Vin Diesel as they film a mystery project
Michael Caine, 92, is pushed in a wheelchair by friend of 30 years Vin Diesel as they film a mystery project

Daily Mail​

time10-07-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Daily Mail​

Michael Caine, 92, is pushed in a wheelchair by friend of 30 years Vin Diesel as they film a mystery project

Michael Caine made a rare sighting in this week when he went to lunch at the his favorite hot spot, River Cafe in Hammersmith, London. The 92-year-old iconic British actor - who is best known for the films Alfie and Batman Begins - looked dapper in a black suit and dark blue shirt with comfortable lace-free black shoes. By his side was his longtime Hollywood friend, Fast And Furious actor Vin Diesel. It was an early birthday celebration for Vin who turns 58-years-old next week. The actors have been friends for over 30 years and even starred in the 2015 movie The Last Witch Hunter together. The lunch was filmed for an upcoming documentary about the legendary talent. A camera could be seen set up on a tripod near the table. Both had their partners with them for the sit down: Michael is married to Shakira, 78, and Vin's longtime girlfriend is Paloma Jimenez, 41. Diesel was clad in a powder blue polo shirt, white slacks and sneakers. Caine was pictured for the first time since transitioning from a Zimmer frame to a wheelchair and appeared in high spirits as Vin lovingly wheeled him around. The silver fox, who sported a band-aid on his face. His wife since 1973, Shakira, looked chic in a black lace dress with a nude cropped jacket and black heels as she carried a red structured handbag. Vince's long-time partner Paloma - who wore a black dress and heels with her hair pulled back - and their two children were also present during the lunch. Caine, who has said he considers Vin his 'unofficial son,' looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself during the two-hour meal. The table even sang Happy Birthday Diesel as they enjoyed dessert. After the feast, Vin was seen rubbing his belly, clearly satisfied with the meal. Vin and Michael are working on an indie project called Mark and Maurice Diesel announced the project in a June 30 Instagram post, in which he expressed his admiration for Caine, describing their long-standing friendship as 'healing and loving.' The nature of the project is not yet known, but Vin expressed excitement about sharing more information about it in the future. Caine is a retired English actor and British cultural icon. He started acting on stage in 1953 and in films in 1956, appearing in many small, uncredited roles. The thespian gained recognition in the 1960s for his roles in Zulu (1964), The Ipcress File (1965), Alfie (1966), and The Italian Job (1969). He won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and The Cider House Rules (1999). It was an early birthday celebration for Vin who turns 58-years-old next week In March Caine said he was 'terrified' seeing Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight. The screen legend - who played butler Alfred Pennyworth opposite Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman in the 2008 movie - has reflected on his experience watching Ledger transform into the iconic villain. He wrote in his memoir Don't Look Back, You'll Trip Over: 'As Alfred says to Bruce, Some men just want to watch the world burn.' 'And that was Heath's version of the character: the smeared make-up, the weird hair, the strange voice. 'It was chilling. Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action — I was terrified!' Caine loved working with 'Brokeback Mountain' star Ledger, who tragically died from an accidental overdose aged 27 in 2008. He recalled: 'He was a lovely guy, very gentle and unassuming. I wondered how he was going to play the Joker, especially as Jack Nicholson's take had been so iconic. 'Brilliantly, Heath ramped up the character's psychotic side rather than going for one-liners. His Joker was deeply, deeply warped and damaged, though you never find out exactly why, or what he's really looking for.' Caine also reflected on the close bond between Ledger and Bale on 'The Dark Knight' - which was directed by Christopher Nolan - while the 'Knight's Tale' actor's performance made sure everyone rose to his level. He said: 'He and Christian [Bale] were good friends and always having fun together. And then he was transformed into this scheming monster, driving a whole city towards mayhem. 'Looking back, I think Heath's excellence made all of us raise our game. 'The psychological battle between the Joker and Batman is completely riveting. Are they in any way the same? What nudges one man to do good, and the other to do evil? 'The Joker wants to torment Bruce by convincing him that they're two of a kind.' Ledger received a posthumous Academy Award for his performance as the Joker, and Caine has admitted the whole cast and crew on 'The Dark Knight' were pulling for him to secure an Oscar even before his death. He said: 'The truth is, we'd all hoped he would win an Academy Award and thought he should, even while we were still filming the movie. 'So it was just a very sad thing that he wasn't around to accept it in person. 'It's a performance for the ages, and even though his career was cut short so soon, he'll be remembered as a great actor, I believe.' Meanwhile, Andrew Garfield - who met Ledger shortly after filming wrapped on 'The Dark Knight' - recalled how immensely proud he was of the project. Speaking on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast last year, Garfield said: 'He was so smug about it. I was like, 'How did that go?' and he was like, 'Yeah, it's really good'.' Last year Caine revealed Tom Cruise came to him for advice when he was starting out in Hollywood. The 91-year-old screen icon has revealed that around the time of the Hollywood star's standout performance in 1981's 'Risky Business', the 'Mission Impossible' star, 62, picked his brain on how to achieve longevity in the acting business. Caine quipped that whatever it was that he told him didn't do him 'any harm' and insists he always knew Cruise was destined for big things. He told The Sunday Times newspaper: 'I turned around and there was this young actor, very polite, asking questions about how not to be just a flash in the pan. That was Tom, probably around the time of Risky Business. 'I can't remember what I said, but it obviously didn't do him any harm! There was something special about him. He had a great attitude, this sense of poise. What interests me is that he is really one of the last true stars in movies. People will go to see a film just because he's in it. Brad Pitt is a star, Morgan Freeman has some of that quality too. There are so few nowadays — not like John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart or Cary Grant.' The pair have remained friends all these years later, and he was 'very touched when his wife, Shakira, Lady Caine had Tom be a surprise guest at his 90th birthday last March.

Rob Brydon interview: ‘Steve Coogan's very sure of himself and his opinions. I'm not'
Rob Brydon interview: ‘Steve Coogan's very sure of himself and his opinions. I'm not'

Telegraph

time10-07-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Telegraph

Rob Brydon interview: ‘Steve Coogan's very sure of himself and his opinions. I'm not'

'I've got a terrible walk,' says Rob Brydon. 'I mean, I walk like an ape. I have a very wide gait. Did you not notice?' Truly, everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Watch Brydon, who can act, present, sing and tell jokes with equal grace, and you might get the idea he was comfortable in his skin by now. He can do pathos (Marion and Geoff), loveable eccentricity (Gavin & Stacey), amiable repartee (Would I Lie to You?), a great Michael Caine (The Trip), belt out a tune, interview fellow celebrities on his podcast… He has an MBE, five Bafta nominations (or six if you count the Welsh Baftas, which he probably would), and a cameo in the billion-dollar Barbie film. He is the closest thing Britain has to a light-entertainment Swiss Army knife, a man capable of delivering an almost infinite number of versions of Rob Brydon. Yet here he is, on the verge of conquering another frontier, reality TV, fretting about the way he walks. Is this anxiety something that has long plagued him? 'I wouldn't go that far, but I respect your journalistic mind,' he says. 'I can see the headline now: Gaitgate.' His latest role is hosting Destination X, a travel-themed reality series for the BBC, which is an adaptation of a format that has already aired in the US and Belgium. Contestants are taken on a special bus, with the windows blacked out, to an undisclosed location somewhere in Europe; they must work out where they are from whatever clues they can gather. The person whose guess is furthest off is eliminated at the end of each episode. 'Other shows have come my way and I've said no,' Brydon says. 'But I loved The Traitors, and I loved Claudia [Winkleman] on The Traitors. I felt about [ Destination X ] like I did about Would I Lie to You?, that tonally it was a fit for me. A big part was the scale of it. It was very ambitious. I liked the idea of being part of a big show. In that sense it was more like my experience on some of the films I've been in. 'There's a Traitors element, a Race Across the World element, a Big Brother element, and there's the most stunning photography of the most wonderful locations,' he continues. 'I've never been a big reality television fan,' he adds. 'I've always been a bit sniffy about reality TV. I was never a Big Brother watcher. I'd watch Celebrity Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, because I found that interesting, to see people with a public persona put under hard conditions. But I found [ Destination X ] to be far more creative than I expected. We had about 10 to 12 cameras on the go at once; because it's reality, the directors have to react in real time. 'So I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and for more reasons than I thought I would.' We meet at his publicist's office in west London, where Brydon sits in a conference room in front of an enormous picture of Bill Nighy. Not unlike Nighy, Brydon has achieved borderline national-treasure levels of celebrity, over a long career, without drawing a whisper of scandal or misdemeanour. A few weeks earlier he turned 60, a reflective moment. 'I'm the same as everyone else,' he says, eyes widening slightly at the thought. 'You can't believe it. You think, 'How on earth has this happened?' Especially when you think back to being a kid. When you heard someone was 60, they were practically dead.' Trim, in a fitted white shirt, and hair still neatly swept back from the photo shoot, Brydon at 60 looks not only not-dead, but remarkably like the Brydon who became famous in his mid-30s, which he puts down to the obvious methods. 'The past 10 years I've exercised much more and I'm more careful about what I eat,' he says. 'I've just done a documentary about country music, so I spent three weeks driving around the Deep South. You're sitting down all day, eating the food of the region, which is not known for its health benefits. You put the weight on.' He is entertaining company, breaking into impressions and seasoning his answers with a bit of gentle teasing about the interviewer's 'art'. I wonder if his aversion to reality TV might have been to do with his respect for the traditional skills of performance, having grown up in an era when stars didn't feel the need to advertise every atom of their being. 'Oh, you want to pick at that thread, do you?' he says, with a grin. 'I've always had great respect for talent and skill. And also there's a certain cruelty to Big Brother, which I wasn't comfortable with. But that's just not for me.' True to his word, for his performance on Destination X, he says he is channelling the Fringed One's Traitors mix of bonhomie and camp. 'With Jeffrey Dean Morgan [an actor known for The Walking Dead ], who presents the American version, the impression I get is that he plays it a bit more like a character. Whereas I can only be me, which is warm and affable, hopefully witty and encouraging.' That is certainly a version of himself he has cultivated for the past 30 years. Brydon was born in 1965 in Baglan, Glamorgan, to Howard, a car dealer, and Joy, a schoolteacher. He grew up in the village with his younger brother, and always had the gift of entertaining. 'I heard an interview with [the American talk-show host and comedian] Jimmy Fallon recently. He said that he was a people pleaser and likes to entertain people, but the key one was that when he was growing up and doing his schtick, people told him he was good and encouraged him. That was my experience.' After a year and a half at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Brydon joined BBC Radio Wales aged 20, working as a DJ, and later picking up the odd screen job where he could. It wasn't until 2000, at 35, that he had his breakthrough year. He starred in the surreal comedy Human Remains, with Julia Davis, and Marion and Geof f, a touching one-man, fixed-camera comedy about a man coming to terms with his wife's affair, produced by his old friend Steve Coogan. They also teamed up on 24 Hour Party People (2002) and A Cock and Bull Story (2005), both directed by Michael Winterbottom. There were many chat and panel shows, to the extent that his Marion and Geoff character, Keith Barret, had his own spoof chat show, beginning in 2004, and Brydon starred in the scandalously underrated comedy Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive (2006-2007), about a fictional panel show. His biggest break came in 2007, playing the eccentric but enormous-hearted Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey, written by James Corden and Ruth Jones. The sitcom's success helped complete his journey from darling of the Radio 4 classes to nationwide star. Corden used Gavin & Stacey as a springboard to take on America, via his stint hosting The Late Late Show. Brydon says he never had the same ambition. 'One of my favourite sayings is, 'To what end?'' he explains. 'People would ask, 'Why aren't you doing such and such? Don't you want to go to America?' And I would say, 'To what end? What for?' It's a very common question, especially when James went and indeed conquered it. It seems, in a lot of journalists' minds, the natural progression… I can only assume that if you do America, they ask, 'What about Neptune and Jupiter?'' Partly it was down to family, he says. Brydon has been married twice: to Martina Fitchie, with whom he has two daughters and a son, from 1992 to 2000; and since 2006 to Clare Holland, with whom he has two sons. 'I have quite the age range, 30 down to 14,' he says. 'I'm desperate for a lie-in. They all do different things. My eldest is in casting, then chef, teacher, still at school, still at school. 'Getting older gives you perspective, having kids gives you perspective,' he adds. 'When I was younger, I would have loved to have gone [to the US]. If I had the opportunities I have now when I was younger, before family and stuff, I'd have been there like a shot. But now it's simply not practical, because I like my family. I think maybe if you're in an unhappy marriage you jump at the opportunity to travel. And I travel a fair bit – Destination X is a prime example – but if you have a happy life, which thank God I do, you want to enjoy it. I love the simple things in life. I do like going to the garden centre.' Corden's run in the US ended in 2023. He returned to British screens for the triumphant finale of Gavin & Stacey last Christmas, which had an audience of 12.3 million overnight; by the time it had been streaming for 10 days, that number had risen to more than 19 million. For Brydon, who grew up on terrestrial TV, it was like a window into an earlier era. 'The good thing about 2025 is that someone like me can go and do so many different things,' he says. 'People watch what they want to watch. You don't have to sit and watch something you don't want to. I was in Barbie and I know there was social-media reaction going, 'What the hell is he doing there, the guy from Would I Lie to You? ' The bad side is that it's harder to get traction on anything. Sometimes you think it would have been lovely to work in those days. I used to talk to Ronnie Corbett about it; he'd know if he went for Sunday lunch to a pub or restaurant, that whatever percentage of the people there had watched The Two Ronnies last night. That'll never come back.' Could there be another Gavin & Stacey? 'There's nothing on the horizon. Anything could happen, but as it is at the moment, I can't see anything else. What a great thrill to be part of that.' He is hardly short of offers. 'I'm very lucky, I'm 60 and people are still asking me to do things. I like doing lots of different things. The downside of that is you don't get the respect that somebody who focuses on one thing [gets], because one minute I'm hosting, the next I'm acting.' It's the closest thing he will offer to a grumble. When we meet, he is about to fly off to film yet another version of himself for a fifth series of The Trip, perhaps his most successful collaboration with Winterbottom and Coogan, in which Brydon and his old mucker play fictionalised takes on themselves who are sent to review restaurants. Improvising around Winterbottom's plot, the pair bicker, eat wonderful food and compete to do impressions of celebrities: Al Pacino, Michael Caine, Mick Jagger. The first series, in 2010, took them around the North of England; subsequent outings have been to Spain, Italy and Greece. For the new one, they will go to Scandinavia. It has been five years since the Greek Trip, which at the time the three men said would be the last. Why another now? 'Because Michael Winterbottom said, 'Let's do another one,'' Brydon laughs. 'We just turn up.' Does he have any new impressions lined up? 'I wish I did. I have been thinking of a couple of people. Should I tell you? Should I be clever? On the last [series], I thought I was going to do Andy Murray at the end of the meal, you know' – Brydon slips into his Murray impersonation – ''I thought I did really well, I tried really hard.' And I was doing an impression of Richard E Grant a few years ago for my daughter, and it was as if he was in the room, I was just channelling him. I've never been able to recapture him, but in that instant, [in Grant's voice] he was there. The other voice [as Jeff Goldblum ] would be hmmm, brrrr, Jeff Goldblum, I'm thinking about him. 'I wouldn't say I've fallen out of love with impressions, but they don't interest me like they used to,' Brydon says, sounding like himself again. 'Lee Mack is always joking on Would I Lie to You? about me doing people who are dead. There's a simple explanation: I'm doing people from my childhood, because that's when I would look at them and go, 'Oh, I'm gonna sound like them.' It's always a love letter. It's always people I like. That's fallen away. 'I have an ear that hears the music in a voice. I'll hear voices that appeal to me: Michael Gove, Nigel Farage, Donald Trump, Jacob Rees-Mogg. All very interesting and appealing voices, but I only do people I like and I'm drawn to. They're not my cup of tea. I'm not a political satirist.' On the contrary, Brydon has remained studiously unpolitical, though we might infer he is not a card-carrying Tory. 'I'm reminded of Elvis Presley's press conference in 1972, when he was asked what he thought about war protestors, and whether he'd today refuse to be drafted? He replied, [as Elvis] 'Honey, I'm just an entertainer, I'd rather keep my views to myself.' I've always felt that way. I don't have the stomach for it.' In this Brydon couldn't be more different from his fellow Welsh star Michael Sheen or Coogan, both of whom are endlessly inveighing on behalf of one cause or another. But it is probably part of the reason Brydon has by and large succeeded in keeping himself out of hot water. 'It annoys Steve that I don't [make political statements],' he says. 'In Italy we were in some lovely setting and at one point he just said, [Coogan voice] 'Why don't you put your head above the parapet?' And my only answer was, 'It's not me.' Steve's got an opinion on everything. He'd have an opinion on where the plug sockets are on this table. He's very sure of himself and his opinions. I'm not.' Beyond The Trip, Brydon has been coaxed into another sitcom, set to come out next year. 'I've said no to every sitcom I've been offered since Gavin & Stacey because I didn't think they were good enough,' he says, adding that most scripts wanted him to play a variation on Uncle Bryn. 'I think that's the norm, for anyone who's had a hit with something. When you cast people, you naturally think, 'Oh, they do that thing, I'd love them to do that thing in my show.'' But Bill's Included was promising enough to tempt him back. Written by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen, the comedy duo sometimes known as The Pin, it will star Brydon as a divorced man who takes student lodgers into his spare rooms to help make ends meet. 'It was a little bit different, with an interesting dynamic,' he says. 'It'll be exciting to go back into that world.' The warm, genial Brydon variety show carries on, in other words. His Honky Tonk Road Trip, the series he filmed in the US, will come out in September. If he has any real regrets, or bugbears, or personal beefs, they are staying close to his chest. It is ironic, given how often he has interrogated a version of himself on screen. 'I have a lovely spread [of work],' he says. 'I've had this amazing life doing something that I love and it's a cliché but it's true. I'm never looking at the clock. And a by-product of what I do is people come up to me every day and say nice things.' He is midway through a story about his fellow 'Welsh rat pack' member Matthew Rhys when we run out of time. 'I was in New York making a special about Neil Diamond for ITV about 10 years ago,' he says, 'and part of it was Neil did a show at his old school in Brooklyn, where he'd been with Barbra Streisand…' He is interrupted by his taxi arriving. 'I'm telling an ANECDOTE,' he declares, in Ronnie Corbett's voice, returning to his subject. 'And we were going back to Manhattan, and I started to do my Richard Burton, and then Matthew did his, and I shut up pretty quickly. I knew I was out of my depth.' I don't believe for a second he'd ever concede to anyone in a Richard Burton competition, but there is no time to interject. He's off. His walk is absolutely fine.

Cars and steps do not mix: why The Italian Job has a lot to answer for
Cars and steps do not mix: why The Italian Job has a lot to answer for

The Guardian

time20-06-2025

  • Automotive
  • The Guardian

Cars and steps do not mix: why The Italian Job has a lot to answer for

The 1969 caper The Italian Job spawned a Hollywood remake, helped drive the cool-factor of the Mini and launched decades of dad-jokes about bloody doors being blown off. It may also have inspired one driver who got stuck trying to travel down the Spanish Steps in Rome this week. The film ended with Michael Caine teetering on the edge of a cliff in a coach, claiming to have a 'great idea'. In Rome, the 80-year-old's navigational error on his way to work ended with emergency services having to bring in a crane to winch his vehicle off the Italian capital's landmark. But it is not only in Rome where steps, or indeed navigational issues, can create havoc for drivers. In the slightly less celebrated surrounds of north London's Maitland Park estate, residents have been complaining about drivers getting their cars stuck trying to rehash one of the film's most famous scenes by driving down a small flight of steps. According to the Camden New Journal, five cars met their match on the five concrete steps within the space of a month last year, with some of the drivers reportedly blaming their satnav apps for leading them there. One resident, Aron Kennedy, posted online about the phenomenon, which he referred to as a 'new Camden tourist attraction along with Karl Marx'. He told the paper: 'If it happens one more time I think we might have to get a living statue of a car stuck there permanently.' In Plymouth in 2017, it was reported that a driver turned off a road, through the gap in railings at a pedestrian crossing, across the pavement and through a covered walkway leading under a block of flats and a small supermarket, before parking the silver Vauxhall Corsa facing downwards on a flight of steps. All because the satnav had reportedly said to turn left at Tesco. And so many lorries have got stuck following their satnavs down a narrow country lane in Cornwall that one man reportedly paid £150 for a large yellow sign that read, in block capitals: 'Do not follow satnav. This route is unsuitable. You will get stuck.' According to a local newspaper report last month, this was not enough to stop it happening yet again. In Somerset, by a 6ft-wide lane, stands a house that has reportedly sustained £50,000 of damage over several years of HGV drivers trying to force their way past while following directions on their devices. And those are just domestic tales of driving woe. Driving when abroad can be particularly confusing. Guardian readers have been sharing some of their own experiences. Otieno Okatch said he and his wife, from California, rented a car in Switzerland during the annual Fasnacht celebrations. 'One day, we ended up in downtown Lucerne and got lost. The streets were oddly empty. We turned the corner and had inadvertently entered the city Fasnacht parade. We were mortified. A police escort had to help us get out as thousands stared at the two foreigners.' Anand Ranganathan, also from California, told of an experience when he and his wife were in Arles, France while touring the country about 14 years ago. Forced by hefty mobile roaming charges to follow printed-out Google Maps directions to their hotel, they were sent down a 'one-lane road that had a retractable bollard in the middle of it'. He said: 'Only drivers who had a special code were allowed to go through it ... Of course, we didn't realise this until we got close to the bollard. Now we were stuck. There was a line of cars behind us and a bollard in front of us … The cars behind us were honking, the driver immediately behind us was cursing us in well-considered French, and I was standing there gesticulating to indicate that I was but a lost tourist.' To stairs in London and Devon, narrow lanes in Cornwall and Bouches-du-Rhône, add for one driver: a picturesque flight of steps in the heart of the Italian capital.

Heist film starring British acting royalty now streaming on Prime but fans all say the same thing
Heist film starring British acting royalty now streaming on Prime but fans all say the same thing

Daily Record

time03-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Daily Record

Heist film starring British acting royalty now streaming on Prime but fans all say the same thing

Although the movie's cast is dotted with acting royalty as well as thrilling source material, the film failed to make an impact — both commercially and critically. Directed by James March, King of Thieves is a 2018 British heist film based on a true story. Co-written by Joe Penhall, Duncan Campbell, and Mark Seal, the movie depicts the real-life events of the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary — a heist that was executed over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in April 2015 by a group of experienced elderly thieves. Starring acting heavyweights like Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Francesca Annis, Charlie Cox, Jim Broadbent, Paul Whitehouse and Ray Winstone — the true crime movie follows a gang of retired criminals (and one young-blooded alarms expert). ‌ The group plans and executes a daring robbery in London's jewellery district during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. However, greed quickly turns their last hurrah into a collapsing nightmare. ‌ Although the movie's cast is dotted with acting royalty as well as thrilling source material, King of Thieves failed to make an impact — both commercially and critically. According to Box Office Mojo, the film garnered only $7,518 domestically in the United States and Canada, of which $3,502 was earned during the opening weekend. The movie grossed approximately $11.5 million at the worldwide box-office. Most of its scenes were filmed in central London and around Margate in Kent, featuring locations such as the Wig and Pen Pub, the Nayland Rock Hotel, Harbour Arm, the area outside Turner Contemporary, and Margate railway station. Abbott's Cliff in Dover is also visible in the train scene where Brian Reader (Michael Caine) travels to Margate. With a 31 per cent review rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie didn't manage to make too many waves. Critics and audiences were left unimpressed with the film's execution, with one reviewer writing: 'The Hatton Gardens heist was a ballsy operation. You can't say the same about King of Thieves.' Another critic said: 'King of Thieves really should have delivered way more cinematic swag than it does.' ‌ While one wrote: 'Torn between jaunty genre hijinks and a bleaker streak of realism, it's a strangely stiff, lethargic account of a cracking tale.' A harsh critical review of the film said: 'There is one joke in King of Thieves, and it's that the thieves are old. That's it—that's the whole movie,' while another one said: 'Marsh had his hands on some very fancy jewels. What he didn't have, sadly, was the script to make them gleam.' Audiences were left disappointed as well, with one viewer saying: 'Passes the time but little else. Tries hard to be both a comedy and a thriller but doesn't really succeed at either. For such a daring burglary, this could have surely been done a lot better.' ‌ Another audience review compared the film to the botched heist and wrote: 'Based on a real account of a robbery in London and featuring a superb all British cast. Very much like the botched heist, the plot here is in shambles all over the place.' Yet another viewer couldn't hide their disappointment and said: 'It's poorly written. The heist isn't that exciting. The humour isn't funny.' While one viewer added: 'Not a gripping tale. At times the audience were laughing - was this supposed to be a comedy??? Difficult to remember the names of the was who?" They further said: "Undoubtedly the royalty of British male actors but the story was weak. It could have been much better if there was character and story development of the Police activity pitted against the perpetrators. Shame - not worth a look.'

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