At The Movies

The Critic features Sir Ian McKellen as a much-feared theatre critic who’ll do anything to keep his job, no matter who gets hurt. Also starring Gemma Arterton (Byzantium), Mark Strong (Kingsman) and Lesley Manville (Mrs Harris Goes To Paris).

Lee is the story of one of the great World War Two photographers, Lee Miller, and why she slipped into obscurity when the war was over. Starring – and produced by – Kate Winslet, with Marion Cotillard, Andy Samberg and Alexander Skarsgård.

Simon Morris looks at three films that owe their audiences to attractive casts – Kate Winslet in the Oscar hopeful Lee…. a star-studded comedy drama, The Critic featuring Sir Ian McKellen and Gemma Arterton…. And a Netflix true-crime thriller, starring and directed by Anna Kendrick.

Woman Of The Hour is a true-crime thriller about an actress who goes on a TV dating show, only to discover that one of the contestants for a date with her is a serial killer. Starring and directed by Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect). Currently showing on Netflix.

Simon Morris has a bad day at the office – three films, almost all “not in the English language”. Always a challenge for a radio show! They include festival favourites, Iranian film My Favourite Cake, a French drama called Last summer and a breezy comedy about Northern Ireland hiphop group Kneecap, who only use the Irish language.

My Favourite Cake is a bittersweet romance about two lonely 70-year-olds who hook up over cake and wine in modern day Iran. But how will the notorious Morality Police feel about it? It did well at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, despite being essentially cancelled by the Iranian authorities. What’s that line about success being the best revenge?

Last summer is the story of forbidden love between a confident teenager and his stepmother. But writer-director Catherine Breillat (2009’s Bluebeard) offers more than one twist in the tale before it finishes. Starring Léa Drucker (Close).

Kneecap tells the story of the hiphop group of the same name, starring themselves, with assistance from the likes of Michael Fassbender (Hunger) and Simone Kirby (Peaky Blinders). Kneecap’s point of difference is they rap entirely in Irish. Ireland’s submission to the next Academy Awards.

Fergus Grady, Director of the British & Irish Film Festival, previews this year’s programme. Among the highlights are Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, We Live In Time, with Florence Pugh, a tribute to the Merchant Ivory team and a documentary on the “lost Rolling Stone”, Brian Jones.

The Apprentice is the based-on-reality story of Donald Trump’s sinister mentor - notorious lawyer Roy Cohn - while the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is the biopic of the actor who came to fame playing the Man of Steel, then suffered a tragic accident confining him to a wheelchair. But it was what happened then that proved truly heroic.