World Movie News: The Last 24 Hours
Sir Patrick Stewart is mourned, a packed Halloween Friday at the cinema, Donnie Darko turns 25 & Wild Horse Nine’s early screenings.
Morning, all. I need to begin today with the saddest news, as the film world is in shock at the death of Sir Patrick Stewart. There are two more notable losses to report as well, before we turn to a bumper Halloween Friday at the cinema.
Sir Patrick Stewart, 1940–2026: The actor died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, aged 86, his family announced on Thursday. He had been ill with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, and his wife, Sunny, was with him. Born in Mirfield in Yorkshire, he rose from poverty to become one of Britain’s finest Shakespearean actors, before becoming a global star as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in the films Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis. He was equally beloved by a second generation of fans as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, including 2017’s brilliant Logan, and he was knighted in 2010. Marvel Studios paid tribute to him for bringing Xavier to life with grace, intelligence and humanity. Kevin Feige said he’ll never forget the first time he saw Stewart on the set of the first X-Men film, and Logan director James Mangold called him a brilliant actor and a gentle soul. William Shatner and the rest of the Star Trek family also paid tribute, with messages including “Godspeed, Captain”. One of the great voices of British acting, he was as at home with a Shakespeare soliloquy as with a starship. Rest in peace.
Elke Sommer, 1940–2026: The German actress died on Wednesday at her home in Bel Air, aged 85, of heart failure after a long illness, according to her stepson. She starred opposite Peter Sellers in A Shot in the Dark, from the Pink Panther series, and appeared in The Prize.
Barbara Barrie, 1931–2026: The Oscar-nominated actress died on Wednesday at her home in Manhattan, aged 95, her daughter confirmed. She was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Breaking Away, and was also well known to television audiences as Barney Miller‘s wife.
New in UK and Irish cinemas: Turning to another packed set of this weekend’s releases:
- Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s Wicker, a week after its US release, stars Olivia Colman as an ostracised fisherwoman who commissions a husband to be woven out of wicker, with Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki and Richard E. Grant. I saw it at the London Film Festival. It’s rated 15 and is bawdily brilliant!
- Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s documentary Everest: The Other Side, from Disney, follows the ski mountaineers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson up Everest’s north face, and is designed for the biggest screens, including IMAX.
- I Love Boosters: Boots Riley’s comedy, from Universal following the increasingly bizarre adventures of a group of ‘boosters’ (high end shoplifters). It was another LFF film for me: something very different. It dials it to 11 in the third act, which I wasn’t so fond of, but it was a real surprise of a comedy film and worthy of your attention.
- Animol: another film I saw at the LFF, it’s a prison drama with an excellent turn by Tut Nyuot as a kid caught between two equally dangerous king-pins in a UK jail. A tough watch but a good film.
- Arnie & Barney: an animated feature about two clumsy ants – one for the kids.
- In the Shadows: A drama based on a true story about refugee Ramla Ali secretly pursuing boxing against her parents’ wishes to become the first Somali-British professional boxing champion.
- City of Masks: To quote from IMDB “Ambition, obsession, and lost love collide in a haunted West End theatre where a disfigured composer, a rising star, and a jealous rival fight for control of a mysterious musical-and the masked legacy that threatens to destroy them all.” Sounds very Phantom-ish!
- Bad Day at the Office: a thriller starring John Hannah who wakes up in a wrecked hotel room with amnesia. Written and directed by Chee Keong Cheung.
- Peter Asher: Everywhere Man: a documentary about the musician and producer.
- Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning: as I mentioned yesterday, this concert film – interspersed with documentary footage – presents the legendary final performance at Birmingham’s Villa Park stadium, filmed 17 days before his death
- It’s a Halloween weekend, too, so two horror and fantasy favourites are returning. Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko is back in a 4K restoration for its 25th anniversary, with a new introduction from the director, in Cineworld cinemas nationwide as well as the BFI IMAX, the Prince Charles Cinema and the Irish Film Institute. It opened in the US on 26 October 2001, but it wasn’t released in the UK until 25 October 2002.
- And Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth returns in a Studiocanal re-release 20 years after it was made.
New in US cinemas only: Netflix’s The Mosquito Bowl, which I mentioned when its trailer was released, opens in limited release in US cinemas today, ahead of its Netflix debut on 25 November. The R-rated horror comedy Christmas at the Kringles, starring Ron Livingston, Rachel Bilson and Rob Riggle, also opens in US cinemas today, though I couldn’t find a UK date for it.
Wild Horse Nine, early: Martin McDonagh’s brilliant Wild Horse Nine has special early screenings in the US tonight only, ahead of its wide release on 6 November. In the UK and Ireland, it opens on Wednesday 4 November, two days earlier than in the US, with some preview screenings happening over this weekend. I gave it five stars from the London Film Festival. John Malkovich won the Best Actor prize at Venice and I predict that he will be head-to-head with Andrew Scott (for Elsinore) come Oscar time.
Birthdays: Henry Winkler, who starred in Scream, The Lords of Flatbush and The Waterboy, turns 81 today, and Nia Long of Boyz n the Hood turns 56. Also celebrating is Kevin Pollak (69), who played Hockney in The Usual Suspects.
That’s all for today.
Subscribe
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to One Mann’s Movies to receive future reviews by email right here. No salesman will call!