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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F review – fish-out-of-water Eddie Murphy chases past glories

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Murphy’s maverick cop – and his theme music – are back to fight corruption, but four decades on there’s little energy to enliven their formulaic reunion Eddie Murphy isn’t finished yet – as he proved with his barnstormer of a performance as Blaxploitation pioneer Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite Is My Name . But there’s something a bit tired and formulaic about this further go-around for his iconic Detroit cop Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop action-comedy franchise which 40 years ago made Murphy an explosive Hollywood star – and whose catchy Axel F theme became an 80s anthem, duly revived here. He’s back for the fourth film, yet again leaving his Detroit turf to be a scruffy fish-out-of-water in the hilariously chi-chi world of Beverly Hills, yet again wryly noticing from the wheel of his car, on the way in, a montage of all the crazy California stuff, including a car registration plate reading: PRE-NUP. Axel’s grownup lawyer daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) is in Beverly Hills, menace
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Is eco-terrorism now self-defence? Inside explosive film How to Blow Up a Pipeline

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Peaceful protest hasn’t stopped the climate crisis, so what should happen next? The makers of a new nerve-jangling film about eight young saboteurs talk about oil, extreme action and morality In the baking heat of the west Texas desert, a young man is making a bomb. Hands trembling, sweat fogging his goggles, he slowly assembles the explosive. A knife-blade of powder is painstakingly poured into a tiny tube. Wires are shakily glued together. With infinite care, the delicate, deadly contraption takes shape. Outside the tin shack where this is all unfolding, another young man paces, remembering his friend’s instructions: “Don’t come in unless I tell you to. Unless you see fire.” He looks as if he’s about to be sick. The audience knows how he feels. This is the tense setup at the heart of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, a propulsive, nerve-jangling thriller about eight young people who want to send a message about the urgency of the climate crisis by sabotaging an oil pipeline. The film take
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Director Nida Manzoor: ‘For teenage girls, everything feels so intense it’s almost violent’

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Known for We Are Lady Parts, her controversial sitcom about a Muslim punk band, the writer-director has made a feature film, Polite Society, that celebrates young female defiance with martial arts-fuelled energy The muse can be a fickle thing to find, but Nida Manzoor’s inspiration has always been close to home. “My sister, Sanya, is only a year older than me and she is such a big influence on my work,” says the screenwriter and director. “She’s always been a rebel and I hated to see her being told what to do. She’s become my muse.” Manzoor’s free-spirited sister has long been a theme in her work. Manzoor, 33, rose to prominence in 2021 with her debut Channel 4 series, We Are Lady Parts, which told the story of an all-female Muslim punk band balancing cultural pressures with trying to write thumping tracks lambasting their daily lives. The Manzoor sisters, who were brought up by Pakistani Muslim parents in Singapore and then London, wrote the music for the series together, along wit
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‘Life can be complicated’: Rachel Weisz on balancing privacy with stardom

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Her latest TV series calls for her to play both twins in a reworking of Cronenberg’s dark and bloody classic, Dead Ringers. But Rachel Weisz, the famously private Oscar-winner, is used to stepping in and out of roles There’s quite a lot of blood. There’s really quite a lot of blood in Dead Ringers , but it’s not the blood of bullet holes or stab wounds, or any of the other violences one might expect in a dark psychological thriller like this. It’s blood on knickers and operating tables, and smeared on silk shirts, and the blood as a baby’s head crowns – the bloods of birth and loss, guttural screams, and in the middle of it all, Rachel Weisz , twice. In David Cronenberg ’s original 1988 film, a grisly examination of the relationship between the physical and mental self, Jeremy Irons played twin gynaecologists whose dubious ethics led to all manner of horrors. In this gender-swapped adaptation, in which Weisz stars and exec-produced, she plays those twins identical in every way but ch
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Mia Hansen-Løve: ‘I’d rather not film sex scenes than have virtue police on set’

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The French director on making the closest thing to an autobiography, stripping Léa Seydoux of her glamour and dating fellow film-makers French screenwriter and director Mia Hansen-Løve, 42, was born in Paris to parents who were both philosophy professors. She studied German at university, then had stints as an actor and film critic before making her directorial debut in 2007 with All Is Forgiven . Her subsequent films include Father of My Children , Goodbye First Love , Eden and Bergman Island . Her new film, One Fine Morning , is about a single mother caring for her ailing father while embarking upon a new romance. She lives near Paris with her partner, film-maker Laurent Perreau, and their children. How closely was your new film, One Fine Morning , inspired by your own late father’s illness? All my films, in one way or another, use autobiographical elements. Or I should say biographical, because the majority are not inspired by my own story but those of people dear to me. But thi
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Bill Butler obituary

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Cinematographer best known for his work on Jaws, Grease and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest “I hear you’re making a movie about a fish,” the cinematographer Bill Butler said to the young director Steven Spielberg when they bumped into each other on the Universal lot in 1974. Butler, then in his early 50s, had already shot two projects for Spielberg – the TV movie Something Evil (1972) and Savage (1973), a pilot that was not taken up as a series. But it was their collaboration on the “fish movie” that cemented their reputations. Summer was not previously regarded as an optimum time to release a big studio picture, which is why Jaws (1975), which flooded screens across the US rather than trickling out in stages, is considered the first summer blockbuster – though its finesse and skill, not to mention an intimate second half in which the cast dwindles to three men and a largely unseen shark, give it little in common with the sort of crash-bang-wallop productions that followed in its wake
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Prime Video announces its first local true crime docu-series Dancing On The Grave

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Prime Video announced the global premiere of its first local true-crime docu-series, Dancing On The Grave. The investigative unscripted series takes a deep-dive into the spine-chilling murder of Shakereh Khaleeli, that took place in the early 90’s in Bangalore. Woven together through archival footage, news clippings, interviews and dramatizations, Dancing on the Grave, delves into the sudden disappearance and grisly murder of Shakereh Khaleeli (maiden name Namazie), a well-known and wealthy heiress from a respected family. The 4-part docu-series investigates the mysterious murder through exclusive interviews of the key personnel in the events as well as by some who were at peripheries. It also features the perpetrator himself and goes beyond the already known facts about the event, digging deep into the murder that shook the nation, almost 30 years ago.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by prime video IN (@primevideoin) Aparna Purohit, head of India Originals, Prime Vi
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Shriya Pilgaonkar to star opposite Jitendra Kumar in Emmay Entertainment's next?

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Emmay Entertainment, which recently produced the Rani Mukerji starrer Mrs. Chatterjee Vs. Norway, is now said to be collaborating with Shriya Pilgaonkar for an upcoming project, which is also to feature Kota Factory fame Jitendra Kumar. A source close to the production house learnt that they have roped her in as the lead actress for an upcoming film but a confirmation is awaited from the team of the film as well Shriya. Shriya Pilgaonkar, who is known for Guilty Minds, Taaza Khabar, Broken News, among others, is said to have teased the audiences too a while ago by sharing a picture with Emmay Entertainment’s Nikhil Advani. The photo also featured actor-filmmaker Saurabh Shukla who will also be directing the film. The source close to the film said, “Shriya Pilgaonkar is all set to star opposite Jitendra Kumar in Nikhil Advani next production which is supposedly directed by Saurabh Shukla. While more details are under wraps, we are excited to see this fresh pairing in an out and out com
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SCOOP: Ayan Mukerji to be paid Rs. 32 crores to direct Hrithik Roshan and NTR Jr. in War 2; becomes the second highest paid director in the YRF camp

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Ever since his exit from Dharma Productions, Ayan Mukerji has been flooded with offers from across production houses. Of all the offers he received, the director decided for himself to direct the epic YRF Spy Universe Film, War 2 with Hrithik Roshan and NTR Jr. in lead. "The minute Aditya Chopra saw Brahmastra, he knew that Ayan had the potential to direct a stylish action film. He made an offer to Ayan and the director was more than happy to enter the YRF Spy Universe. Ayan is in fact excited to be groomed by the best in business," a source told Bollywood Hungama. At YRF, Ayan will be getting the best of the technicians from the West. "Ayan is being handsomely paid to direct War 2. He has signed the contract of Rs. 32 crores as directorial fees for War 2 and the director is all gearing up to start the pre-production work this month. Ayan intends to take War 2 on floors by November and call it a wrap in a year's time," the source told Bollywood Hungama further.
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SCOOP: Pathaan director Siddharth Anand in talks to direct Hrithik Roshan-starrer Krrish 4

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Siddharth Anand started his career as a director with romcoms and light films like Salaam Namaste (2005), Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007) and Anjaana Anjaani (2010). But he then switched gears and dabbled in action with Bang Bang (2014), starring Hrithik Roshan. The actor and then superstar collaborated on War (2019). It also starred Tiger Shroff and became a huge hit. This was followed by the recent release, Pathaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan. It has emerged as an all-time blockbuster. As a result, Siddharth Anand is now the most sought-after director in Bollywood and already has a few films in his pipeline. And if reports are to be believed, then Siddharth has also been offered to direct one of the most awaited sequels of Indian cinema, Krrish 4. A source told Bollywood Hungama, “As we all know, this is a superhero film and it requires a director who can handle scale and grandeur effortlessly and excel in the emotional scenes. He should also have an ear for hit music. Siddharth Anand ticks all t
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Jude Law’s Henry VIII, Alicia Vikander’s Catherine Parr – and Johnny Depp as Louis XV: Cannes again lays on a king’s banquet

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This year’s Cannes reveal does not disappoint: Scorsese, Glazer, Loach – and the prospect of a lot of powdered wigs News: Cannes 2023 lineup announced The announcement of the Cannes film festival’s selection list, like the unveiling of a mountain of still-wrapped Christmas presents, is a ritual that this year again affirmed its high-minded internationalism, its loyalty to its big-hitting auteurs of festivals past, its commitment to cinema as a live, in-person event and its repudiation of movies that are only shown on streaming TV. General delegate Thierry Frémaux was at pains to emphasise that that Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro – showing out of competition and probably his hottest ticket – is getting a proper theatrical release. And for Cannes Kremlinologists and readers of the runes, Thursday’s announcement also shows the festival’s distinctive semi-detachment from the sexual and gender politics of the Anglo-Hollywood
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