Review

Rivalling Sunset Boulevard for its caustic take on Hollywood, Vincente Minnelli’s rip-roaring 1952 melodrama charts the fall of a ruthless, all-powerful producer (Kirk Douglas on top form) via flashbacks recalled by a writer (Dick Powell), an actress (Lana Turner) and a director (Barry Sullivan) – all of whom he made, …

Ethiopian village Bekoji has produced more Olympic medallists than most countries. Jerry Rothwell’s sunny if slight doc tracks Bekoji’s latest hopefuls, teenage girls Alemi and Hawii, to learn why. Dispelling the usual clichés about Africa, Rothwell reveals instead an entrepreneurial community where “running is work” and villagers chip in two …

It may be a teen romance with no “adult” content whatsoever, but this could well be one of the most mature books you’ll read all year. A synopsis might make you think it will be the usual rubbish: Ellie is recovering from the death of her mother over a year …

TV REVIEW Vive la revelation Episode 4.14 “The End Of All Things” Writer: David Fury Director: Jeff Hunt THE ONE WHERE Olivia and Nina are interrogated by David Robert Jones, another Nina is interrogated by the Fringe team, and dying Observer September spills some beans (no interrogation required). UNIVERSE Over …

It’s the sign of a strong point-and-click adventure puzzle when you know what you have to do, have a basic idea as to how to do it, but don’t know how you’re actually going to. Essentially, you see the door, know it’s locked, and need find a way to open …

TV REVIEW Taken to the cleaners Episode 1.03 Writer: Jamie Mathieson Director: Tom Shankland (opens in new tab) THE ONE WHERE Somebody is murdering Dirk’s clients and his cleaner is acting very oddly. VERDICT This was a fine way to finish an all-too-short series. Jamie Mathieson, who has been giving …

Between Somali pirates, online pirates and Johnny Depp, there wouldn’t seem to be a gap in the market where crossbones and cutlasses are concerned. But, apparently, they didn’t get that memo over at Aardman, where they’ve spent the past five years arduously turning the first in Gideon Defoe’s book series …

From the sheriff’s badge tattoo on Charlie Creed-Miles’ chest to the East End saloon where “10 pints, two grams and a punch up” used to be his order, Wild Bill declares itself loudly and proudly as a tower-block western. It splashes the genre’s motifs across an engaging tale of crime, …

Smuggled out of Iran on a USB stick, this brave, poignant film charts a day in the life of writer/director Jafar Panahi. Banned from filmmaking for two decades and appealing against a six-year prison sentence for alleged anti-government activities, Panahi turns the camera on himself in his Tehran apartment. We …

Shoot Many Robots is as straightforward a game as its moniker suggests. Grab a crazy gun, choose a pair of stat-boosting pants, and side-scroll through hordes of nut-dropping mechanical monsters. Play the game with a similarly superficial mindset, and you’ll have a great time. But look more closely at the …