Motherless Brooklyn review – tic tec

★★★ MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN Edward Norton's long-awaited screen adaptation of the noir novel

Edward Norton brings his long-awaited adaptation of the noir novel to the screen

Edward Norton has wanted to adapt Motherless Brooklyn since Jonathan Lethem’s acclaimed novel was first published 20 years ago.

21 Bridges review - police corruption thriller sets a cracking pace

★★★★ 21 BRIDGES Police corruption thriller sets a cracking pace

Chadwick Boseman heads strong cast as he leads a manhunt in Manhattan

Thanks to a powerful cast and crisp direction from Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones, Luther), 21 Bridges drives home its story of good cops, bad cops and a Big Apple rotten to the core with bulldozing force. Centre stage is Chadwick Boseman as Andre Davis, a detective renowned for showing bad guys no mercy.

Dublin Murders, Series Finale, BBC One review - eerie detective drama grips tightly

★★★★ DUBLIN MURDERS, SERIES FINALE, BBC ONE Eerie detective drama grips tightly

Adaptation of Tana French novels exerts a supernatural allure

You wouldn’t expect a drama called Dublin Murders (BBC One) to be a laugh a minute, but the cumulative anguish, menace and torment of this eight-parter made it almost unbearable, even if viewers were thrown a tiny scrap of hope in the final frames.

Spiral, Series 7, BBC Four review - hard-hitting return of our favourite French cop show

★★★★ SPIRAL, SERIES 7, BBC FOUR Crime, slime and real-life issues in a de-glamourised Paris

Crime, slime and real-life issues in a de-glamourised Paris

And welcome back to our favourite French cop show – perhaps our favourite cop show from anywhere, in fact – which has raced into its seventh series (on BBC Four) with some typically grimy storylines about death and lowlife in a very de-romanticised Paris. If you catch a glimpse of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, it’s only in the far distance across drab expanses of rain-soaked rooftops.

The Informer review - tough but tin-eared B-movie

A bracingly cynical but unconvincing crime movie leans on its fine cast

If it wasn’t for bad luck, Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) wouldn’t have any luck at all. Being an Iraq special forces veteran jailed for protecting his wife in a bar fight seems wretched karma enough.

CD: Kano - Hoodies All Summer

★★★★★ CD: KANO - HOODIES ALL SUMMER A career best for an MC at the heart of grime

A career best for an MC who's been at the heart of grime since its inception

Of all grime's original generation, Kano has a strong claim to being the greatest rhyme-constructor in the old school hip hop sense of dense rhymes packed with multiple meanings. Add movie star looks and a penchant for fur coats in photoshoots and he was most young grime fans' tip for following Dizzee Rascal into the big league.

Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw review – falls flat fast

★ FAST & FURIOUS: HOBBS & SHAW Falls flat fast

Vanessa Kirby steals but can't save F&F spin-off starring The Rock and Jason Statham

“You know twinkle toes, in another life I bet me and you could’ve done some serious damage.” 

When Jason Statham’s bad guy turned good finally warmed to Dwayne Johnson’s cartoon-like lawman in Fast & Furious 8, it could well have been a cue for this spin-off focussed on the two bickering beefcakes.

Wild Bill, Episode 1, ITV review - an American in Lincolnshire

Rob Lowe plays top cop in goofy crime drama

All is not well in Boston, Lincolnshire. Unemployment, immigration concerns, Brexit frustration, and the highest murder rate in the country. How do you solve the problems of contemporary Britain? Send in an American. And not just that. Bill Hixon (Rob Lowe) is the best: educated to Doctorate level, with the accolade of being America’s top Metropolitan police chief three years running.

Cannes 2019: Too Old to Die Young - nightmarish LA noir

'Neon Demon' director Nicolas Winding Refn turns to TV with Miles Teller

This year, Cannes has been adamantly defending traditional cinema, with more than a few jibes at Netflix (who remain persona non grata at the festival), but that hasn’t stopped them screening two episodes of Nicolas Winding Refn’s new Amazon TV series, Too Old To Die Young. Refn has gone on record stating that his latest project is still cinema — a 13-hour film that shows all the verve and ambition you’d expect from the Danish auteur.