Bombshell review – powerful, to a point

★★★ BOMBSHELL Drama charts an opening salvo in the fightback against predatory media monsters

Drama charts an opening salvo in the fightback against predatory media monsters

With Harvey Weinstein about to go on trial, the timing is particularly apt for a film that outlines the fall from grace of another media giant who used his powerful position to sexually victimise women.

Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer, Hampstead Theatre review - it's game over for this chess play

★★ RAVENS: SPASSKY VS. FISCHER, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Game over for chess play

The Cold War 'Match of the Century' fails to translate into compelling drama

We’ve had Chess the musical; now, here’s Chess the play. Tom Morton-Smith, who has experience wrestling recent history into dramatic form with the acclaimed Oppenheimer, turns his attention to the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavík, in which American challenger Bobby Fischer battled the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky.

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.

Billy Bragg, Islington Assembly Hall review - a pep talk from the progressive patriot

Which side are you on? The bard of Barking rallies the faithful

It’s always good to be among friends and it’s safe to say that everyone gathered at Islington Assembly Hall on Saturday for the third and final North London gig of Billy Bragg’s One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Tour was left of centre. The tour began in July on the south coast, planned long before Borrissey, as Bragg calls the PM, conned the country in going to the polls but events have certainly given it a new urgency.

The Report review - searing political drama

★★★★ THE REPORT Adam Driver leads a vital takedown on 9/11's aftermath

Adam Driver leads a vital takedown on 9/11's aftermath

It should come as no surprise that the writer of Side Effects and Contagion, Scott Z. Burns, is capable of directing a whip-smart drama like The Report. Known for his collaborations with Steven Soderbergh, most recently on Netflix drama The Laundromat, Burns has made a career of turning complex material into engaging viewing.

Sorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's unapologetic assault on the gig economy

★★★★ SORRY WE MISSED YOU Ken Loach's unapologetic assault on the gig economy

A Newcastle couple struggles to cope with precarious employment

If the recent period of British history that has involved recession, austerity, the hostile environment and Brexit is to have chroniclers, who better than Ken Loach and his trusty screenwriter Paul Laverty. Their blend of carefully researched social realism and nail-biting melodrama is angry, shaming, essential. Only the coldest-hearted bureaucrat or corporate heel could leave the cinema dry-eyed.