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Ben McCann

Ben McCann

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Part star, part supporting actor, Robert Duvall lit up 1970s American cinema – and kept going

Robert Duvall has died at 95. From The Godfather to The Apostle, he illuminated every film he was in.

17.02.2026 450

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Ben McCann

Funny, tender, goofy – Catherine O'Hara lit up the screen every time she showed up

The titan of screen comedy, Catherine O'Hara, has died at 71. She was eccentric, absurd but always accessible.

31.01.2026 5

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Ben McCann

Brigitte Bardot defined the modern woman and defied social norms

The actor, singer, fashion icon and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at 91.

28.12.2025 20

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Ben McCann

30 years on, Heat still shapes action cinema – and tactical police training

Heat is a sprawling, epic crime thriller that profoundly shaped contemporary Hollywood action cinema. Much imitated, it has never been surpassed.

14.12.2025 10

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Ben McCann

The Ladykillers at 70: how one film turned British whimsy into a darkly comic masterpiece

In 1955, Ealing Studios released The Ladykillers, a darkly comic tale about a gang of criminals whose bank robbery gets derailed by their elderly...

08.12.2025 10

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Ben McCann

Half a century of the ‘male gaze’: why Laura Mulvey’s pioneering theory still resonates today

In 1975, Laura Mulvey wrote an essay that reshaped feminist film theory. Its ideas still echo today, in every slow-mo entrance and lingering camera...

30.09.2025 10

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Ben McCann

One Battle After Another is the latest film shot in VistaVision, a 1950s format making a big comeback

The old-school shooting format had been out of fashion for decades – before being rekindled last year in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist.

24.09.2025 6

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Ben McCann

After 70 years, twisted gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter remains as disturbing and beguiling as ever

In 1955, director Charles Laughton crafted one of the darkest, strangest fairytales ever to come out of Hollywood.

23.07.2025 7

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Ben McCann

Nerve-wracking twists, remarkable stardom and jet-black comedy: the 5 best films of the 2025 French Film Festival

These five captivating films offer a snapshot of the very best of contemporary French cinema

25.03.2025 10

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Ben McCann

Children of Paradise is the greatest film to come out of France, even 80 years on

Filmed as war raged across Europe, Children of Paradise is a masterpiece: a nostalgic love letter to Paris, the theatre and the spirit of resistance.

09.03.2025 10

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Ben McCann