Cillian Murphy set to scoop gold at Oscars

The Oscar ceremonies, Hollywood’s annual ritual of patting itself on the back for delights real or imagined, are taking place next Sunday night. Unless you’re one of those obsessives who likes to stay up into the wee hours to hear the results, California time being ten hours behind us, you won’t know who won until…

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Enduring appeal of reggae star captured in biopic

Bob Dylan’s career ran chronologically alongside that of another iconic singer with the same Christian name. Bob Marley is less well known to most people than Dylan but Bob Marley: One Love (12A), a biographical drama of the Jamaican singer-songwriter, may change that. The casting of Kingsley Ben-Adir in the title role received the blessing…

John McGahern’s holy sense

The famous Irish author had a different type of religion, writes Aubrey Malone John McGahern had well documented problems with the Church, and with his faith, but he always struck me as having a holy sense about him, even a monastic one. It was in his simple bearing, his self-effacing nature, in the frugality of…

Prequel to Morse excels in every department

I have a theory. Endeavour is based on the same premise as Doc Martin. You probably think that sounds ridiculous but think about it. Both series feature introverted eccentrics who come up with elaborate solutions to complex problems. In one case they’re medical, in the other criminal. I recently bought box sets of both on…

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Brilliant documentary about snooker’s finest

Ronnie O’Sullivan is generally regarded as the greatest snooker player of all time. In the just-released documentary about his life, Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Reason (Amazon Prime) we’re brought into the complexities of his life and game. At times he appears so good he’s on a different planet to his colleagues. He can do…

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The Kennedy family on film

  As the race for the US presidency hots up, we’re confronted with the fact that we’ll possibly face a re-run of the last one. Regardless of one’s feelings about the merits of Messrs Biden or Trump, their prominence reflects the lack of young blood at the top of the political tree. I was only…

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