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THIS MONTH

`IT’S NOT EVERY month you go to Nicolas

TALK TO US

COMMENT OF THE MONTH

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

Unfiltered, uncensored, uncompromising trailer reactions from team EMPIRE

No./1 Is this game over for the video-game curse?

T H I S M O N T H ’ S E S S E N T I A L F I L M A N D T V N E W S

No./2 Meet Marcel The Shell, an untrendy movie star

Co-creator JENNY SLATE on her personal journey with this existential exoskeleton

No./3 Memoir-movie mania!

With a wave of personal films from A-list directors crashing in, Empire measures just how close-to-life they get

No./4 Creating a character through music

Hildur Guðnadóttir on composing TÁR’s high-concept soundtrack

No./5 ONE SMALL STEP FOR SHEEP

AARDMAN CO-FOUNDER PETER LORD ON SHAUN THE SHEEP BECOMING THE FIRST OF HIS KIND TO VISIT THE MOON IN NOVEMBER’S NASA MISSION

BLACK IN FOCUS

AMON WARMANN chews over the main moment in Black film and TV this month

INTRODUCING...

Bailey Bass

No./6 The gay-Marine biopic that defied the odds

The filmmaker behind The Inspection on bringing his personal story to the screen

No./7 Beyond the chaos of Cocaine Bear

ELIZABETH BANKS on why her thriller is much more than a Pablo Escobear rampage

No./8 Inside a black-market baby heist

In BROKER, Hirokazu Kore-eda keeps his focus on oddballs and outcasts

No./9 NEXT IN THE SERIES

You fell in love with that incredible new TV show. And then it ended! Don’t despair — Boyd Hilton recommends the sibling shows to watch next

No./10 MCU: PHASE DAD

With kids popping up all over the place, we speculate what it all means for Marvel’s future

No./11 “Movies are a chance to escape from reality. Sometimes we need that just to breathe.”

[ THE Q&A] In The Witcher: Blood Origin, MICHELLE YEOH continues to prove there’s nothing she can’t do (except singing)

No./12 The making of Unwelcome’s little monsters

Director Jon Wright takes goblin mischief to violent extremes in his new horror

No./13 A-LIST ACCORDIONS

It's not just a load of hot air: accordions are now the cinematic instrument du jour

No./14 The Martin Scorsese crime epic that doesn’t exist

How fake Mafia movie GONCHAROV blew up the internet

No./15 Bruce’s baubles

Horror icon — and star of Hallmark’s latest Christmas movie — Bruce Campbell on his perfect festive season

No./16 WHO WILL CHECK BACK INTO THE WHITE LOTUS?

After Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya returned for Season 2, we ponder who might be back for the third resort mystery

No./17 The fight sequence that’s the cat’s meow

Why you should be excited for PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH (really)

No./18 Disney’s forgotten rabbit returns

Animation academic Sam Summers on the legacy of the long-lost, long-eared Oswald

No./19 The mystery of the accidental detective

Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne on their new whodunnit series, POKER FACE

No./20 How Evil Dead got its groovy back

Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin on his Sam Raimi-blessed sequel

PINT OF MILK

What is the best thing you’ve ever stolen

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

BIG SCREEN. SMALL SCREEN. YOUR REVIEWS BIBLE STARTS

ENYS MEN

The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine), seriously hard at work.

EMANCIPATION

★★★ OUT NOW (APPLE TV+) / CERT 15

SPIRITED

★★★ OUT NOW (APPLE TV+) / CERT 12

VIOLENT NIGHT

★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 112

TILL

Danielle Deadwyler gives a powerhouse performance as Mamie

WHITE NOISE

That’ll be the Airborne Toxic Event, then. ★★★

TÁR

We’re saying that’s not ‘Agadoo’ ★★★★★ OUT

EMPIRE OF LIGHT

The magic of the movies: Stephen (Micheal Ward)

CORSAGE

★★★★ OUT 26 DECEMBER / CERT 15 /

DISENCHANTED

★★★ OUT NOW (DISNEY+) / CERT PG /

STRANGE WORLD

How not to pose for a fairground-ride photo.

“SR.”

★★★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / CERT 15 /

THE ENFORCER

★★ OUT 6 JANUARY / CERT 18 /

STUTZ

★★★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / CERT 15 /

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL

★★★ OUT NOW (DISNEY+) / CERT 12 /

PETER VON KANT

★★★★ OUT 30 DECEMBER / CERT 15 /

LAST FLIGHT HOME

★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 106

HIS DARK MATERIALS: SERIES 3

Will (Amir Wilson) and Lyra (Dafne Keen) consider

WILLOW

★★★★ OUT NOW (DISNEY+) / EPISODES SEEN 7

WELCOME TO CHIPPENDALES

Bottoms up: Kumail Nanjiani as Chippendales creator Somen

SLOW HORSES: SERIES 2

Gary was new to the countryside. ★★★★ OUT

ON SCREEN CHECKLIST

Your at-a-glance view of this month’s reviews

the Gratest Actors

YOU VOTED FOR THEM, AND HERE THEY ARE.

“HE’S AN ANARCHIST”

Tim Burton points Jack in the right

SIDNEY POITIER

THE SLAP IN IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)

the Boss

BREAKING DOWN THE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE DENZEL WASHINGTON ONE OF THE BEST TO EVER DO IT

“HER ACTING SYNAPSES ARE SO ATTUNED”

Luhrmann confers with his muse on set.

MICHELLE YEOH

YU SHU LIEN FIGHTS FOR HER LIFE IN CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000)

the Shaman

THERE IS NO ACTOR ON PLANET EARTH QUITE LIKE NICOLAS CAGE. DURING AN EXTRAORDINARY MORNING IN HIS LAS VEGAS COMPOUND, HE EXPOUNDS ON HIS MYSTICAL CRAFT

“HE CHANGED THE COURSE OF CINEMA”

Buster Keaton as the penniless projectionist who dreams

the Enigma

BEHIND THE MYSTIQUE AND THE WHITE-HOT FAME, MARILYN MONROE WAS A FINELY TUNED ACTOR WITH TALENT TO BURN

“HE IS AS FAR FROM CONVENTIONAL AS YOU CAN GET”

RIDLEY SCOTT ON JOAQUIN PHOENIX

BETTE DAVIS

MARGO’S DRUNKEN DIATRIBE IN ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

the Chameleon

NEVER REPEATING, ALWAYS REINVENTING: TILDA SWINTON IS THE ULTIMATE SHAPESHIFTER. SHE TELLS US WHY SHE HAS TO KEEP MOVING

“HE HAD A GOD-GIVEN GIFT”

ANG LEE ON HEATH LEDGER

the Warnor

TOSHIRŌ MIFUNE WAS THE WORLD’S GREATEST CINEMATIC SAMURAI — YET THAT ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE…

“SHE WILL DO ANYTHING FOR HER ART”

GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD ON VIOLA DAVIS

ROBERT DE NIRO

FRANK SHEERAN’S TROUBLING PHONE CALL IN THE IRISHMAN (2019)

Half of Fame

THE 50 GREATEST ACTORS OF ALL TIME, AS VOTED FOR BY YOU!

THE OUT SIDER

IN DARREN ARONOFSKY’S THE WHALE, BRENDAN FRASER STARS AS A MAN HIDING AWAY, SHUNNED BY SOCIETY. IT IS ALL, THEY TELL US, ABOUT DIGGING BENEATH THE SURFACE…

UNBROKEN

IN WOMEN TALKING, A GROUP OF SEXUAL- ABUSE SURVIVORS MEET TO DISCUSS HOW TO MOVE FORWARD. WE BROUGHT DIRECTOR SARAH POLLEY TOGETHER WITH HER CAST TO TALK STRENGTH AND POWER

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

DIRECTOR CHINONYE CHUKWU’S TILL TELLS THE DEVASTATING TRUE STORY OF A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO WAS LYNCHED, AND HIS MOTHER’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE. GETTING IT ON SCREEN WOULD BE AN EMOTIONAL JOURNEY

Final Call

INDISPENSABLEHOME ENTERTAINMENT

Being Frank

Talking about his key roles, FRANK GRILLO gets real

MARK KERMODE’S MOVIE PLAYLIST

THE CRITIC AND SCALA RADIO PRESENTER CHOOSES SCORES HE’S BEEN PLAYING ON HIS WEEKLY SHOW

THE MASTERPIECE

We reassess the greatest films of all time, one film at a time

Christmas Carols

SPIRITED director Sean Anders on the songs of his Charles Dickens musical comedy

THE RANKING

Four Empire writers. Eight movies. Ordered definitively.

THE CULT OF KIM NEWMAN

The critic and novelist selects the month’s weirdest home-ent releases

THE VIEWING GUIDE

Something In The Dirt

6 OF THE BEST

PICK OF THE MONTH

WIN!

MOVIES ON 4K UHD AND A SMART TV

CLASSIC SCENE

The Godfather Chosen by SAM MENDES

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