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THIS MONTH

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, we’re now in the

This time it’s Warlock

James Gunn on THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY’s last bow — and their greatest foe

Meet the anti-Ted Lasso

Jason Segel and the feel-good football show’s co-creators unite for SHRINKING

What's driving Rahul Kohli?

The Mike Flanagan favourite — and Next Exit star — on the things that fire him up

Where next for Pandora?

In a world exclusive, The Way Of Water producer Jon Landau tells us what to expect from AVATAR 3

Deeper into the woods

The team behind buzzy, brutal TV breakout YELLOWJACKETS promise more cannibal carnage for round two

M3GAN vs THE MEG

With the killer-doll horror and super-shark sequel out

BLACK IN FOCUS

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

King of the impossible

[ IN MEMORIAM] The late, great MIKE HODGES remembered by his Flash Gordon stars

Nintendo’s next level

With a buzzy Super Mario Bros. adaptation incoming, what other console-to-cinema projects could be about to load up?

Inside Wolverine’s claw-marked comeback

HUGH JACKMAN answers Empire’s burning questions about his big return to Marvel

Cinema (Taylor’s Version)

The mega-musician is set to make her feature debut; here’s why we’re excited (and you should be too)

THE DARK TOWER’S DARK POTENTIAL

We predict what scares could be in store in Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation

Oppenheimer

Unfiltered, uncensored, uncompromising trailer reactions from team EMPIRE

Rosy McEwen

THE AWARD-WINNING ACTOR TAKES HER FIRST LEAD ROLE AS A CLOSETED TEACHER IN THE 1980s-SET BLUE JEAN

One martial-arts wannabe. One matrimonial mission

Polite Society’s Nida Manzoor on her ass-kicking feature debut

Breaking fresh ground through a friendly wraith

WE HAVE A GHOST’s Christopher Landon on his cheeky-spectre muse

Making Dolly Parton 2.0

Seriously Red’s writer-star Krew Boylan on how she approached her emotional new comedy

“I wanted to set the record straight about André the Giant”

[ THE Q&A] From The Princess Bride to Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre, CARY ELWES remains a reliably dashing screen presence

The microbudget horror born from nightmares

The director of experimental chiller Skinamarink on how to shock on a shoestring

INSPIRING BIRDS

These beaky blinders prove you don’t need to be big to steal a scene

“He was like an angel that appeared”

[ IN MEMORIAM] Isabella Rossellini remembers the late composer ANGELO BADALAMENTI from their time together on Blue Velvet

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

‘‘HEEEEERE’S BARBIE!”

The Barbie trailer homaged 2001: A Space Odyssey. So which Kubrickian trip will she go on next?

PINT OF MILK

ILLUSTRATION ARN0 What one thing do you do

THE FABELMANS

BIG SCREEN. SMALL SCREEN. YOUR REVIEWS BIBLE STARTS HERE

BABYLON

Margot Robbie as the magnetic Nellie. ★★★ OUT

THE SON

Peter with new wife Beth (Vanessa Kirby);

HOLY SPIDER

★★ OUT 20 JANUARY / CERT 18 /

SHE IS LOVE

★★ OUT 10 FEBRUARY / CERT 15 /

EO

Sad-ass: EO goes his own way. ★★★★★ OUT

WOMEN TALKING

The women find their voices in the

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

Cool cat: Antonio Banderas voices a swaggering return

M3GAN

★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 102

I LOVE MY DAD

★★★★ OUT 27 JANUARY / CERT 15 /

WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY

★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 12A / 146

SERIOUSLY RED

★★★ OUT 16 FEBRUARY / CERT TBC /

ALCARRÀS

★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 120

A MAN CALLED OTTO

★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 126

THE WHALE

Charlie (Brendan Foster): not having a whale of

BLUE JEAN

Whistle-blower: Georgia Oakley’s debut feature sheds light on

THE PALE BLUE EYE

★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / CERT 15 /

ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED

★★★★★ OUT 27 JANUARY / CERT TBC /

PLANE

Beef or chicken? The crew were getting anxious

MORE THAN EVER

★★★★ OUT 20 JANUARY / CERT 15 /

SAINT OMER

★★★★★ OUT 3 FEBRUARY / CERT 12A /

THE LAST OF US

“He used to be a fun guy.

THE WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN

Daggers drawn: Laurence O’Fuarain, Sophia Brown and Michelle

COPENHAGEN COWBOY

Flower power: Miu (Angela Bundalovic) liked to match

ON SCREEN CHECKLIST

Your at-a-glance view of this month review

BIGGEST BAD

YOU THOUGHT THANOS WAS A MIGHTY FOE? PAH. AS KANG THE CONQUEROR TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, THE MCU’S TITCHIEST HERO IS ABOUT TO FACE AN EPIC THREAT

DOUBLE ACT

ACROSS DISTURBING HORROR X AND NOW PREQUEL PEARL, MIA GOTH PLAYS THE SAME WOMAN IN HER TWENTIES AND IN HER EIGHTIES. WE SPEAK TO HER AND DIRECTOR TI WEST ABOUT THEIR TERRIFYING SLASHER SAGA

GOTHAM'S FINEST

NOBODY EXPECTED BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

GHOST WORLD

JOE CORNISH’S TV THRILLER

MAKING AN ENTRANCE

IN THIS EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM TASCHEN’S NEW BOOK ON STANLEY KUBRICK’S THE SHINING , CAST AND CREW REMEMBER THE 1978 FILMING OF JACK NICHOLSON’S ICONIC DOOR OBLITERATION

GODS AMONG US

JIM CARREY

THE MOMENT

Ventura goes loopy

MIA

The Carrey roles that never were…

Peeling back the layers

INDISPENSABLE HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Dark city

Writer-director-co-showrunner Corin Hardy on the shocks and surprises of GANGS OF LONDON: SEASON 2

Power couple

Director Mira Nair on the long-lasting legacy of MISSISSIPPI MASALA

MOVIE PLAYLIST

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

THE RANKING

The movies of 1993

THE TOP TEN

1 JURASSIC PARK Nick: “Spielberg’s dinos soar, still,

The Running man

Bruce Dern reflects on Douglas Trumbull’s sci-fi classic SILENT RUNNING, over 50 years on

THE STORY OF THE SHOT

How iconic images came to life

Building a better Pinhead

HELLRAISER director David Bruckner and star Jamie Clayton on putting the pin in a horror icon

THE CULT OF KIM NEWMAN

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

THE MASTERPIECE

Swimming lessons for Little (Alex Hibbert), courtesy of Mahershala Ali’s Juan.

BARRY JENKINS IN NUMBERS

19/11/1979 DATE HE WAS BORN IN MIAMI, FLORIDA

6 OF THE BEST

Team Empire on the month’s essential movies and TV

CLASSIC SCENE

Standout sequences from the great movies