THIS MONTH

IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE now, but at the time

EMPIRE

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO THIS MONTH

TALK TO US

COMMENT OF THE MONTH ABSOLUTE CAR CRASH I

WIN!

A PAIR OF 99 CLASSICS HEADPHONES BY MEZE

No. / 1 How Marvel used their past to change the future

THIS MONTH ’S FILM MOMENTS THAT MATTER

No. / 2 Why Dog isn’t the film you think it is

It might resemble the next Turner & Hooch, but Channing Tatum’s directorial debut DOG is looking to pack some emotional heft

No. /3 HALO’S HECTIC JOURNEY

After 20 years, a live-action Halo series is finally coming to TV — but it was a very bumpy road to get there

No. / 4 How Sesame Street blazed a trail

A new doc examines the iconic show’s rule-breaking approach

JEFFREY WRIGHT

SMALL TALK Hi, Jeffrey. How are things going

No. /5 The many faces of Peter Bogdanovich

[IN MEMORIAM] The filmmaker behind The Last Picture Show, who died this month, loved cinema in many forms

No. / 6 Place your Oscar bets now...

With the nominations announcement only weeks away, we lay out the runners and riders for the tightest Best Picture race in years

“I need to think of someways to wield my MBE ”

[ THE Q&A] From complex baddies in His Dark Materials to fi nding the grey in new drama TrueThings, RUTH WILSON is embracing the messiness

No. / 8 Inside the movie that will take 20 years to film

Merrily We Roll Along started filming last year — and, as star Beanie Feldstein explains, should be done by around 2040

No. /9 BOND FILMS IN FILMS

No Time To Die wasn’t the only Bond film of the past 12 months — 007 has been keeping the British end up all over the place

No. /10 Hollywood’s prosthetics renaissance

Now more than ever, film’s most famous faces are being tr ansformed — into penguins, televangelists and more. The people behind it all explain how and why

BLACK IN FOCUS

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

No. /11 Is this 2022’s weirdest film?

First-time director Brian Petsos unravels some of the biggest mysteries behind his bizarre-looking dark ensemble comedy BIG GOLD BRICK

No. /12 Betty White’s stellar final act

[ IN MEMORIAM] How the late Golden Girls star became the pop-culture icon everyone wanted to work with

No. /13 The Black List goes bonkers for biopics

Five life-story movies we w ant to see from the annual list of unproduced scree nplays

No. /14 How I took on a line-up of British icons

From Siegfried Sassoon to Morrissey, JACK LOWDEN has become a specialist at playing real-life legends

No. /15 HOME/MOVIES

WITH THE HOME ALONE HOUSE OPENING ITS DOORS

No. /16 Why Denis went back to space

Get up to speed with Denis Villeneuve’s post-Dune project: an adaptation of sci-fi novel Rendezvous With Rama

No. /17 Can spoofs make a comeback?

A new Netflix show sees the return of a hitherto dormant comedy genre. Is this the start of a resurgence?

No. /18 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. /19 Walking off into the sunset

As The Walking Dead’s final stint gears up, we look back at the best — and worst — moments from the ultimate zombie TV show

The Northman

Unfiltered, uncensored, uncompromising trailer reactions from team EMPIRE

Mike Faist

THE 29-YEAR-OLD ACTOR MAKES A BUZZY BREAKTHROUGH AS RIFF IN STEVEN SPIELBERG’S WEST SIDE STORY

No. /20 Inside the beekeeper drama generating major buzz

How Hive, the Sundance hit about a Balkan war widow who starts her own business, is now gunning for Oscars glory

PINT OF MILK

= ILLUSTRATION ARN0 PATRICK WILSON What is the

NIGHTMARE ALL EY

BIG SCREEN. SMALL SCREEN. YOUR REVIEWS BIBLE STARTS

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

ON SCREEN ★★★★★ OUT NOW CERT 12A /

BELLE

She’d always been a fan of florals. ★★★★

MASS

★★★★ OUT 21 JANUARY (CINEMAS/ SKY CINEMA) CERT

FLEE

The refugees en route to, hopefully, a new

THE SOUVENIR PART II

Top to bottom: With on/off screen mum Rosalind/Tilda;

PARALLEL MOTHERS

Mothers in arms: Janis (Penélope Cruz) and Ana

BELFAST

Family values: Jamie Dornan as Pa with Jude

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

Clockwise from main: Look who’s back; Morpheus

A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN

ON SCREEN Soldiering on: Chanté Adams and Michael

THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT

[TV]

COBRA KAI: SEASON 4

[TV]

CHECKLIST

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

THE AUDIENCE WITH THE DON

THE GODFATHER changed Francis Ford Coppola’s life — and it also changed cinema, forever. Half a century on, we sit down with the director to reflect on a staggering legacy

FAMILY MATTERS

A foreboding celebration. A decapitated horse. And a monumental bloodbath. Three of THE GODFATHER’s consiglieres remember some iconic sequences

CREATING CORLEONE

He mumbled, he mooned… and he gave one of Hollywood’s most memorable performances. Here, TheGodfather’ s associate producer and casting director remember how MARLON BRANDO brought the Don to life

THE GOOD SON

In just five films over six years, the late, great John Cazale — TheGodfather’s tragic Fredo — would make an impression like no other. We salute cinema’s lost hero

This woman is... SAD, ROMANTIC, MESSY, INCREDIBLE, FUNCTIONING

In THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, director Joachim Trier tackles love, life, sex, drugs, death and everything in-between. He and lead actor Renate Reinsve tell us how they turned the romcom on its head

RAZOR SHARP

STRAIGHT OUTTA BIRMINGHAM AND CONQUERING THE WORLD, GANGSTER DRAMA PEAKY BLINDERS IS A HOMEGROWN PHENOMENON. WITH SEASON 6 ON THE WAY, WE GOT CREATOR STEVEN KNIGHT AND STAR CILLIAN MURPHY TOGETHER TO TALK MYTHOLOGY AND MURDER

RUTH NEGGA TAKES CHARGE

FOR TWO DECADES, THE ACTOR HAS BEEN BURNING UP BOTH SCREEN AND STAGE. BUT NOW, WITH AWARD NOMINATIONS COMING THICK AND FAST, SHE’S READY TO CONQUER THE WORLD

DENZEL WASHINGTON

This month: The leading man who radiates authority

Last Night Moves

INDISPENSABLE HOME ENTERTAINMENT

THE MASTERPIECE

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

BRINGING HOME

THE BALCON THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE HEAD OF EALING STUDIOS

Going the distance

DOLPH LUNDGREN talks us through the turbulent contours of his incredible career

THE CULT OF KIM NEWMAN

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

↑ CULT HERO OF THE MONTH

PAUL NASCHY

Bailey- Bond Film Club

Censor writer-director PRANO BAILEY-BOND takes us inside the bloody guts of her excellent BBFC-inspired horror

MOVIE MUSIC

THE CRITIC AND SCALA RADIO PRESENTER ON THE WORLD OF CINEMATIC SOUNDTRACKS

THE STORY OF THE SHOT

How iconic images came to life

THE VIEWING GUIDE

A deep dive into the must-see moments from the month’s big release

THE RANKING

Four Empire writers. Ten movies. Ordered definitively

6 OF THE BEST

Team Empire on the month’s essential movies

CLASSIC SCENE

Standout sequences from the great movies