‘Guardians of the Formula’ Review: Cold War Politics Fuse with Medical History in Engrossing Chain-Reaction Drama

Mads Mikkelsen has proved time and again a master at playing quiet, rational, and seemingly harmless men who, when pushed, swiftly reveal themselves also to be skilled executioners; their pent-up rage does not bubble up so much as shoot out of them in sudden bursts of ultraviolence. Mikkelsen proves it once more in “The Promised Land,” the new period drama that reunites him with his “A Royal Affair” Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, and premieres in competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival this week.

TELLURIDE- Despite a varied resume that includes art-house Sci-Fi, a classic coming-of-age tale, and a haunting drama on racial injustice, we weren’t sure Jeff Nichols had it in him to make a movie such as “The Bikeriders.” After its world premiere at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, we’ll likely never doubt him again. Nichols has crafted a highly entertaining period piece on a legendary biker club that is at times sexy, funny, and filled with fisticuffs.

“Tell me your story, and I will tell you who you are.” This line is repeated through the 8-episode first-season run of Apple TV+’s fascinating “The Changeling,” spoken via narration by the author of the acclaimed novel on which it’s based, Victor LaValle. This production is clearly the work of storytellers, people who believe in the power of not just the personal journey but the mythology that still serves as a foundation for so much of the world.

Ellise Shafer The stars were out in Venice for Variety and the Golden Globe Awards’ party on Thursday night, featuring Chase Stokes, Kelsea Ballerini, Lukas Gage and Pablo Larraín. Presented by Iervolino and Lady Bacardi Entertainment, the event celebrated breakthrough talent and excellence in Italian filmmaking, handing out several awards under the moonlight.

They don’t make them like this any more, except when they do. Bastarden (disappointingly renamed The Promised Land in English) is a historical epic out of Denmark that has all the virtues of a midday movie remembered from childhood, the kind of thing you watched when your mother kept you home with a bad cold: a setting sometime in the olden days, a lawless frontier, sword fights and a gaggle of delectably evil baddies. Those seamy aristocrats and their henchmen, given to torturing, murdering and raping their oppressed tenants, are just lining up to have the tables turned, giving them a rich dose of their own torturing, murdering medicine. Hooray!

Guy Lodge Film Critic “The Promised Land” deserves a sexier title than “The Promised Land”: It’s hard to hear those well-worn words and not expect something as beige and starchy as the spuds grown on its titular terrain. It has one, in fact.

One of the most anticipated sci-fi film of 2023 — particularly now, with “Dune: Part Two” having been pushed back to 2024 — has got to be Gareth Edwards‘ latest feature,”The Creator.” Edwards’ first film since 2016’s “Rogue One” Lucasfilm movies, this new thriller is set in the year 2070, in the midst of a war over the future of artificial intelligence.

Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold are updating “Dancing with the Stars” fans about their fate as pro dancers on the upcoming 32nd season.

This Morning star Alison Hammond has confessed that after years of "cold feet", she is now ready to settle down and get married. The single television star has shared candidly how she was afraid of commitment, and was always fine in her own company.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In out-there Estonian comedy “The Invisible Fight,” a clueless Russian border guard somehow escapes a surprise attack by three formidable Chinese action figures — gravity-defying kung fu warriors who swoop in out of nowhere, blasting Black Sabbath on their bright red boombox — so he does what anyone in his position would do: He resolves to become an Orthodox monk. Huh? “I guess God has other plans for you,” a less-fortunate comrade wheezes with his dying breath, setting up one of the oddest plots audiences are likely to find on the art-house circuit this year.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent Fresh off of her season starring as “The Bachelorette,” ABC leading lady Charity Lawson will join the next season of “Dancing With the Stars.” Lawson will compete on “Dancing With the Stars” Season 32, which will air this fall and returns to ABC, in addition to Disney+ where it will stream simultaneously. Lawson is the second cast member to be announced for “DWTS” Season 32, joining the previously announced Ariana Madix, of “Vanderpump Rules” fame, who will also be in the ballroom competing for the Mirror Ball trophy.

Charity Lawson's road to happily ever after is paved with heartbreak. That was never more true than during Monday's season finale of when the child and family therapist tearfully ended things with Joey Graziadei.The week started out well for the pair, as Charity welcomed both Joey and Dotun Olubeko into her final two, after sending Aaron Bryant home following his surprise arrival in Fiji.«I think she is thinking about choosing me as the person she wants to be with,» Joey said in a confessional. «I feel those feelings from the conversations we have and I have confidence in it.»Joey then joined Charity to meet her parents, David and Vickie Lawson, and sister, Amiyaka Lawson, introductions which went well.«I think Joey could be the one,» Vickie told the cameras.The duo's final date followed.

And we're back with a whole new season of Kody Brown's perm, fragile feelings, and Ken-esque idolization of the patriarchy! premiered season 18 on Sunday and the Brown family is more at odds than ever before. In fact, Kody starts off the episode by saying it feels like the Browns are in the middle of a «civil war.» Yikes! Still reeling (yes, still) from Christine Brown's decision to leave Kody and relocate to Utah, Robyn Brown and Meri Brown continue to hash and rehash the fractured family dynamics for the umpteenth time.

“The Warlord Chronicles” novels by Bernard Cromwell. It’s a retelling of the famous King Arthur story set in Dark Ages Britain, where the land is divided into warring tribes who are constantly battling with the Saxons.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic It’s been a few years since Rhiannon Giddens did anything remotely in the ballpark of a “pop” album, and it’s not hard to come up with reasons for that: Besides her having a full dance card, you could almost argue she’s overqualified for the job. The recipient of both a MacArthur “genius grant” and a Pulitzer, the banjo-wielding balladeer has sustained herself for a while at the intersection of earthy and highbrow, most recently winning acclaim for her opera, “Omar,” and she looks at least at much at home fronting the LA Phil as she used to leading the old-fashioned string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Spencer Matthews spent two days of his Spanish holiday in hospital after he reportedly overdosed on cold sore tablets.

Refresh for updates… Horror film director Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever) is among the colleagues, friends and fans paying tribute to the late William Friedkin, the great director of The Exorcist and The French Connection who died today.

Dawson's Creek actor, , , and an wore the ultimate running-errands-but-IDGAF outfit...with a subtle but effective twist.Holmes, spotted in the city's NoHo neighborhood on Saturday, August 5, wore a pair of slightly baggy pale gray with a drawstring at the waist, which she paired with a slouchy white graphic tee. Sounds simple enough, but it's in the footwear that Katie Holmes gave her look the Katie Holmes spin: She wore Adidas tube socks pulled all the way up to the hem of the sweatpants, which were then hiked up above her ankles.

of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Amazon Prime’s hit teen drama based on of the same name, I poked around on Instagram to find exactly what I expected: The Summer I Turned Pretty’s fandom had divided itself into two factions—Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah.It’s a tale as old as Twilight: Two potential paramours, one relatably dorky heroine named Isabel(la), and a love triangle that makes you cringe as often as it makes you swoon. (Did Conrad and Jeremiah really have to be brothers?)And, as was the case in Twilight, there is only one perfect pairing in the end, no matter how endearing or sympathetic the runner-up love interest may be.

Alison Herman TV Critic In “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart,” the namesake plants have multiple meanings. After a fire takes the lives of both of her parents in coastal Australia, nine-year-old Alice (Alyla Browne) moves to Thornfield, a secluded wildflower farm run by her estranged grandmother June (Sigourney Weaver). But Thornfield is more than just a source a native flora; “flowers” are also what June calls her employees, all women escaping violent pasts and troubled home lives.