‘Monkey Man’ Review: Dev Patel Directs and Stars in an Audacious, at Times Awkward Mashup of Action Film and Slumdog Fable

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dev Patel makes his feature directorial debut with the upcoming action movie “Monkey Man,” which blew the roof off SXSW earlier this month and earned strong reviews, but getting the film made was no walk in the park. During a Reddit AMA ahead of the film’s April theatrical release, Patel told fans that directing, acting in and producing “Monkey Man” was “the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life” because “everyday we faced absolute catastrophe.” “I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography,” Patel wrote.

EXCLUSIVE: This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will unspool in close collaboration with Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Scottish capital’s historic performing arts event, under a new expansive partnership confirmed today by the two organizations. 

EXCLUSIVE: Horror movie The Monkey, the adaptation of the Stephen King short story, wrapped shoot a week ago and we can reveal that lead cast joining Theo James (The White Lotus) includes Tatiana Maslany (She–Hulk: Attorney at Law), Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (The Hardy Boys) and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek).

It’s no secret that Lucasfilm, in recent years, hasn’t had an exceptional batting average regarding films announced and projects made. The list of “Star Wars” films and series announced in recent years that haven’t come to pass is too long to list but includes an unrealized new trilogy from Rian Johnson, a movie from Taika Waiti that may or may not get made, “Rangers Of The Republic,” a still-unmade “Lando” series, Patty Jenkins’ “Rogue Squadron” (which may have some life in it still) and an unproduced trilogy by the creators of “Game Of Thrones.” READ MORE: ‘Star Wars’: James Mangold His Dawn Of The Force Film Will Pre-Date The Existence Of Jedi & Jedi Order Shortly after “Game Of Thrones” ended, creators and writers David Benioff and D.B.

Greater Manchester councils have announced their plans for rubbish collections and recycling centre opening times over the Easter bank holiday weekend. With Good Friday and Easter Monday upon us, changes to waste and recycling pick up schedules are sometimes made.

Highlander icon Christopher Lambert has opened up on the cult movie which catapulted him to stardom and his love for Scotland, where the film was shot and set.

Horrified witnesses have spoken of the moment a nurse was handcuffed outside Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital - before being released minutes later in a chaotic fumble by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

In case you missed the buzz out of SXSW, director/star Devl Patel (“The Green Knight”) and producer Jordan Peele (“Nope”) have joined forces for an original Mumbai-set action film, “Monkey Man” that will be released by Universal Pictures early next month. Following excellent reviews out of Austin (read ours here), Universal has unleashed a new trailer.

The ladies are set to make a glamourous return to screens in a matter of days and there is a new Real Housewives of Cheshire star being thrown into the mix - but viewers will already recognise her.

It’s been almost two years since we learned the news that Disney is making a live-action Hercules movie and we still haven’t heard anything about who will star in the film.

Children’s fantasy classic The Neverending Story is headed for a big screen reboot via a series of live-action features to be developed and produced by Michael Ende Productions and Oscar-winning See-Saw Films. The partners were granted the rights to Ende’s enduring novel by the author’s executor, Wolf-Dieter von Gronau.

Christian Schwochow has signed up to direct , the upcoming Constantin Film and Big Light Productions scripted series based on events surrounding the Nuremberg trials that took place in the wake of World War Two.

SXSW organizers on Monday announced the Audience Award winners for the festival’s recently wrapped 31st edition.

Arsenal and Liverpool were reportedly 'in contact' last year over the future of Mason Mount before he joined Manchester United.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Memento International has closed a raft of deals on “Fremont,” a critically acclaimed film starring Anaita Wali Zada, an Afghan refugee and first-time actor, and featuring “The Bear” actor Jeremy Allen White. Directed by BAFTA-nominated Iranian-born director Babak Jalali, the black-and-white movie tells the story of Donya, a young woman working at a Chinese fortune cookie factory in the San Francisco bay. Formerly a translator for the U.S.

In the introduction to the SXSW premiere of his movie, Dev Patel joked that he had recently stumbled across an internet article asking where he was now. According to Patel, that answer is simple: he’s been working on “Monkey Man,” the Mumbai-set actioner he wrote, directed, and starred in.

Universal‘s bender of a weekend continued past Oscars into Monday night with the enthusiastic SXSW premiere of Monkeypaw’s Dev Patel feature directorial debut, Monkey Man, which blew the roof off Austin’s Paramount Theatre.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic How distraught is Annette, the severely troubled British mother of two played by Daisy Ridley in “Magpie?” She has gotten a short angular haircut, one that might, in another context, be the height of chic (very Isabella Rossellini). Except that the movie uses it as a symbolic expression of her trauma, like Mia Farrow’s iconic Vidal Sassoon cut in “Rosemary’s Baby.” Annette, who’s on some serious medication, looks at a mirror until it breaks. Does she have telekinetic powers? No, she broke it with her hand (which bleeds into the sink), but the force of her repressed rage is palpable.

Manchester United are considering a swoop for £60million-valued Juventus defender Bremer this summer. That's according to reports from Il Bianconero as the Premier League giants mull over potential replacements for former Real Madrid superstar Raphael Varane - on the proviso he leaves Old Trafford.

UPDATED with news that Ranjit will attend the Oscars as director Nisha Pahuja‘s guest. It’s a momentous weekend for To Kill a Tiger, the award-winning documentary directed by Nisha Pahuja.