Mike Leigh

Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo: ‘I’ve never heard us described as an island of joy before!’
Radio’s odd couple take questions from actors, directors and Observer readers about optimism, the films they disagree on – and biscuits
Miranda Sawyer
01, May, 2022 @6:00 AM

‘Fancy a little top-up?’ Teens throw a new Abigail’s Party with guest list of 30
The eponymous do of Mike Leigh’s 1977 play is reimagined in Abi’s House Party, a youth production at the Watford Palace theatre. But what would Bev think?
Arifa Akbar
14, Mar, 2022 @8:00 PM

David Thewlis on new show Landscapers and the misogyny of Naked: ‘I find it much tougher to watch today’
As he stars alongside Olivia Colman in a drama about the Mansfield Murders, the actor talks about his discomfort with Naked, doing night shoots with Julie Walters – and growing old grotesquely
Zoe Williams
07, Dec, 2021 @6:00 AM

TV tonight: the makers of Killing Eve are back with grisly crime thriller Ragdoll
Lucy Hale and Henry Lloyd-Hughes star in the new show, which is enjoyable if you have a strong stomach. Plus: the penultimate episode of Succession. Here’s what to watch this evening
Hollie Richardson, Henry Wong, Phil Harrison, Jack Seale and Simon Wardell
06, Dec, 2021 @6:00 AM

Naked review – one of British cinema’s great monsters
David Thewlis’s lost soul, raging around London in Mike Leigh’s fiercely bleak masterwork, is even more disturbing 28 years on
Peter Bradshaw
11, Nov, 2021 @10:00 AM

‘You have to be a control freak’: Mike Leigh on 50 years of film-making
At 78, with three Baftas and a Palme d’Or under his belt, the director still sees himself as an outsider. He talks about Hollywood’s obsession with big names, his determination to portray ‘real people’ – and being accused of pretension
Zoe Williams
27, Sep, 2021 @5:00 AM

Alison Steadman: 'I never thought I would live in such strange and scary times'
The actor is back from lockdown with two new dramas. She talks about her 50-year career, Boris Johnson and the joy of miaowing at John Cleese, while James Corden, Julia Davis and Mike Leigh pay tribute
Catherine Shoard
24, Sep, 2020 @9:00 AM

Landmark 20th Century Fox building in London facing new threat
The distinctive building in Soho Square will be almost entirely demolished if developers’ proposals succeed in gaining planning consent
Andrew Pulver
01, Jun, 2020 @3:31 PM

'I barely breathed': Tilda Swinton, Emma Thompson, Steve McQueen and more on their most memorable moments at the movies
From transformative nights in the grubbiest of fleapits to spellbinding screenings under the stars, film-makers and critics recall the communal thrill of going to the cinema
15, May, 2020 @5:00 AM

The 50 best films of 2019 in the US: the full list
Our pick of the top films released in the US this year brings a shocking class war, tearjerking breakups, war, glamour, horror and everything in between. Tell us your favourites too
20, Dec, 2019 @1:50 PM

The 100 best films of the 21st century
Gangsters, superheroes, schoolkids, lovers, slaves, peasants, techies, Tenenbaums and freefalling astronauts – they’re all here in our countdown of cinema’s best movies since 2000
Peter Bradshaw, Cath Clarke, Andrew Pulver and Catherine Shoard
13, Sep, 2019 @5:00 AM

The directors’ cut: film-makers choose the best movies of the century so far
From Mike Leigh to Richard Linklater, Joanna Hogg and Michael Winterbottom, here are some of the century’s greatest films, chosen by some of the directors whose own films feature in our top 100
13, Sep, 2019 @5:00 AM
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