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Upcoming Releases Dragonkeeper Starring Bill Nighy, Mayalinee Griffiths, Anthony Howell and Bill Bailey The fate of ancient China rests on the shoulders of one young girl, who must find the last remaining dragon egg and fulfill her destiny. Trailer: https://bit.ly/4dRTsNA Dragonkeeper will coming to UK & Irish cinemas on 27th September Lore Starring Richard Brake, …

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This adaptation of Carole Wilkinson’s children’s fantasy novel is let down by fairly average animation, oddly bland characters and some ill-fitting Bill Nighy-ness

Bill Nighy’s distinctive, rather wonderful, Bill Nighy-ness is perfect in so many roles, especially those requiring an expensive lounge suit and a roguish arch of the eyebrow. But he’s a less comfortable fit for the part of a dragon in this animation adapted from a children’s fantasy novel by Carole Wilkinson. It is the tale of a plucky young servant girl in ancient China whose destiny is to save dragonkind from extinction, in an action-packed kids’ movie with plenty of PG-rated bashing and a real spirit of adventure. The letdown is some fairly average animation, and human characters that move like cheap marionettes with jolty limbs.

Ping (voiced by Mayalinee Griffiths) is an orphan who has grown up in a house...

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Alien: Romulus.

Androids play various roles in the Alien franchise, showcasing both horror and heroism. Rook in Alien: Romulus shares similarities with Ash from the 1979 original, including his appearance. Not all synthetic beings are programmed the same, with some androids symbolizing Weyland-Yutani's profit-driven threat and others prioritizing human safety over company directives.

Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez explains how the movie's abandoned station's Android Rook has closer ties than the audience may initially expect to the events of the original 1979 movie. Set between the events of the original Alien and Aliens, the 2024 sequel tells the story of a group of ambitious young residents of a distant colony world hoping a heist on an abandoned space station may give them a chance to escape to a better life. However, what awaits on board is one of Weyland-Yutani's darkest secrets, dormant but as deadly as ever.

With Alien: Romulus...

Blue BeetlePhoto: Warner Bros.

August 1: When Girls Ride - Samantha leaves the south for a fresh start, but gets caught up in the world of biker girls. Starring Alfred E. Rutherford, Deja Blaise, and Steven Strickland.

August 4: The Meg 2: The Trench - A research team encounters...

Blue Beetle Photo: Warner Bros. August 1: When Girls Ride - Samantha leaves the south for a fresh start, but gets caught up in the world of biker girls. Starring Alfred E. Rutherford, Deja Blaise, and Steven Strickland.August 4: The Meg 2: The Trench - A research team...

Now that Endeavour has ended for good, there are a few obvious places for fans to go in search of more of the crossword-solving, bitter-drinking, classics-quoting Oxford detective. The first are Colin Dexter’s novels, which established the character. The second is the original ITV show Inspector Morse based on those books, which starred John Thaw in the title role for 33 feature-length episodes between 1987 and 2000. Thirdly, there’s sequel Lewis, which continued the story of Morse’s underling Robbie through his own inspector days, and which also ran for 33 episodes, up until 2015. Both are currently streamable on BritBox in the UK and US, as well as Itvx, and PBS Masterpiece.

The likelihood though, is that those three will have already been exhausted by Morse devotees, so here are some recommendations of detective shows with a touch of Endeavour about them, whether it’s a melancholic lead with a brilliant mind,...

Do you remember the coronavirus pandemic? Chances are you do, firstly because it happened very recently and secondly because it was very, very horrible. The collective trauma of the event was unprecedented since the Second World War. With that in mind, here comes the show that precisely nobody was asking for: This England. Dominic Cummings yelling about Brexit! Dramatisations of people dying in the ICU!! Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson!!!

For all that This England (Sky Atlantic) sets out to be a panoptic view of the early months of the crisis, there’s a blonde tousled elephant in the room. Even if unintentional, the show is all about Boris Johnson, and the great problem with Branagh’s performance is that it’s simultaneously a fairly poor impression and an enormously distracting one. He paces and preens and the audience is constantly reminded that this is supposed to be Boris Johnson.

Exclusive: Viva Kids has acquired North American distribution rights to Dragonkeeper, the animated action-adventure film from Spanish firm Guardián de Dragones and China Film Animation. Hulu will release domestically after the film’s theatrical bow, which is slated for August 2023. Based on the first book in Carole Wilkinson’s series of fantasy novels, the film follows Ping, a young orphan who must venture across ancient China to help the last surviving dragons from extinction. Across her wild and dangerous journey Ping finds a way to unlock her power and discover that she is a true dragonkeeper. Visual development on the film comes from animation vet Sergio Pablos (Despicable Me), while English-language voice cast includes Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Bill Bailey (Hot Fuzz), Anthony Howell (Alien: Isolation) and newcomer Mayalinee Griffiths as Ping. Dragonkeeper is directed by Salvador Simó, who also directed the Annecy title Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles.

Dracula, Season 1, Episode 3, “Goblin Merchant Men”

Written by Harley Peyton

Directed by Andy Goddard

Airs Fridays at 10pm (Et) on NBC

This week’s episode of Dracula opens with a stellar flashback that highlights the Order of the Dragon’s ritual that “condemned” Dracula to an “endless life”. By the end of the end of the episode Alexander Grayson (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has already destroyed one member of the Order in a particularly sad way

The first two episodes of Dracula moved quickly so this week’s “Goblin Merchant Men” is a bit of a surprise. At times it is downright slow. While it has some great moments, Lord Laurent’s (Anthony Howell) death, the opening, and the terrace scene between Grayson and Mina (Jessica De Gouw) are particular standouts; its pace reminds us that there is just too much going on.

Lady Jayne (Victoria Smurfit) is one of those issues.

This post contains spoilers for last night’s episode of Dracula

If you haven’t tuned into NBC’s new take on the King of Vampires, last night’s episode of Dracula gave you another reason to check the series out. The show, which debuted two Fridays ago, stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and he brings his full sensual force to bear as the titular count, here infiltrating London society in the guise of American industrialist Alexander Grayson. His is not the only pretty face in the cast, which boasts among others the toothsome Thomas Kretschmann as Van Helsing, handsome Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Jonathan Harker and Nonso Abozie serving a beefy, burly take on the usually sniveling Renfield.

(l-r: Jackson-Cohen, Rhys Meyers, Abozie and intrigued bystander)

In addition to the abundance of eye candy, last night’s episode unspooled a gay sub-plot that could potentially be very intriguing. As part of his scheme,...

Foyle’s War

Kieran Kinsella

Last year, Acorn Media surprised some people but delighted many when they acquired the rights to ITV’s hit drama Foyle’s War. As part of the deal, Acorn persuaded Michael Kitchen and co. to sign on for a new series of the show which will air later this year. As long suffering fans will know, it has been three whole years since a new episode of the show hit the airwaves but you can refresh your memory of all things Foyle related by purchasing Acorn’s latest DVD boxset release. Foyle’s War: The Home Front Files includes all 22 previously broadcast episodes of the show. Acorn previously released the seven seasons of the UK show in six smaller DVD sets and alongside this mammoth boxset they are also re-releasing each of those sets in new slimline 3 or 4 disc packages.

If you’re unfamiliar with Foyle’s War,...

Foyle's War

By Kieran Kinsella

Earlier this year Acorn Media bought the rights to the British detective series Foyle’s War. The cast and crew are currently working on a new series of the war time drama but in the interim Acorn Media have put together a new DVD box set of the Best of Foyle’s War.

The show centers around Detective Chief Inspector Foyle who is doing his best ignore the ravages of war and focus on solving grizzly crimes. Michael Kitchen plays the lead role and he is in the mold of classic British actors and he is well suited to playing the stiff upper lipped Dci Foyle. Kitchen apparently selected the six stories that are featured in the six disc set. The cast involvement in the DVD doesn’t end there. Kitchen’s cast mates Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell both sat down with Acorn for...

A lesser-known property from the late Douglas Adams (creator of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy), Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency was nevertheless a novel Adams thought would be easier to film than his revered sci-fi opus. Previously turned into radio plays with Harry Enfield as the gumshoe, BBC4 have decided to put Dirk Gently on-screen for the first time, adapted by in-demand screenwriter Howard Overman (Misfits, Vexed). Stephen Mangan (Green Wing) plays the eponymous sleuth, who believes in “the fundamental interconnectedness of all things”, and applies this theory of quantum mechanics to solve superficially innocuous crimes.

Overman has wisely excised much of the book’s budget-swallowing imagination into something achievable on a frugal budget; bringing the idea down-to-earth as an eccentric cousin to the BBC’s Sherlock update. Purists may grumble this isn’t the Dirk Gently they wanted to see, but it’s more accessible and practicable.

Sometimes the Universe rewards you in uncommonly fine ways. When you least expect it, a treat is given to you and it is such a joy. This is how I feel having just reviewed the Set 6 of Foyle.s War. The series is one of my favorites and to have it extended by three more adventures is just amazing. First of all, for those who are already fans of the series, these three episodes live up to the original in content, acting and filming. There is nothing amiss or remiss in these productions and we can enjoy again the wonderful characters Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) Samantha Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks) and Paul Milner (Anthony Howell) surrounded by gifted guest stars.

Unfortunately, like all good things, World War II must come to an end.

And with the end of that war, comes the end of Det. Chief Superintendant Christopher Foyle, TV's favorite (and only) World War II-era sleuth.

It's not that Chief Superintendant Foyle is dying, but his British-made series, "Foyle's War," is going away for good - unless producers can persuade star Michael Kitchen, who plays Foyle, to return for some post-war episodes.

If he doesn't say yes, only two episodes of "Foyle's War" remain, including tomorrow night's episode titled "Broken Souls,...