Taylor Swift’s just one of the many stars who’s had to put tour plans on ice in recent months so a small-screen snapshot of what might have been is something to be thankful for. Michael B Jordan, meanwhile, moves on from playing a bad guy in Black Panther to a real-life hero. And will R-Patz’s latest make it to the cinema? With a trailer this good, let’s hope so. Enjoy!
BEST NEW CONCERT FILM
TAYLOR SWIFT: CITY OF LOVER - Available now
Following her eye-opening Netflix documentary Miss Americana, which showed Taylor’s life behind-the-scenes, the biggest female musician of the 2010s returns to the stage in CITY OF LOVER. Filmed last September at L’Olympia Theatre in Paris, this treat from Disney+ isn’t just a flawless eight-song set that confirms Swifty’s place at the top of the game. It’s also a real tonic for the times.
Taylor is on top form in this Disney+ concert
Not being able to experience live music is one of the big things that people have complained about during lockdown so an intimate, stripped-back performance like this is the next best thing. The close-up camerawork, the roar of the lovestruck crowd and Taylor’s open-hearted insights into tracks from her latest album make you feel like you’re sat in the front row.
At barely forty-five minutes long, this isn’t an epic music movie like Beyoncé’s recent Homecoming or even Taylor’s two hour-plus Reputation concert film (also on Netflix). It’s more personal than that. As a gift to those devoted fans who bought tickets to her now-postponed Lover Fest tour, it’s the perfect gesture. And to everyone else who just wants to remember what gig-going is like, it’s a money-can’t-buy ticket to see the hottest star on the planet.
TAYLOR SWIFT: CITY OF LOVER is available on Disney+
BEST NEW LEGAL DRAMA
JUST MERCY - 26 May
For fans of true crime stories, JUST MERCY is another real-life tale of wrongful imprisonment that unfolds gradually and gracefully over its two hours and fifteen minutes running time. Whilst it occasionally feels a little too much like obvious awards fodder (which ironically is probably what stopped it being an Oscar favourite), this is still powerfully gripping stuff.
Events unfold in 1980s Alabama - the same location as that classic of social justice, To Kill a Mockingbird - with Michael B Jordan as attorney and campaigner Bryan Stevenson, a man who’s worked with hundreds of inmates on death row. When he meets the wrongly convicted Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), he signs up for his toughest - and most high-profile - case yet.
WATCH: Just Mercy trailer
Foxx is especially impressive, playing McMillian as an understandably broken man; fragile, hesitant and certainly not the cool and confident Jamie we’re used to. Brie Larson’s in there too, as one of Bryan’s fellow campaigners, giving a characteristically sharp performance to complement Jordan’s earnest turn. An award-winner it might not be, but this story of deeply ingrained bigotry and injustice also won’t leave your head - or heart - in a hurry.
JUST MERCY [Cert.12] is available on digital now and on DVD/Blu-ray from the 26th May
READ: 8 celebrities with luxurious private jets to inspire your post-lockdown travel plans
COMING SOON
TENET - 16 July
The film that the cinema industry are relying on to save their 2020? Christopher Nolan’s new highbrow blockbuster TENET, starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. The jury’s still out on whether the multiplexes will be open in time to meet its prime summer release date but we’re all crossing our fingers they will be. Something this good needs to be seen on the biggest screen.
WATCH: Tenant trailer
TENET is due to come out on 16th July
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