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Times
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Bad Guys 2 review — praise be for this breezy sequel
Praise be for this breezy animated sequel, which provides a get-out-of-jail-free card for parents during the holidays and won't be a chore for them to watch with their kids. It continues the misadventures of Mr Wolf and his gang of reformed villains, who have also got out of jail and abandoned their lives of crime in favour of — well, job interviews. Mr Wolf — voiced again by Sam Rockwell, shamelessly channelling George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven — is going for a position at a bank, until his interviewer points out that he has robbed them three times. 'Some of my best memories are in banks,' Wolf says wistfully. A flashback to the naughty days accentuates the contrast in glamour as Messrs Wolf, Snake, Shark and Piranha and Ms Tarantula insouciantly pull off a heist in Cairo involving a parachute, a crane and a breakneck escape in a sports car. Back in the present day Wolf is driving a spluttering old banger … • Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews The lure of reoffending is strong, then, which is just as well because these films, like the Despicable Me franchise, hinge on the subversive thrill of rooting for the morally compromised. Adapted from the graphic novels by Aaron Blabey and directed, like the first film, by the Frenchman Pierre Perifel, this is another feast of angular animation and insouciant one-liners with a ghetto-fabulous score from Daniel Pemberton. The twist-filled story somehow finds room for Mexican wrestlers, a metal called McGuffinite (tee-hee) and a sequence in which our antiheroes board a moon rocket that makes Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible look like Compo in Last of the Summer Wine trundling down a hill in a bath. If that sounds a bit busy, it's all done with a light and knowing touch. A third film is planned and that doesn't feel like overkill.★★★★☆ PG, 104min In cinemas Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit to find out more. Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
Times
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Words of War review — Maxine Peake is fearsome as a Putin critic
A muscular cast, a gifted TV director and an executive producer credit for Sean Penn lift this political biopic above its decidedly creaky limitations. This is the true-life tale of the impossibly brave Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was a committed Putin critic and in 2006 was assassinated in her Moscow apartment building. The touchstones are Veronica Guerin and A Private War. • Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews Politkovskaya is played with typically fearsome integrity by Maxine Peake, charting the journalist's coverage of the Second Chechen War and her increasingly strident attacks on Putin.'The only terrorist that the Russian people need to fear is their own president,' she writes. Politkovskaya's concerned husband is played by Jason Isaacs , her harried editor by Ciarán Hinds and her nemesis from the secret police by Ian Hart. All are speaking in their own accents. This isn't a bad choice from the director James Strong (Mr Bates vs The Post Office) — nobody wants to watch a bunch of seasoned thesps rolling their Russian Rs like wannabe Bond villains — but it's not entirely successful. It clashes with the physical environment (Russian language signage, newsflashes and headlines) and occasionally flirts with absurdity, as if an Irish newspaper editor is warning a Manchester journalist about an FSB heavy from Liverpool. Other quibbles include a willowy non-role for Harry Lawtey as Politkovskaya's lachrymose son Ilya, and a sympathetic Chechen terrorist who says, 'It's an honour to meet you, Anna Politkovskaya. Back home they write songs about you.' Really? Still, it works. Peake is that good. Isaacs is also that good. And the subject is compelling and timely. The film suggests that Martin Niemöller's famous line about authoritarian regimes coming for the journalists first has rarely been more relevant (see Trump's shakedown of the White House press pool). A powerful closing title sequence, set to Radiohead's Lucky, features a collage of some of the 1,500 journalists killed pursuing stories, claims the film, in the modern era.★★★☆☆ In cinemas from Jun 27 and on digital from Jun 30 Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit to find out more. Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
Times
24-04-2025
- Business
- Times
UK bank holidays 2025: full list of upcoming dates
Each year those of us living in England and Wales can look forward to eight bank holidays per year, while Scotland enjoys nine and Northern Ireland has ten. Occasionally an extra day gets added to celebrate a big event, such as the King's coronation in 2023. These prized days have always been a great way to boost annual leave, especially if you're clever about which ones you take off. May is great for bank holidays, with one at the end and one at the start of the month to look forward — perfect if you're planning a long weekend away. With that in mind, here are the upcoming bank holidays to take note of in 2025. Become a subscriber and, along with unlimited digital access to The Times and The Sunday Times, you can enjoy a collection of travel offers and competitions curated by our trusted travel partners, especially for Times+ members Will there be an extra bank holiday in 2025? There has been speculation that the UK might get an extra day off in 2025 with a bank holiday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Two dates would seem likely contenders for consideration. May 8 is Victory in Europe Day —the day that marked the end of Second World War in Europe — and so a bank holiday on Friday, May 9 or Monday, May 12 would make it a long weekend. There's also August 15, which marks the day Imperial Japan surrendered. If this date was chosen instead, a bank holiday could land on Friday, August 22 to create an extra-long weekend. In November 2024, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson reportedly denied any such plans, suggesting that commemorative events would be on the cards instead. However, calls continue to grow for a bank holiday, so watch this space. When is the next bank holiday in the UK? The next bank holiday in the UK is the early May bank holiday on Monday, May 5. How many bank holidays are there in the UK in 2025? There are four nations in the UK and the number of bank holidays for each one is different. England and Wales each have eight bank holidays, Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland has ten. In some years, there have also been additional bank holidays due to special events, such as the King's coronation in 2023. What are the bank holiday dates in England and Wales for 2025? In 2025, the bank holidays are as follows: • Wednesday, January 1 New Year's Day • Friday, April 18 Good Friday • Monday, April 21 Easter Monday • Monday, May 5 Early May bank holiday • Monday, May 26 Spring bank holiday • Monday, August 25 Summer bank holiday • Thursday, December 25 Christmas Day • Friday, December 26 Boxing Day What about bank holiday dates in Scotland and Northern Ireland? In 2025, Scotland has the following bank holidays: • Wednesday, January 1 New Year's Day • Thursday, January 2 2nd January • Friday, April 18 Good Friday • Monday, May 5 Early May bank holiday • Monday, May 26 Spring bank holiday • Monday, August 4 Summer bank holiday • Monday, December 1 St Andrew's Day (substitute day) • Thursday, December 25 Christmas Day • Friday, December 26 Boxing Day Northern Ireland's bank holidays are largely the same as those for England and Wales, but there are two extra days off: St Patrick's Day and a day to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day). The dates for 2025 are: • Wednesday, January 1 New Year's Day • Monday, March 17 St Patrick's Day • Friday, April 18 Good Friday • Monday, April 21 Easter Monday • Monday, May 5 Early May bank holiday • Monday, May 26 Spring bank holiday • Monday, July 14 Battle of the Boyne • Monday, August 25 Summer bank holiday • Thursday, December 25 Christmas Day • Friday, December 26 Boxing Day • • Best city breaks in the UK
