When it comes to a certain guy from Oklahoma, you’d think the gods might be done handing out the gifts when he became the proud purveyor of the world’s most famous jawbone as well as a smoldering signature that stopped traffic for decades.

Alas, they were far from over. For in addition to crafting a sickeningly beautiful, mold-busting specimen, they opted to pour pint after pint of acting ability, then top it off with the cherry of all cherries. Not only is the handsomest guy to ever breathe, and one of the most talented comedians on the planet, Brad Pitt is funny; in fact, the guy is hilarious.

Having been raised in the ’90s – and thus getting used to Pitt when he was at the peak of his sex symbol powers – it took me a long time to notice that behind the suave smile and muscle of the main man was hiding a guy who could not only do comedy well, but do it brilliantly.

Teaming up with Quentin Tarantino, the older but still absurdly handsome Mr P shone in the dark comedic roles of Aldo Raine (Inglorious Basterds) and Cliff Booth (Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), proving that the way which he weaved the magic of Mickey O’Neil (Snatch) years before was no accident.

These days, I look forward to any supposedly funny movie Brad Pitt is set to appear in, and with Bullet Train releasing this week, my excitement in the prep has been derailed.

You have a good laugh Brad – but come on boy; can’t you leave something for the rest of us? !

Well, it’s time to get on board…

Launched in 1964 to coincide with the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the Shinkansen or bullet train has become an enduring symbol of sleek and efficient Japanese design, accelerating to operating speeds approaching 200 mph on high-speed rail lines. speed winding through the islands.

Deadpool 2 director David Leitch’s outlandish comedy thriller, based on Kotaro Isaka’s novel Maria Beetle, gleefully appropriates the engine’s key feature – speed – before it reaches the end of the line with an orgy of cartoon violence.

Action scenes, including jaw-dropping brawls in various train carriages, are breathlessly choreographed to deliver bloodshed and dismemberment with minimal dramatic expense.

“Let this be a lesson in the toxicity of anger,” growls the wary Brad Pitt hitman, channeling The Big Lebowski’s deadpan, manly energy with flowing golden locks to match as the co-stars perish around from him.

The hubbub is intermittently entertaining, enlivened by a running Thomas The Tank Engine joke that allows Aaron Taylor-Johnson to revisit his Liverpudlian accent from Nowhere Boy.

However, over the course of two hours, the hyperkinetic mayhem is exhausting, exacerbated by a fragmented timeline that zigzags between background stories and forcibly interconnects finely sketched characters like tiny cogs in an elaborate cause-and-effect plot.

On the rare occasions when Leitch indulges in slow motion during a melee, he fetishizes swordplay or extracts the humor from bruised passengers flying helplessly through the air, colliding with the luggage and overhead contents of a food cart. .

Our refreshes are a few tongue-in-cheek cameos and the laid-back brightness of Pitt.

It portrays the notoriously unlucky American assassin Ladybug, who is keen to return to the killing game.

Ladybug’s trainer, Maria (Sandra Bullock), brings him back to work with a simple mission: retrieve a metal briefcase from a bullet train leaving Tokyo.

Ladybug acquires the trump but as he finds, the pick up is too easy.

Hitmen including twins Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), The Wolf (Bad Bunny), The Prince (Joey King) and The Hornet (Zazie Beetz) are also on board with evil motives tied to the same briefcase and a shadowy kingpin called The White Death (Michael Shannon).

A venomous stolen snake and a vengeful father (Andrew Koji), whose young son is hospitalized after a near-fatal fall from a roof, become entangled in chaos as bullets, knives and other weapons smash through cars bloodied.

Bullet Train plays to conductor Leitch’s strengths as a stunt coordinator and performer, exploiting every nook and cranny of an increasingly wrecked Shinkansen as a prop-laden backdrop for frantic punches .

Pitt oozes open-leg indestructibility on a neon-lit street while Taylor-Johnson and Tyree Henry are an effervescent double act (the latter’s hesitant cockney accent works on its own timeline.)

Our ticket to ride on this express service takes us through dizzying circles with nowhere to sit quietly and breathe.

Fifteen years ago, London-based visual artist Sarah Beddington met Palestinian refugee Fadia and the two women struck up a touching friendship.

Fadia lives in a refugee camp in Lebanon, unable to return to her ancestral homeland. She challenges Beddington: locate a specific mulberry tree with deep ties to her family’s history.

In her first feature documentary, the filmmaker traces her odyssey in search of the tree, pitting Fadia’s fortune against the migration of millions of birds across the Middle East.

Beddington paints a vibrant bird’s eye view of a divided land and a fragmented people, rooted in his enduring friendship with Fadia.

Sixty-one-year-old drag queen RuPaul has been celebrating the art of female illusion on her TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race since 2009.

However, the Emmy Award-winning performer is a relative newcomer to Britain’s oldest drag performer Maisie Trollette, David Raven’s glittery alter ego. Director Lee Cooper’s loving documentary follows Raven as he approaches his 85th birthday with a special performance in Brighton for adoring fans. Recently diagnosed with health issues, Raven is understandably anxious about the physical fatigue of performing in her 80s. Her sense of unease is compounded by the first visit from Walter Cole, 87, who holds the Guinness Word Record as the world’s oldest drag queen.

In Cooper’s film, Raven reminisces about decades of transformation with on-screen contributions from Paul O’Grady, Miss Jason and Dave Lynn.

New York nightclub and restaurant Max’s Kansas City located at 213 Park Avenue South left an indelible mark on the East Coast punk rock scene.

It’s where David Bowie first met Iggy Pop, Blondie singer Debbie Harry worked as a waitress, Bob Marley And The Wailers played their first US shows and Sid Vicious gave his last performances backed by members of the New York Dolls and The Clash.

Bringing together unique archival footage and exclusive interviews, documentary filmmaker Danny Garcia pays homage to the lasting legacy of Max’s, which closed in 1981.

It explores the place’s proud history as a haven for cultural pioneers such as Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis, enriched with rare footage from Iggy & The Stooges, the New York Dolls, Sid Vicious and transgender DJ Wayne. /Jayne County.

Director Perry Henzell’s influential 1972 crime drama starring Jimmy Cliff, which contributes several tracks to the soundtrack, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a re-release in select theaters.

Young Jamaican reggae singer Ivanhoe Martin (Cliff), known to his friends as Ivan, dreams of stardom but struggles to make his musical voice heard. He ricochets between mundane jobs and is the victim of chancellors, who take advantage of his naivety.

Prepared as the natural successors of Boyzone, Westlife has comfortably surpassed its illustrious predecessors.

In almost 25 years of career, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan have never performed at Wembley Stadium. On August 6, they take this step in front of a sold-out crowd as part of The Wild Dreams Tour.

To mark the occasion, the concert will be shown live in cinemas across the UK and Ireland.