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BEG, BORROW AND STEAL (MARTY SUPREME & ANEMONE)

MARTY SUPREME Sometimes the casting of a movie can tell you a lot about the film and the people who made it - even the smallest of roles. That's certainly the case with 'Marty Supreme,' the second feature that Josh Safdie has directed without his brother Benny. Safdie's film has two bits of striking casting. The first is Canadian businessman, 'Shark Tank' contributor and ardent Donald Trump supporter, Kevin O'Leary . Playing a successful businessman, O'Leary's casting tells you Safdie's movie is particularly fascinated by the mindset of entrepreneurs. However perhaps a more significant piece of casting is in a fringe role. Abel Ferrara , the director of controversial thrillers like ' Driller Killer ,' ' Ms 45 ' and ' Bad Lieutenant ' plays an ageing gangster. We'll come back to the significance of his involvement in the film. Let's focus on the plot first. Loosely based on the life of the  flamboyant American tabl...
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RECYCLING PROJECT (SHEDITES & HERE WE GO - NEW YEAR'S SPECIAL)

  SHEDITES It began in Australia and has grown in popularity around the world. The Men's Shed movement has provided a shared space where men (and sometimes women too) can gather and forge friendships while repairing and recycling items, doing woodwork or other craft making. It's helped older or unemployed men, in particular, to find a sense of purpose, contributing to their local communities and, in some cases, has helped them to address loneliness. Men's Sheds have been so popular, it's no big surprise someone has spotted the opportunity to build a comedy drama around it. BBC1's 'Shedites' is an attempt to do just that. Essentially a 30 minute pilot for a show, created by ' Mrs Brown's Boys ' cast member Paddy Houlihan, it features that sitcom's star Brendan O'Connor and his son Danny who plays Buster on the hit BBC and RTE show that has been repeatedly panned by the critics. Don't let that put you off because the cast also includes ...

HEROES AND LOVERS (FILMS TO WATCH IN 2026)

  No sooner have we said goodbye to g 2025, thoughts are now turning to what 2026 will bring. The first few months will be dominated by awards season fare. There will also be plenty of sequels. But what are the movies on Pomona's watchlist this year? HAMNET (January 9) Chloe Zhao's adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel is shaping up to be one of the big awards season rivals to Paul Thomas Anderson's ' One Battle After Another '. Jessie Buckley, in particular, has been getting rave reviews in the US for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare, the wife of Paul Mescal's William in a story about how the couple coped with the death of their 11 year old son. Billed as a gut wrenching but ultimately uplifting drama, Buckley and Mescal are joined by Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, David Wimot, Louisa Harland and real life brothers Jacobi and Noah Jupe. The Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes on January 4 and 11 will tell you exactly where Zhao's film sits i...

LAUGH? I NEARLY PAID A SUBSCRIPTION FEE (TV SHOWS TO WATCH IN 2026)

Christmas is nearly over. A New Year has landed. New series of 'The Traitors' and 'The Night Manager' have already landed on BBC1. But what are the shows Pomona will be keeping a close eye on in 2026? THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey are back working together but not on a reboot of '30 Rock'. NBC has instead commissioned them to create this sitcom which lands this February and also features Daniel Radcliffe. Morgan plays a disgraced former American Football star who tries to rehabilitate his public image by hiring Radcliffe's documentary filmmaker to follow him around. Admittedly, this is one of those sitcoms that could really misfire but given the comic pedigree of Morgan, Radcliffe and Fey who is on executive producer duties, you'd like to think not. Erika Alexander, Jalyn Hall, Bobby Moynihan and Precious Way round out the cast.  HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST There has been a lot of buzz around Lisa McGee's first T...

ONE MOVIE AFTER ANOTHER (TEN BEST FILMS OF 2025)

  TEN BEST FILMS OF 2025 2025 was the year when superhero movies stuttered at the box office and Tom Cruise apparently said goodbye to his 'Mission Impossible' franchise. It was the year when Daniel Day Lewis returned to screen acting after a retirement which he said was never meant to be a retirement. 'Anora,' 2024's film from indie filmmaker Sean Baker, about a stripper dusting up against a dodgy Russian oligarch family, took the Oscars by storm. Jon M Chu's musical juggernaut 'Wicked' returned for a second bite at a box office dominated by 'Zootopia 2,' the live action remake of 'Lilo and Stitch,' 'A Minecraft Movie' and 'Jurassic World: Rebirth'. However the world's top grossing film was actually a critically acclaimed animated movie sequel from China 'Ne Zha 2' which was powered by huge box office receipts in Asia and decent returns in the west. As Netflix continued to flex its muscle with an array of film...

UNFORGETTABLE (TEN BEST TV SHOWS OF 2025)

  THE TEN BEST TV SHOWS OF 2025 2025 served up some great television shows just like any other year. But what were the best in Pomona's view? As we head into 2026, grab your last mince pie and guzzle your last glass of mulled wine. Here's our Top Ten countdown of the TV shows we reviewed this year, with a bulky list of honourable mentions.  10. BIG BOYS, SEASON THREE (Channel 4) It's no mean feat starring in a sitcom like 'Derry Girls' which managed to end perfectly. But to do it twice, take a bow Dylan Llewellyn. From the off, it was clear that Jack Rooke's sweet sitcom about his university years was heading towards  a tragic denouement. However in a magical final episode, Rooke chose not to give us that outcome and instead gave us a glimpse of what life might have been like for Jon Pointing's Danny. It was a masterstroke for a sitcom whose third series was hugely impressive. 9. WHAT'S THE MONARCHY FOR? (BBC1) David Dimbleby's three part examination...

SCREEN TROUBLE (TEN WORST FILMS OF 2025)

  TEN WORST FILMS OF 2025 When it came to cinema, there were plenty of great movies to celebrate in 2025. But just like every other year, there were movies that bored, repulsed and just made you wince. So what were the duds that haunted our cinema screens and smart TVs this year?  Here's our view on the ten worst films of 2025, with a few dishonourable mentions thrown in. 10. THE ALTO KNIGHTS (Barry Levinson) Take a good director like Barry Levinson.  Get Robert de Niro to play two legendary gangsters and throw in rising star Cosmo Jarvis for good measure. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, it seems because while de Niro wasn't terrible, this gangster movie was just dull. An idea that had been in gestation for some time, Nicolas Pileggi's screenplay felt stale and formulaic.  The film also felt like the dual roles came way too late in de Niro's career. 9. AFTER THE HUNT (Luca Guadagnino) There are some filmmakers who just frustrate. Luca Guadagnino is a case in poi...