Christopher Connor

With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning now in cinemas and the culmination of nearly 30 years of the franchise, we sat down with composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey to discuss the series’ musical lineage, scoring huge action and some unexpected influences on the score.
How did you both get involved in this film? You both worked on Dead Reckoning?
Max: So, Alfie and I both worked for Lorne for a number of years. I predated Alfie a bit, so I was involved in Fallout as well. Then, Alfie ...

Released: 30 May 2025
Director: James Griffiths
Starring: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Carey Mulligan, Sian Clifford
Between them, Tom Basden and Tim Key are both recognisable figures within the UK film and comedy scenes, writing and starring in projects including Plebs, Afterlife, Fresh Meat and Alan Partridge. The two now combine their talents, writing and starring in The Ballad of Wallis Island. Basden’s Herb McGwyer is invited to the secluded titular island to perform a small show to “less than 1...

Photo: Munachi Osegbu
Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael first burst onto the scene more than 50 years ago with the smash hit This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both of Us and their accompanying 1974 LP ‘Kimono My House’. Since then they’ve found it hard to stand still, with a string of critically and commercially successful records setting the table for a late-career purple patch encompassing some of their finest work and cool side quests such as their FFS collaboration with Franz Ferdinand and Ed...

In 1976 David Bowie was at the peak of his stardom and simultaneously his struggles with addiction. His subsequent move to Berlin and collaborations with Lou Reed and Iggy Pop are the stuff of legend, birthing some of his most creative and influential material with the likes of Low and Heroes (both released in 1977). This period in Bowie’s life is now documented in the graphic novel Low: Bowie’s Berlin Years by Reinhard Kleist. While it may seem an odd way of documenting the story, it is a na...

Released: 23 May 2025
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Willem Dafoe, Scarlett Johansson
With his immaculate aesthetic and off-kilter, distinct brand of humour, Wes Anderson has built one of the most distinctive styles in contemporary cinema. While The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel and his animated films are widely beloved, his past couple of films, The Fren...

Christopher McQuarrie took over the reins of the Mission: Impossible franchise in 2015 with Rogue Nation. It introduced The Syndicate, a rogue covert organisation, seemingly one step ahead of Ethan Hunt and the IMF at every turn. The film was a huge success, introducing fan favourite Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and arguably the series’ best villain in Shaun Harris’ Solomon Lane, a former British agent with delusions of grandeur, set on bringing about a new world order.
Lane returned with a ...

Released: 23rd May 2025
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson, Stanley Tucci
There are no shortage of treasure hunters and grave robbers in cinema. Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, Nicholas Cage’s Bill Gates in National Treasure and Michael Douglas’ Jack Colton in Romancing the Stone to name a few. The latest film aping them is Guy Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth, with a stacked cast and the globetrotting required. Does X mark the spot here...

Since 1996, Tom Cruise has been delighting fans as Ethan Hunt, performing a series of death-defying stunts, from climbing the world’s tallest building to jumping a motorbike off the side of a mountain and dangling outside a plane. The movies have featured some of the most audacious set pieces put to film as Hunt and his team have thwarted villains’ plans. The series now reaches its eighth and most likely final outing with The Final Reckoning, a direct sequel to 2023’s Dead Reckoning. Does the...

Chris Connor reviews the final three episodes of Star Wars: Andor season 2…
Andor’s penultimate arc paid off so much of the legwork of both seasons, with the Ghorman massacre showing the Empire’s true intentions on the planet and the decimation left in their wake. The action and horror of that episode was beautifully contrasted with Mon Mothma’s determination in the senate as she made her stand against The Emperor and firmly pledged her allegiance to the Rebel Alliance. After two hugely accla...

Arcade Fire emerged as giants of the ‘00s indie scene with their acclaimed debut, ‘Funeral’, which remains a baroque-rock masterpiece. Subsequent albums, up to 2013’s ‘Reflektor’, earned strong reviews and revved up a huge, adoring fanbase. Since then, it’s been harder to keep things on the rails.

Brighton’s The Kooks are no strangers to the UK music scene, having released their much-loved debut Inside In/Inside Out in 2006. A juggernaut on its release, it really cemented the group as one of the biggest UK indie acts of the late 2000s and they’ve been a mainstay of major festivals since, bringing their unique blend of indie. The group now returns with their seventh album Never/Know and one of their strongest since they first broke out.
Opener ‘Never Know’ has a summery sheen to it, per...

Neu Bulletins are DIY’s guide to the best and freshest new music. Your one stop shop for buzzy new bands and red hot emerging stars, this roundup features some of the tracks we’ve been rinsing at full volume over the last week or so.
We’ve also got a handy Spotify playlist where you can find the full slate of Neu tracks we’ve been loving, so you can listen to all our tips in one place! Dive in…
Man/Woman/Chainsaw - MadDog
Play Video
Off the back of the success of 2024's 'Eazy Peazy' EP, Man/W...

Image: Peacock/Sky
Poker Face, from Knives Out Director Rian Johnson, returned to screens with its second season today on Peacock in the US and Sky Max/Now in the UK. We pick up where we left off at the end of season one with Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) on the run from even more of the criminal underworld, taking odd jobs and trying to stay one step ahead of those chasing her.
After the opening three-episode premiere, I have several burning questions that the rest of the season’s 12-episode...

Chris Connor reviews episodes 7-9 of Star Wars: Andor season 2…
After six episodes Andor’s second season has laid the groundwork for a grandstand conclusion to one of the finest pieces of Star Wars media. While it may appear slow in some regards, the meticulous attention to detail and careful storytelling have gradually moved the pieces of Tony Gilroy’s intricate puzzle into place. After the previous episode, it’s clear the rebels on Ghorman are growing in ambition and resilience in their eff...

Chris Connor reviews the second season of Poker Face…
Rian Johnson’s Poker Face proved a huge hit on its initial release in 2023. A crime comedy with plenty of unique personality, we followed Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale, on the run from criminal organisations, sleuthing her way from one situation to another. It further cemented Johnson as a singular voice in the genre following the Knives Out films and his earlier works like Brick.
With a two year gap, the show now returns for its highly an...