SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY

(12A), 104mins

★★★★★

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IF his neck injury had been one inch to the left, Christopher Reeve would have died instantly.

One inch to the right and he would have dusted himself down and got back on his horse.

But life is full of cruel ironies. And the actor who was once Superman to the entire world sustained a neck injury in a riding accident in May 1995 that left him paralysed and unable to breath unaided.

After his devoted wife, Dana, told him in his hospital bed “You are still you . . . and I love you,” Reeve decided not to let go of life.

Best of friends

He chose to fight with every ounce of mental and physical strength he had to see his three children grow, be with Dana and bring the world a different kind of Superman.

One who shone a light on disability and relentlessly fundraised for the cause until his death in 2004.

Reeve’s three adult children — Matt and Alexandra, with long-time partner Gae Exton, and youngest Will with Dana — provide an honest, insightful and often heart-breaking narration.

Other talking heads include Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg and Susan Sarandon, who are all able to provide more detail of Reeve as a talented actor and performer.

He was always keen to impress his strict and pushy father, who was unimpressed when his son chose acting as a career.

While Reeve was delighted to win the role as Clark Kent and Superman, it shows him go from pure dedication in films one and two, to exhausted and slightly ashamed in films three and four.

He wanted to be taken seriously as an actor and remained the best of friends with former college roommate Robin Williams.

There is a devastating clip of Williams talking at his funeral that would defy the driest eyes not to fill with tears.

Glenn Close believes if Reeve was still alive, Williams would be too.

But it is Reeve’s children and their mums who all come across as eloquent, empathetic and deeply loving, making you warm to the family even more.

Dana tragically died of lung cancer 17 months after the death of her husband.

Their love story is as beautiful as it is tragic.

This moving film shows how Reeve’s relentless fight and determination to carry on living truly made him a Man of Steel.

HERETIC

(15) 111mins

★★★★☆

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ENJOY Hugh Grant relishing his turn as a terrifying toff, in this cerebral creep scare.

Grant is the seemingly harmless Mr Reed, who invites two young Mormon missionaries, Sister Paxton (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Barnes (Chloe East) into his remote house to tell him more about their faith as a snowstorm rages.

Naive Sister Barnes is in awe of her friend’s record of landing “eight or nine” new Mormons and keen to secure her first conversion, so, after checking as per church rules that his wife is in the house, the two enter.

Our young apostles quickly realise sociopathic Mr Reed has a very different transcendental experience in mind.

Things descend into cat and mouse fare with plenty of slasher and jump frights.

But the script is best as predator and prey ramp up the dread levels by holding religious dichotomies under the microscope.

Charming, chilling Mr Reed comparing different faith doctrines to board games and Radiohead albums, while our young preachers defend their theological beliefs by quoting TikTok back is sharp, smart, and superbly scary.

LAURA STOTT

BLITZ

(12A) 120mins   

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DURING the eight-month Blitz in 1940 around 30,000 Londoners lost their lives.

Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen’s Second World War movie looks at some of the characters trapped in the capital.

His hero is George (Elliott Heffernan), a mixed-race boy who lives with his white mum, Rita, (Saoirse Ronan) and grandad (Paul Weller in his first acting role).

Rita makes the difficult decision to evacuate George, who is so furious his last words to her are “I hate you.”

Racked with guilt, he jumps from the moving train and makes his way back to London, meeting an eclectic mix of goodies and baddies on his long and dangerous journey home.

He faces racism throughout, with the message becoming pretty relentless.

After getting off to an explosive start, Blitz loses its way, weaving from shocking bomb scenes to sickly-sweet period drama with some toe curling clichés.

There’s some ropey characterisation, mostly the Dickensian thieves played by Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke.

Ronan as always is a scene stealer, but this war film doesn’t live up to its potential.

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LeBron James has endorsed Kamala Harris in next week’s presidential election, saying the “choice is clear.”

The LA Lakers star and Space Jam: A New Legacy actor, 39, campaigned for Joe Biden in 2020.

In a message posted to his X/Twitter account, James wrote: “What are we even talking about here?? When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!”

The post also included a video featuring clips of racist remarks made by Donald Trump and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, ending with the caption: “Hate takes us back.”

In 2020, Republican candidate Donald Trump mocked James after he campaigned for Biden. Trump said he “felt badly for LeBron” — who had just won his fourth NBA Championship — because Finals ratings were down so much.

He added: “I didn’t watch one shot. I get bored.”

The crowd then erupted into chants of “LeBron James sucks”, to which Trump responded: “What a crowd!”

James said at the time that he had no interest in a social media war with the then-president. “I don’t go back and forth with anybody. And I damn sure won’t go back and forth with that guy,” he told the New York Times.

The NBA star is the latest in a string of celebrities who’ve endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee. Most recently, Madonna and Friends alum Jennifer Aniston both revealed her picks for president, with the latter calling a vote for Harris a “vote for sanity and human decency.”

Terminator star and former Republican California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger shocked some fans when he revealed he’ll be casting his ballot for the Democratic vice president.

Meanwhile, actor Leonardo DiCaprio explained he’ll be voting for Harris because Republican nominee Donald Trump “continues to deny the facts” and “deny the science” around climate change.

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Backing Harris’s record on the climate, DiCaprio added: “We need a bold step forward to save our economy, our planet and ourselves. That’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris.

“She helped lead the most significant climate action in US history, including passing the Inflation Reduction Act. Under her leadership, we set ambitious targets for achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and building a green economy that not only creates jobs, but also helps save our planet.”

Sarah Jessica Parker, Anne Hathaway and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart have also revealed they’ll be voting for Harris on election day, November 5.

They joined Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston, who publicly endorsed Harris at a recent Democratic campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, and the likes of Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen.

Trump, meanwhile, can count on the support of Mel Gibson, Zachary Levi and Dennis Quaid.

DAVID Mitchell’s new BBC comedy Ludwig has been confirmed for a second season. 

The hit series, which stars Mitchell as an avid puzzle lover who turns his expertise to solving crime, has been renewed after becoming one of the BBC’s biggest shows in years.

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Drawing the most viewers for a new show since 2022, more than 9.5million people have tuned in and streamed the series since its release last month. 

According to industry outlet BroadcastNow, Ludwig is the biggest comedy series launch on the Beeb in six years, and the highest rated scripted show this year. 

Ludwig even beat the likes of Silent Witness, Call The Midwife and Death in Paradise for this accolade. 

Fans had already compared it to Death in Paradise, calling the show the ‘perfect replacement’ for the long-running favourite.

Viewership figures revealed that the first episode along drew in 7.4million viewers in the first 28 days of release, with the number going up to 9.5million when counting streaming figures. 

With so many records being nabbed, it should come as no surprise that a second series is now on its way. 

Mitchell will return to the show as John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor, who fell into life as a detective when trying to figure out the truth behind his twin brother James’s disappearance. 

Teaming up with James’s wife Lucy (played by Line Of Duty’s Anna Maxwell Martin) the pair get to work and find a newfound love of detection. 

Anna is also believed to be making a comeback for the new series as well. 

Jon Petrie, BBC director of comedy commissioning, told the outlet of the announcement: “the combination of sharp writing, David Mitchell’s pitch-perfect casting, and a standout ensemble of British comic talent make Ludwig truly distinctive within the cosy crime genre.”  

He added the show “has the potential to enjoy a long and successful run” due to its unique idea that taps into both comedy and true crime fans. 

“We know that comedy stands out for audiences on iPlayer,” he said. “As we know, traditional sitcoms take a lot longer to find their audience but when it does, statistics show us that repeat viewing increases massively and shows have a longer tail.” 

Petrie added that the BBC hopes to commission more shows that blend genres in this way going forward. 

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Chris Coelen, the creator of Love Is Blind, has defended the show’s vetting process after major revelations about the season seven cast came to light.

The TV producer discussed season seven of the Netflix dating series during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published just hours after the reunion special aired on Thursday (October 31). During the conversation, he addressed some of the online criticism the show has faced for its process of evaluating contestants before casting them on the show.

“Well, a couple things. One is we have a very rigid vetting process. We have background checks and psychological evaluations,” he said.

When contestants are cast on Love Is Blind, Coelen noted that Netflix won’t scrutinize their entire family history or relationship past. Most notably, season seven cast member Tyler Frances waited until later in the season to tell his now-wife, Ashley Adionser, that he was the father of three children.

“Everyone in the world has a story and we aren’t the police. We don’t regulate or monitor their conversations whether they’re being filmed or not, by the way,” Coelen continued.

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“We’re not dictating to them what they should talk about, what they shouldn’t talk about. If someone has children or doesn’t have children, that doesn’t preclude them from participating in the process.”

While everyone on Love Is Blind has their own story, Coelen claimed that it’s not the show’s job “to make sure that everyone talks about everything.” Instead, the show is giving people the opportunity to find love in an unconventional setting.

“Our job is to provide them a forum that they use how they wish, to see if they can connect with someone and fall in love and, hopefully in the process – because it contributes to them being in love – be very open and transparent with each other, even through some topics that can be very difficult,” he said. “It’s not our obligation to report to everyone everything that you might find interesting. That’s not really our place, because our job is to document that.”

The Love Is Blind creator also said that Netflix doesn’t want to film couples on the show at all times. In fact, he wants contestants to “have off-camera time” to “really get the full picture” of each other before deciding if they want to get married.

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During season seven, married couple Adionser and Frances revealed they had first discussed Frances being a father when cameras weren’t rolling. While Coelen admitted there was no way for him to know exactly “what people talk about off camera,” he emphasized that viewers’ negative opinions about each Love Is Blind couple “doesn’t really make any difference” in the real world.

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At one point during season seven, Frances spoke to his partner about being a sperm donor for his close friend and her wife, who wanted a baby. He explained that his friend’s wife “ended up leaving her,” and he stepped up to the plate to support his friend and her children.

“This was my very close friend. So, I stepped in – voluntarily stepped in – and helped. There are pictures of me around, you’ll see me around. I’ve spent holidays with all my friends, you know, all their kids. And I played a part that became very shaky with a friend,” he said during the reunion, with Adionser sitting by his side.

He made it clear that this wasn’t Adionser’s first time learning about his three children either.

“I do want to let people know, Ashley knows all this. This is news to the world. This has never been news to us,” he added. “And I’m giving this explanation now because I feel like the world is waiting for it. I don’t owe anyone an explanation but my wife.”

The latest season of Love Is Blind saw seven couples get engaged before ever meeting in person. Much like seasons past, each relationship began in rooms known as “pods,” where contestants are tasked with falling in love through only an emotional connection.

Ultimately, only two couples – Adionser and Frances, and Taylor Krause and Garrett Josemans – were married, as five other couples broke off their engagements before their wedding day.

THE Third Dancing On Ice pairing has been revealed as a reality star teams up with former finalist pro skater.

Fans were whipped into a frenzy when The Traitors star Mollie Pearce was confirmed to be taking part in the hit ITV skating competition.

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Now she has confirmed that she will be partnering up with Colin Grafton, 33, on Dancing On Ice.

She posted two pictures of the pair posing on the rink during rehearsals on her Instagram grid page.

The former BBC One personality also gave fans a sneak peak of her progress as she posted a video where they skated in circles.

Her post captioned read: “Soooo excited to announce our partnership!

“We are thrilled and can’t wait to start our journey for @dancingonice season 17!!

Adding: “It’s an absolute pleasure to be skating with @colin_grafton All starting to feel very real now.”

Reposting the snap on her Instagram story, she tagged her partner again as she added: “Dream team,” along with several themed emojis.

Mollie, 22, rose to fame earlier this year when she was the last remaining faithful contestant on the Claudia Winkleman fronted show.

She lost out on the prize pot when Harry Clark, 23, managed to deceive her for the whole series, leaving the star and fans devastated.

Colin made a name for himself in the US when he won a bronze medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Minsk with partner Kylie Duart.

He first joined Dancing On Ice in 2022 for the fourteenth series of the show, which was fronted by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

A year later for the fifteenth instalment in 2023, he was partnered with RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner, The Vivienne.

The duo reached third place in the grand final, behind runner-up Joey Essex and Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson.

Last year, he was paired with Coronation Street actress Claire Sweeney.

However they did not last long in the competition as they were the third couple to be eliminated from the show.

Others stars who will compete for the trophy in 2025 include Towie star Dan Edgar and TV presenter Michaela Strachan.

Soap stars to take part include Charlie Brooks from EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Waterloo Road star Chelsee Healey, and Corrie actor Sam Aston.

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Dancing On Ice will return to ITV1 and ITVX in January 2025.