Camp vampires! Frisky throuples! How Stephanie Rothman became queen of the B-movie

The director’s mastery of trashy, low-budget exploitation films like It’s a Bikini World and Group Marriage turned her into a cult icon. Now, aged 88, she’s finding out they’re more relevant than ever

King Lear is an absolute masterpiece – as told by Akira Kurosawa rather than Shakespeare

The tragedy’s mythic quality appeals to adapters the world over but the Japanese film-maker’s Ran, now rereleased, manages to solve the play’s problems

Studios are rewriting movies steered by Reddit. A dangerous development – or long overdue?

Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts has revealed that his original plans for the film had to be changed when Redditors predicted a plot point

Watch the Skies review – see the lips move in alien abduction sci-fi with pioneering AI

This nicely put together Swedish UFO throwback is notable for its early use of ‘vubbing’ – using tech to match lip movements to new English dialogue. What’s coming next?

Salvable review – Shia LaBeouf unexpectedly on hand for gritty British boxing drama with melancholy feel

Toby Kebbell is excellent as an ageing fighter (and care-home worker) getting sucked into crime, with a vivid LaBeouf as his childhood friend

Frankie Freako review – cheap and cheesy comedy horror channels 80s schlock

Ineffectual office worker Conor calls on the services of a gremlin that looks like someone dipped a Muppet in latex, covered it in caustic soda, and ran a car over it a few times

‘God chose you, Jair Bolsonaro!’ Is Brazil now in the grip of evangelicals?

From TV soaps to the supreme court to the top job, Christian fundamentalists are on a power-grab in the country. We meet the director of Apocalypse in the Tropics, a new film charting their rise

The Guide #198: Finally, Superman meets his match

In this week’s newsletter: It’s the villains, not the heroes, that make a superhero film, and this week’s impending blockbuster looks to have enough of them to reboot the legendary franchise

Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes review – eye-opening snapshot of New York’s queer scene

Documentary celebrates the American photographer who lived, breathed and captured the shimmering fever dream of NYC’s gay culture in the 1940s and 50s

Jurassic World Rebirth smashes predictions at box office

Encouraging figures for latest reboot starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey, albeit below previous films in the series

Super Happy Forever review – glowing love story in reverse with echoes of Before Sunrise

In this beautifully acted film, a man returns to the Japanese seaside town where he met and fell in love with his wife

The Zola Experience review – life follows art as stage relationship spills into real-life romance

When actor-director Anne Barbot embarks on an adaptation of a Zola novel with her neighbour, the gap between theatre and reality appears to collapse entirely

‘I’m rooting for them’: why American Movie is my feelgood movie

The next in our series of writers drawing attention to their favourite comfort films looks back to a funny and touching documentary from 1999

The Tree of Authenticity review – talking tree explains Congo’s struggle to overcome colonial past

Sammy Baloji’s experimental documentary juxtaposes observations from both sides of the divide in its exploration of European exploitation of the country’s natural resources

‘It was an earth-shattering reality right away’: director Catherine Hardwicke on life after Twilight

From her groundbreaking debut Thirteen to forthcoming teen drama Street Smart – ‘a homeless Breakfast Club’ – the film-maker explains how she’s made her way in a job still largely made for men