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Welcome to TOTAL FILM
THE SMARTER MOVIE MAGZINE
If you ever wanted to feel that you could achieve more, just read our chat with Ridley Scott – who, at 85, is as prolific as ever. I needed a lie-down just chatting to his collaborators as they described the energy and massive brain power of the visionary director, and that was before we tracked back through his résumé of game-changing, world-building iconic movies with the man himself. That’s why we’ve dedicated our issue to a man whose cinematic imprint is huge and who is still creating more with this month’s epic-scale Napoleon and the incoming Gladiator 2 (yes, we will be entertained). And he’s already prepping his next movie – to paraphrase that impressed onlooker in When Harry Met Sally…: ‘I’ll have what he’s having.’
Elsewhere, we leaned into the Halloween month with our countdown of the greatest horror movies of the 21st century, which caused as much hexing and cursing in the office as any demonic entity. Though it’s rarely recognised by awards bodies, horror is a shudderinducing ride that reframes the world when done well. These 100 films are TF must-sees so put your All Hallow’s Eve to good use by ticking off some you haven’t seen yet. All treats, no tricks...
Enjoy the issue!
JANE CROWTHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @JANEVGCROWTHER
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THIS ISSUE’S EXTRAS
DEPUTY EDITOR MATT MAYTUM @MATTMAYTUM
Loved liaising with Christopher Nolan on a tribute to Ridley Scott – work days don’t get much better than that!
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JAMIE GRAHAM @JAMIE_GRAHAM9
Ridley Scott’s Zoom setup was as cinematic as you’d hope. No peering into a laptop here. He sat at a boardroom table, shot by an eye-in-thesky camera as he talked Napoleon and his sixdecade career.
NEWS EDITOR JORDAN FARLEY @JORDANFARLEY
Had a cracking time at the UK premiere of The Creator held in London’s Science Museum. No striking cast in attendance, so Gareth Edwards sent a video of the audience to a cast text chain, filmed in IMAX widescreen, naturally.
REVIEWS EDITOR MATTHEW LEYLAND @TOTALFILM_MATTL
The A Haunting in Venice screening had a spirited intro by Agatha Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard, who lauded Sir Kenneth Branagh’s many gifts: ‘He was put on this Earth to make everyone else feel inadequate...’
ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT WRITER EMILY MURRAY @EMILYVMURRAY
My chat with Neil Maskell about his directorial debut, Klokkenluider, probably wins the prize for my sweariest and funniest interview – his words: ‘I’m the fucking cookie monster,’ will live in my head forever.
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JAMES MOTTRAM @JAMESMOTTRAM
Chatted to Todd Haynes for his new movie, May December. Loved the fact he was proudly carrying the catalogue to the recent Pompidou Centre-staged retrospective of his work in Paris.