Film

The next few months offer a glorious mix of awards fare, blockbusters and spooky horrors, plus a film in which Gerard Butler storms about on a submarine. There’s something for everyone, and two things for fans of fast up-and-coming Londoner Cynthia Erivo, who stars in ‘Widows’ and ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’. 1. ‘A Star Is Born’ Oct 3The fourth ‘A Star Is Born’ in movie history, this one has Bradley Cooper writing, directing and co-starring alongside one Stefani Germanotta. Yep, Lady Gaga playing a country musician heading for the big league. Is a new movie star about to be born? 2. ‘Johnny English Strikes Again’ Oct 5With the next Bond movie still two years away, we’ve only got Rowan Atkinson’s doofus agent Johnny English standing between us and catastrophe. Recent events in Salisbury have raised the bar for what constitutes stupid in the world of espionage. Can he rise to the challenge? 3. ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ Oct 12 With its Tarantino vibe and mysterious plot, this hotel-based thriller should pique your interest. It has a knockout cast (Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson) and writer-director Drew Goddard has a pedigree. Check in next month. Eddie Redmayne and Dan Fogler in ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ 4. ‘First Man’ Oct 12Ryan Gosling is getting Oscar buzz for his turn as moon-conqueror Neil Armstrong in this reunion with ‘La La Land’ director Damien Chazelle, but also look out for Claire Foy as Armstrong’s wife Ja

The versatile Irish actor tells us about swapping ‘Star Wars’ for period duds in spooky flick ‘The Little Stranger’