Reviews
An Impossible Love review - toxic romance across the yearsFriday, 04 January 2019
This is a love that begins sweetly, turns terrible, and is told with unflinching directness. Directed by Catherine Corsini, An Impossible Love is based on a novel by Christine Angot (known in France, and increasingly elsewhere, for her powerful... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really FeelThursday, 03 January 2019
It’s been a great year for music: trailblazing and unforgettable EPs from Stella Donnelly and boygenius; the triumphant returns of Robyn, and Janelle Monáe; flawless albums from Kurt Vile and Tunng; stunning re-imaginings from St Vincent and... Read more... |
Luther, Series 5, BBC One review - welcome return for Idris Elba's maverick 'tecWednesday, 02 January 2019
“Can you breathe?’ “Yeah.” “Shame, that”. Another ne’er-do-well is being banged to rights after a chase through container stacks in the dark. Luther is back, and he hasn’t upgraded his Volvo or changed his tweed coat – but we don’t really mind, do... Read more... |
The Favourite review - scintillatingly warped portrait of the court of Queen AnneWednesday, 02 January 2019
It can be fascinating to see ourselves as others see us. In this case, Athens-born director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster) brings his acute eye to the English country-house period drama in a scintillatingly warped... Read more... |
Escape at Dannemora, Sky Atlantic review - Ben Stiller's breakout drama impressesWednesday, 02 January 2019
The facts of Escape at Dannemora (Sky Atlantic) are notorious in America. Convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Indeed a less enquiring version of the story might have been... Read more... |
Les Misérables, BBC One review - Dominic West looks the part in new Victor Hugo adaptationMonday, 31 December 2018
There’s no singing, no Hugh Jackman and no Anne Hathaway, and the dolorous tone of Andrew Davies’s new adaptation of Victor Hugo’s sprawling novel is established in the opening scene. It’s the aftermath of the battle of Waterloo in 1815, and the... Read more... |
Best of 2018: ArtMonday, 31 December 2018
Exhibitions routinely claim to be a once in a lifetime experience, but there can be no doubt about the prince among them this year, the Royal Academy’s spectacular Charles I: King and Collector. Reuniting old master paintings, miniatures, classical... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Janelle Monáe - Dirty ComputerMonday, 31 December 2018
Janelle Monáe had already established herself as pop’s next great innovator with The ArchAndroid and Electric Ladyland, two albums full of earworms, high production and retro-futuristic lyrics. This all-too-brief musical career seemed in jeopardy... Read more... |
Best of 2018: TheatreSunday, 30 December 2018
Will pride of place amongst theatre productions every year go in perpetuity to the work of Stephen Sondheim? One might be tempted to think so given the preeminence during 2017 of Dominic Cooke's breathtaking revival of Follies (due back in the... Read more... |
Timothy Day: I Saw Eternity the Other Night review - heavenly harmony, earthly discordSunday, 30 December 2018
In 1955, Sylvia Plath attended the Advent Carol Service at King’s College in Cambridge. Like countless other visitors, listeners and viewers before and since, she was entranced by “the tall chapel, with its cobweb lace of fan-vaulting” lit by “... Read more... |
Reissue of the Year: Carola Baer - The Story of ValerieSunday, 30 December 2018
Moments into “Maker of me”, it’s evident that The Story of Valerie is special. A circular piano figure accompanies a disembodied female voice singing and speaking of a relationship that’s “greater than myself.” Punctuation from a bass guitar is... Read more... |
Best of 2018: FilmSaturday, 29 December 2018
While the Academy Awards is still searching for a host, theartsdesk's relatively controversy-free 2018 means we're ready for our end of year tributes. Superhero saturation reached breaking point, with Warner's Aquaman, Fox's Deadpool 2 and Sony's... Read more... |
