Reviews
John Lanchester: The Wall review - dystopia cut adriftSunday, 06 January 2019
John Lanchester’s fifth novel begins with a kind of coded warning to the reader – and, perhaps, to the author too. Freezing conditions plague life on the defensive wall – or “National Coastal Defence Structure” – that protects a future Britain from... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Jon Savage's 1968Sunday, 06 January 2019
Without the necessary distance, characterising last year through its pop music is a mug’s game. A gulf of 50 years would bring some perspective. Nonetheless, in spite of that interval there are difficulties in creating a fitting soundtrack to 1968... Read more... |
Life Itself review - epically vapidSaturday, 05 January 2019
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade: that bromide is about the only one absent from the astonishingly bad Life Itself, which in actuality might require a stiff drink to make it through the film intact. Folding together an interconnected set of... Read more... |
Welcome to Marwen review - Carell and Zemeckis fail to hit strideSaturday, 05 January 2019
In the proverbial melting pot, this film has all the right ingredients. Steve Carell, playing aspiring artist Mark Hogancamp and occupying a similar space and place as Tom Hanks did in Forrest Gump, even shares that film’s director... Read more... |
Swan Lake, English National Ballet, London Coliseum review - a solid, go-to productionFriday, 04 January 2019
Diversity, and the need for more of it, is a hot potato in the theatre arts. Kudos, then, to English National Ballet and its director Tamara Rojo for the 23 nationalities represented within its ranks. And for the poster advertising the company’s... Read more... |
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... |
