America
Bill Viola (1951-2024) - a personal tributeWednesday, 17 July 2024
The artist Bill Viola died, after a long illness, early in the morning of Friday 12 July. I had the privilege of getting to know him while making a documentary about his life and work in 2001-2003. He quickly became a friend, as did his wife Kira... Read more... |
Longlegs review - like its titular killer, this summer's most hyped horror film leaves no traceSaturday, 13 July 2024
Apparently when actress Maika Monroe first saw Nicolas Cage in his full Longlegs get-up, her heart-rate skyrocketed to 170 bpm (her resting heart rate is 76). Or at least so a promotional video tells us. Whether true or not, it’s an example of the... Read more... |
Fly Me to the Moon review - NASA gets a Madison Avenue makeoverThursday, 11 July 2024
It’s over 50 years since men last landed on our orbiting space-neighbour, but director Greg Berlanti's Fly Me to the Moon transports us back to the feverish days in 1969 when Apollo 11 was about to tackle the feat for the first time. The film’s... Read more... |
Skeleton Crew, Donmar Warehouse review - slow burn that satisfyingly catches fireTuesday, 09 July 2024
For a long stretch of its first half, Dominique Morrisseau’s 2016 award-winner, Skeleton Crew, seems a conventional workplace drama, though in a much gentler key than Lynn Nottage’s Sweat. But this slow burn catches fire.The first sign that... Read more... |
Mean Girls, Savoy Theatre review - standout performances save a thin scoreSaturday, 29 June 2024
Nothing anybody over the age of 30 says about the new Mean Girls musical, spawn of Tina Fey’s witty script for the 2004 screen sideswipe of that name, will make any difference. As with all things Barbie, the pink madness seems deathless. Fey’s... Read more... |
Album: Imagine Dragons - LoomSaturday, 29 June 2024
Having propelled to stardom with their debut album Night Visions back in 2012, the Nevada pop-rock giants Imagine Dragons have reigned supreme on charts and airwaves.Their blending of elements from a wide range of genres into one melting pot, from... Read more... |
Bartlett, Fantasia Orchestra, Fetherstonhaugh, Proms at St Jude's review - Americana both fun and fierceTuesday, 25 June 2024
Any programme featuring Gershwin’s top large-scale works might tend to the “pops” side. Bernstein’s West Side Story Overture and even the sweet dream of Florence Price’s Adoration fit that bill. But An American in Paris sounded completely different... Read more... |
Kelly Clancy: Playing with Reality - How Games Shape Our World review - how far games go backMonday, 24 June 2024
For a couple of decades, the free video game America’s Army was a powerful recruitment aid for the US military. More than a shoot-em-up, players might find themselves dressing virtual wounds, struggling to co-ordinate tactics with their squad, and... Read more... |
The Exorcism review - salvaged horror movie is a diabolical messSaturday, 22 June 2024
Helpfully, this is a film that reviews itself. Like it says on the posters, “They were making a cursed movie. They were warned not to. They should have listened.”If ever a film was meant not to be, here it is. Apparently it was going to be called... Read more... |
The Bikeriders review - beer, brawls and Harley-DavidsonsThursday, 20 June 2024
The best-known book about motorcycle gangs is Hunter S Thompson’s Hell’s Angels, a classic foundational text of the so-called “New Journalism”. It was published in 1966, two years before Danny Lyon’s The Bikeriders, the source material for Jeff... Read more... |
Kiss Me, Kate, Barbican review - an entertaining, high-octane Cole Porter revivalThursday, 20 June 2024
Lincoln Center’s Bartlett Sher is back in town to direct the Barbican’s latest summer blockbuster, Cole Porter’s classic Kiss Me, Kate. It’s an energetic, largely intelligent production of what is at base a screwball comedy with great songs. ... Read more... |
Album: Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmonds - Strange News Has Come to TownWednesday, 19 June 2024
Almost exactly five years ago, I was transported by Singing It All Back Home, the third album from Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds. I gave it four stars, which in retrospect was perhaps a little ungenerous. Now at last comes a new opus from the duo... Read more... |
