tv
The Day of the Jackal, Sky Atlantic review - Frederick Forsyth's assassin gets a modern-day makeoverFriday, 08 November 2024
Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film The Day of the Jackal was successful thanks to its lean, almost documentary-like treatment of its story of a professional assassin methodically stalking his prey, French President Charles de Gaulle. Based on Frederick Forsyth’s novel, it also gained plausibility by being rooted in historical fact. In 1962 a group of disaffected army officers planned to kill de Gaulle after he granted independence to Algeria. Read more... |
Until I Kill You, ITV1 review - superb performances in a frustrating true-crime storyWednesday, 06 November 2024
The latest true-crime adaptation about a murderous man and his female victims turns its star into a bloody mess on a hospital table, her vital signs flatlining. And that’s just halfway through, with two episodes to go. Read more... |
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Disney+ review - the Boss grows older defiantlyFriday, 01 November 2024
Director Thom Zimny has become the audio-visual Boswell to Bruce Springsteen’s Samuel Johnson, having made documentaries about the making of Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, Springsteen On Broadway and several more. Road Diary takes as its theme Springsteen’s 2023-4 tour, and uses that as a platform for an often emotional survey of his 50 year history with the E Street Band. Read more... |
Industry, BBC One review - bold, addictive saga about corporate culture nowWednesday, 30 October 2024
All three seasons of Industry are now on iPlayer, and after watching the most recent one and then backtracking for another look at the other two, I am still in two minds about it. With its forensic display of a toxic world where people are viewed as “capital” and anomie is the prevailing mode, is it masterly drama or an overheated mess? Read more... |
Rivals, Disney+ review - adultery, skulduggery and political incorrectnessMonday, 21 October 2024
Delirium has greeted Disney’s eight-part adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel Rivals (part of her Rutshire Chronicles series). Read more... |
Disclaimer, Apple TV+ review - a misfiring revenge saga from Alfonso CuarónTuesday, 15 October 2024
It seems to be silly season for big-name directors. First, Coppola’s Megalopolis and Steve McQueen’s Blitz: why? Now Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer: double why? Read more... |
Ludwig, BBC One review - entertaining spin on the brainy detective formulaTuesday, 08 October 2024
The latest incarnation of David Mitchell, TV actor, looks at first sight much like the familar one from Peep Show and Back. Not a pufflepant in sight. His only costume change for Ludwig is a pair of wire-frame spectacles. Read more... |
The Hardacres, Channel 5 review - a fishy tale of upward mobilityTuesday, 08 October 2024
Set in Yorkshire in the 1890s, and based on the novels by CL Skelton, The Hardacres is the story of the titular family who, it seems, were pioneers of takeaway fish, although not accompanied by chips. It’s their stall selling fried herring fresh from the ocean which makes the Hardacres an unexpected fortune. Read more... |
Joan, ITV1 review - the roller-coaster career of a 1980s jewel thiefSaturday, 05 October 2024
If you’re looking for an advertisement for how crime doesn’t pay, Joan will do very nicely. Written by Anna Symon, this six-part series is based on the memoirs of real-life jewel thief Joan Hannington, whose light-fingered accomplishments earned her notoriety back in the Eighties. Some apparently referred to her as “The Godmother”, though they don’t here. Read more... |
The Penguin, Sky Atlantic review - power, corruption, lies and prostheticsTuesday, 01 October 2024
Is there no limit to the number of times the comic book heroes and villains from Marvel and DC can be recycled? HBO’s The Penguin (showing on Sky Atlantic) is a spin-off from Matt Reeves’s 2022 film The Batman, which starred Robert Pattinson in the title role and Colin Farrell as Oswald “Oz” Cobb, aka The Penguin. Read more... |
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
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