The Many Saints of Newark – nostalgia masks so-so crime drama September 27, 2021 *** This review of The Many Saints of Newark contains spoilers for The Sopranos TV show *** It was 13 years ago that Tony Soprano looked over his shoulder in a diner to the strains of Don’t Stop Believin’ only for the screen to go black. It was a divisive end to one of the [...]
No time to delay: New James Bond film premieres tomorrow September 26, 2021 The new James Bond film, ‘No Time to Die’, is set to premiere in London tomorrow, almost a year and a half after its original planned release. The hotly anticipated film, first meant to premiere in April 2020, has been delayed three times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite speculation that the film would be [...]
We ask the experts what makes the perfect gift shop September 23, 2021 Anyone who has set foot in a major gallery’s gift shop of late will know that it’s become something of a main attraction. Indeed, a glance at today’s gift shops provides a sweeping art history: from Giotto-themed pencils, to Pollock bath mats, Van Gogh eyewear, and Banksy face masks. For many visitors, the shop is [...]
Oasis Knebworth 96 review: recapturing music history September 22, 2021 There was a time when the band Oasis and nostalgia seemed like a contradiction. While certainly inspired by the past, their meteoric 1990s rise was fuelled by songs about feeling young and invincible, with nothing mattering beyond this moment. It captured the spirit of a country propelled by a rare case of self-confidence that peaked [...]
The Green Knight review – a stunning medieval fantasy September 22, 2021 Director David Lowery may not be as familiar a name as The Russo Brothers or Christopher Nolan, but in less than a decade he has already put together a string of quietly successful productions, including the critically acclaimed Aint These Bodies Saints. Working with Red Redford on Disney’s remake of Pete’s Dragon convinced the screen [...]
The Many Saints of Newark review: The Sopranos makes its long-awaited return September 21, 2021 * This review contains spoilers for The Sopranos TV show * The Sopranos was a near-perfect TV show, a Shakespearean epic that took the gangster movies of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese and shaped them into a surreal, psychological soap opera. Where other shows have aged, the Sopranos is as fresh today as when [...]
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie review – fuzzy but heartfelt September 21, 2021 Everybody may be talking about Jamie, but it’s unlikely to be in a cinema foyer. Original studio Disney were intending a theatrical release until as late as May, when the film was sold to Amazon for its streaming service and a limited cinema run in the UK. The adaptation of the West End hit was [...]
Gunpowder Milkshake – Karen Gillan’s action comedy is great fun September 20, 2021 While she may be better known as a supporting player in the Jumanji and Marvel franchises, Karen Gillan has offered some impressive lead performances on the big screen. She impressed as the director and star of 2018’s overlooked drama The Party’s Just Beginning, and in the David Dastmalchian-written All Creatures Here Below. This week, she [...]
Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic: As bright and bouncy as brainwashing gets September 20, 2021 A true story about the indoctrination of American teenagers into fascism sounds like a heavy evening of theatre, but the Old Vic’s Camp Siegfried is as bright and bouncy as brainwashing gets. Set in the titular Long Island summer camp in 1938, it follows two unnamed teenagers who meet on the outskirts of a dance [...]
Flower power: 2021 RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show at the Saatchi Gallery September 18, 2021 Botanical illustrations have a somewhat unfair association with geriatric pastimes and biology textbooks. In a new exhibition at Chelsea’s Saatchi Gallery, the Royal Horticultural Society brings a fresh spin on the form by grouping a 200-strong selection of paintings, drawings, and photographs that showcase the diversity of flora. The product of an open call, works [...]