Dawn French at the London Palladium: Seven things we learned DAWN FRENCH LIVE Dawn French has more nights at the London Palladium this month and in October Dawn French’s new stand-up show, Dawn French is a Huge Twat, had its London premiere at the Palladium last night, marking the first of a string of dates in capital for the 65-year-old. The two-hour show features adorable anecdotes from throughout [...]
A Year in a Field is a profound documentary about the beauty of nature NEW DOCUMENTARY It takes a bold filmmaker to truly make you stop and think about the world. Filmed between the Winter Solstices of 2020 and 2021, when the world was forced to be still, Christopher Morris filmed Boscowen Ros, a 4,000-year-old stone monolith for his ruminative new documentary, A Year in a Field. He observes the areas [...]
Expend4bles: Sly Stallone gets the gang back together again, again, again movie review In 2010, two years before Marvel made the crossover movie mainstream, Sylvester Stallone started up his own shared universe. The Expendables gave nostalgic action fans the chance to see Sly share the screen with former rivals including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, even passing the mantle on to whippersnapper Jason Statham. It was a huge [...]
The Big Little Things review, Soho Place theatre: Fan theatre at its best September 21, 2023 The Big Little Things review and star rating: ★★★★ In the closing moments of The Big Little Things, the actor Ed Larkin is spun around the Soho Place auditorium in his wheelchair, swooshing around in big circles some 20 metres above the audience. It sends an empowering message and it’s hugely emotional to witness: I [...]
Dumb Money: GameStop stocks crisis movie is a surprise hit September 21, 2023 A movie about the GameStop stocks incident was inevitable, given how it captured the imagination of the public in 2021. In Dumb Money, Oscar nominee Paul Dano plays Keith Gill, the redditor and YouTuber who hatched a plan to invest in retailer GameStop, countering the hedge funds who were shorting the stock, and making him [...]
Marina Abramovic at the Royal Court: As harrowing and vital as ever September 21, 2023 Picasso with cubism, Basquiat with graffiti Andy Warhol with pop art. Marina Abramovic, perhaps the most famous performance artist who ever lived, long ago joined that vanishingly small circle of artists whose work has come to define an entire movement. A new retrospective of her work, which snakes through the galleries of the Royal Academy, [...]
Rebecca musical review, Charing Cross Theatre: Fussy and too much like panto September 20, 2023 Rebecca musical review and star rating: ★★ Rebecca is getting a real show of it. A new film adaptation came out during the pandemic, and now the first ever musical in the English language arrives in London. The Netflix film was panned, and this hammy version of the classic Daphne Du Maurier Gothic novel first [...]
Details of BBC’s Russell Brand investigation revealed: findings due in ‘weeks not months’ September 19, 2023 The BBC’s Director-General has announced a review of Russell Brand’s behaviour during his time working with the broadcaster, with the outcome due in “weeks not months.” According to a report by Deadline, Tim Davie said to colleagues this afternoon: “We’ll look at any complaints made about Russell Brand’s conduct during his time, what was known [...]
London Design Festival director: the UK government must regulate AI technology September 18, 2023 The first AI-generated buildings have already been built. Adam Bloodworth hears how it’s a hot topic at this month’s London Design Festival, running 16 – 24 September at venues across London Architects don’t need AI,” declared Britain’s most famous architect Norman Foster in May. Three months later, his firm Foster + Partners gave a pithy [...]
‘Like a very, very Loose Women!’ 5 podcasters on the thrill of recording live at London Podcast Festival September 18, 2023 The London Podcast Festival returned this September, bringing the usually solitary exercise of recording podcasts into the public forum. It welcomed audiences to debate topics and involve themselves with conversations as podcasts were recorded live in King’s Cross. It’s an unusual format, so we spoke five people involved in the festival, the founder, three podcasters [...]