Bafta nominations 2023: nominations list including Best Actor and Best Actress January 19, 2023 The Bafta nominations for the 2023 awards have been revealed. The annual ceremony celebrating the best films released over the past year will take place on 19 February, just a few weeks before the Oscars. World War 1 epic All Quiet On The Western Front leads with 14 nominations, and comedy-drama The Banshees of Inisherin [...]
Paul Mescal roars onto London stage in gripping new Streetcar Named Desire January 19, 2023 ★★★★☆ The Almeida’s production of Tennessee Williams’ steamy southern gothic A Streetcar Named Desire was one of the most hotly anticipated plays of 2022, with Normal People star Paul Mescal lending some zeitgeist-capturing sex appeal to this sad tale of fantasy, identity and mental illness. But on the eve of opening, lead actor Lydia Wilson [...]
Alice, Darling review: Anna Kendrick is peerless in gripping abuse drama January 19, 2023 ★★★★☆ Alice, Darling is a subtly gripping and deftly effective portrait of coercive control in an abusive relationship, and one of the most staggeringly realistic. It also has a bravely simplistic premise which only makes its case stronger. It’s a cause Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick is clearly passionate about: she’s producing and playing the lead [...]
Babylon film review: Brad Pitt can’t save this mess January 19, 2023 ★★☆☆☆ In the first ten minutes of Babylon, an elephant excretes faeces explosively down the camera, a woman pees on her sexual partner and partygoers are seen shovelling cocaine up their noses from a pile almost as high as the elephant. The party kicks on for another half an hour, when naked people start having [...]
George Takei’s Allegiance, review: Star Trek actor’s affecting tale of forgotten racism January 18, 2023 ★★★★☆ George Takei’s most famously known from the original cast of Star Trek, but in recent years has been celebrated as an LGBTQ role model following his decision to come out in 2005 aged 68. It’s curious that Allegiance, the play Takei calls his “legacy” play, omits queer themes. But nevertheless, it’s a hammerblow critique [...]
Fresh multi-million pound grant stumped-up by Arts Council for the National Opera January 17, 2023 The English National Opera (ENO) is set to receive more than £11 million from the National Lottery for the next financial year after Arts Council England (ACE) announced funding cuts. In plans announced in November, ACE said it was removing the opera company as a national portfolio organisation, resulting in a funding cut of £12.6 [...]
Brits switch to social media for music as concerts go meta, says Brit Awards sponsor Mastercard January 16, 2023 Younger Brits are more likely to get their music recommendations from social media with TikTok and Instagram the most popular platforms. According to a new report by Mastercard 56 per cent of those aged 16-24 found their favourite music online. The report by the Brits Awards sponsor claims social media is overtaking physical concerts and [...]
Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland, charged with domestic violence, sent sexual, offensive Twitter messages to musician January 14, 2023 A day after Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland was charged with domestic violence, American musician Allie Goertz tweeted a series of graphic, sexual and offensive private Twitter messages she received from the cartoon-maker. One undated message read: “Can you write a song about 9 dicks of different sizes and ethnic origins hanging over your [...]
The riddle of the Nursing Assistant: Twitter user solves viral case January 13, 2023 For the last year Twitter has been racking its collective brain to try to unravel what has become known as The Riddle of the Nursing Assistant. Last December a Tik Tok user called @thisis_bex cross-posted a rather thirsty picture of what we assume to be herself alongside the cryptic caption: “Imagine how good your life [...]
Watch on the Rhine, Donmar Warehouse, review: Not as desperately sad as it should be January 12, 2023 ★★★☆☆ In the opening moments of Watch on the Rhine, the word “misinformation” is pertinently thrown about. It feels thoroughly modern and in some ways, it is. The word has existed since the 1500s, which justifies its appearance in Lillian Hellman’s 1941 play about Kurt Muller, an anti-fascist protestor who flees possible incarceration in Germany [...]