Best of 2021: Nomadland was the Best Picture winner for a reason January 1, 2022 Sometimes, being an Oscar favourite can be a set back for a movie. The branding of best picture implies that it must be all things to all people, leaving an inevitable disappointment in some when they find a movie that isn’t to their taste. This year is a bit different, with the nominees generally being [...]
Best of 2021: CODA is a moving coming-of-age drama January 1, 2022 Festival hype can be a double-edge sword, particularly at the Sundance Film Festival where success doesn’t always translate to box office. For every Napoleon Dynamite or Get Out, there are films that are bought for big money that flop spectacularly (see Steve Coogan comedy Hamlet 2, or teen weepie Me, Earl, and The Dying Girl). [...]
Best of 2021: Dune has masterful visuals and spellbinding performances December 31, 2021 It was never going to be easy for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The director of Arrival and Sicario took on his dream project knowing full well that previous versions of Frank Herbert’s novel had infamously arduous journeys to the screen. Then came a pandemic, and Warner Bros’ decision to include this film as part of the [...]
Best of 2021: Hamlet at the Young Vic December 30, 2021 Playing Hamlet is still seen by many as the pinnacle of an acting career. When we think of the greats in the role we think of John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ian McKellan (twice, as of this summer). But Cush Jumbo inhabits the part so brilliantly in this new production at the [...]
Best of 2021: The Tragedy of Macbeth at the Almeida December 30, 2021 South African director Yaël Farber’s The Tragedy of Macbeth will fill the Almeida thanks to her casting of four-times Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, but it will be remembered long after the run has ended as one of the most strikingly original, hauntingly atmospheric productions of the Scottish Play in recent times. The tone is set [...]
The Best Movies of 2021: 10 films that blew us away this year December 30, 2021 It’s been another brutal year for the movies, but one in which the big screen has shown to be fighting back. As you read this, Spider-man is thwipping his way to a record box office run, while Bond, Ghostbusters, The Fast Saga, and Venom were all pleasing crowds after long delays. After our list of [...]
Vinyl purchases at highest level since 1990 with ABBA and Amy Winehouse classics leading the comeback December 29, 2021 Physical records have made a 2021 comeback, with over five million LP vinyls purchased over the past 12 months – a jump of eight per cent or higher on 2020 and a 14th consecutive year of growth since the format’s low point in 2007.
The worst movies of 2021: 10 films that made us cover our eyes December 28, 2021 Everyone focuses on best-of lists at the end of the year, but what about the ones that truly sucked? Hundreds of movies launched this year across cinemas and streaming services, and inevitably there are a few that fell well below expectation. Here are 2021’s worst movies that had me choking on my popcorn… Chaos Walking [...]
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: A flawed but warm biopic December 25, 2021 It’s awards season, and thus it’s an inevitability that there’s a biopic of a tortured genius hoping for Oscar gold. The genius in question is Louis Wain, a Victorian artist famous for his surreal paintings of cats, the popularity of which went some way to making them more common as house pets. Fresh from Spider-Man: [...]
The Tragedy of Macbeth: Washington and McDormand on Oscar form December 24, 2021 A Shakespeare adaptation from The Coen Brothers would have been sure to spark excitement, but there’s a twist to The Tragedy of Macbeth that leaves a few questions in the air. That’s because, while Joel Coen is directing the film, Ethan is not involved, the first time the brothers haven’t worked together. Carter Burwell, The [...]