French Exit review – Pfeiffer is glorious in this surreal comedy June 30, 2021 The career of Michelle Pfeiffer is one that seems to have many comebacks, but in reality, the Oscar nominee never stopped producing good work. Despite missing half of the 2000s due to a self-imposed hiatus from acting, she still appeared in hits like Hairspray and Stardust, while the 2010s saw her feature in everything from [...]
Another Round review – drinking drama earns its Oscar June 30, 2021 A lot of films make it to our screens thanks to an interesting concept – what if there was a theme park that brought back dinosaurs, what if a man’s whole life was a 24-hour TV show, what if you could invade someone’s dreams? The idea behind Danish drama Another Round is slightly less ambitious, [...]
Black Widow review: Marvel returns with a familiar face June 29, 2021 By the time Black Widow hits cinemas, it will have been the longest we’ve ever waited for a Marvel Cinematic Universe instalment. Obviously there have been external reasons for this absence, but in a strange way the wait has been beneficial for the world’s biggest franchise. Yes, there have been two and a half Disney+ [...]
Under Milk Wood: Michael Sheen shines at the National Theatre June 24, 2021 There are few opening lines as transportive as that in Dylan Thomas’ 1954 radio play Under Milk Wood. “It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters’-and- rabbits’ wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea.” It’s a surprise, then, when [...]
Dogtanian and The Three Muskehounds: Nostalgia nightmare June 24, 2021 The announcement of a movie adaptation of Dogtanian and The Three Muskehounds was met with nostalgic approval from movie fans of a certain age. Originally a Japanese cartoon series, the canine interpretation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers was re-dubbed into English in the mid-80s and is affectionately remembered by those for whom post-school cartoons [...]
Loki episode 3 review – two of a kind at the end of the world June 24, 2021 *** WARNING: This article contains spoilers for all current episodes of Loki and some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe *** Last week’s episode of Loki featured a lot of Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sharing detective theories and life philosophies. It ended with a supermarket chase and the reveal of The Variant/Lady Loki [...]
No showing off: The paradox at the heart of British men’s style June 23, 2021 The English have a strange relationship to men’s style. Every gentleman has conflicting voices, a Jeeves and a Wooster on either shoulder: Bertie with his brass-buttoned mess jacket and Old Etonian spats, his valet with an eyebrow raised in polite disapproval. Nowhere better is this duality exemplified than in the British Army. Regiments do everything [...]
Covid pandemic has changed online dating, Tinder boss says June 22, 2021 New updates to dating app Tinder will reflect changes in users’ dating behaviour due to the pandemic, moving towards more “holistic” profiles. Tinder’s CEO, Jim Lanzone, told the BBC: “As we know from the past 15 to 18 months, people have really leaned in to getting to know people virtually, even having relationships virtually, before they [...]
Supernova review – Tucci and Firth in heartbreaking dementia love story June 22, 2021 The follow up to his 2014 debut Hinterland, British filmmaker Harry Macqueen works with two Hollywood legends in a quiet, but devastating drama that was sadly overlooked in this year’s awards chase. Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci play Sam and Tusker, partners of twenty years laughing and bickering in their campervan on the first leg [...]
Fast and Furious 9 review – yet more brainless fun June 22, 2021 For a film about street racing that was a modest hit back in 2001, the Fast and Furious franchise has ballooned into something no one could expect. This week sees the release of the tenth instalment in the series (if you count spin-off Hobbs & Shaw), and the reported penultimate episode of the main story. [...]