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. [...]
Doctor Who: Time Fracture – an immersive Bond Street show June 22, 2021 If you’ve ever wanted to step out from behind the sofa and into the TARDIS, your moment has arrived. Doctor Who: Time Fracture is a new, interactive theatrical event from Immersive Everywhere, the team behind 2019’s immersive adaptation of The Wolf of Wall Street. In the back streets of Mayfair, minutes from Oxford Street, is [...]
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard: Awkward title, awkward film June 18, 2021 Some sequels are made as part of an ongoing story, answering questions that were left dangling or making the universe a little bigger. Others are solely made because the first film made more cash than expected. Hitman’s Bodyguard, a mid-budget comedy with Samuel L Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, surprised pretty much everybody by becoming a [...]
Luca is an enjoyable Pixar Lite that’s in thrall to the work of Ghibli June 18, 2021 The past eighteen months has seen a complete shift in what we mean by the term ‘straight to on demand’. Once the preserve of movies that weren’t worth a cinema release, circumstances have meant a hybrid solution is now the sensible choice for a lot of new releases. That said, the big movies are still [...]