Catch The Dumb Waiter at Hampstead Theatre while you can December 12, 2020 Pinter, the greatest of modern playwrights, is probably best known for his love of a good pause. Well there have been plenty of those involved in this production of one of his most brilliant works, The Dumb Waiter. Originally slated to open in the spring, coronavirus has been jabbing at the pause button for months, [...]
Disney Plus ups target after Netflix-rival surpasses 86m subscribers December 11, 2020 Disney Plus has announced plans to increase its subscriber target by 2024 to between 300-350m overall subscriptions. It follows a strong debut year in which the Netflix-rival surpassed 86m total subscribers. Comparatively at the end of 2019, Netflix had 167m subscribers world-wide. However, Netflix began its streaming service back in 2007, having a 13-year head [...]
The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 7 – S2E7 hots up December 11, 2020 *** SPOILERS AHEAD: If you haven’t watched the most recent episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2, look away now*** We’re coming into the home stretch with this second season of The Mandalorian, a series that has been the jewel in the Disney+ crown and no doubt was behind their recent decision to greenlight shows for [...]
Dreamland review – Margot Robbie saves this flat chase movie December 10, 2020 The fourth film produced by Margot Robbie for her Lucky Chap Production company, the Aussie A-lister also stars in this drama set during the Great Depression. Finn Cole plays Eugene, a young man living with his family in a small rural American town. His humdrum life is turned upside down when he finds Allison (Robbie), [...]
The Prom review – Meryl Streep saves this party from disaster December 10, 2020 If there’s one thing we’ve seen a lot of this year, its celebrities making things all about them. Anyone who cringed their way through Gal Gadot and friends’ Imagine cover in March will know how the rich and famous can often misjudge the tone during hard times. With this in mind, Netflix’s expensive musical The [...]
Wolfwalkers is a charming animated film for the holiday season December 10, 2020 The festive season is usually a prime time for family movie spectaculars, and Apple’s streaming service is offering the highly anticipated new film Wolfwalkers from Cartoon Saloon, the company behind Song of The Sea (2014) and The Breadwinner (2017). Wolfwalkers is an animated fantasy set in 17th Century Ireland, in a city occupied the English [...]
10 of the most popular shows of 2020 December 9, 2020 Following a record-breaking year for streaming services as a result of the pandemic and two national-lockdowns, we take a look at 10 of the most streamed shows of 2020. The Witcher (Netflix) The first season of The Witcher is Netflix’s most successful show of the year, with around 76 million views. The fantasy show is [...]
Christmas is cancelled: Five festive traditions scuppered by Covid December 7, 2020 Coronavirus has a lot to answer for, and while being able to enjoy a few frivolities over Christmas isn’t at the top of the list, it’s still likely to put a downer on December. Here are some of the popular Christmas activities that have been curtailed by the pandemic, and some suggestions on how to [...]
Falling review – Viggo Mortensen family drama feels too familiar December 5, 2020 35 years after his big screen debut, Viggo Mortensen steps behind the camera for his feature debut, in a story he also writes and stars in. He plays John, a pilot who lives in California with his husband Eric (Terry Chen) and daughter Monica (Gabby Velis). His contented West Coast life is disrupted by the [...]
David Fincher’s Mank is a classic about a classic December 5, 2020 There is a sad irony to David Fincher’s love letter to Old Hollywood being a big new release for Netflix. Mank is the company’s big hope for Oscar glory, as films about the film business tend to go down well with the people in it (Birdman, La La Land, The Artist, Adaptation… we could go [...]