Review: Why Sam Mendes’ 1917 is the first unmissable film of the twenties January 10, 2020 The set-up for Sam Mendes’ first film since Bond is straightforward enough: young soldier Tom (Dean Charles-Chapman) and his friend William (George MacKay) are tasked with crossing No Man’s Land to deliver a message that could save the lives of thousands. Once that mission begins, however, we are taken on a spectacular war thriller, masterfully [...]
Cyrano de Bergerac review: An astringent and moving adaptation December 19, 2019 Cyrano de Bergerac opens to a stark stage, with plain walls and harsh neon lighting. We are, it would seem, beyond any normal sense of time, but, as the play begins, we learn that this is actually 1640s Paris. James McAvoy takes to the stage as the titular Cyrano, man of many talents: wordsmith, master [...]
Teenage Dick at the Donmar review: High school reimagining is a hit December 19, 2019 Teenage Dick transposes Shakespeare’s murderous monarch Richard III from Plantagenet England to the halls of a modern American high school; the perfect setting for a twisted tale of ambition and resentment. Roseland High School junior class secretary Richard’s desire for respect and attention is frustrated by his physical disability in a community that worships sporting [...]
Can The Rise of Skywalker reawaken Disney’s Force? December 19, 2019 These are dark times for the Disney Empire. The unified celebration that greeted its first two Star Wars entries (The Force Awakens and Rogue One) descended into rebellion with the release of The Last Jedi, one of the most divisive films in recent memory. Then came Solo, the first Star Wars movie to lose money. [...]
Jumanji: The Next Level review: Jack Black and Danny DeVito’s star power doesn’t make up for shaky plot December 16, 2019 As a die-hard defender of the 1994 original, and a some-time apologist for its 2017 remake, I was willing to forgive a lot of Jumanji: The Next Level. It is, once again, a body-swap comedy in which a group of teenagers become characters in a 1990s video game. And while you don’t ask much of [...]
The Ocean at the End of the Lane at the National Theatre review December 13, 2019 Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane is one of those novels that seems impossible to stage. It’s a tangled tale that takes place across dimensions, flitting between the real and the imagined, the domestic and the cosmic. It features civilised family diners and epic battles with giant, many-legged monstrosities. And you’d [...]
A Taste of Honey at Trafalgar Studios review: A kitchen sink drama with real heart December 13, 2019 I first heard about A Taste of Honey through Morrissey, who had a penchant for nicking its best lines. I’m clearly not the only one: the delivery of “I dreamt about you last night. Fell out of bed twice” and “The dream has gone but the baby is real” were met with a ripple of [...]
The Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida review: A shocking, brilliant drama December 13, 2019 Since the explosion of the #MeToo movement, theatre directors have been bringing to the fore the themes of patriarchal violence in everything from Shakespeare to Ibsen. Director Rebecca Frecknall’s production of The Duchess of Malfi takes this close to its logical conclusion with this unflinching, often outright horrific portrait of the terrible consequences of men [...]
Fairview at the Young Vic review: A strange and thrilling masterpiece December 13, 2019 When talking about her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fairview, writer Jackie Sibblies Drury explains that she cannot reveal what it is about without spoiling it. And she has a point – this really is a see-it-to-believe-it surprise of a show, and is thoroughly deserving of such anticipation. In simple terms, the story concerns a black middle-class [...]
Charlie’s Angels review: A fun reboot, despite the ham-fisted subversion of gender roles November 29, 2019 Wasn’t there a remake of Charlie’s Angels a few years back, I hear you ask? Well, I regret to inform you that version – featuring Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore – was in fact made two whole decades ago. So here we are again, with another reboot of the hair-flicking, gun toting 1970s [...]