Measure for Measure review: A play given impetus by #metoo November 29, 2019 Measure for Measure has great contemporary resonance, with the tale of a man abusing a position of authority for his own sexual gratification echoing the complaints of the #MeToo movement. The Duke of Vienna fears that his lax enforcement of public morals risks becoming a crisis, and so rather than dealing with the matter himself [...]
Knives Out review: A finely choreographed tribute to the murder mystery genre November 28, 2019 A wealthy author of best-selling murder mystery novels is found dead in his study on the morning after his 85th birthday, his throat cut in an apparent suicide. His family, a viper’s nest of self-serving narcissists played by an ensemble cast of Hollywood A-listers, all have their own motives, and so it’s up to the [...]
Harriet film review: Cynthia Erivo gives Tubman the biopic she deserves – no Julia Roberts required November 22, 2019 The story of Harriet Tubman has been waiting to be told for a long time. Shamefully the film has been in the works since the ‘90s, but, as its screenwriter and producer Gregory Allen Howard revealed in interviews this week, it didn’t get off the ground because executives thought the story of the 19th-century American [...]
Judy & Punch review: A traditional seaside puppet show turned #metoo revenge caper November 21, 2019 Punch & Judy, the Victorian puppet show about a child murderer turned serial domestic abuser who loves sausages, is an unlikely candidate for a gritty, live action remake. But this is 2019, all bets are off, and here we are. Set in the town of Seaside, which is nowhere near the sea, we find travelling [...]
Pokémon Sword and Shield review: A spectacular upgrade for Nintendo’s chart-topping series November 21, 2019 Pokémon’s creator GameFreak was uncharacteristically secretive during the development of Sword and Shield, the latest pair of monster collecting games in the world-dominating, 23-year-old franchise. Now it’s clear to see why the studio played its cards so close to its chest: the new games shake up the rulebook in a way that might have given [...]
Death Stranding review: Hideo Kojima’s game about delivering parcels hits dizzying highs and terrible lows November 20, 2019 There’s an entire genre of games disparagingly referred to as “walking simulators”. In most of them, walking is simulated in only the most rudimentary of ways – you tend to glide about the place, looking at sunsets and picking up fruit. Japanese auteur Hideo Kojima has created a true walking simulator, a game in which [...]
Anselm Kiefer: Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot at the White Cube – destructive, glorious chaos November 15, 2019 ★★★★★ Anselm Kiefer’s latest solo exhibition Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot at the White Cube in Bermondsey is both apocalyptic and redemptive. Its title plays on various myths and allegories that have preoccupied Kiefer for the bulk of his 50-year career, and that he now ties together with his latest obsession – string theory. [...]
Six pictures that show the City of London skyline like you’ve never seen it before November 10, 2019 Photographer James Burns has been hauling his camera to the top of London’s tallest buildings for the last 10 years. He sees the story of London over the past decade as one of skyscraper proliferation. “When I started photography, London’s skyline was a little bit boring. I used to take photographs with the intention of [...]
The Aeronauts film review: Felicity Jones shines in this good old-fashioned adventure November 8, 2019 A template is emerging for films starring Eddie Redmayne, and The Aeronauts fits it. It’s a period piece (in this case, the 1860s), everyone is endearingly upper-class, and proceedings are dominated at all times by an overriding sense of whimsy. It is based on the true Victorian adventure story of scientist James Glaisher (Redmayne) and [...]
Doctor Sleep film review: Returning to the Overlook Hotel is a joy in this mid-tier horror November 1, 2019 Stephen King hated Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining. He didn’t like the way Kubrick’s film existed purely in the realms of psychological metaphor, and he didn’t care for the unsympathetic portrayal of the Torrance family (I suspect Kubrick’s brusque treatment of King, refusing to even read his original screenplay, had something to do with [...]