Doctor Who and Sherlock writers’ new show The Unfriend is unfunny and tedious – review January 23, 2023 ★★☆☆☆ Round up the audience at press night for Steven Moffat’s first London show and you’d have a pretty good BAFTA Awards attendee list. David Tennant, Jim Broadbent, Celia Imrie, Peter Capaldi and Sheila Hancock drift past me on the way in. “I got a BAFTA nom this morning,” one guest casually tells the guy [...]
Spotify’s revenue slow down will lead to 600 job losses, as tech giant becomes the latest to cull staff January 23, 2023 Spotify will be cutting its global workforce by nearly six per cent with around 600 people expected to lose their jobs. The music streaming platform has joined fellow tech giants including Amazon, Google, Meta and Twitter in laying off staff, with tens-of-thousands of workers being laid off in recent weeks. Last November Meta, the owner [...]
The Leica M11 camera is like a reunion with an old friend January 23, 2023 Anticipation, such a bittersweet sensation. The delicious excitement that gets the juice buds flowing. Will the moment, live up to expectations and linger on the lips forever? Or leave a nasty taste in the mouth? Do you part, never to speak of this again? Let’s find out. Suffice to say, I’ve been looking forward to this [...]
The Apprentice recap: Tonight’s most ridiculous moments, ranked January 19, 2023 If you haven’t lost the will to live yet and you’re still tuning in, it’s week three of The Apprentice. Endured another hour of people screaming and shouting at each other for one man’s approval? Well done, now enjoy our favourite three moments from episode three, another absolute corker. (Don’t worry, this is totally spoiler-free…) [...]
Bafta nominations 2023: nominations list including Best Actor and Best Actress January 19, 2023 The Bafta nominations for the 2023 awards have been revealed. The annual ceremony celebrating the best films released over the past year will take place on 19 February, just a few weeks before the Oscars. World War 1 epic All Quiet On The Western Front leads with 14 nominations, and comedy-drama The Banshees of Inisherin [...]
Paul Mescal roars onto London stage in gripping new Streetcar Named Desire January 19, 2023 ★★★★☆ The Almeida’s production of Tennessee Williams’ steamy southern gothic A Streetcar Named Desire was one of the most hotly anticipated plays of 2022, with Normal People star Paul Mescal lending some zeitgeist-capturing sex appeal to this sad tale of fantasy, identity and mental illness. But on the eve of opening, lead actor Lydia Wilson [...]
Alice, Darling review: Anna Kendrick is peerless in gripping abuse drama January 19, 2023 ★★★★☆ Alice, Darling is a subtly gripping and deftly effective portrait of coercive control in an abusive relationship, and one of the most staggeringly realistic. It also has a bravely simplistic premise which only makes its case stronger. It’s a cause Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick is clearly passionate about: she’s producing and playing the lead [...]
Babylon film review: Brad Pitt can’t save this mess January 19, 2023 ★★☆☆☆ In the first ten minutes of Babylon, an elephant excretes faeces explosively down the camera, a woman pees on her sexual partner and partygoers are seen shovelling cocaine up their noses from a pile almost as high as the elephant. The party kicks on for another half an hour, when naked people start having [...]
George Takei’s Allegiance, review: Star Trek actor’s affecting tale of forgotten racism January 18, 2023 ★★★★☆ George Takei’s most famously known from the original cast of Star Trek, but in recent years has been celebrated as an LGBTQ role model following his decision to come out in 2005 aged 68. It’s curious that Allegiance, the play Takei calls his “legacy” play, omits queer themes. But nevertheless, it’s a hammerblow critique [...]
Fresh multi-million pound grant stumped-up by Arts Council for the National Opera January 17, 2023 The English National Opera (ENO) is set to receive more than £11 million from the National Lottery for the next financial year after Arts Council England (ACE) announced funding cuts. In plans announced in November, ACE said it was removing the opera company as a national portfolio organisation, resulting in a funding cut of £12.6 [...]