Jackass Forever is an affectionate tribute to 20 years of chaos February 8, 2022 “The world waited for what felt like forever” begins the narrator of Jackass Forever’s trailer. In truth, few could have predicted the return of the madcap crew for a fourth film (seventh if you include spin-offs). Financially, it makes sense – they’re cheap to produce, draw a crowd, and tug at early noughties nostalgia. However, [...]
One Shot film review: Single take movie is a violent action curio February 8, 2022 Scott Adkins, undisputed king of the On Demand action movie, saves the free world once again in ‘single take’ action thriller One Shot. He plays Jake Harris, a Navy SEAL leading an elite team to a prison island where terrorists are being held. His mission is to escort government analyst Zoe Anderson (Ashley Greene) and [...]
The Eyes of Tammy Faye: Jessica Chastain bats eyelashes at award judges February 7, 2022 Despite appearing in some of the best dramas of the 2010s, Jessica Chastain often gets overlooked by awards voters despite stellar work in films such as Molly’s Game and A Most Violent Year. Undeterred, she’s back in the awards race with this new biopic, based on a remarkable life. She plays Tammy Faye Bakker, the [...]
Sing 2 reivew: Illumination animation has no problem playing the hits February 7, 2022 It’s a tough time for animated movies, as families have tended to stay away from the cinema. This has resulted in the last three Pixar movies going straight to streaming, much to the chagrin of the animators if reports are to be believed. Rivals Illumination don’t seem to have had as much trouble. The wildly [...]
A Number at the Old Vic review: Cloning drama never seems to age February 7, 2022 What is the value of a human life? What makes us who we are? How can we weigh our good deeds against our bad? Does any of this really matter? A Number asks these heavy questions with a remarkable lightness of touch. Among the most commonly-performed of Caryl Churchill’s plays, it’s a blistering hour and [...]
Inside the content creators’ industry, not everything is as glossy as it seems February 7, 2022 Say “influencer economy” to most people and there remains a temptation to shrug it off as a handful of Youtube stars making a few grand here and there for make-up videos. In truth, the influencer economy has become mainstream – almost 50m people around the world consider themselves “content creators”. That spans from impossibly youthful [...]
Frozen the Musical review: A crowd-pleaser that plays the hits February 4, 2022 When Disney’s Frozen hit screens back in 2013, only those hiding under rocks escaped round-the-clock renditions of Let It Go by children across the land. The announcement of an adaptation for theatre, initially on Broadway and then the West End, was hardly a surprise. With an extravagant set featuring icicle-laden bridges, mountain cabins and luxurious [...]
The Glow at the Royal Court review: A messy time-travel conundrum February 4, 2022 Were playwright Alistair McDowall and I to go for a pint, I think we’d get on pretty well. Having seen three of his plays to date – Pomona, X and now The Glow – we seem to share a love of lo-fi sci-fi, dystopian fiction and Lovecraftian horror. Each of his plays have tickled that part of [...]
Creative industries get £50m boost as Tories drive ‘level up’ opportunities February 1, 2022 The government injects £50m into creative industries as the Tories hammer home their level up programme and invest in "world class" arts.
Spotify faces the music amid Rogan row January 31, 2022 How the streaming giant may have taken its podcast push too far