Fizzing with possibilities: is champagne worth it? July 5, 2021 Modern champagne developed about 150 years ago, when growers began to use the méthode champenoise to create their sparkling wine. It was much sweeter then than the drink we enjoy now, before the designation Brut was coined for the British market in the 1870s. But it was then, as it is now, the acme of [...]
Last Man Standing: Nick Broomfield Biggie & Tupac sequel fluffs July 2, 2021 Documentary icon Nick Broomfield returns with a kind-of sequel to his 2002 film Biggie & Tupac, his investigation into the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur in the mid-90s. Last Man Standing investigates the life and influence of Suge Knight, the man whom he believed was responsible for the infamous deaths of both rappers [...]
The Tomorrow War review: A drab Edge of Tomorrow clone July 1, 2021 While his Avengers teammates might have struggled to find success outside of Marvel, Chris Pratt seems to be bucking the trend. Making big box office as the star of the Jurassic World and Lego Movie franchise, there’s more than Star-Lord to the actor’s CV. He attempts to add to that record with The Tomorrow War, [...]
Culture Corner: Your guide to summer in the City July 1, 2021 Culture in the City this month kicks off with Alexander Sitkovetsky performing on 1 July with the London Concertante Orchestra in Southwark Cathedral. The London Concertante have a full and varied programme which you can watch and stream at your leisure too. Alexander and his world renowned trio, the Sitkovetsky Trio, have a new album [...]
Loki Episode 4 review: Chaos reigns in hit Marvel drama June 30, 2021 *** WARNING: This article contains spoilers about new and past episodes of Loki *** It seems a bit misleading to call last week’s episode of Loki as uneventful, given Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) revealing a key plot point and facing the apocalypse with Loki (Tom Hiddleston). However, narratively it gave our heroes a chance to [...]
French Exit review – Pfeiffer is glorious in this surreal comedy June 30, 2021 The career of Michelle Pfeiffer is one that seems to have many comebacks, but in reality, the Oscar nominee never stopped producing good work. Despite missing half of the 2000s due to a self-imposed hiatus from acting, she still appeared in hits like Hairspray and Stardust, while the 2010s saw her feature in everything from [...]
Another Round review – drinking drama earns its Oscar June 30, 2021 A lot of films make it to our screens thanks to an interesting concept – what if there was a theme park that brought back dinosaurs, what if a man’s whole life was a 24-hour TV show, what if you could invade someone’s dreams? The idea behind Danish drama Another Round is slightly less ambitious, [...]
Black Widow review: Marvel returns with a familiar face June 29, 2021 By the time Black Widow hits cinemas, it will have been the longest we’ve ever waited for a Marvel Cinematic Universe instalment. Obviously there have been external reasons for this absence, but in a strange way the wait has been beneficial for the world’s biggest franchise. Yes, there have been two and a half Disney+ [...]
Under Milk Wood: Michael Sheen shines at the National Theatre June 24, 2021 There are few opening lines as transportive as that in Dylan Thomas’ 1954 radio play Under Milk Wood. “It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters’-and- rabbits’ wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea.” It’s a surprise, then, when [...]
Dogtanian and The Three Muskehounds: Nostalgia nightmare June 24, 2021 The announcement of a movie adaptation of Dogtanian and The Three Muskehounds was met with nostalgic approval from movie fans of a certain age. Originally a Japanese cartoon series, the canine interpretation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers was re-dubbed into English in the mid-80s and is affectionately remembered by those for whom post-school cartoons [...]