The Dig – Mulligan and Fiennes shine in gentle period drama January 28, 2021 The true story of the Sutton Hoo excavation gets the Netflix treatment in a handsome period drama The Dig, an awards hopeful that quietly works its way into your affections. The story takes place in idyllic Suffolk in 1939. Wealthy widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires softly spoken excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to investigate [...]
Twist review – Sky’s Dickens update is not so Artful January 28, 2021 Like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist is a character that seems to have been reimagined a number of ways over the years on the big screen. As well as the standard dramatisations of Dickens’ classic, there’s the beloved 60s musical Oliver!; animated hit Oliver & Company; and, er, a version set in the New [...]
Best of travel: A psychedelic trip to San Jose Del Pacifico January 25, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Alex Dymoke’s trip to San Jose Del Pacifico, where he discovered the darker side of psychedelic tourism. ••• It’s a beautiful day in San Jose Del Pacifico, a small village high in the [...]
WandaVision Episode 3 review: a not-so-groovy 70s episode January 22, 2021 SPOILER WARNING: this review contains spoilers for all current episodes of WandaVision. Disney+’s WandaVision opened up with a double bill of episodes last week, presumably to introduce what is quite a trippy concept if you’re not Marvel literate. Avenger Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and her android lover Vision (Paul Bettany) are living in literal sitcom bliss [...]
Glastonbury is cancelled, so what about other cultural events? January 21, 2021 Last year was a virtual write-off for the cultural calendar, with the year’s most hotly-anticipated events being brushed aside by the ceaseless march of Covid. This year the world seems to be drawing close to a solution to the crisis – but that hasn’t com in tiume to save Glastonbury. So what of the other [...]
Schemers review – Dave Mclean biopic is a flat B-Side January 21, 2021 Biopics that feature their subjects are not a new thing – Muhammad Ali and radio host Howard Stern both played themselves in the stories of their lives. However, they are rarely followed by rave reviews. Schemers is based on the early breakthrough of Dave Mclean, a music promoter who went on to work with some [...]
White Tiger review – a thrilling adaptation of the best-seller January 20, 2021 Netflix’s film output can be a mixed bag. The streaming giant sinks a lot of money into expensive, star driven vehicles that are average at best (see last year’s Rebecca, Hillbilly Elegy, and The Midnight Sky). However, it has also provided a platform for interesting stories that in ordinary times may have struggled for breathing [...]
Culture in the age of Trump: His legacy in theatre, art and film January 19, 2021 Tomorrow marks the inauspicious end to one of the most divisive and controversial Presidencies in American history. Trump’s four-year legacy includes a partially-built wall, the dismantling of decades worth of environmental legislation, and a record-setting second impeachment. But he also had a huge influence over the world of art and culture, with creators across the [...]
How Games Workshop helped a middle-aged generation survive the pandemic January 18, 2021 Every quarter for the last five years, there’s been a condescending raise of eyebrows from the finance world when a publicly-listed company from Nottingham releases its results. The Games Workshop, most famous for its tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000, grabbed headlines again last week when it reported its operating profits had jumped to £92m in the [...]
Marvel show WandaVision Episode 1 and 2 double bill review January 15, 2021 While it wasn’t the original plan, we are finally getting more of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, cinemas are largely unavailable at the moment, so the first Marvel Cinematic Universe story will be on the small screen in the form of WandaVision, a spin-off for Avenger Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and computer-based hero [...]