Animal Crossing: New Horizons review: Sedate island escapism never felt so necessary March 27, 2020 Having had the enviable job of writing about video games for most of my adult life, there’s still one question I struggle to articulate a satisfying answer to: what do you actually do in Animal Crossing? Nintendo’s sedate island life simulator doesn’t have a real objective. You have a mortgage to pay down but your [...]
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants film review: Sex dungeon therapy in kinky indie flick March 27, 2020 Dogs Don’t Wear Pants is an excellent way of forgetting about the woes of self isolation, presenting you with a man whose life flies so spectacularly off the rails that a global pandemic and the meltdown of the world economy seem relatively manageable by comparison. It’s the story of a suicidal widower who falls down [...]
My Dark Vanessa book review: Lolita for the #MeToo generation is a brave debut March 27, 2020 Kate Elizabeth Russell’s much-hyped debut novel, hailed as Lolita for the #MeToo generation, is narrated entirely by the titular Vanessa and captivatingly crafted in two parallel timelines. In 2000, Vanessa is a 15-year-old student at a Maine boarding school, when she begins a relationship with her English literature teacher, Jacob Strane, thirty years her senior. [...]
Doom Eternal review: Ultra, ultra violence has never been so much fun March 20, 2020 A 2014 study by scientists at Stetson University in Florida suggested that, rather than act as a predictor of violence in real life, violent video games may actually have the opposite effect, making people less likely to carry out acts of aggression. If that’s the case then the law won’t ever have to worry about [...]
Bloodshot review: A below-average Vin Diesel vehicle filled with mindless chaos March 16, 2020 Vin Diesel hopes to kick off a new franchise as superhero Bloodshot, a special forces operative killed in action only to be reborn as a supersoldier whose fractured memories begin to unveil a conspiracy. Diesel works best in an ensemble – even his signature Fast and Furious franchise only truly took off once bigger names [...]
Misbehaviour film review: Dramatisation of the Miss World pageant stormed by feminists lacks feeling March 16, 2020 This glossy dramatisation of the 1970 Miss World Pageant in London, during which feminist protesters stormed the stage and covered host Bob Hope in flour, is intended to be a tale of heroism when viewed through a modern lens, but ends up playing things a little too safe. The story unfolds from several perspectives. Kiera [...]
Andy Warhol at Tate Modern review: A rare glimpse into the human side of this larger-than-life icon March 16, 2020 Prior to visiting the Tate Modern this week, I was fairly sure I was over Andy Warhol. His legacy is undeniable; the contemporary art scene, particularly the one that children of the 1980s came of age to, would be unrecognisable without him. His body of work – more varied than he’s given credit for – [...]
Shoe Lady at Royal Court review: Surreal, strange story fails to sweep us off our feet March 16, 2020 The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson stars as Viv, or Shoe Lady, in E.V. Crowe’s latest piece at the Royal Court. The premise is simple but effective; lady has two shoes; lady loses one shoe; lady realises how much lost shoe stands for; lady tries to live without lost shoe but cannot. Shoes, of course, come [...]
Blithe Spirit at Duke of York’s Theatre review: Jennifer Saunders shines in this playful ghost story March 16, 2020 Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit is a merry supernatural farce, which the old boy hurriedly knocked off as a distraction from the beastly inconvenience of the Blitz. It seems appropriate that it should manifest again now, as the country stockpiles toilet paper and prepares to baton down the hatches, not against the menace of the Luftwaffe, [...]
Titian at the National Gallery review — Full-bodied masterpieces March 15, 2020 There are just seven paintings in National Gallery’s new exhibition Titian: Love, Desire and Death, but they pack a punch. This is the first time these great works have been exhibited in the same room in their 450-year history. Poesie, Titian calls them — “poetic pictures” inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Commissioned by a 21-year-old Prince [...]