Now You See Me 2 movie review: Jesse Eisenberg and Daniel Radcliffe struggle to lift this poorly written sequel June 30, 2016 The exploits of magicians The Four Horsemen was a surprise success at the box office three years ago. It's no surprise, then, that the gang should be quickly re-assembled for a sequel, where the Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Lizzy Caplan) are forced into a shady heist by a vengeful tech prodigy [...]
Absolutely Fabulous The Movie review: Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders play the same old hits June 30, 2016 Given the media obsessed culture we live in, it's remarkable that cinema audiences haven't already been introduced to Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone. The drunken duo (played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley) amassed a cult following during their 90s small screen run, which has seen several one-off returns over the years. Following the critical [...]
Independence Day: Resurgence is a bewildering montage of CGI disasters and giant alien spaceships June 27, 2016 Independence Day: Resurgence is pitched as an antidote to the gritty movies ushered in by the age of the super-hero blockbuster. Sometimes, however, the cure can be worse than the disease. The original Independence Day, now 20 years old, was a bona fide cinematic event, expanding the boundaries of what was possible with CGI; the [...]
Barbu review: A sexy, hairy and acrobatic exploration of the history of circus June 27, 2016 ★★★★★ | Spiegeltent, London Wonderground An acrobatic circus and dance act from the most hirsute recesses of Quebec, Barbu dismantles preconceived notions of masculinity and then rebuilds them into something new using hula hoops, see-saws, ribbons and swings. Several large, beautiful men cavort and spin about the stage, like lumberjacks trapped in a salad spinner, [...]
Painters’ Paintings at the National Gallery review: a thought-provoking exhibition featuring Freud, Matisse, Degas, Reynolds and Van Dyck June 27, 2016 ★★☆☆☆ | National Gallery Painters’ Paintings is a highly unusual exhibition in that it imposes a context onto its collection that many visitors may never have considered before; it is surprising to learn that the National Gallery possesses some 70 paintings that were owned by the other painters it displays. It takes as a starting [...]
Miss Revolutionary Idol Berserker at the Barbican review: An exotic explosion of cabaret that won’t be to everyone’s taste June 27, 2016 ★★★☆☆ | Barbican Fancy spending an evening in a sweltering sub-basement – where the room and all its furnishings are wrapped in plastic? How about if you are too? Kitted out in earplugs and a disposable plastic poncho, which acts as your own uncomfortably sticky sauna? And what if you’re screamed at, serenaded, spat upon, and [...]
New films out this week: reviews of Secret Life of Pets and Elvis Nixon June 27, 2016 Elvis Nixon | Dir. Liza Johnson | ★★★☆☆ A comedy about the real life meeting between Presley (Michael Shannon) and Nixon (Kevin Spacey) that resulted in the US National Archive's most requested photograph. The film makes no bones of the fact that this is a mostly fictional portrayal of how their meeting transpired, and so aims [...]
Richard III at Almeida Theatre: Ralph Fiennes puts the bunch-backed toad and the bottled spider into Shakespeare’s villain June 17, 2016 Richard III | Almeida | ★★★★★ Richard III is the ideal play for these post-facts times, where rhetoric is no longer anchored to reality and fear is the prevailing political currency. We approach a referendum whose result will be decided by whichever apocalyptic vision of the future the public chooses to believe. Across the pond a [...]
Tale of Tales film review: Salma Hayek is brilliant in this gory fairytale June 17, 2016 Tale of Tales | Dir. Matteo Garrone | ★★★★☆ Italian film maker Matteo Garrone, best known for his realist Mafia drama Gomorrah, makes a surprising choice for his English language debut in this 17th century fairytale. We follow the interweaving stories of three monarchs – an ageing ruler (Toby Jones) who acquires a strange [...]
Soul at Hackney Empire review: This play about the life of Marvin Gaye fails to hit any high notes June 17, 2016 Soul | Hackney Empire | ★☆☆☆☆ On April Fools Day, 1984, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father in the house they shared. Gaye’s was a life ripe for drama, and Roy Williams’ new play explores it, seeking to answer the questions essential to understanding the man. Who was Marvin Gaye? Why [...]