The best books of 2024: From Sally Rooney to Boris Johnson December 12, 2024 Okay, that headline is ever-so-slightly misleading – while many of the entries on this list are indeed among the best books of 2024, others earn their place by virtue of being emblematic of their time (Boris Unleashed), zeitgeist-capturing (Bad Girls of Ancient Greece) or simply so utterly bonkers we felt they earned a spot (The [...]
From Roger Moore With Love: Steve Coogan stars in odd tribute December 11, 2024 Seven years after his passing, the life of the third and most prolific James Bond actor is brought to the screen in From Roger Moore With Love. Steve Coogan plays Roger Moore as if he were narrating his own life, reading from old interviews and memoirs to imagine what the actor would say were he [...]
Queer film review: Daniel Craig shines in Luca Guadagnino drama December 11, 2024 One of the headline acts of this year’s London Film Festival, Queer offers a side to Daniel Craig that you will definitely not have seen before. Adapted from the novella by William S. Burroughs, he plays Lee, an American ex-pat living in 1950s Mexico City, having fled New Orleans due to his drug addiction. Content [...]
Who killed the Gif? How the dancing banana split December 9, 2024 In a 2021 Twitter (now ‘X’) post, US journalist Jenny Zhang wrote, “Any time I see someone use a reaction gif I immediately know they are above the age of 33”. The replies to the post featured a mix of indignation and applause, but Jenny had a point. Once the quick and easy reaction to [...]
‘It’s about confronting death’: The people paying authors to write their life story December 9, 2024 How do you want to be remembered? It’s a question humans have asked since time began, but have you ever paused to think about it – I mean really think about it? Who do you want to be remembered as, which stories do you want your grandchildren to hear? When you’re dead and gone and [...]
Unstoppable: Jharrel Jerome goes the distance in athletics drama December 4, 2024 Tales of sporting bravery are as old as The Hollywood Hills, but there’s still an audience for movies that celebrate the art of going the distance. Unstoppable is the latest to that list, drawing from the autobiography of athlete Anthony Robles. Played by Moonlight’s Jharrel Jerome, the film follows Robles’ trials chasing his dream to [...]
Rumours is the political farce the world needs right now December 4, 2024 There may not feel like a lot to laugh about in the political world at the moment, but the dry humour in bizarre horror-comedy Rumours may hit the target. Set during a fiction conference, the leaders of the G7 countries set about trying to form a press release regarding an unknown crisis. Suddenly, they find [...]
Nightbitch review: Amy Adams plays a dog in motherhood horror December 4, 2024 Motherhood has been portrayed in various ways on screen, but few films will go to the same extremes as new drama Nightbitch. Amy Adams stars as Mother, a woman who has left behind a life as a successful artist in order to become a stay-at-home mum to Baby, a toddler with no shortage of energy. [...]
The Importance of Being Earnest at National Theatre review December 4, 2024 Max Webster’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest opens with Ncuti Gatwa’s Algernon swathed in hot pink ballgown and draped over a piano. Start as you mean to go. The play is a luscious, saturated explosion that unfolds like a musical number of carefully choreographed wordplay. It is a celebration of appetite and queerness, [...]
Last Orders: An appreciation of the takeaway menu, a dying cultural artefact December 3, 2024 When I walked through my front door in Gateshead as a teenager, the doormat would be covered in a carpet of brightly coloured paper. A cherry-blossom pink menu from the local Chinese takeaway, the red and gold of an Indian place, and pictures of row upon row of bargain buckets from the local chicken shop. [...]