Five stars: Kneecap film is among the best of the year August 21, 2024 Kneecap, the rap group that perform in the Irish language, tell their story in a riotous rise to fame comedy-drama. Liam Ó Hannaidh and Naoise Ó Cairealláin are listless members of ‘The Ceasefire Generation’ in West Belfast, living off dealing drugs and avoiding the police. One night, when Liam gets arrested, an Irish interpreter (JJ [...]
Zoe Kravitz unsettling Blink Twice is a chilling debut August 21, 2024 Zoe Kravitz, star of The Batman and Fantastic Beasts films, steps behind the camera for a startling debut that signals the beginning of a second stage in her career. Blink Twice stars Naomi Ackie as Frida, a cocktail waitress who by chance meets tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum). The pair hit it off, with [...]
Notting Hill Carnival 2024 schedule: Where to go and what to see August 20, 2024 This weekend sees the return of one of London’s most hotly-anticipated events: the Notting Hill Carnival. A celebration of the city’s diversity and musical cultures, it’s attended by as many as three million people a year – and this one promises to be a belter. Here’s the lowdown on where to go and what to [...]
BSL Antony and Cleopatra at the Globe is radical but frustrating August 15, 2024 Blanche McIntrye’s bilingual staging of Antony and Cleopatra at The Globe is as frustrating as it is powerful. Antony’s Romans use English, Cleopatra’s Egyptians use British Sign Language (BSL), and the entire play is subtitled on a huge screen that centres the staging. The use of BSL allows for a new and radical reading of [...]
City of London Festival set to return this autumn with stellar line-up August 15, 2024 The City of London Festival is set to return this autumn for the first time since 2015, bringing some of the world’s hottest classical, jazz and choral musicians to the Square Mile. The festival celebrates the unique architecture and environment of London’s most historic district through a series of innovative musical events. The newly rebranded [...]
A Chorus line at Sadler’s Wells: A wonderful celebration of dance August 15, 2024 A Chorus Line is a musical about the craft and hardship of dancing for Broadway musicals, and what it takes to get there. It’s also about bullying, domestic violence, plastic surgery, popping pills, having a sideline as a stripper or drag artist to make ends meet, and finding oneself only through dance. Yet, tune out [...]
Hollywoodgate: Documentary behind the scenes of Taliban rule August 14, 2024 A year in Kabul offers up some startling footage in this documentary that goes behind the scenes of Taliban rule. Director Ibrahim Nash’at spends twelve months documenting the transition from US occupation in Afghanistan to Taliban control, focusing on alleged American military base Hollywood Gate. Taliban Air Force Commander Mawlawi Mansour discovers over $7billion of [...]
Swan Song is an affectionate documentary on the world of ballet August 14, 2024 Produced by Scream star and former dancer Neve Campbell, this affectionate documentary delves into the demanding and pressured world of ballet. Cameras follow the lead up to The National Ballet’s 2022 production of Swan Lake, intended to be the final work of artistic director Karen Kain, a hallowed figure in the ballet world. Having been [...]
Borderlands film review: Starry cast can’t save video game flop August 14, 2024 Horror maestro Eli Roth (Hostel) delves into the world of video game adaptations in this big screen version of Borderlands, the first-person shooter that has spawned many sequels and imitators. With the success of Uncharted, Super Mario Bros, and Five Nights At Freddy’s, the stigma attached to movies based on games isn’t as prominent as [...]
Carmen is a poisoned chalice and Carlos Acosta drinks deeply August 12, 2024 Carmen is a heroine who embodies the mid-nineteenth century bourgeois male idea that, left to their primitive, natural state, untouched by either Church or society’s civilising conventions, women are sexually irrepressible, promiscuous, fickle and dishonourable. The only profession they’d be qualified for, her creator (the French novelist Prosper Mérimée) reckons, is rolling cigars in a [...]