All of It at the Royal Court: An astonishing trio of monologues June 9, 2023 What a strange and brilliant change of direction this new trio of acted poems represents for mercurial playwright Alistair McDowall. His philosophically dense sci-fi stories Pomona, X and The Glow all grappled with vast, existential questions but felt too big, too untamed, too messy for the stage. All of It at the Royal Court gives [...]
Chevalier review: A surprising and warm period biopic June 9, 2023 Biographies of famous faces are great, but some of the most affecting biopics in cinema have been about people who were not household names beforehand. After watching Chevalier, you may have a new name to research. The film is the true story of Joseph Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr), born in 1745 to an enslaved mother [...]
Everyone is talking about quiet luxury but there’s a problem June 9, 2023 Unless you have spent the first five months of 2023 on retreat or continuing your Second World War service for Imperial Japan, you will know that one of the most significant trends in the fashion world has been “quiet luxury” or “stealth wealth”. The concept is that the smartest of the smart are now dressing [...]
James May on filming The Grand Tour’s ‘dangerous, burn-your-face-hot’ stunts June 9, 2023 The Grand Tour returns on 16 June and there are a couple of absolutely hair-raising stunts, including one where Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond attempt to drive onto a moving aeroplane as it drives down a runway. Stunts have always been a key part of The Grand Tour and Top Gear, and speaking [...]
War Pony is a character-driven tale from the American Honey team June 9, 2023 A hit at last year’s Cannes, War Pony is set in the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation in South Dakota, within the Indigenous community that lives there. It focuses on two loosely-connected stories: Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting), a young father trying to hustle his way into a better situation; and Matho (Ladainian Crazy Thunder), whose [...]
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a fun time for explosion fans June 8, 2023 Transformers: The Last Knight, released in 2017, was the depressing nadir of the Michael Bay Transformers movies, with even the master of explosions deciding it was time to step away from the franchise. In late 2018, however, a new hope emerged in the (comparatively) smaller, character-focused prequel Bumblebee. Its success was enough to get the [...]
Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker announces West End debut in Plaza Suite June 8, 2023 One of New York’s most famous and iconic couples, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, have announced they will tread the boards together in London. They will bring over to the West End a Tony Award-winning adaptation of the play Plaza Suite, the Neil Simon comedy that played on Broadway last year. The husband and [...]
Horror fans ‘can’t sleep’ as horrific new Bird Box trailer is released June 8, 2023 Warning: this article contains descriptions of some Bird Box scenes some viewers may find upsetting 2018 horror film Bird Box became the most-watched ever Netflix film just 28 days after it was released. It has gained a cult following for its gruesome scenes, which involve a man being hacked in the neck with a machete, [...]
Patriots review, Noel Coward Theatre: An uncomfortably prescient examination of Putin June 8, 2023 Patriots review and star rating: ★★★ There’s an uncomfortable contemporaneity about Peter Morgan’s Patriots, whichfirst opened at the Almeida last July. It takes Putin as its subject and in the nearly twelve months since its premiere, the dictator has been responsible for the deaths of around 9,000 unarmed Ukrainian civilians; many thousands remain in asylum [...]
We Will Rock You, musical review: I’m Ga Ga for more! June 7, 2023 We Will Rock You review and star rating: ★★★★ Wait, isn’t We Will Rock You still on at the Dominion Theatre by Tottenham Court Road? The Queen musical has become such a ubiquitous part of London’s theatrical furniture that most people aren’t aware it had gone anywhere in the first place. But after eight years [...]