Stunning performance from Di Caprio (oddly not even Oscar nominated) in insightful and surprisingly pacy biopic of the former director of the FBI directed by Clint Eastwood. 8/10
Very hyped, but totally delivers. Definitely a cinema film. I held off going to see this for a while, because I was sure I’d be disappointed. I was not. Even the poster is beautiful. 10/10
I know we’re all supposed to be down on this film now, but it’s still a classic. You can make your own mind up about divorcing the artist from his art (though Allen doesn’t make that easy when the art is all about the artist). And this was before so many of Woody’s films copied… Read More
Tom Cruise runs… and we all know what that looks like. To be fair, the Dubai tower scaling scene is impressive. It’s not the worst M:i film *cough* number two *cough*, but nor is it the best. 6/10
Easy-to-watch film about statistics and baseball. But with Brad Pitt. You with me? I liked it, but it may help if you’ve read the book or know the story, or indeed know anything about baseball. It’s a shame the film didn’t really get much into Billy Bean’s backstory, because that’s one of the strengths of… Read More
No Naughty Bits at Hampstead Theatre
Steve Thompson’s play is about Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam’s trip to the US in 1975 to challenge ABC’s edit of the fourth series of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. What seems superficially to be a simple tale of plucky Palin and honorary Brit Gilliam taking on the Goliath figure of the culturally bland American network,… Read More
Stylish but baffling, especially if you’ve not read the book. Not the best Le Carré adaptation despite the all-star cast. 7/10
Drive is an exceedingly stylish film that startles you out of an appreciative smile with several shockingly violent scenes. I don’t think I’m squeamish, but there was one sequence I couldn’t watch. Ryan Gosling plays the Driver – an American movie hero in the footsteps of many a Clint Eastwood character. Carey Mulligan plays the… Read More
Am getting out of order – I saw this back in July. Loyalty, by Sarah Helm, is set during the run-up to the Iraq war, and around the period of the inquiry into it. Helm is the wife of Tony Blair’s chief-of-staff, Jonathan Powell. Maxine Peake plays Laura a staunchly anti-war journalist with experience in… Read More
As we’ve established, I’m no classical music expert, but was excited for my first ever visit to the Royal Albert Hall (surprisingly comfortable). The programme was Brahms’ 2nd piano concerto, with Emanuel Ax at the piano, and then Brahms’ 4th symphony. Both were played by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and (82 year-old!) Bernard Haitink… Read More
Entertaining 1973 comedy with Glenda turning in an Oscar-winning performance. 8/10
Part Jason Bourne, part Nikita and part Brothers Grimm, this is a brave attempt to marry action flick with arthouse. It’s not entirely successful although there are some good sequences and Cate Blanchett is deliciously evil. 5/10
When the director introduces a film as requiring patience, and the opening few shots quite literally have you counting sheep it doesn’t necessarily suggest an entertaining afternoon ahead. Fear not, Sweetgrass is a documentary set in Montana that manages to be virtually narrative-free and yet oddly compelling. It won’t be everyone’s thing, but if you… Read More
An action film Groundhog Day with a clever premise that just about works. 7/10
I Never Get Dressed ’til After Dark on Sundays is an unpublished Tennessee Williams work that adopts the play-within-a-play ruse. It’s hard to believe though that the audience ever really cares about the framing device. The play being rehearsed is far more compelling and classic Williams fare. This was a strong production of an enjoyable… Read More
Nicely paced film from director Tanya Hamilton set in mid 1970s Philadelphia against the backdrop of the black power movement and the Black Panthers. Strong performances from the leads, but there’s a detachment to the characters that means you don’t quite invest or root for them as you might. 6/10
Still Life at Pentameters Theatre
A double-bill of short Noël Coward dramas at the tiny Pentameters restored my faith in the theatre after the Nutcracker debacle. First up, Red Peppers, a behind-the-scenes view of a 1930s vaudeville act struggling in a world that was fast overtaking them. Funny and quick, although perhaps a little heavy on the shouting (it really… Read More
A bit of a higgledy-piggledy collection this one, and stretching the conventional definition of the medium. Some interesting paintings in and among some frankly random selections. Glad I saw it; probably won’t trouble it again unless I really want to look at a Hodgkin, a Nash, a Heron, a Frederick Lewis or of course the… Read More
A mixed bag at this event, and headliner Harry Shearer could only join by Skype, which didn’t work. Judith Kerr was the stand-out highlight, Jay Rayner was surprisingly entertaining, Janet Street-Porter woeful. Expensive for what it was, especially when deprived of Shearer. 4/10
Strange one this – more hour-long art installation than conventional play. Almost no dialogue but plenty of noise. Director Katie Mitchell very successfully creates an uncomfortale mood of claustrophobia and psychological imprisonment, but does nothing with it. 6/10