Hit The Road review: A triumph and ode to the refugee crisis July 29, 2022 This film is surely one of the funniest of the year so far, but it also comes with a very sad backdrop. Hit The Road is directed by Panah Panahi, son of the Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was sentenced to six months in prison recently for criticising his nation’s government. The fact of his [...]
Bad Jews review: An unnervingly realistic portrait of bad family communication July 28, 2022 I’d estimate that at least half the audience at Bad Jews are having an uncomfortable flashback while they watch. Joshua Harman’s play, which first premiered Off-Broadway ten years ago, is unnervingly successful at capturing the impossibility of family communication, especially in light of grief. We’re stuck in Jonah’s confined New York City apartment, where, as [...]
Andalucía – Playa y Sol July 28, 2022 | Sponsored Famed for its spectacular weather, golden sands and turquoise waters; Andalucía’s 800km coastline stretches from Almeria to the Costa del Sol,and on to the Costa de la Luz. This popular coastal region attracts waves of tourists from all over the world because it offers a succession of unspoilt beaches with sweeping ocean views, secluded coves [...]
101 Dalmatians musical at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre review July 24, 2022 One of the last-remaining Covid-hit productions, new musical 101 Dalmatians has finally opened, two years late, at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. So was it worth the wait? Well… Let’s start with the good bits. The dalmatians themselves – or at least the two main ones, the rest are bodiless heads – are brought to [...]
Patriots at the Almeida is a gripping drama about the rise of Putin July 22, 2022 The story of the rise of Putin and the oligarchs has been told through various lenses in recent years. Author Peter Pomerantsev places shadowy “Kremlin demiurge” Vladislav Surkov at the heart of his gripping memoir-cum-investigation Nothing is True and Everything is Possible. Lucy Prebble’s all-singing, all-dancing play A Very Expensive Poison put Alexander Litvenenko front [...]
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher review: far from a knockout July 22, 2022 Just when you thought every boxing story imaginable had been committed to film, Prizefighter unearths the intriguing real-life tale of Jem Belcher. Embodied by Welsh actor Matt Hookings, who also wrote and produced the film, Belcher became the youngest ever World Champion towards the turn of the 19th Century, a record that stands to this [...]
Fashion Freak Show review: This thrillscape of wild costumes will delight die-hards July 21, 2022 Men gyrating in neon yellow tutus, dancers proudly sporting red tubing as the only cover to their modesty, others teasing the crowd wearing Shakespearean ruffs extending the length of the body. And how could we forget the conical bras? French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s vivid imagination is what helped him push past the crowd [...]
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time review: A fascinating portrait of genius July 21, 2022 Fascination with the life and work of Kurt Vonnegut, the celebrated author of science-fiction novel Slaughterhouse-Five, lives on well past his death fifteen years ago. And duly, new documentary Unstuck In Time feels like it was conceived through adulation. A culmination of decades of work, filmmaker Robert B Weide was initially approached by Vonnegut to [...]
Exclusive with Jean Paul Gaultier: ‘Straight actors should be able to play gay roles’ July 21, 2022 It’s 9.30am and Jean Paul Gaultier is relentlessly turning over last night’s performance of ABBA Voyage. It’s far too hot for coffee so we’re sitting with a pair of orange juices and Gaultier is encouraging me to get stuck into the breakfast buffet. I politely decline because there are more important things at hand: discussing [...]
