The United States Vs Billie Holiday biopic film review February 25, 2021 ‘Based On A True Story’ is a common phrase that pop ups around Oscar season, with several of this year’s contenders being adaptations of real life events. Lee Daniels, who shot to fame with 2009’s indie hit Precious, hopes to repeat that success with a biopic of the one and only Billie Holiday. The United [...]
Judas and The Black Messiah: Kaluuya a shoo in for awards February 25, 2021 Two of the most exciting actors of their generation reunite to share the screen in Judas and The Black Messiah, a drama that is hoping to be among the winners come awards season. This true story stars Lakieth Stanfield (Sorry To Bother You, Uncut Gems) as Bill O’Neal, a petty car thief caught by the FBI [...]
Rankin: ‘I really feel for kids growing up during the pandemic’ February 23, 2021 The country can just about see a route back to normality, but huge question marks remain over the long-term effects of lockdown for a generation of children. Photographer Rankin, alongside model Daisy Lowe, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Nihal Arthanayake, Rinse FM’s Emerald Rose Lewis, TV presenter Anna Richardson, and UK advertising luminary Trevor Robinson OBE, [...]
Framing Britney Spears: A glimpse of the hell of celebrity February 20, 2021 “Choose your own destiny” reads Britney Spears’ t-shirt on a recent Instagram post. You could be forgiven for thinking she did just that. Britney is the working class girl from Kentwood, Louisiana who found fame as a precocious child in the Disney Club before rising to the summit of the pop world with hits including [...]
WandaVision episode 7 review – huge twist revealed! February 19, 2021 *** WARNING: This review contains spoilers for all current episodes of Disney+’s WandaVision. *** Welcome back to WandaVision, or this week, just Wanda. The episode takes the form of the 2010s sitcom Modern Family, with Wanda delivering monologues to camera in the confessional style of the hit show. The plot of the episode follows three [...]
I Care A Lot review – Rosamund Pike’s cold-blooded masterclass February 19, 2021 In these tough times, many of us have turned to movies that lift us up, and remind us that there is some good in the world. Despite its title, I Care A Lot is not one of those films. Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, who makes a living from becoming the legal guardian of elderly [...]
Pelé review – the football legend tells his own story February 18, 2021 With Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo all releasing official life stories in recent years, it seems fitting that Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, should get in on the action. The three-time world cup winner is no stranger to self-promotion, having put his name to everything from computer games to Viagra, [...]
To Olivia review – Roald Dahl biopic is a little bit too cosy February 18, 2021 Despite the number of adaptations of his work, To Olivia is the first major portrayal of author Roald Dahl on screen. Hugh Bonneville plays Dahl in the period after the death of his daughter Olivia, and the growing divide between he and his wife, American movie star Patricia Neal (Keeley Hawes). Battling through mental health [...]
Angels in America, now on-demand, is more relevant than ever February 13, 2021 In the same month Russell T Davies’ It’s A Sin has become the most talked-about TV show in the world, the National Theatre has made its own dramatisation of the AIDS crisis, Angels in America, available to watch on-demand for the first time. Both begin in the 1980s, just as the virus is taking hold [...]
WandaVision Episode 6 review – a spooky special February 12, 2021 *** WARNING: This review contains spoilers for all current episodes of WandaVision *** Episode 5 of WandaVision was a huge info dump, as events both sides of The Hex began to run parallel to each other. Episode 6 has its own share of explainers, but we do get a big departure in terms of aesthetic. [...]
