What started out as cringe-worthy fare became anything but as laughter, hijinks and a cute and savvy youngster’s performance took over and carried the day. Written by Erich and Jon Hoeber (who together wrote RED) and directed by Peter Segal (Second Act), it became a most enjoyable spy spoof. A lot has to do with…
With the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in our very recent past, why not stage a space themed circus? Why not, indeed? And the producers of the hit shows The Illusionists, Circus 1903 and Le Noir, have done just that. Several of the acts in the two-hour production, including interval, that is Cirque Stratosphere…
One was an author, poet, songwriter and reluctant singer adored by the masses. Egotistical, hedonistic, spiritual and depressed. He used to disappear without notice and dropped acid like it was going out of fashion. The other was his muse. She adored him and he was frequently drawn back to her. She always had a special…
A brilliant, intricate script, outstanding direction and superb acting by an A-list cast are the hallmarks of The Gentlemen, one of the year’s best films (I know it comes out on 1st January, 2020, but I reckon I am allowed one day’s leeway). It takes concentration to follow the web of deception woven, but the…
Feel good entertainment in a good, old-fashioned pub – what could be better than that? Well … simple, really – feel good entertainment in a good old-fashioned pub on stage, with no shortage of audience participation. That is the show and the group known as The Choir of Man – nine talented singers and musos….
Killing crooks with kindness. That is the concept behind this original animated feature, which turns traditional methods of spying on its head. Lance Sterling (the voice of Will Smith) is an elite loner – the best of the best, who does things others can’t. Mind you he doesn’t always follow the instruction of the agency…
Feeling and sensitivity pervade every fibre of the sensual and artistic work by French auteur Céline Sciamma (Girlhood). We’re in Brittany, France in 1760. Slow-moving but compelling, Portrait of a Lady on Fire concerns a secretive and developing relationship between a painter, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and her subject, Héloïse, (Adèle Haenel), who has just left…
There’s a great deal of warmth and good humour in filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu’s (who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes for Shoplifters) wry new dramedy The Truth. It is his first film abroad in a language not his own and he worked with a totally French crew. It also marks the first time beloved Academy…
By the end I was bawling like a baby. CATS, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical as a Tom Hooper-directed and co-written (with Lee Hall) film, is a triumph of theatrics – costuming, make-up, choreography, colour and emotion. In the original 1980s stage musical, CATS takes place on the night of the annual Jellicle Ball, when…
The offspring of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) trying to resolve deep-seated familial issues is front and centre in this official close of the Skywalker odyssey. A largely masked Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is given the opportunity to be the unchallenged galaxy leader, with power and control…
