Being your typical crime fiction reader, I do like to have at least a few books behind me before I watch the TV or movie adaptation of one of ‘my’ series. Dublin Murders is based on the first two books in the Dublin Murder Squad’ series by Irish author Tana French, these being ‘The Woods’…
The comedies of the late John Hughes were the gilt edge standard for coming of age films in the 80s, but more recently the genre seems to have been given over to more raunchy fare full of crude humour, jokes about sex and genitalia. A dark comedy about adolescent angst, rebellion and the uncertainties of…
Every American adult knows exactly where they were on the terrible morning of September 11, 2001. But until recently, only a handful knew about the extraordinary events that unfolded in the immediate aftermath. With the country still reeling, 12 members of the US Army’s elite Green Berets left their homes and loved ones to take on a…
David Cronenberg’s first feature film in eight years sees the master of smart but visceral horror back in the groove. Crimes of the Future (2022*) is a gripping but gruesome exploration of how technology and the human body intersect. As such, this film can be considered the long-delayed (Cronenberg wrote it in 1999 but shelved…
It mightn’t be Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, but Irish Celtic has elements of both and a more linear story. Having toured France and Germany, the 90 minute hour show features performers from the top Irish dance companies. Twelve talented dancers – five men and seven women – together with a five-piece band perform…
The Nightingale (2018) rewrote the rules around brutal representations of Australia’s colonial past. Now The Furnace follows in its footsteps, albeit less successfully. In remote Western Australia circa 1897, a young Afghani cameleer, Hanif (Ahmed Malek), is determined to escape the outback and return home. Hanif has witnessed a white man murder his mentor. Now…
I had forgotten that Tartuffe was written in rhyming couplets so it was a surprise to the ears when the show opened and it took a few minutes to adjust. But the text was so brilliantly written by Justin Fleming that it was like listening to Dr Seuss for grown-ups. With some neat little modern…
What can I say about The French Photographer by Natasha Lester that hasn’t already been said? Natasha goes from strength to strength, delivering old fans and new immensely engaging stories one after another. I don’t know how she does it (although if you check her blog, she shares a lot of her process)! Here’s the…
Agatha Christie is the world’s best-selling author. Some 2 billion copies of her crime and mystery novels have been sold. She wrote 66 novels; 33 of which feature her famous creation, the arrogant but brilliant Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. Many of her books have been filmed to varying degrees of success, although apparently Christie herself…
An English/Spanish co-production, It Snows in Benidorm is the new film from writer-director Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive). This languidly paced, slow-burn mystery lacks any real sense of threat or menace, and unfortunately it leaves many questions unanswered. The film deals with the search for identity and connection, but the ending is vague and unsatisfying….
