Scheming and gossip abound in the lavish big-screen version of Downton Abbey, where opulence is the byword. First an admission, I only heard wonderful things about the TV series but I haven’t seen one episode. As a result, it took me some time to work out who was who in the zoo, namely who the…
In the animated comedy The Angry Birds Movie 2, three flightless angry birds and the scheming green piggies take their beef to the next level as both Bird Island and Piggy Island are in danger. So, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride) and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel…
On their 10th album, 36 years after their self-titled debut that included some of their best-loved songs – “Blister in the Sun,” “Kiss Off,” and “Add It Up,” Violent Femmes remain as delightfully raw, strange and potent as ever. Singer-songwriter Gordon Gano, who capitalized on his teenage anxiety, lusty imagination and a penchant for musical…
Bill Bateman, author of the Vince Hanrahan series, was a rural based GP himself, and that shows. Both in his affection for the town, the people and the depiction of the day to day life of the slightly harried GP, but mostly in the way that some presentations are never quite what they seem and…
How long can you party for? When is it time to stop the music and take greater care and responsibility for the rest of your life? Laura (Holliday Grainger) and Tyler (Alia Shawkat) have been flatmates and besties for 10 years. They maraud around the streets of Dublin, rejecting the expectations that bombard modern women…
King Henry VIII certainly had a way with the ladies! After all, he had six marriages, all to varying degrees of success. But it was his last wife, Catherine Parr (Kate), who had a way with the king. The Last Wife by Kate Hennig is a faintly historical drama/comedy set in a contemporary context. The…
The late, great Aretha Franklin was affectionately known as “the Queen of Soul”. She was one of the biggest selling female artists an topped the charts with a string of number one hits like “Respect”, “Think”, and “Spanish Harlem”. But in 1972 she took the radical step of returning to her roots and recorded an…
Angel of Mine is a slow-moving thriller about intuition and obsession. Inspired by real events, it follows divorced mother Lizzie Manning (Noomi Rapace). She’s emotionally fraught, as she battles for custody of her son and juggles a job as a sales rep for a cosmetics line. An encounter with Lola (Annika Whiteley) turns Lizzie’s life…
The fact The Farewell even exists speaks to two things. First, the power of podcasting; because the movie probably wouldn’t have been made if director Lulu Wang’s real-life story hadn’t been featured on This American Life. And second, the rise of star Awkwafina (Ocean’s Eight) as an acting force. But the film does exist; which…
As you enter the theatre, all you can see is a steel-framed bed with a thin mattress and blanket. To the left is an old wooden chair; with an army-issued flask and food container, a pair of worn boots. Think the World War I. At nearly 18 years of age, Private Thomas “Tommo” Peaceful –…
