A modern take on Frankenstein in the age of artificial intelligence, the man behind the vision of Ex Machina is Alex Garland, who wrote 28 Days Later and Sunshine. This time he is both writer and director. Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a mid-twenties coder at the world’s largest Internet company. He wins a competition to…
Caribbean novelist Kevin Jared Hosein’s third novel Hungry Ghosts is set in Trinidad “sometime in the 1940s”. It follows a disparate group of connected characters who are united only in tragedy, as inter-generational traumas, illicit desire and class divides come into play. The book opens with four boys making a blood oath. Two of these,…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 19 March 2021. Mozart’s Violin Concertos need little introduction from No. 3 in G major featuring the 19-year-old Mozart at his elegant, witty and beguilingly changeable best, to the Sinfonia Concertante the string concerto masterpiece with its masterly mixture…
Regular readers will know how I long to visit Italy one day. For now, I have to content myself by travelling vicariously through books like Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson. Here’s the blurb: Katherine is fresh out of college when she arrives in Naples to intern at the US Consulate. There she meets handsome,…
You need to know two things about Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. First, this is one of the most exquisitely produced and intelligent films you’ll ever see. Second, a key plot element is, well, bonkers. You’ll need to wrap your head around those apparently conflicting ideas to fully appreciate this film. Anderson is of course known…
It’s taken Two Door Cinema Club four years to release their third full-length album. The Irish three-piece took their time to craft a confectionery gem with Gameshow. It’s dance rock that doesn’t skimp on the beats but also has some heft to it. Band members Alex Trimble (vocals, rhythm guitar), Sam Halliday (lead guitar), and…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 4 June 2021. Chris Thile’s Laysongs is his first truly solo album: It’s just Thile, his voice, and his mandolin, on a set of nine new tracks, combining original songs with three wisely chosen covers that contextualize and banter…
Accompanied by a lone cellist (Thomas Veitch) and dressed in period costume, Michael Veitch weaves a deeply personal and tragic tale with aplomb. It is one he wrote with Peter Houghton. In August 1852, Michael’s great great grandfather, James William Henry Veitch, was the surgeon on board the emigrant clipper Ticonderoga when it sailed from Liverpool…
Tim Easton is an American singer-songwriter known for his captivating blend of Americana, folk, and roots music. Born in Akron, Ohio, Easton’s musical journey began in the vibrant folk scene of Columbus, Ohio, where he honed his craft and developed his unique storytelling style. With influences ranging from Bob Dylan to Woody Guthrie, Easton’s music…
The genuinely creepy horror-thriller The Nun II harks back to The Nun (2018), in which a demonic sister named Valak ran riot. Well … now she’s back, at her malevolent worst. Valak terrifies adults and children alike. And, again, the Vatican prevails on Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), now entrenched in the work of the church,…
