Do you like your period dramas to be fussy affairs filled with ruffles, secret courtships and proper manners? If you said yes, then The Favourite probably isn’t for you. Compared to traditional costume dramas, this is the cinematic equivalent of a Molotov cocktail. Idiosyncratic Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos steps tentatively into the mainstream with this…
Two years ago, we were treated to The Play That Goes Wrong and that was a riotous success. Now the same crew has done it again, with Peter Pan Goes Wrong; a silly but audacious take on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan. A dozen actors deliberately flub their cues, misbehave, run wild and have the audience…
The shake&stir team has created magic yet again. I have been reviewing the company for the past ten years and amazingly each of their show seemed better than the previous one. A Christmas Carol was no exception. And what exactly is the magic they make? For me it’s the creation of a perfect atmosphere for…
If you liked Deadpool 2 but were put off by the graphic language and violence, then Once Upon a Deadpool is for you. This teen-friendly version is surprisingly inventive and, in some respects, works better than the original. As you might imagine, cutting out a lot of the swearing and gore has trimmed the movie…
Under the pseudonym Dr Seuss, Theodore Geisel wrote over 40 books. He’s one of the best-selling authors of children’s books ever. Many of them have provided material for the screen. But live action versions of Seuss’s tales are a bit of a mess, as demonstrated by the awful 2003 film The Cat in the Hat…
A wicked soundtrack and a bodacious storyline underpin Sorry to Bother You. And this subversive comedy hits many of the right notes. This is the kind of movie you’ll either love or hate. It definitely pushes boundaries. It’s fantasy, but it is also endearing. The film follows telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) on a journey…
The French comedy/drama Normandy Nude tells of a town of struggling farmers who prepare to pose nude for a photo shoot. If this brief synopsis makes it seem like a Gallic variation on both The Full Monty and Calendar Girls, you wouldn’t be far off the mark. The film is set in a small farming community….
If you’re into the Yuletide spirit, perhaps a British teenage zombie musical should be an early Christmas present. Yep, when you’ve seen Anna and the Apocalypse, you’ve seen it all; although perhaps you have better things to do. Director John McPhail based Anna and the Apocalypse on his BAFTA-winning short Zombie Musical. The late Ryan McHenry,…
