In a word, stunning. That is my take on Disney’s latest and greatest show on ice yet. Officially named Disney on Ice: Road Trip Adventures, it’s slick and spectacular, and features a collection of Disney favourites. First up, there is a warmup from Patrick and Taylor (who turn out to be Mickey and Minnie Mouse,…
This semi-autobiographical coming of age drama from Canadian filmmaker Anthony Shim explores the immigrant experience, the difficulty of fitting in and adjusting to a new culture and making friends with insight and empathy. The film is set in the 90s. Following the suicide of her soldier boyfriend, who suffered from schizophrenia, So-Young (Choi Seung-yoon, a…
In a crucial scene in Anatomy of a Fall, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) tells her son, “Everything you hear in the trial it’s just… it’s twisted. It wasn’t like that.” Indeed, a lot about Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning drama isn’t what it seems. This multi-layered film presents a complex narrative web that invites its…
A fun-filled, animated adventure, Migration focuses on a family of four wild ducks, also known as mallards. This is a delightful, humorous film, with much to commend it. The story is from Mike White (who wrote the screenplay) and Benjamin Renner (who directed the film, alongside Guylo Homsy). The father of this ducky brood is…
What a magical, beautifully constructed and executed show The Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol is. Conceived and directed by Matthew Warchus, Jack Thorne has reimagined the Charles Dickens’ classic tale to mesmerising effect. It is dramatic and melodic with humorous flourishes. It recounts Dickens’ famous 1843 novella with relish and a fresh perspective. I saw it last year…
In her last few books, award winning author Ann Patchett has increasingly focussed on the domestic. From 2016’s Commonwealth which centred on a group of cousins growing up to 2019’s The Dutch House which focussed on siblings coming to terms with their family’s past. Her latest novel, Tom Lake, treads similar territory from a different…
In keeping with the original (2002) and the sequel (2016), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is very much in feel-good territory. The extended Portokalos family is in fine voice. Everyone is wanting to have their say on a trip to Greece to attend a reunion for the extended family in their father’s home village….
Disney seems to be lacking in creativity at the moment. All they seem to produce are live action remakes of their animated classics; endless sequels and spin-offs from some of their successful franchises; and films based on their theme park rides. And now we get a rather cynical remake of a film based on a…
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,…
Nicole Holofcener’s comedic drama You Hurt My Feelings asks whether it’s okay to lie if you’re trying to protect a loved one. Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies) are a ridiculously loved-up middle-aged couple. Beth is the author of a moderately successful memoir, struggling to find a publisher for her first novel. She also…
