“So few women direct thrillers, I think about 3% of thrillers are directed by women, so it’s wonderful that two of us do it in a year,” remarks British filmmaker Susanna White, who is the director of Our Kind of Traitor, a spy thriller adapted from the 2010 novel written by John Le Carre. White…
To borrow a phrase from this record’s boldest rocker, in a world dominated by American Idol Voices, Disney divas and flash in the pan pop star wannabes, the collaboration of k.d. lang, Neko Case and Laura Veirs proves to be one of the world’s best kept secrets. Of course, Canadian lang has had a long…
Fans who loved the musical evolution that took folk/rock twin-sister act Tegan and Sara into synth-pop territory for 2013’s Greg Kurstin produced Heartthrob, will find plenty to appreciate on this reboot. Given the success of Chvrches and a host of other sound-a-likes, it’s not hard to imagine why they’ve chosen to lock in on what…
There is a semi-autobiographical element to Sing Street, the fantastic, charming and slightly quirky Irish coming of age story from John Carney (Once, Begin Again). Set in Dublin in 1985 the film looks at adolescent angst, the pangs of first love, dysfunctional families, the Catholic education system, bullying, the power of love and the power…
Like many of us, writer/director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) grew up watching Rocky movies. He did so with his father. It was their thing. But before he could reboot the franchise with Creed, he had to receive Sylvester Stallone’s blessing. Stallone, who stars in and is a producer of the film, had previously played one…
A motley collection of psychopathic killers are released from prison to form a special team and sent on a suicide mission. No, this is not the classic 1967 World War Two action film The Dirty Dozen, but rather Suicide Squad, a superhero powered variation on the theme for the 21st century. Or should that be…
This gonzo buddy black comedy marks the feature film debut for music video directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (collectively known as DANIELS) … and it is seriously weird stuff that gets weirder the longer it goes. Put simply, Swiss Army Man is the theatre of the absurd, going from the emotional to the whimsical…
You would be hard pressed to find a more accomplished musical theatre performer on the big stage than Caroline O’Connor. In short, she is a league of her own. She sizzles. She is pure dynamite, the best of the best of the best. In almost every scene of Funny Girl, she struts, pouts and jiggles…
In 1990, Jennifer Saunders and her comedy partner Dawn French were writing the scripts for the third series of their hit TV show, French and Saunders. They came up with a sketch about a mad, modern mother, an ex-hippy called Adriana – as played by Saunders – and her sad, straight-laced daughter (French). A year…
Leaves is a play by Irish writer, Lucy Caldwell, written in 2007, as part of a residency at the National Theatre Studio. A family is waiting for the return of their eldest daughter, Lori (Harriet Gordon-Anderson), from a recovery clinic after an attempted suicide. Her two younger siblings, Clover (Bobbie-Jean Henning) and Poppy (Poppy Lynch)…
