Books: Defying Readership
Young Adult fiction – that dreaded label. The one that leaves us open to mocking and ridicule because apparently anyone over 18 is too old or too clever for such books; when arguably some of the best literature that is marketed at teens resonates with adults alike.
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Film: Star Trek Into Darkness
More than screen time, Star Trek’s a cult. So to cover my nubile knowledge before reviewing its freshest offering Star Trek Into Darkness, I approached a marathon/midnight preview for reconnaissance.
Stumbling into the intimidating crowd of pre-laughing ‘trekkies’, I ordered my tea from deep cover, an Englishman in New York.
Film: Iron Man 3
Tony Stark, still affected by the Avengers’ latest mission, distracts himself in his gadget den by bantering with talking machines and advancing a fleet of his trademark Iron Man suits. He hides his anxiety behind a supercilious front and tries to concentrate on his romantic relationship with new Stark Enterprises CEO, Pepper Potts.
Art: Neil Stokoe: All Things Must Pass
Cristina Ramos González
I recall the feeling I had on my first reading of Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground. I had the same feeling when I met with the paintings that Neil Stokoe has been working on for the last 10 years at The Piper Gallery in central London.
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Film: INTERVIEW – Mission To Lars
Mission To Lars is a feature documentary produced and directed by James Moore and William Spicer. It documents brother and sister, Kate and William Spicer, in their mission to fulfil their brother Tom’s dream of meeting Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Tom has a form of autism called Fragile X Syndrome.
The Harker speaks to Kate Spicer.
Film: Oblivion
Maybe it’s Tom Cruise’s (50) lone wolf? Maybe it’s the empty earth? But Oblivion’s opening voiceover demands déjà vu.
Theatre: Jane Eyre
“I envy you, not knowing the story. It is one of the best books ever written,” I heard a man tell his girlfriend just as the play started. I absolutely agree.
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Theatre: Viva Forever
I was trying to find my seat in the theatre, when an inebriated woman hit me in the nether regions.
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Theatre: Gibraltar
“Justice” is swift. So swift, in fact, that it can erode the very democratic ideals we ascribe to the word very nature of the word.
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Film: Trance
Jeremy Dobson
Although unusual for a director, Boyle gave a small preface at the beginning Trance to thank Picturehouse cinemas for continued support over the years (just as you thought he couldn’t get more likable). As a small coda to this gesture he humorously warned “no, Trance isn’t anything like the Olympic opening ceremony.”
Film: Mission to Lars
Lizzie Porter
Mission to Lars is a documentary that might make you sob a bit. But after a while, you realise you’ve stopped blubbing. Instead you are wearing a grin ear-to-ear.
Film: Side Effects
Director Steven Soderberg is a big fan of dramatic movie twists. If you’ve ever seen Ocean’s Eleven you’ll know what I mean. The guy is great at not giving the game away until the climactic conclusion. Soderberg has just announced his retirement – meaning that Side Effects (his 26th film) is his last – and what a finale it is.
Film: Welcome to the Punch
Unless you’ve been sunning yourself on the slow boat to China, it will be apparent that the western world has developed quite the penchant for crime thrillers. Side stepping a note on the political implications of such growing appetite for bloody murder, we welcome a spanking new recruit to its ranks. ‘Welcome to the Punch’ is the highest profile British film in recent memory, and it’s not its ambition that requires a little interrogation.
Film: Oz the Great and Powerful
The beloved 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz is just that, a beloved classic, adored the world over by children and adults for its spellbinding magic. But this hasn’t stopped artists returning to Frank L. Baum’s stories and Victor Fleming’s film and tweaking it in certain ways.
Art: Identity in Transit – an interview with MAST
The press release of Identity in Transit, MAST’s new exhibition at The Book Club, promises a sensational “introduction to the murky world of Victorian crime.”
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Theatre: Mydidae
The latest work from edgy man-of-the-moment Jack Thorne is riveting and complex. Set entirely in the bathroom of a couple’s home, Mydidae takes a stark and voyeuristic look at the most intimate and vulnerable instances of a relationship.
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