Wadjda is remarkable. It’s not only the first feature-length film to be made entirely in Saudi Arabia, where public cinemas are currently illegal; it’s also the first from a female director (Haifaa Al-Mansour). [responsive_vid] Wadjda […]
EdBookFest | Neil Gaiman on ‘Sandman’
EdBookFest | Neil Gaiman on ‘Sandman’ When Neil Gaiman was a young man, he discovered that comic books were banned at his school. Considering them as valid as any ‘high’ art form Gaiman took his […]
EdBookFest | William Dalrymple and David Robison
EdBookFest | William Dalrymple and David Robison ‘Place yourselves on the step between Persia and Afghanistan in the year 1837, as you watch the newly coronated Shah of Iran march to Herat.’ So began William […]
Film | Stories We Tell – A Family Affair
“When you’re in the middle of a story it isn’t a story at all. But only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood; like a house in […]
Books | EdBookFest: MaddAddam Launch with Margaret Atwood and Claire Armistead
EdBookFest | Margaret Atwood and Claire Armistead – MaddAddam Launch Yesterday saw Margaret Atwood officially launch ‘MaddAddam’ in conversation with Guardian and Observer Books Editor Claire Armistead, and they discussed both the book and the trilogy that […]
Books | EdBookFest: A Talk with Neil Gaiman and Vicky Featherstone
EdBookFest | The Child is Father of the Man: celebrating childhood with Neil Gaiman and Vicky Featherstone A conversation between acclaimed author Neil Gaiman and the Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre, Vicky […]
Film | Pain and Gain – A Michael Bay Film That Isn't The Worst Thing Ever
Pain and Gain is a mixed bag of a film. Directed by Michael Bay, and starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie, it sees a trio of bodybuilders from Sun Gym, Miami […]
Film | Kick-Ass 2 – Fighting Style
The sequel was never going to live up to the first which was outstanding, but sadly it could have been better. With Jeff Wadlow writing and directing, we do miss out on the talent of […]
Arts | Freeview Flicks of the Week
There’s always a wide selection of great films available on Freeview. And seeing as staying in is the new going out, TV presents the ideal opportunity to catch up on what you might have missed […]
Film | Plein Soleil – The New Wave Restored
Plein Soleil is a forgotten classic of 1960s French cinema. It’s a bold and captivating noir-thriller with a Hitchcockian vibe. This year, to mark the centenary of director René Clément’s birth, StudioCanal has beautifully restored […]
Film | You're Next – Fighting Back
About half an hour into You’re Next, the couple sitting across from me in the cinema walked out, loudly declaring as they reached the exit, ‘Crap!’ I’m going to go out on a limb and […]
Film | Elysium – Another Film, Another Planet
Neill Blomkamp’s feature-film debut, 2009’s District 9, garnered widespread acclaim for blending its science fiction thrills and high-octane action with a serious message about apartheid. Whilst not a straight forward sequel, Elysium is a film […]