Buzz
Silence is golden as The Artist sweeps film BAFTAsMonday, 13 February 2012![]() The Artist was showered with awards by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts last night in an elegant occasion at the Royal Opera House, London, hosted by Stephen Fry. Director Michel Hazanavicius won for Best Film, Best Director, Best... Read more... |
Peter Gabriel announces WOMAD’s 15th season in SicilyThursday, 09 February 2012![]() Peter Gabriel announced WOMAD’s 2012 festival in Sicily this afternoon. It’s a year of anniversaries for the annual showcase of world music, with 2012 also marking the 30th year for Britain’s big brother festival. On a wintry afternoon, sharply... Read more... |
Charles Dickens, Theatre and Dance Critic-at-LargeThursday, 09 February 2012![]() When a young Charles Dickens visited New York in 1842 with his wife, he strolled down Broadway, happened upon an unusual dance and naturally checked out theatreland. As his bicentenary is celebrated, here, from his journal, American Notes For... Read more... |
The Bicentenary of the Birth of Charles Dickens, Westminster AbbeyTuesday, 07 February 2012![]() Why? The question really needs to be asked. Why all the hoopla, the adaptations, reprints, books, comics, tweets, no doubt Facebook pages too. Did we do this for Thackeray last year? Will we do it for Wilkie Collins? Or even George Eliot? A... Read more... |
The Return of Upstairs DownstairsMonday, 06 February 2012![]() The BBC's updated Upstairs Downstairs is not a lucky show. Its three-night debut in December 2010 brought unflattering comparisons to Downton Abbey, a fate also likely to greet the imminent series two thanks to Downton's booming national-treasure... Read more... |
The private space of Lucian Freud revealedWednesday, 01 February 2012![]() Pallant House in Chichester has just inaugurated the series of Lucian Freud exhibitions this season which have have now become memorial commemorations since the artist’s death last July. Freud’s life and studio have taken on a mythic quality,... Read more... |
Door left ajar for Royal Ballet star who quitThursday, 26 January 2012![]() The young Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, Covent Garden's most remarkable male discovery for years, has quit the company in a stunning shock that today sent consternation throughout the ballet world from the USA to Japan. But tonight Royal Opera... Read more... |
Prometheus RisingWednesday, 25 January 2012![]() It’s not out until 8 June but fan excitement levels are already feverish. Ridley Scott, who directed the original, groundbreaking science-fiction-horror-classic Alien back in 1979, has said that his new film Prometheus – only his third ever sci-fi... Read more... |
Oscars 2012: Nominees are announced – just don’t try to pronounce their namesTuesday, 24 January 2012![]() Michael Fassbender (Shame) got blanked (maybe Hollywood was put off by his manhood?), as did We Need to Talk About Kevin’s Tilda Swinton, for my money the year’s best performance by an actress, notwithstanding the marvellous Meryl. Gary Oldman,... Read more... |
One theatre, five awardsTuesday, 24 January 2012![]() When the London theatre critics gathered to hand out their annual awards at lunchtime today in person, a notable percentage of the gongs were carried off by the National Theatre. There was no surprise, for example, that the best new play was One Man... Read more... |
The Swedish Erotica Collection: Alienation, Education and MoralityMonday, 23 January 2012![]() Although the title of this new DVD box set was a given considering the nature of the films included, all six films collected are – whatever their reputation, levels of nudity and explicitness – sober-minded, hardly measuring up to any standard of... Read more... |
Put your daughter down a mine, Mrs Worthington, say new earnings statsFriday, 20 January 2012![]() Don’t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington, put her down a mine. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics for weekly earnings to 2011 paint a stark earnings picture for those working in the arts and entertainment industry.... Read more... |
