adaptation
Aladdin review - live-action remake in classic Disney mouldThursday, 23 May 2019
Next up in Disney’s parade of live-action revamps is: yes, Aladdin. The other recent re-dos – Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo – just about managed to overcome the remake challenge: be faithful to an original that will remain definitive for... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: MauriceFriday, 17 May 2019
“Publishable, but worth it?” EM Forster’s hesitations about the value of Maurice, his novel of Edwardian homosexuality – written in 1913-14, it was published only posthumously, in 1971 – were certainly redeemed by James Ivory’s 1987 film of the book... Read more... |
Man of La Mancha, London Coliseum review - historical work better left in the pastWednesday, 01 May 2019
English National Opera continues its run of semi-staged musicals, in commercial collaboration with Grade Linnit, with a revival of this vintage oddity. Mind, commercial might be a stretch, as Dale Wasserman, Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh's 1965 work –... Read more... |
Chimerica, Channel 4 review - fake news, true dramaThursday, 18 April 2019
Chimerica is a stage-to-screen adaptation that has certainly kept up with the times. When it opened at the Almeida back in 2013 – a West End transfer followed, along with an Olivier award for Best New Play – Lucy Kirkwood’s drama was (very... Read more... |
Three Sisters, Almeida Theatre review - middle of the road with flashes of magicWednesday, 17 April 2019
About a year ago, director Rebecca Frecknall electrified this venue with an award-winning revival of Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke, rescuing the play from obscurity and showcasing the star qualities of actor Patsy Ferran. Now Frecknall and... Read more... |
A German Life, Bridge Theatre review - Maggie Smith triumphs againSaturday, 13 April 2019
Maggie Smith is not only a national treasure, but every casting director's go-to old bat. Now 84 years young, she is our favourite grande dame, or fantasy grandma. With an acting career of nearly 70 years, an instantly recognisable face and voice,... Read more... |
Pet Sematary review - spine-jolting shocks, but a disappointing endingSaturday, 06 April 2019
The wilds of Maine have been favourite country for novelist Stephen King, and they form the setting for this new version of his 1983 supernatural thriller (previously filmed in 1989). Dr Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) moves his wife and two kids from... Read more... |
Out of Blue review - noir and cosmology collideSaturday, 30 March 2019
At the start of Carol Morley’s noir mystery Out of Blue, detective Mike Hoolihan, bleary-eyed and slow, is carrying some burdensome weight. “This burger from last night is not sitting right,” comes the weary female investigator’s first line.... Read more... |
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, Barbican Theatre review - Cillian Murphy soars and sweepsFriday, 29 March 2019
Wow, what a collection of talent: this show stars Peaky Blinder Cillian Murphy, and Enda Walsh's adaptation, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, is based on Max Porter's award-winning novel of the same name. From the first this seems like a good fit:... Read more... |
Dumbo review - does Tim Burton’s new adaption take flight?Thursday, 28 March 2019
At its heart, Disney’s fourth-feature, Dumbo, was about the love between mother and child, and defying expectations. The 1941 animation was based on Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl’s short story and told the tale of a baby circus elephant with... Read more... |
The Twilight Zone, Ambassadors Theatre review – retro wit for our new space ageWednesday, 13 March 2019
As China and the US arm-wrestle for world domination in everything from trade to military power, we find ourselves in the throes of a space race again. After China became the first nation to land on the dark side of the moon this January, it seems... Read more... |
Alys, Always, Bridge Theatre review - mildly perverse but rather dispiritingThursday, 07 March 2019
Okay, so this is the play that will be remembered for the character names that have unusual spellings. As in Alys not Alice, Kyte not Kite, etc. Anyway, Lucinda Coxon's adaptation of journalist Harriet Lane's 2012 bestseller for the Bridge Theatre... Read more... |
