Why we all relate to literature’s ‘ugly’ heroes
Like Cyrano, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame acknowledges that the link between physical desire and the “higher” yearning for a kindred spirit are not easily reconciled. Roxane vows…
Graphic violence, Zionist parables and no happy ending: the Bambi Disney didn’t want you to see
On the surface, Bambi has little to do with the Jewish plight. The book’s most obvious message, as in the film, is an anti-hunting one – “I…
Woodstock 1969: from free-love triumph to ‘nightmare of mud and stagnation’
Although the mainstream press were sceptical, the organisers cleverly wooed the music press. In June 1969, California’s Newport Pop Festival ended in riots, in part due to…
Julie Fowlis: the shy Scot who is spearheading a folk revival
There’s something miraculous about a living, breathing folk tradition. You wonder how it can possibly survive in a world where so many settled communities are disintegrating, and…
The Book of Boba Fett, episode 1, review: intergalactic damp squib aimed squarely at fanboys
Disney had been rather coy about the plot of The Book of Boba Fett, the latest Star Wars spin-off to crash-land on the House of Mouse’s streaming…
Now’s the perfect time to reawaken Sleeping Beauty
Perhaps because we are loath to see the things we love decline and fall, we have imagined places of frozen beauty, such as Venice, from which time…
The Beatles: Get Back, review: Peter Jackson’s epic edit is truly fab, but too long and winding
Episode one (which debuts today) depicts the group getting to grips with a huge, cold, acoustically challenging film studio in Twickenham, whilst Harrison’s mood visibly darkens and…
Actually, Ridley Scott could learn a lot from millennials watching movies on their phones
Ridley Scott blames mobile phones – not Disney’s marketing, not the grimness of the material, not rival attractions such as Halloween Kills – for the calamitous box…
Hawkeye, Disney+, review: Marvel’s TV spinoffs are becoming forgettable filler
A year is a long time in superhero franchises. It’s just over 12 months since Marvel’s first Disney+ TV series, WandaVision, was heralded as a glimmer of…
Jeff Goldblum’s favourite places to visit in the USA
After four years there, I started to do movies and moved to Los Angeles, which is still my main base. The wide-open spaces of Los Angeles made…