West Side Story, review: Spielberg’s magnificent remake is his finest film in 20 years

Among the handful of New Hollywood legends still working today, Steven Spielberg may be the hardest to second guess. With Martin Scorsese, or David Lynch, or Paul…

The perfect poetry of Sondheim’s rhymes

Rhyme, of course, was only one weapon in his armoury. There is comic wordplay. The girls in Sunday in the Park with George sing of their two soldier suitors:…

Stephen Sondheim could break your heart and make you hear the world anew

Stephen Sondheim, who has died aged 91, was the towering genius of mid-late 20th century American musical theatre, whose reputation at home and abroad continued to grow…

The Beatles, the Bee Gees and the terrible Sgt. Pepper’s movie they’d all rather forget

Things take a dark turn when Strawberry Fields is killed and Frampton’s Billy Shears attempts to kill himself. All is saved in the film’s final, head-spinning twist:…