Lie-in or early start? I’m a horrible sleeper – I spend very little time in the bedroom – and I’ll read until the rest of the world wakes up. On an ideal Sunday morning I’d go for a walk with binoculars. I like bird-watching. Favourite bird? The house sparrow. They’re in decline, so they’re more … Read more
Going out: Cinema FlowOut nowThis year’s Oscar winner for best animated feature had a cult following even before the Academy ratified its status as something special. This simple, dialogue-free story about a cat surviving in a post-apocalyptic world is one of those treats that appeals in equal measure to children and adults. The Alto KnightsOut … Read more
When Adolescence launched on Netflix a week ago, its timing felt uncanny. This hard-hitting series about the malign influence of the online “manosphere” arrived just as news broke about a story that had been making UK headlines for nine months: that of notorious crossbow killer Kyle Clifford, who raped and murdered 25-year-old Louise Hunt last … Read more
The DVD slips into the loading tray, and I watch in hope rather than expectation. I’ve been told Tony Palmer’s The Wigan Casino is the greatest ever depiction of a northern soul all-nighter, and I want to see it for myself. The film is a window into the underground scene that emerged in the 1970s, … Read more
Amazon is lining up Harry Potter’s David Heyman and Spider-Man’s Amy Pascal to oversee the James Bond franchise for its studio MGM. In news first reported by Puck, the two heavyweight producers are said to be the choice of senior Amazon-MGM executives Mike Hopkins, Jen Salke, and Courtenay Valenti and the studio is now negotiating … Read more
Industry pundits are fond of telling us that the movie star is a dying concept: that blockbusters are now sold on characters and intellectual property rather than actors, to the point that even a colossus such as Tom Cruise has lately limited himself only to franchise work. That may be true, though my own definition … Read more
‘It’s a drag, isn’t it,” Paul McCartney told reporters quizzing him the day after John Lennon’s murder, a soundbite as dispiritingly muted, even callous, as his reaction to his mother’s death when he was 14: “How are we going to get by without her money?” Behind the scenes, Paul was lost and tearful, as well … Read more
Netflix spent over $275 million to make “The Electric State,” a sci-fi action adventure film starring Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt and a slew of sentient robots. Had it opened in theaters, instead of on its service as it did on March 14, the film would almost certainly be declared a giant disappointment. Reviews have … Read more
Mike Howell was looking at his phone in an airport lounge this month when he saw a letter from the attorney general of Missouri questioning whether President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had the “mental capacity” to sign the pardons and executive orders he issued during his final months in office. Mr. Howell, executive director of … Read more
My grandmother grew up brushing her teeth with radioactive toothpaste. The active ingredient was irradiated calcium carbonate, and her father was the chemist in charge of making it. Even before it was available in shops, he brought tubes home to his family. Under the brand name Doramad, it promised gums “charged with new life energy” … Read more