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On Friday 19 March 2021, Justin Bieber dropped his sixth album Justice, returning to his pop roots after a questionable attempt at an R&B album with last year’s Changes. The 27-year-old Canadian singer surfaces this time with honesty and versatility, but the 16-track record still feels limited by its conflicting messages. Continue reading Review: Justice by Justin Bieber
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I thought I had hacked it. ‘You’ll love the twist; I didn’t see it coming!’ were the words of fellow viewers I shook off with confidence. The psychological thriller embedded in the quaint charm of an English town is a formula well acquainted with the British public, and yet Netflix’s new mindbender, Behind Her Eyes takes the slow burn to new heights, pulling off the … Continue reading Review: Behind Her Eyes
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In early 2020, filmmakers Charlie Russell and Dov Freedman met with Caroline Flack to discuss making a documentary that would tell her side of the story, in the wake of her recent assault charge. That documentary was never made, as just a couple of months later, she took her own life. Now, a year on from her death, Russell and Freedman have turned the project into a heartfelt eulogy that is both compelling and devastating. Continue reading Review: Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death
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Do you enjoy a happy-go-lucky film? Are you looking for something you can watch with friends or family? Well, Yes Day ticked all of my boxes for a feel-good movie which is easy on the brain, yet still engaging until the very end. Continue reading Review: Yes Day
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Out of all of William Shakespeare’s plays, Taming of the Shrew is one of the trickiest plays to perform from the perspective of the whole creative team. The play, which at the time of writing was seen as a lighthearted comedy, could now be described as ‘problematic’ at best. The premise of the play, a ‘shrewish’ young woman, Katherine, being ‘tamed’, or more accurately, abused, by her husband into submission, would now make any modern viewer shift uncomfortably in their seat. Continue reading Review: RSC’s The Taming of the Shrew (2019)
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‘Tell me the story one last timeof how we ran barefoot inthe just remembered downpour.’ -“Obon” These lines from Seasonal Velocities, Ryka Aoki’s 2012 collection of poems, stories, and essays, beautifully demonstrate Aoki’s skill for capturing the events that shape a person while refusing to let them fade from memory. Aoki writes unflinchingly of loss, love, and longing for home, while incorporating illuminating commentary on … Continue reading Reviews in Retrospect: “Seasonal Velocities” by Ryka Aoki
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While through most of 2020, reading was one of my top pastimes, in this third lockdown – just as others might have lost the urge to bake sourdough bread – I lost the motivation to read. After forcing myself through books for my English modules, I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram and Pinterest in the evenings, occasionally adding books to my “want to read” list. When … Continue reading Reading Corner: “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone” by Lori Gottlieb
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I really wanted to like I Care a Lot. Rosamund Pike is one of my favourite actresses, and I was excited to see her in yet another ‘sexy blonde woman is a baddie in both senses of the word’ flick. Plus, it’s always refreshing to see queer couples on screen. Unfortunately (in my humble opinion) … it’s just not very good. Continue reading Review: I Care a Lot
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Wolf Alice are masters of evolution. ‘The Last Man on Earth’is the first single off their upcoming album Blue Weekend, and it offers a promising insight into the band’s new chapter. It arrives almost four years since the release of their sophomore album. But still, Wolf Alice maintains the signature magic and mastery of their prior projects. With nods to past British pop-rock icons in their gripping chord progressions, with a Bowie-esque bridge in the second half, the band transforms this intimate piano ballad into a beaming, string-filled anthem. Lead-singer Ellie Rowsell muses introspective lyrics centred on the selfish nature of humans, which make you cry one listen and laugh the next. Continue reading Review: ‘The Last Man on Earth’ by Wolf Alice
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Anton Checkhov’s 1899 play Uncle Vanya resonates with modern audiences differently when compared to the play’s intended audience, and this is epitomised by the latest production. The cast is filled with well-known faces, although these actors are more familiar swinging a metal detector or flying an aeroplane they adapt to the heightened tone, creating an exaggerated realism that does not permit the audience a moment … Continue reading Review: Uncle Vanya
