“Leo, you’re queer in 2026. You’re a political act”. So says Melba, portrayed by Paul Rhys with fire and pathos in Russell T Davies’ new drama, set around the LGBTQ+ bars in Manchester’s famous Canal Street. He’s addressing friend Leo (Alan Cumming) a proprietor of Spit and Polish club, who can’t understand why he’s justContinue reading “TV Review: Tip Toe”
Tag Archives: Drama
Half Man Is Half-Baked…
In his trailblazing novel ‘1984’, George Orwell wrote, “Imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever”. Well, now we don’t have to imagine, we’ve got ‘Half Man’. Yay. Hot on the heels of the success of his drama series ‘Baby Reindeer’, writer and actor Richard Gadd announced the release of a follow-up drama series, whichContinue reading “Half Man Is Half-Baked…”
TV Review: Falling
Series 1, Episode 1. Jack Thorne’s brand new series stars Keeley Hawes as Anna, a nun who falls for priest Father David (Paapa Essiedu). This notion of renouncing religion for desire has of course been covered many times: think of classic film ‘Black Narcissus ‘ ; the TV series ‘The Thorn Birds’ , or moreContinue reading “TV Review: Falling”
Vintage Film Review: Quadrophenia (1979)
“We are the mods, we are the mods, we are, we are, we are the mods”. Few chants are as iconic in British cinema as Franc Roddam’s peerless Quadrophenia. With a star- making turn from Phil “Park life!” Daniels as frustrated “face” Jimmy, plus brilliant support from the likes of Jamie Winstone, Sting, Leslie Ash,Continue reading “Vintage Film Review: Quadrophenia (1979)”
Overlooked Classic: To Die For
Ordinarily, there’s something about Nicole Kidman that gets under my skin. Perhaps it’s the vocal fry, the somewhat tired vampish persona, or the fact that she’s really rather limited as an actor. She lacks a little presence, she seems vapid and a little dead behind the eyes onscreen. So perhaps this is why the onlyContinue reading “Overlooked Classic: To Die For”
Happy Birthday , Samuel Beckett 🍌
What a visage: like a tor you’ve spent ages attempting to scale. What writing: past, present and an elusive future. Samuel Beckett would have been 120 today- imagine. His detractors thought him morbid, or impenetrable. They’re wrong on the latter. He’s touching, hilarious, tender, raw. Even his pauses have eloquence; his silences, poetry. Who elseContinue reading “Happy Birthday , Samuel Beckett 🍌”
Archive Theatre Review: Girl In The Machine
The List . Love is not the only drug in Stef Smith’s eerie sci-fi two-hander Share: Author: Lorna Irvine Love is not the only drug in Stef Smith’s eerie sci-fi two-hander It’s the near future. On the surface, Polly (Rosalind Sydney) and Owen (Michael Dylan) seem a well-matched couple: attractive, and witty thirty somethings (she’s aContinue reading “Archive Theatre Review: Girl In The Machine”
30 Years Of Baz Luhrmann’s “Star Cross’d Lovers”
As Valentine’s Day doth approacheth, I take a look at the enduring classic, as reimagined by Australian director Baz Luhrmann. I bloody HATED Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet when I first saw it at the cinema in 1996. I felt that transposing the Shakespeare classic to Venice Beach and bringing in nineties slackers in HawaiianContinue reading “30 Years Of Baz Luhrmann’s “Star Cross’d Lovers””
Terence Was A First Class Stamp
Terence Stamp has passed away at the age of eighty seven and we must doff our caps to this versatile English actor. He could do theatre, he could do film. He was masterful in ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’, ‘Poor Cow’ and Passolini’s ‘Theorem’. He brought gravitas to Zod in ‘Superman’ and had a lateContinue reading “Terence Was A First Class Stamp”
Overlooked Classics: Stealing Beauty
Bernardo Bertolucci may have sealed his reputation as dirty agent provocateur with the infamous butter scene in ‘Last Tango In Paris’, but ‘Stealing Beauty’, his delicate study in teenage desire, manages a more subtle, less male gazey approach, in spite of its overarching themes. Liv Tyler is luminous and beautiful as Lucy, a gauche AmericanContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Stealing Beauty”
Hit The North 