Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu. Everyone- audiences and critics alike – seemed to adore Robert Eggers’ recent version of Nosferatu, but I must confess it left me bored. It looks beautiful, with a painterly touch homaging the German Expressionism of the 1922 F W Murnau classic. But it feels reductive, style over substance with little newContinue reading “Scream If You Love Nosferatu”
Tag Archives: Lorna Irvine
Pills, pills, pills
Pills, pills, pills: I never thought I would need so many to numb the pain. Gone are the nights of ecstasy tablets, replaced by painkillers for osteoarthritis. It’s like a preview of old age, time nudging me in the ribs, reminding me it’s all, after all, finite. I’ve got the sun in my eyes andContinue reading “Pills, pills, pills”
Album Review: Mamalarkey- Hex Key
It seems that wonky pop, which emerged in the mid-noughties, is alive and thriving after all. Atlanta band Mamalarkey deal in this often underrated genre. It’s all of the unexpected sonic U -turns that make this new album such a delight. From the euphoric folk bounce of ‘#1 Best Of All Time’ to the sunny,Continue reading “Album Review: Mamalarkey- Hex Key”
Film Review: Pauline Black: A Two Tone Story
What a brilliant, beautiful and triumphant documentary on The Selecter frontwoman Pauline Black. Directed by Jane Mingay, it’s as unflinching, witty and eloquent as Black herself. It’s not simply a music documentary, it’s also a time capsule of the divided late seventies in Britain, a fascinating insight into the formation of the Thatcher-baiting Black/white movementContinue reading “Film Review: Pauline Black: A Two Tone Story”
Album Review: MIEN- MIIEN
Austin band MIEN invoke the psychedelic sixties with this new album, which feels more like a homage than pushing the genre forward. It’s not clear why it exists really, but what it does, it does well. There’s a slice of Silver Apples in opener ‘Evil People’ and ‘Mirror’, but it’s more interesting when it goesContinue reading “Album Review: MIEN- MIIEN”
Album Review: Bowie Vienna ’78
Oh, dear. This live album from David Bowie’s Isolar tour from 1978 suffers from all the problems bootlegs- official or not- often have, namely, dodgy sound, audience chatter and a general sense of immense disappointment at the quality. There’s even a sense of Bowie and the band going through the motions- witness a knackered soundingContinue reading “Album Review: Bowie Vienna ’78”
Film Review: The Favourite
Ooh, Yorgos Lanthimos and your batshit, genre -defying film oeuvre. Part Peter Greenaway, part Blackadder, The Favourite is another bonkers example of why his work resonates with so many people. Olivia Coleman is Queen Anne, the bratty, capricious monarch whose devotion only extends as far as her collection of rabbits. People mostly deserve contempt, andContinue reading “Film Review: The Favourite”
Music As Vitamin D
When the morning sun hurts too much after bouts of menopausal insomnia, and it’s hard to crawl out of bed, there’s one tune that will give me that much-needed shot of vitamin D. It’s got a bounce like Tigger, but scratches with its sharp talons. It’s from the era of Britpop but was deemed “shoegazing”.Continue reading “Music As Vitamin D”
Film Review: Maisie
There’s a certain kind of Drag on the UK that doesn’t involve death drops and pole dancing. Instead, it falls within the pantomime, vaudeville theatre and cabaret tradition: think singing the songs from A Chorus Line, rather than lip syncing to Lady Gaga. Lee Cooper ‘s warm and low-key film offers the exemplar of thisContinue reading “Film Review: Maisie”
My Favourite Tree
This is not my tree, but the weeping willow outside my window is. If I take a picture it will reveal where I’m sequestered. There’s something about a weeping willow that soothes me. It’s fragile looking, all drooping, distended, delicate leaves like fingertips framing the town. For me, it’s a reminder of nature’s resilience, aContinue reading “My Favourite Tree”
Hit The North 