Helen McCrory Captivates in the National Theatre’s Revival of ‘The Deep Blue Sea’
Carrie Cracknell delivers a beautiful, sensitive and measured production of the Terence Rattigan masterpiece.
Alex Ramon
Alex Ramon is a lecturer and critic currently based in Łódź, Poland. He is the author of the book Liminal Spaces: The Double Art of Carol Shields and has written and presented papers on Guy Maddin, Sarah Polley, Rawi Hage, Mordecai Richler, and Iris Murdoch. He has covered film festivals such as Cannes, TIFF, London and Gdynia, and interviewed various directors, writers and performers, including Tori Amos, François Ozon, Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Chyra, and Samuel Adamson. His current projects include an edited collection of reviews and essays. As well as PopMatters, he writes for Sight and Sound, BFI, and Film International, and blogs at Boycotting Trends.http://boycottingtrends.blogspot.comTwitter: @BoycottTrends
Island Life: Alexi Kaye Campbell’s ‘Sunset at the Villa Thalia’, National Theatre
Personal and political tensions surface between two couples in Alexi Kaye Campbell’s absorbing Skiathos-set play at the National Theatre.
Sexing Up Brecht: The National Theatre’s New Version of ‘The Threepenny Opera’
Some fine performances bring Brechtian bite to Rufus Norris’s otherwise disappointing new production of The Threepenny Opera.
Cannes 2016: The Verdict of ‘The Nine-Headed Beast’ (and the Verdict on the Verdict)
Cannes 2016 was distinguished by a range of strong films, but the decisions of this year’s Competition jury felt more politically than artistically motivated.
Cannes 2016: Survivors of Dictatorship Tell Their Stories in ‘Hissein Habré, a Chadian Tragedy’
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's spare but searing documentary gives voice to those who suffered under Habré's regime.
Pedro Almodóvar Adapts Alice Munro With Some Success in ‘Julieta’
Pedro Almodóvar once more places a fractured mother/daughter relationship at the centre of his work in ‘Julieta’, his adaptation of an Alice Munro story.
Cannes 2016: Maren Ade’s Mediocre ‘Toni Erdmann’ Has Been Bizarrely Overpraised
Ade's comedy about a father and daughter relationship is interminable and unfunny.
Cannes 2016: In Pursuit of a Poet in Pablo Larraín’s ‘Neruda’
Larraín riffs on Pablo Neruda's biography to create an idiosyncratic and stylized portrait of pursuer and pursued.
Cannes 2016: Andrea Arnold’s ‘American Honey’ Is an American Folly
Andrea Arnold’s self-conscious and overlong American road trip film, American Honey, runs out of steam long before it reaches its destination.
Cannes 2016: Spielberg Delivers One of the Best Roald Dahl Adaptations With ‘The BFG’
Intelligent, huge-hearted, and as rich in its dialogue as in its visuals, The BFG is an enchanting adaptation.
Cannes 2016: Alain Guiraudie Shakes Up the Competition With ‘Staying Vertical’
Alain Guiraudie springs a series of strange surprises, including the Festival's most transgressive sex scene (so far).
Cannes 2016: Ken Loach Blasts Britain’s Welfare System in ‘I, Daniel Blake’
Ken Loach's latest is a well-meaning but disappointing attempt to explore the impact of Conservative benefit cuts in the UK.