Film Features

Oscars 2012: Meryl wins election in a landslide for the silent age

Matt Wolf Monday, 27 February 2012

Maybe it was host Billy Crystal at far from peak form. Or a surfeit of cringe-making shtick by too many presenters, including the distaff principals of Bridesmaids. Or the desperation that clung to the multiple on-air tributes to an art form whose very being was celebrated in the evening’s two major winners, Hugo and The Artist.

Oscars 2012: Who Will, Who Should, Who Won't

theartsdesk Sunday, 26 February 2012

Every year before the Academy Awards speeches are tacitly composed, flowing gowns and priceless necklaces booked and no doubt small blameless animals slaughtered in the Roman style for good luck.

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Oscars 2012: Meryl and Woody - Gongs and Noms

theartsdesk Saturday, 25 February 2012

They have been racking up the Oscar nominations since 1978, and this year they were back.

theASHtray: Homeland, Kings of Leon, and we need to talk about Aïda

ASH Smyth Saturday, 25 February 2012

So Homeland is here, and mid-ranking-CIA-operative Claire Danes is chasing Marine-Sergeant-and-possible-al-Qaeda-double-agent Damian Lewis all over the shop (but really only in their heads, so far), and neither of them is getting anywhere fast, so Claire goes home for a kip and sticks on some relaxing music, and would you Adam ‘n’ Eve it? – another bloody jazz nerd!

theartsdesk in Berlin: The 62nd Berlinale

james Woodall Sunday, 19 February 2012

In a major festival upset last night, the Taviani brothers Paolo and Vittorio won the 2012 Berlinale’s best-film award, the Golden Bear. Their film, Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), defies categories. Set in Rome’s Rebibbia maximum security jail, this extraordinary hour and a quarter charts the making by inmates of a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

theASHtray: Whitney, bin men, and the NPG's 'incautious' acquisitions

ASH Smyth Saturday, 18 February 2012

Right, out with it: who else had their Valentine’s dinner-out ruined by 36 consecutive requests for Whitney Houston? Not even the entire back-catalogue, either: just “(And I-ee-I-ee-) I…”, over and over.

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Interview: Director Pawel Pawlikowski

Nick Hasted Friday, 17 February 2012

Pawel Pawlikowski was named BAFTA’s Most Promising Newcomer for his feature debut Last Resort (2000), then the follow-up, 2004’s My Summer of Love, won Outstanding British Film of the Year. But neither felt obviously British, reflecting border-zone existences in a sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrific country.

theartsdesk in Papa Westray: Art at the End of the World

Amy Liptrot Sunday, 12 February 2012

In the same way that some chase the thrills of extreme sport, extreme art fans can now take the challenge of visiting this small art festival, which is uncompromising in terms of location, climate and content. Orkney as a whole has natural beauty, a rich history and a thriving cultural life, with a disproportionate number of artists compared to the size of the population.

theASHtray: Janáček, Carnage, and Seth MacFarlane v George Clooney

ASH Smyth Saturday, 11 February 2012

Mea culpa. I take it all back. Christoph Waltz can act, and like a dream. You know, that dream you have where Tarantino's favourite pantomime Nazi demonstrates his apparently incurable fixation on apple-based desserts, and then Kate Winslet yakks all over his shoes.

Crooked Houses: Homes from Hell

Emma Simmonds Monday, 06 February 2012

This Friday sees the release of James Watkins’ bloodcurdling adaptation of The Woman in Black, produced by the recently resurrected Hammer Films, who have risen like one of their macabre creations to torment us once more.

theASHtray: Beyoncé, 'Bond', and Eddie Redmayne's lips

ASH Smyth Saturday, 04 February 2012

So, Birdsong is over, and for all the arts-crit ink spilled upon it I am still none the wiser vis-à-vis my three main points of concern. First: it is a truth universally acknowledged (I asked around) that the most memorable episode in the Faulks novel was the one about the blowjob. This scene was not so much absent from the TV version as, er... cunningly re-gendered. Why?!

theartsdesk in Paris: The Oldest Film Star of All

Ronald Bergan Sunday, 29 January 2012

The news that work is to begin in February on a major renovation of the 122-year-old Eiffel Tower reminds us that no other monument in the world, including the Statue of Liberty, the Houses of Parliament or the Coliseum, conjures up a city with such immediacy, and none with so much romance. According to Roland Barthes, “the Eiffel Tower is nothing but a place to visit.

Opinion: do we really need more classic novels adapted?

Jasper Rees Monday, 09 January 2012

Wanted: classic novel, preferably 19^th-century but 18^th will do, or early 20^th. Anything reeking of period before television acceptable, though preferably not too working class. English if poss. Barnaby Rudge need not apply.

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New Year Brantub - Free Tickets Competition

theartsdesk Thursday, 29 December 2011

Competition alert! Start 2012 with a surprise arts trip. On theartsdesk we love crossing the borders - "Surprise me," was the edict of the great impresario of theatre, music, art and dance, Serge Diaghilev, and it's one we hold to here, because we believe in the pleasure of surprises. So please enter our competition, and a pair of tickets to one of the splendid events listed below could be coming your way, but you will take pot luck with which one you win, and who knows?

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2011: A Far Cry from Ramsay Street

Hilary Whitney Wednesday, 28 December 2011

This is probably cheating - because it was released in 1980 - but one of the cultural highlights of my year was the opportunity to revisit the film Bad Timing, which was screened as part of director Nicolas Roeg’s retrospective at the BFI in March.

theartsdesk Christmas Quiz

Ismene Brown Sunday, 25 December 2011

You're going to test your stomach and sweet temper to the maximum today - test your brain and memory too with our monster quiz about the arts covered by theartsdesk in 2011. Every artform is represented here in 12 dozen questions. Settle down between courses, films and presents and see how many you and your near and dear can do.