Listed
theartsdesk
It began with the sinking of Titanic and the loss of not one but two heirs to the title. James Cameron having already filmed this disaster, the producers of Downton Abbey were spared the expense of re-enacting it. Last week another Hollywood blockbuster was in viewers' thoughts as the most iconic scene from Alien was re-enacted at the Downton dining table. His Grace’s ulcer burst on scene in a lurid shade suggesting Crawley blood is less blue than previously supposed. The medical emergency joins a long list of delectable absurdities perpetrated by the show across six series. With the end in Read more ...
theartsdesk
Not just a mere rock star but spiritual guru, peace campaigner, political icon, thorn in the flesh of Richard Nixon and the CIA, and ultimately martyr. John Lennon, who would have been 75 today (9 October), has proved an impossible act to follow. Even his former songwriting partner Paul McCartney, who's hardly been deprived of adulation over the last few decades, can't get over the fact that Lennon has achieved that mythic status known only to a rarefied handful. "The fact that he's now martyred has elevated him to a James Dean, and beyond," Macca moped in a recent Esquire interview. We can Read more ...
theartsdesk
It has never been easier for cinema to capture the terror and splendour of the mountains. Cameras can do what they never could before, which is why Everest, released this week, gets audiences as close to the roof of the world as any multiplex experience ever will. But mountains are about more than altitude. In this edition of Listed, we clamber about the history of cinema looking for the movies which tell us about the men and women - though it seems to be mostly men - who have brought summit fever to the big screen. The Epic of Everest (1924)“This isn’t Hollywood,” said Mallory. “ Read more ...
theartsdesk
It's Monday morning, some way between the start of school term and the recall of students to college or university. This moment when the routine of study is reimposed creates some of our strongest memories. As the original voice of teenage rebellion, it’s perhaps not surprising that rock ‘n roll voices the pain of education more than the joy.More interesting, though, is the sheer variety of attitudes expressed, and the engrossing drama of each song. From the gentle, sentimental isolation of Sam Cooke to the grossness of The Stranglers, via much outrage, to some candly floss from Britney and a Read more ...
theartsdesk
This week Legend opened in cinemas starring Tom Hardy and Tom Hardy. The actor’s double turn as the Kray twins is only the latest in a surprisingly long tradition of actors taking more than one role in a film. To show off their range, and give the audience a bit of fun, actors have doubled (or trebled, or more) up as twins, siblings, parents and children, doppelgängers and often characters who are entirely unrelated. For this edition of Listed, theartsdesk revisits some of the stellar turns by those actors taking more than one credit in the cast list. Deborah Kerr, The Life and Death of Read more ...
theartsdesk
September is upon us and it’s nearly time for the new season. English National Opera’s Artistic Director John Berry may have left the building but his enterprising legacy lives on in a 2015-16 season that looks on paper as good as any in the past 20 years; what happens after that is anyone's guess. Still, there shouldn’t be too much grief that ENO Music Director Edward Gardner has moved on, since his successor Mark Wigglesworth already has a fine track record with the company.Over at the Royal Opera, it’s business as usual with Antonio Pappano and at least one rarity to match Szymanowski’s Read more ...
theartsdesk
It’s forecast to rain for a fortnight, just as the schools tip out their restless young. The roads are jammed, and Calais hasn’t been this bunged up since Edward III laid siege for the whole year in 1346. It must be summer. To help you celebrate if you’re one of the lucky ones who got away, or to get through it if not, our new music team has suggested a summer playlist both eclectic and exhilarating. From Madonna to Motörhead, the Beach Boys to My Bloody Valentine, whether you’re downing cocktails, or drowning out the rain on the tent roof, these are our songs of summer. A Man Called Read more ...
theartsdesk
Once upon a time... Storytelling is an integral part of all human cultures, and a central pillar of an enlightened education. Some children get the hang of it quickly – they are, as the phrase has it, natural storytellers. This week the Royal Court introduces several youthful writers with Primetime, a series of short plays written by primary school children between the ages of eight and 11.The new Royal Court playwrights join a sizeable pantheon of young authors, whom we celebrate in this edition of Listed. We have set the rule that, to qualify, the writer had to be under 18 when they picked Read more ...
theartsdesk
Hottest tickets for seats at the Proms have probably all gone already. Yet the beauty of it is that so long as you start queueing early enough you can always get to hear the greatest, or rather the most popular, artists, for £5 in the Arena which is of course easily the best place to be acoustically in the notoriously unpredictable Royal Albert Hall. And don’t say you’re too old to stand: a 91-year-old student of mine – her name, Grace Payne, needs celebrating – has been doing it, with a few breaks overseas, since 1947, and she’ll be there again this summer.First reactions to the Read more ...
theartsdesk
Don't on any account miss the events in the selection you're about to read. Our rival outlets are currently bludgeoning you into submission with long lists of the many many cultural highlights of the coming year. They won't all be good, and you certainly won't get to all of them. We've taken a different tack, and distilled the concept down to an essence of excellence. We asked our critics to nominate the one indispensable, sell-your-granny-to-get-a-ticket event in their art form in the coming 12 months. Here's what they came up with.ARTGoya: The Witches and Old Women Album / Goya: The Read more ...
Jasper Rees
It is a truism that the great tradition of documentary filmmaking has long since migrated to the big screen. Factual takes time which costs money, and squeezed television producers rarely have enough of either. It's not uncommon for films shown in Storyville, the BBC's admirable international strand, to have started out with a cinema release. And yet somehow 2014 saw some very solid, respectable work in factual. The best came about partly thanks to technology, which has allowed for the proliferation of unmanned cameras, useful for getting close to suspects in police stations and big animals Read more ...
Simon Munk
By far the majority of interactive art, entertainment and fiction – videogames for want of a better rubric – could be described as science fiction or fantasy. Very little of what you do when you pick up a gamepad has to do with real life. Even contemporary crime thrillers such as Grand Theft Auto or combat games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare take only a highly-stylised glance at reality. But most games allow you to be and do things that far outstrip any notion of reality.Sci-fi, then, is woven through videogaming, but rarely in an interesting or novel way. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare Read more ...