Home
Share |

Content about Film

March 15, 2013
Theatre Review: Hamlet

Everyman Theatre Company brings Shakespeare back to basics at Chapter Arts Centre

THERE have been countless adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays across the spectrum of theatre and beyond, so it is hard to make any one particular version stand out.

It is certainly true that this play came up against the same dilemma. Not only did the Everyman Theatre Company attempt a Shakespeare play, but they went for Hamlet, perhaps one of the most-loved of all.

They handled this monumental task not with modern special effects, with dramatic staging or with contemporary dance theatrics, instead the innovation came in the novelty of going back to basics.

February 15, 2013
James's Peach is a Giant Success

James and the Giant Peach at the New Theatre is just peachy.

Based on the children’s classic by Roald Dahl, the adaptation of James and the Giant Peach for stage at Cardiff’s New Theatre was an inventive and incredible production that thrilled the audience of all ages.

The Birmingham Stage Company gave a colourful performance of the tale of James Henry Trotter, who moves to live with his two horrible aunts after a rhino kills his parents. They treat him like a slave and never let him play. One day, he meets a mystical old man who gives him a magical bag of crocodile tongues.

February 8, 2013
All female Hamlet at RWCMD

The Cardiffian meets the cast members and director of the all-female Hamlet by RWCMD and comments on their interpretation of Shakepeare's play.

THE ALL-FEMALE production of Hamlet from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) successfully liberates the audience from their traditional preconceptions of Shakespeare.


The concept of an all-female Hamlet is not a new one, as ambitious and innovative actresses have been playing the coveted role of the Danish Prince for generations. What makes this production stand out is the sensitive and powerful way the cast interpret their roles and interact with each other.

February 28, 2012
Spaghetti Western Opera

Spaghetti Western Orchestra celebrates Ennio Morricone's soundtracks to legendary Clint Eastwood films.

Clint Eastwood classics Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and For a Few Dollars More, with iconic scenes acted out on stage. 

February 17, 2012
La Traviata wows Millennium Centre audience

Keiligh Baker is spellbound by the high calibre performance of Verdi's classic

The Welsh National Opera’s opening night of Giuseppe Verdi’s classic, La Traviata, cast a spell over a rapt audience on Saturday.  

Violetta was played by an exuberant and coquettish Joyce El-Khoury who captured the conflicting natures of both the courtesan and the naive lover perfectly. The last minute cast change of Alfredo from Carlos Osuna to Leonardo Capalbo proved to be a stroke of pure luck, with Capalbo delivering an impassioned and vigorous performance.

February 3, 2012
Shame

Shame stars Michael Fassbender as 30-something Manhattan yuppie and sex-addict Brandon Sullivan who sates his carnal cravings in and around a nondescript but high-powered service job - so far, so American Psycho.

Shame stars Michael Fassbender as 30-something Manhattan yuppie and sex-addict Brandon Sullivan who sates his carnal cravings in and around a nondescript but high-powered service job - so far, so American Psycho.

But British director Steve McQueen’s second feature film is less a satire on vapid consumerism than a study of one man’s crippling struggle with compulsion. When not engaged in joyless sex with strangers or prostitutes, Sullivan is watching porn or ogling naked women on video chat.

February 3, 2012
The Artist

This French/Belgian production has swiftly gone from a hyped indie darling to an Oscar front-runner for good reason.

This French/Belgian production has swiftly gone from a hyped indie darling to an Oscar front-runner for good reason.

The Artist tells the tale of George Valentin (Dujardin), a much-loved 1920s silent movie star who is faced with becoming obsolete as Hollywood begins to embrace “talkie” films. He befriends a young starlet called Peppy Miller (Bejo) whose career begins its meteoric rise just as George’s begins to fade.

January 26, 2012
Movie Maker

Film. Chapter Arts Centre. Free.

A regular showcase for short films by independent filmmakers. Chapter Arts Centre. Free.

April 1, 2011
Spirits take to the stage for the Haunting

Despite an almost exhaustive repertoire of Victorian ghost story clichés, The Haunting is a superbly well-executed play. 

Despite an almost exhaustive repertoire of Victorian ghost story cliches, The Haunting is a superbly well-executed play.

Based on a Charles Dickens story, the play follows a young book dealer (Charlie Clements) who visits a secluded countryside mansion to appraise a vast collection of books.

With enough unexplained noises, creaking doors and draughty surroundings to drive an interior designer mad, the house and its owner, the imperious Lord Gray (Paul Nicholas), are suspicious characters.

April 1, 2011
Treat mum to lunch at the Juno lounge

Mother's day is one you can’t afford to get wrong. Forget the occasion and you could see years of a nurturing and patience come to an abrupt end. 

 


Mother's day is one you can’t afford to get wrong. Forget the occasion and you could see years of a nurturing and patience come to an abrupt end. Make a less than satisfactory choice on where to dine and one might have to suffer the consequences for the next year.

So choose carefully. Juno lounge in Roath is a safe bet whatever the celebration. An intimate setting, the glow of candles reflecting off red painted walls creates a warm atmosphere, soothing diners and coffee drinkers.

March 29, 2011
Zombie Titanic

Radio comedy show comes to Cardiff Arts Institute.

Cardiff Arts Institute holds two performances of Zombie Titanic at 6.30pm and 8pm

Written by local talent Rhys Griffiths, produced by Lyndon Jones, and featuring a brilliant cast from Cardiff’s ATRiuM and Royal Welsh College of Drama, Zombie Titanic tells what really happened that terrible night back in 1912.

March 25, 2011
Woody Allen on poor form with You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger

From the outset it needs to be made clear this is not one of Allen's best.

THE fourth film Woody Allen has set in London, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger tells the story of Helena Shepridge (Gemma Jones), an elderly woman who turns to a fortune teller after her husband Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) goes into denial about his age and leaves her.

This impacts her daughter Sally's (Naomi Watts) marriage to Roy (Josh Brolin) and both of their careers in a vicarious way.

March 11, 2011
Guys and Dolls at the New Theatre

Scoundrels and missionaries collide in this spirited performance

Director: Peter Rowe
Musical Director: Greg Palmer
Choreographer: Francesca Jaynes

Guys and Dolls is an energetic and entertaining production which sees the worlds of the Salvation Army missionary and the lowlife craps player collide on the streets of New York with comical consequences.

Cast members double up as the onstage musicians to provide a welcome change from the traditional formula.

The all-singing, all-dancing guys and dolls leave audience members feeling the urge to get up and join in.

February 24, 2011
Theatre: George's Marvellous Medicine

Giant chickens, grisly grannies and magic potions create a stir in the Birmingham's Stage Company's production of George's Marvellous Medicine at the New Theatre.

Giant chickens, grisly grannies and magic potions create a stir in the Birmingham's Stage Company's production of George's Marvellous Medicine at the New Theatre.

Iain Ridley plays good-natured George, a farmboy whose cheery outlook is pushed to the edge by the arrival of his granny, the nastiest nana imaginable. He instantly builds rapport with the eager audience and within minutes we become George's co-conspirators.

February 18, 2011
Film Review: True Grit

Can the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit live up to the classic Western?

True Grit
Ethan and Joel Coen
Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld
The Odeon, Cineworld, The Vue
4/5

WHY, oh, why have the Coen brothers remade the 1969 classic True Grit starring possibly the most outstanding actor of his generation, John Wayne?