So This Is Christmas review – most wonderful time of the year in a small Irish town | Movies
a A modest film with modest ambitions. This documentary paints a portrait of a small Irish town at Christmas, touching on what the Christmas season means to them through interviews with various residents about their lives. She is a single mother with three children, and although she is currently sober, she used to have a […]
Somebody Somewhere season three review – remarkable TV that burrows into your heart | Television & radio
FOr if you've moved from a small, tight-knit town, you may be left wondering, “What if I never leave?” This is the story that inspired Somebody Somewhere, starring New York cabaret legend Bridget Everett, in which Sam returns to Manhattan, Kansas, to care for his sister who is dying of cancer, and eventually settles there. […]
Monk abused children for decades on Welsh island ‘in plain sight’, review says | UK news
A monk operated in an “obvious location” on an island off the coast of Wales and was able to abuse children over a 40-year period, despite repeated complaints from his victims, an independent investigation has concluded. . Father Thaddeus Kotic groomed, raped and sexually assaulted young boys and girls on Calde Island, home to a […]
TikToks seek pause on US ban or sale pending Supreme Court review
China-based ByteDance has asked a federal court to temporarily block a law requiring it to sell or ban TikTok by January 19, pending review by the Supreme Court. The emergency motion by TikTok's lawyers comes after a U.S. appeals court sided with the federal government to uphold the law. The decision was a major setback […]
Dick Whittington and His Cat review – the rats have no chance in merry panto | Panto season
○Someday, there might be a panto where the story gets as much attention (if not half as much) as the young lady's dress, and the romance between the main boy and his lover isn't as flat as the background. Hackney's Dick Whittington is no such punt. No, this is a movie starring Clive Lowe, currently […]
Unmasking Lucy Letby by Jonathan Coffey and Judith Moritz review – reasonable doubt | True crime books
aAfter the child known as Baby C died, his mother made his tiny handprints and footprints into pendants to hang around her neck. She told the court that having them nearby comforted her. But even that is taken away from her when Lucy Levy, a nurse convicted of being Britain's worst child serial killer, is […]
The Last Days of Liz Truss? review – endgame at No 10 is tip of the iceberg | Theatre
a Is the running time of “The Last Days of Liz Truss” 100 minutes? This amounted to approximately 2 minutes per day that the subject served as Prime Minister. Similarly, Truss' drama about heroine Margaret Thatcher will run for almost a week, with her portrait hanging on set. This is as unsustainable a budget as […]
Leya: I Forget Everything review – sinister soundworlds from maverick avant gardists | Music
Leya is a New York duo consisting of harpist Marilu Donovan and violinist Adam Markiewicz, who seem to occupy a space roughly equidistant from ambient music, avant-garde composition, and drone-based electronica. . They soundtracked (and starred in) a pornographic film directed by rapper Brooke Candy. They have collaborated on catwalk shows for fashion designers such […]
Rumours review – close encounters for Cate Blanchett and the magnificent G7 | Movies
CDirector Blanchett directed one of the strangest moments at this year's Cannes Film Festival. For British people of a certain age, anyway. Her character respectfully quotes the late Roy Jenkins, the Labor Grand Duke and former Chancellor of the Treasury and Oxford University. Blanchett plays a fictional German chancellor named Hilda Ortmann, whom Jenkins refers […]
The Commander review – true story of patriotic heroism tries to avoid being political football | Movies
HThis is a low-key World War II drama directed by Edoardo De Angelis, based on a patriotic true story about the decency of non-fascist Italy during the Battle of the Atlantic. The film, made with the help of the Italian Navy, was selected for the opening gala of last year's Venice Film Festival, where Luca […]