Tag: biography
The Apprentice
Thursday, October 17th, 2024 Film Reviews,First, a word about Donald J. Trump. Like so many, I’m completely flabbergasted that voters of any political persuasion would consider putting this man back in the White House. Not only is his campaign a policy-free zone, he’s unable to focus on any issue beyond his immediate self-interest. To advance that sacred cause he will […]
Yayoi Kusama: She always knew she’d be famous
Wednesday, October 16th, 2024 Blog,One morning last year in New York City, a queue formed at the entrance to the David Zwirner Gallery. As the day progressed, the line grew longer and longer, until it extended around the block. The occasion was the opening of a commercial exhibition by Yayoi Kusama, and the chance to spend 30 seconds in […]
Bonnard, Pierre & Marthe
Thursday, September 12th, 2024 Film Reviews,Despite the hundreds of books and catalogues devoted to the art of Pierre Bonnard, we are obliged to piece together his life from a mass of unreliable snippets. The major authority was his great-nephew, Antoine Terrasse (1928-2013), but the family connection can also act as a form of censorship, ensuring that difficult or disreputable stories […]
So Long, Guy
Friday, July 26th, 2024 Blog,When I spoke to Guy Warren three years ago, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, I walked away feeling like I’d never felt following an interview. I felt energised. Talking to Guy, 100 not out, and so full of life he could have kept going all day, I realised that if I managed to […]
High & Low: John Galliano
Sunday, June 2nd, 2024 Film Reviews,In December 2010, John Galiano, one of the most celebrated British designers of all time, murdered his own career with a drunken anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris café. Kevin Macdonald’s feature-length documentary, High & Low: John Galliano, features footage of Galliano’s meltdown, and it’s not a pretty sight. The same could be said of Galliano’s […]
The Iron Claw & Priscilla
Friday, January 19th, 2024 Film Reviews,If ever a film proves it’s possible to make a powerful story out of anything, it’s The Iron Claw. Those who spent their childhood watching World Championship Wrestling on TV may have distant memories of large, flabby men in tights roaring threats, jumping off turnbuckles, and thumping each other in a peculiarly unconvincing manner. The […]
Dream Scenario & Ferrari
Sunday, January 7th, 2024 Film Reviews,Another year, another burst of films released in time for the awards season. To cover the field expeditiously I’m going to look at two of them: Kristoffer Borgli’s engaging indie, Dream Scenario, and Michael Mann’s bio-pic, Ferrari, which – surprisingly enough – is also an independent production. Dream Scenario may have the smaller budget, but […]
Maestro
Friday, December 15th, 2023 Film Reviews,Perhaps the only way to portray someone as mercurial as Leonard Bernstein is in the Cubist manner. The American poet, Wallace Stevens, suggested there were thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird, but with Bernstein (1918-90), that barely scrapes the surface. He was conductor, composer, pianist, writer of popular musicals, educator, and celebrity. One might […]
Napoleon
Friday, December 1st, 2023 Film Reviews,Only Ridley Scott might have taken on a project as ambitious as Napoleon and avoided embarrassment. If he doesn’t entirely succeed this may be because the subject is simply too vast, too complex, to be crammed into two-and-a-half hours. There are thousands of books on Napoleon (1769-1821), with new ones being published every other month. […]
Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story
Sunday, September 3rd, 2023 Film Reviews,Michael Gudinski was a serious burner of candles at both ends. In describing the flamboyant record executive and concert promoter, most of his friends talk about his “energy” and “passion”. Director, Paul Goldman, who admits to a spiky relationship with his subject, says he set out to avoid making a hagiography. Nevertheless, this is what […]