Month: May 2018

FILM REVIEW: The Happy Prince starring Rupert Everett, Colin Morgan & Colin Firth

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Greenwich Picturehouse

WHEN: 29/5/18 (preview screening), UK release 15/6/18

RUN TIME: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Theatregoers will remember Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde from his marvellous Olivier Award-nominated turn in David Hare’s The Judas Kiss which transferred from Hampstead Theatre to the West End in 2013.

  • Read on for reasons including surprise cameos from stars including Tom Wilkinson and Beatrice Dalle

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Q&A and FILM REVIEW: McKellen: Playing The Part starring Sir Ian McKellen

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: BFI Southbank

WHEN: 27/5, UK release 1/6/18

RUN TIME: 1 hour 36 minutes

‘I wouldn’t be here if he was a prick,’ remarks Martin Freeman of Sir Ian McKellen who celebrated his 79th birthday this weekend with a star-studded launch of his autobiographical new film McKellen: Playing The Part.

  • Read on for reasons including what McKellen regrets and the film’s highlights

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THEATRE REVIEW: Translations starring Colin Morgan & Ciaran Hinds

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE: National Theatre (Olivier)

WHEN: 26/5, press night 30/5, runs to 11/8/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours 35 minutes (including interval)

Brian Friel’s 1980 masterpiece Translations is set in Ireland in 1833 and is about the power of language as the English seek to map the country so they can better tax its people.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is the best play we’ve seen at the National in a long time

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Rink starring Caroline O’Connor & Gemma Sutton at Southwark Playhouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Southwark Playhouse

WHEN: 25/5/18, press night 29/5, runs to 23/6/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours and 20 minutes (with interval)

Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera starred in the original Broadway production of this Kander and Ebb (Chicago and Cabaret) musical and we wonder whether they had as much fun with it as Caroline O’Connor and Gemma Sutton do here.

  • Read on for reasons including how this 1st preview deserved its standing ovation

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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for June

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Westworld BFI Q&A and finale premiere

Catch the world premiere of the season 2 finale of HBO’s superior sci-fi series about a theme park peopled by robots who revolt starring Thandie Newton (pictured) and a Q&A with its creators at the BFI on London’s South Bank 19/6. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Florence, Laura Linney, Lia Williams & BAFTA winner Vanessa Kirby

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THEATRE REVIEW: 3Women starring Anita Dobson, Debbie Chazen & Maisie Richardson-Sellers

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Trafalgar Studios 2

WHEN: 17/5 (matinee), press night 17/5, runs to 9/6/18

A grandmother, a mother and her daughter meet in a hotel suite the night before one of them is to be married for an evening of alcohol and home truths.

  • Read on for reasons including why 3Women is the sort of comedy we’d love to see more of

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Q&A and FILM REVIEW: Edie starring Sheila Hancock

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Greenwich Picturehouse

WHEN: 15/5/18

RELEASED IN THE UK: 25/5/18

‘I’m so fed up with the division between young and old in society,’ explains Sheila Hancock in a Q&A after a preview screening of her new film about a widow who befriends a guide many years her junior as she attempts to climb a Scottish mountain.

  • Read on for reasons including more about Hancock’s young co-star in this

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FILM REVIEW: Nothing Like A Dame starring Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE: Greenwich Picturehouse

RELEASED IN THE UK: 2/5/18

Each is a Dame, they are all in their ninth decades and have met regularly at Joan Plowright’s countryside retreat since they got to know each other many years ago.

  • Read on for reasons including which Dame returns to the West End this autumn

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Grönholm Method starring Laura Pitt-Pulford and John Gordon Sinclair

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Menier Chocolate Factory

WHEN: 14/5/18, press night 22/5, runs to 7/7/18

Four job applicants arrive for an interview for a top management position in a big company and find the selection procedure will be an unconventional series of mind games.

  • Read on for reasons including where you might recognise Gordon Sinclair from

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