Month: October 2024

AWARDS SHORTLIST: MONSTAS: Best Venue of 2024

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2024? Over the next 3 months we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 17 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2024.

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FILM REVIEW: Joker: Folie à Deux starring Joaquin Phoenix & ALBUM OF THE WEEK Harlequin by Lady Gaga

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *** (film)/ **** (album)

Harlequin tracklist: Good Morning; Get Happy; Oh, When The Saints; World On A String; If My Friends Could See Me Now; That’s Entertainment; Smile; The Joker; Folie à Deux; Gonna Build A Mountain; Close To You; Happy Mistake; That’s Life

Lady Gaga is definitely the best thing about this sequel to the 2019 original Joker film which won Oscars for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Score.

  • Read on for reasons including how this film proves what a musical talent Lady Gaga is
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THEATRE REVIEW: Oedipus starring Mark Strong & Lesley Manville

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 5 October, runs through 4 January 2025 RUNTIME: 120 minutes without interval

Robert Icke won the 2016 best director Olivier for Oresteia and perhaps in a nod to that there is a digital clock counting down above the stage until past secrets explode into the present.

  • Read on for reasons including how we were hoping for a more laser-like focus on the central story
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THEATRE REVIEW: Waiting For Godot starring Ben Whishaw & Lucian Msamati at Theatre Royal Haymarket

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 28 September (matinee), runs through 21 December 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot and, apart from that, it’s possible to read any number of interpretations into what Samuel Beckett’s classic 1948/49 play is actually about.

  • Read on for reasons including how this production warmed our heart in a way we weren’t expecting
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AWARDS SHORTLIST: MONSTAS: Best Podcast of 2024

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2024? Over the next 3 months we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 17 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2024.

  • Read on for the nominees for the monsta for Best Podcast of 2024 2023 winner AussieVision 2021 and 2022 winner Second Cherry
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GIG REVIEW: The The at the Alexandra Palace

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

WHEN?: Friday 27 September, tour runs until 27 November 2024

Having never seen The The, nor been to the Ally Pally, this was a night of many a first, including attending a gig with a shoulder that had been broken the day before.

  • Read on for reasons including how Johnson knows exactly how to work an audience
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THEATRE REVIEW: Juno and the Paycock starring Mark Rylance at the Gielgud Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Tuesday 1 October, runs through 23 November 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Rylance is the titular peacock – pronounced ‘paycock’ in an Irish accent – who plays workshy father-of-2 ‘Captain’ Jack Boyle, a man never short of tall tales of adventure.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the funniest comedy in London’s West End right now with a very memorable central performance
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