Last Stop Coney Island review - the life and photography of Harold Feinstein
Affectionate documentary portrait of a neglected American pioneer of street photography
This is a real passion project; British filmmaker Andy Dunn spent years building up a relationship with the late American photographer Harold Feinstein, filming him at work and interviewing friends, family and colleagues. The result is a loving portrait of a remarkable man.
First Person: Ellen McDougall on finding the commonality in the American classic 'Our Town'
The director explains what drew her to the season-opener this summer at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
I’ve wanted to direct Thornton Wilder’s Our Town for a long time.
The play is beautifully written and its form feels not only ahead of its time (it was written in 1938), but also extremely powerful for a contemporary audience in an open air theatre.
Orpheus Descending, Menier Chocolate Factory review - Tennessee Williams scorcher needs more firepower
Troubled but tantalising Williams play doesn't entirely land this time around
Where would Tennessee Williams's onetime flop be without the British theatre to rehabilitate it on an ongoing basis?
Mike Jay: Mescaline - A Global History of the First Psychedelic review - multiple perspectives
Thoroughly researched book is strong on drug's social significance
Humans have been consuming mescaline for millennia. The hallucinogenic alkaloid occurs naturally in a variety of cacti native to South America and the southern United States, the most well known of which are the diminutive peyote and the distinctively tubular San Pedro.
Death of a Salesman, Young Vic review - new-minted revival of a masterpiece
Arthur Miller's tragedy from an African-American viewpoint
The Young Vic, a welcoming theatre with a culturally diverse audience, has been home to memorable Miller revivals before, notably Ivo van Hove's emotionally shattering, stripped-back A View From the Bridge in 2014. But before that, in the 1980s and Nineties, the then artistic director David Thacker was an important champion of Miller's work at a time when he was less well regarded at home.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile review - pedestrian Ted Bundy biopic
Another rehash of a legendary serial murderer's killing spree
Why make a feature film about Ted Bundy, the notorious 1970s serial killer when you’ve already made Conversations with a Killer, a four-part factual series for Netflix about him? A charitable explanation would be that it offered documentarian Joe Berlinger a chance to explore aspects of the story that could only be told with drama.
Other People's Money, Southwark Playhouse review - onetime Off Broadway hit retains its sting
Greed is good or at least entertaining in feisty Off West End revival
Deft and funny and nicely cast, what's not to like about Other People's Money, the era-defining Jerry Sterner play in revival at Southwark Playhouse? The play's 1989 premiere Off Broadway allowed for a contemporary skewering of the roaring, rapacious, uncaring 1980s.
Long Shot review - semi-hilarious odd couple romcom
Attracted opposites Theron and Rogen are audaciously anarchic, eventually
This is a romcom of two radically different halves, vaulting so dizzyingly from insultingly unbearable to daringly hilarious that walking in half-way through becomes a viable option.
Eighth Grade review - a dazzlingly real portrait of a teenage girl
Comedian Bo Burnham's powerful directorial debut pushes all the awkward buttons
“Hey guys, it’s Kayla, back with another video. So, the topic of today’s video is being yourself.” Kayla Day (the wonderful Elsie Fisher, nominated for a Golden Globe and also heard as the voice of Agnes in Despicable Me) is in her last week of eighth grade in upstate New York, compounding the horror of being 13 years old by making self-help YouTube videos in her bedroom. “As always, make sure to share and subscribe to my channel. Gucci!” she signs off chirpily, with Enya’s Orinoco Flow as surprisingly effective background music. But is anyone watching?