Hannah Berner, Netflix Special - sex, politics and relationships

★★★ HANNAH BERNER, NETFLIX SPECIAL First stand-up special for American social media star 

First stand-up special for American social media star

Hannah Berner isn't a big name in stand-up (yet), but she's well known enough in the United States to have come to Netflix's attention. Her fame comes from TikTok and Instagram (where she has three million followers), her podcasts and formerly being a cast member of the Bravo reality series Summer House. We Ride at Dawn is her first, but I suspect not her last, Netflix special.

Bill Viola (1951-2024) - a personal tribute

Video art and the transcendent

The artist Bill Viola died, after a long illness, early in the morning of Friday 12 July. I had the privilege of getting to know him while making a documentary about his life and work in 2001-2003. He quickly became a friend, as did his wife Kira and his sons, Blake and and Andrei. He felt like a kind of brother, who’d grown up through the same changes that shook culture up in the 1960s and 70s. Although he was American, I felt that we spoke the same language.

Fly Me to the Moon review - NASA gets a Madison Avenue makeover

★★★★ FLY ME TO THE MOON How politics and propaganda drove America's race into space

How politics and propaganda drove America's race into space

It’s over 50 years since men last landed on our orbiting space-neighbour, but director Greg Berlanti's Fly Me to the Moon transports us back to the feverish days in 1969 when Apollo 11 was about to tackle the feat for the first time. The film’s promo material rather misleadingly bills it as “a sparkling rom-com”, but it has a few other strings to its bow.

Mean Girls, Savoy Theatre review - standout performances save a thin score

Fans of the film will love it, but it's like being in a pink fever dream

Nothing anybody over the age of 30 says about the new Mean Girls musical, spawn of Tina Fey’s witty script for the 2004 screen sideswipe of that name, will make any difference. As with all things Barbie, the pink madness seems deathless. 

Album: Imagine Dragons - Loom

★★★ IMAGINE DRAGONS - LOOM Pleasing but familiar

Nevada mainstream giants return with a little that is different, but a lot that is familiar

Having propelled to stardom with their debut album Night Visions back in 2012, the Nevada pop-rock giants Imagine Dragons have reigned supreme on charts and airwaves.

Bartlett, Fantasia Orchestra, Fetherstonhaugh, Proms at St Jude's review - Americana both fun and fierce

★★★★ BARTLETT, FANTASIA ORCHESTRA, FETHERSTONHAUGH, PROMS AT ST JUDE'S Americana both fun and fierce

Fascinating, far from easy parade brililiantly executed by top young team

Any programme featuring Gershwin’s top large-scale works might tend to the “pops” side. Bernstein’s West Side Story Overture and even the sweet dream of Florence Price’s Adoration fit that bill. But An American in Paris sounded completely different from usual, its radical side highlighted, following Ives’s Three Places in New England and Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Andante for Strings.

Kelly Clancy: Playing with Reality - How Games Shape Our World review - how far games go back

★★★★ KELLY CLANCY: PLAYING WITH REALITY How far games go back

The acclaimed neuroscientist on the world and history of games, in all their variety

For a couple of decades, the free video game America’s Army was a powerful recruitment aid for the US military. More than a shoot-em-up, players might find themselves dressing virtual wounds, struggling to co-ordinate tactics with their squad, and facing other supposedly realistic aspects of active service. The realism, of course, had one strict limit. If you died, you could reset the game and play again.

The Exorcism review - salvaged horror movie is a diabolical mess

★ THE EXORCISM Salvaged horror movie is a diabolical mess

Russell Crowe fights losing battle against booze and the devil

Helpfully, this is a film that reviews itself. Like it says on the posters, “They were making a cursed movie. They were warned not to. They should have listened.”