Isamu Noguchi, Barbican review – the most elegant exhibition in town

★★★ ISAMU NOGUCHI, BARBICAN The most elegant exhibition in town

A restless spirit who infiltrated many of our lives

Isamu Noguchi may not be a household name, yet one strand of his work is incredibly familiar. In 1951 he visited a lamp factory in Gifu, a Japanese city famous for its paper lanterns. This prompted him to design the lampshades that, for decades, have adorned nearly every student’s bedsit.

Blu-ray: Johnny Guitar

★★★★★ BLU-RAY: JOHNNY GUITAR Nicholas Ray's operatic Western gets the revival treatment

Nicholas Ray's operatic Western gets the revival treatment

Watching this restored print of Nicholas Ray’s delirious Western reminded me of the discovery that those pristine white statues of the Ancient World had once been painted in gaudy colours. When I first saw Johnny Guitar, it was one of those movies that played the repertory and art house cinemas in a battered, faded 16mm print.

The Starling, Netflix review - a slender idea unsatisfyingly executed

Alluring cast can't save Theodore Melfi's trite melodrama

Despite an alluring cast which includes Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd and Kevin Kline, The Starling is doomed to be remembered, if at all, as a slender idea unsatisfyingly executed. Directed by Theodore Melfi from a screenplay by Matt Harris, it’s the story of Lily (McCarthy) and Jack (O’Dowd), a couple whose domestic dream was blown apart by the death of their baby daughter Katie.

Album: Lil Nas X - Montero

★★★ LIL NAS X - MONTERO Georgia-born star brings consistency to an extraordinary sound array

For better or worse, the Georgia-born star brings consistency to an extraordinary array of sound

Lil Nas X is good at being a pop star. Like, what could pop culture need more than a young, flamboyant, witty gay rapper from the deep south who can top the US country charts then just when it appeared he might not be able to live up to the success of “Old Town Road” lap dance Satan in the video for the Latin-tinged “Call me by Your Name” and storm to mega sales all over again?

Is God Is, Royal Court review – blister, flare and burn, baby, burn

★★★★ IS GOD IS, ROYAL COURT A thrillingly satirical mash up 

Aleshea Harris’s award-winning play is a thrillingly satirical mash up

God is a tricky one. Or should that be One? And definitely not a He. So when she says take revenge, then vengeance is definitely not only hers, but ours too. American playwright Aleshea Harris’s dazzlingly satirical 2018 extravaganza is about two women seeking justice and getting even, and it comes to the Royal Court from New York, trailing shouts of enthusiasm and the Obie Award for Playwriting.

The Lost Leonardo review - an incredible tale as gripping as any thriller

★★★★ THE LOST LEONARDO An incredible tale as gripping as any thriller 

The machinations of the art market laid bare

It’s been described as “the most improbable story that has ever happened in the art market”, and The Lost Leonardo reveals every twist and turn of this extraordinary tale. In New Orleans in 2005, a badly-damaged painting (pictured below left) sold at auction for $1,175.

DVD/Blu-ray: All About Eve

★★★★★ ALL ABOUT EVE Joseph L Mankiewicz's theatrical masterpiece on Criterion

They don't write scripts like that anymore: Joseph L Mankiewicz's theatrical masterpiece

Rivalled only by Titanic and La La Land for its 14 Oscar nominations, 1950's Best Picture-winner All About Eve is a film that audiences and reviewers love – even though Joseph L Mankiewicz’s brilliant screenplay makes no bones about the fact that he thinks both fans and critics are less than loveable.

Blu-ray: Deep Cover

★★ DEEP COVER Early '90s American action movie takes on drug trade & police racism

Early '90s American action movie takes on the drug trade and racism within the police

Bill Duke’s 1992 thriller Deep Cover receives the Criterion restoration treatment, and certainly the neon noir lighting looks luscious and fresh. It’s a shame the screenplay, the directing, and most of the acting hasn’t stood the test of time.