Reviving Toho’s gargantuan behemoth for his 60th birthday was always going to prove a tall order, and with Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Watanabe among the cast, director Gareth Edwards set expectations high for an action packed summer blockbuster to dwarf all others. However, as the old maxim runs, “the bigger they are, the Read More
The illustration exhibition is as one expects: quirky, kooky and full of eccentric pockets of interesting bits and bobs dotted around the entire room. To the left of the entrance it’s hard to ignore the Armitage Shanks urinal shamelessly mounted on the wall (a nod to Duchamp perhaps) with a gilded mirror positioned above. The Read More
Visitors anticipating small cases of tight, traditional jewellery will be surprised by this very varied show, vibrating with a multi-media, interdisciplinary joyousness. Arguably Angelia Santangeli is the only student showing Silversmithing (as opposed to jewellery ) in her smallware, and her unified ‘cakery’ of ceramics and graphics show that her fun mix is destined for Read More
It’s not often that a genre film manages to go beyond the norm, yet Jeremy Saulnier’s low-budget and action-packed Blue Ruin does just that. As a revenge thriller it provides all the gory violence and retribution expected, but it is Saulnier’s focus on the consequences of this violence that breathes new life into the genre Read More
Victoria Hendry’s debut novel explores aspects and perceptions of national identity against the background of the Scottish independence movement and the development of the Scottish National Party at the time of the Second World War. The novel is based on well-researched historical evidence, though Hendry writes in the novel’s historical notes that some poetic licence Read More
The poem, “Kindness, you can’t accuse me of”, proffered early in Michelene Wandor’s new collection Natural Chemistry, completely fulfils its title. Essentially written about the poet as performer, Wandor certainly cannot stand so accused, but she might be charged with many less desirable qualities. Written retrospectively and with acidic disdain, Wandor describes a fellow poet’s Read More
Director Joanna Hogg is no stranger to depicting the destabilisation of familial bonds; it has been the subject of all three of her films since her debut Unrelated in 2007. Exhibition continues her exploration of the theme, dealing with the tense marriage of two artists known only as D (Viv Albertine) and H (Liam Gillick). Read More
Queer is the only way to accurately describe this novel. It is playful, bold, risqué, but ultimately, in my opinion, boring. The story takes off a few years after The Wizard of Oz ends; Dorothy has inexplicably and regretfully returned to Victorian USA from Oz and has been prostituting herself to raise funds to return Read More
In 2003, when Simon Jenner took up the reins of the long-established Survivors Poetry, there was tacit acceptance in some quarters that he was there to ensure that the organization’s death throes were fairly painless – except that Jenner was not complicit in that acceptance. Nor were the Chair, John O’Donoghue, or ACE (Arts Council Read More
Much of Maureen Duffy’s verse contrasts contemporary problems with how life used to be, such as during World War II or the Victorian era. Moreover, not only does her latest collection, Environmental Studies, betray her affinity for Greek mythology, it also reveals her favourite poets: John Milton and John Donne are frequently alluded to, or Read More