One of the most esteemed novels of the past 30 years is probably Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities. It was published in 1988 and was rapt...
Read MoreThere are three stars in La La Land. Ryan Gosling plays Seb, an aspiring jazz pianist making ends meet by playing Christmas jingles; Emma Stone is Mi...
Read MoreFILM: Going absolutely gaga about LA
In what is the third film in the series, Bridget Jones’s Baby is the first not to be based on a Helen Fielding novel (other than embodying the...
Read MoreFILM: The London Borough of Bridget
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are The Nice Guys of the eponymous film. Crowe plays Jackson Healy, a rough-and-ready bruiser who will administer ph...
Read MoreFILM: A contrasting couple who make for an unusual double act
This understated but beguiling story (it’s a U certificate) is based on a Jane Austen novella called Lady Susan, which she wrote at the age of ...
Read MoreFILM: Austen minor classic becomes a big screen triumph
In Terence Malick’s latest film Knight of Cups, Christian Bale plays Rick (just ‘Rick’ – there are only Christian names in Chr...
Read MoreFILM: In which Christian is in his cups
The latest offering from Joel and Ethan Coen is a hilarious tribute to 1950s Hollywood. It’s not so much an orthodox film – nor, with ack...
Read MoreFILM: Hail Clooney as the Coen brothers go camp and commie
There’s a lot to like about The Big Short – except the outcome. There’s a voice-over near the end by deal-maker Jared Vennett (Ryan...
Read MoreFILM: So can you think of a plural that rhymes with bankers?
It’s only love and marriage, I guess. As Nigel. M. Smith in The Guardian noted: “Only a star of Angelina Jolie Pitt’s immense clout ...
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