Wes Anderson’s new film is about a 1950s space cadet convention in a tiny desert town famous for its asteroid crater. After an alien sighting, the government puts the town into lockdown with a media blackout. But the ingenious cadets want to get out. Or… it’s about some Actor’s Studio actors on the East Coast … Continue reading “Asteroid City: Seeing Stars”
As we swelter in unseasonable heat, what better prospect than a summer spent watching rainy British costume dramas? ARTE has a great season lined up called “English Passions” with lots of Jane Austen, Jane Eyre and the reboot of the series that inspired Downton Abbey. Settle back with a cup of tea and enjoy! You … Continue reading “A Summer of Romanticism and Costume Drama on ARTE”
The British monarch has two birthdays every year: the real one on 14 November (he was 74) and an official one on the second Saturday in June. That is marked by one of the great moments of British pageantry: the Trooping the Colour ceremony, on 17 June this year. Since 1748, the monarch’s official birthday … Continue reading “King Charles Trooping the Colour”
The UK’s 2023 Women’s Prize has been awarded to Barbara Kingsolver for Demon Copperhead, her retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield set in modern-day Appalachia. She is the first author to win the prize twice, after winning in 2010 for The Lacuna. Kingsolver also received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Demon Copperhead. She was … Continue reading “What the Dickens? 2023 Women’s Prize Winner”
The American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy, passed away on Tuesday 13 June, in Santa Fe, New Mexico (U.S.A.) at the age of 89. Known for his dark and gripping narratives, McCarthy left an indelible mark on the literary world with his most famous masterpieces, The Road and No Country for Old Men. … Continue reading “Cormac McCarthy : the Road Ends”
If you are in or near Brest in the next couple of weeks, don’t miss this free exhibition of 280 works by mysterious street artist Banksy! It’s at the Ateliers des Capucins from 10 to 25 June. The works are from the personal collection of François Bérardino, a French actor who met a graffiti artist … Continue reading “Banksy in Brest”
Amanda Gorman, who wrote and performed her poem “The Hill We Climb” for Joe Biden’s inauguration, is the latest author affected by a wave of book bannings in U.S. schools and libraries. She took to social media to denounce her book being banned after one single complaint from a parent. The poem was one of … Continue reading “Book Bans in U.S. Schools”
Tim Burton has a quirky vision of the world and his films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and the TV series Wednesday are full of intriguing visual details. A new exhibition invites visitors into his visual world. Rather than going through the looking glass, visitors plunge into a labyrinth that ensures … Continue reading “Welcome to Tim Burton’s World”
Jim Broadbent was amazing in The Duke last year, playing a man who took a valuable painting ransom to try to obtain free TV licences for British pensioners. Now he’s back as an equally eccentric Englishman, Harold Fry, who leaves his house to send a letter to a friend he has heard is dying and … Continue reading “I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles”
West Side Story will return to Châtelet in Paris this autumn. Reservations are now open for schools performances and workshops. The musical comedy by Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins is a reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the Capulets and Montagues being replaced by rival gangs in New York. Reservations are now open for a … Continue reading “Save the Date: West Side Story on Stage”