Doing the Right Thing

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 20 February 2024 > What's On

Most people would feel proud of saving hundreds of mainly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia just before the outbreak of World War II. But Sir Nicholas Winton was haunted by all the children he couldn’t save. Until a surprise 50 years later on a TV programme showed him all the good he had done. A new … Continue reading “Doing the Right Thing”

The Color Purple Returns

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 24 January 2024 > Shine Bright Collège Shine Bright Lycée What's On

Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film The Color Purple was extremely unusual for having an almost entirely African-American cast. (Alice Walker, whose 1982 novel it is based on, was the first ever African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.) The film is an enduring classic, and the musical-theatre version of the story is now hitting … Continue reading “The Color Purple Returns”

Chicken Run 2: Dawn of the Nugget

Posted by Speakeasy News > Sunday 21 January 2024 > Shine Bright Collège What's On

Bristol-based Aardman Animations made their reputation with short films and adverts using plasticine models brought to life with stop-motion animation. In 2000, they released Chicken Run, their first full feature-length film, a gargantuan task and a huge success. Twenty-three years later, they made a sequel! Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget picks up where the … Continue reading “Chicken Run 2: Dawn of the Nugget”

Poor Things: Frankenstein Revisited

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 17 January 2024 > Shine Bright Lycée What's On

Poor Things, adapted into an award-winning film from the novel by Alasdair Gray, imagines a female Frankenstein’s monster who is fundamentally human, and her creator, who much like Dr Frankenstein, is perhaps more monstrous himself. Yorgos Lanthimos’s previous films such as The Lobster and The Favourite were far from mainstream, even if The Favourite won … Continue reading “Poor Things: Frankenstein Revisited”

Gertrude Stein Multi-talented

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 15 December 2023 > Shine Bright Lycée What's On

Gertrude Stein is probably best known for her “salon” in Paris where she nurtured artistic talents as diverse as Matisse and Braque, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce. But her experimental, minimalist writing has been highly influential on generations of creatives right up to today, as is shown in the Gertrude Stein and Picasso: … Continue reading “Gertrude Stein Multi-talented”

2023 Booker Prize Goes to an Irish Dystopia

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 06 December 2023 > What's On

The Booker Prize 2023 was awarded to Paul Lynch for his dystopian novel set in his native Ireland, Prophet Song.  Chosen from a longlist of 13 and a shortlist of six, Lynch’s is the fifth Irish novel to win the U.K.’s most prestigious literary prize. And it’s the former film critic’s fifth novel. Prophet Song … Continue reading “2023 Booker Prize Goes to an Irish Dystopia”