Shortly after Stan Lee’s tragic passing late last year, Real Time host Bill Maher stirred up some controversy online (and that’s putting it lightly) with an incendiary blog piece. The ignorant and uncalled for article saw the comedian and TV personality use Lee’s death as a jumping off point for what became a blanket criticism of comic book culture in general, with Maher essentially telling us he thinks comics are simply an unimportant and juvenile art form, one which doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.
Understandably, the fan backlash came in hard and fast, and given Maher’s history as a provocateur, it’s hardly surprising that he hasn’t been very apologetic about his statements. In fact, not only is he not willing to apologize, but it seems that he’s actually got more to say on the topic.
Yes, believe it or not, he...
Understandably, the fan backlash came in hard and fast, and given Maher’s history as a provocateur, it’s hardly surprising that he hasn’t been very apologetic about his statements. In fact, not only is he not willing to apologize, but it seems that he’s actually got more to say on the topic.
Yes, believe it or not, he...
- 1/26/2019
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
Bill Maher (Real Time with Bill Maher) is a controversial grown up that likes to stir the pot every now and then with childish rants. In a recent post on his blog, Maher went off on a rant slamming Americans for “using their smarts on stupid stuff” like comic books and in the process made sure to disrespect the late Stan Lee, saying:
"The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep morning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess. Someone on Reddit posted, 'I'm so incredibly grateful I lived in a world that included Stan Lee.'
"Personally, I’m grateful I lived in a world that included oxygen and trees, but to each his own. Now, I have nothing against comic books – I read them now and then when I was...
"The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep morning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess. Someone on Reddit posted, 'I'm so incredibly grateful I lived in a world that included Stan Lee.'
"Personally, I’m grateful I lived in a world that included oxygen and trees, but to each his own. Now, I have nothing against comic books – I read them now and then when I was...
- 11/19/2018
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
In the wake of Stan Lee’s recent passing, Real Time host Bill Maher took the opportunity to stir up some drama with an incendiary blog piece. This controversial article published on Saturday saw the comedian and political commentator use the writer’s death as the starting point for a blanket criticism of comic book culture in general, arguing that comics represent an unimportant and juvenile art form that doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.
Naturally, the fan backlash came in hard and fast, and given Maher’s track record as a provocateur, it comes as little surprise that the television personality seems unapologetic about his statements. But while Maher looks to have already moved on from the controversy, many fans aren’t letting him forget his irreverent remarks.
Maher’s first public comments since his piece was published took the form of a tweet that saw the commentator...
Naturally, the fan backlash came in hard and fast, and given Maher’s track record as a provocateur, it comes as little surprise that the television personality seems unapologetic about his statements. But while Maher looks to have already moved on from the controversy, many fans aren’t letting him forget his irreverent remarks.
Maher’s first public comments since his piece was published took the form of a tweet that saw the commentator...
- 11/19/2018
- by David Pountain
- We Got This Covered
As the outpouring of online tributes to the late Stan Lee continue, this period of collective mourning has inevitably seen its share of conflict, much of it stemming from a controversial blog post written by Real Time host Bill Maher.
In this well-circulated piece, the comedian and political commentator used the renowned writer’s recent passing as a jumping-off point for a blanket criticism of comic book culture in general, arguing that comics represent an unimportant and juvenile art form that doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.
Naturally, the fan backlash came hard and fast, and among these condemnations was a tweet from Neil Gaiman, a writer perhaps best known for his comic book series The Sandman. The author’s short message dismisses the controversial piece as a cry for attention before observing how Lee’s legacy and popularity overshadow Maher’s.
“Maher’s just trolling, and lots of...
In this well-circulated piece, the comedian and political commentator used the renowned writer’s recent passing as a jumping-off point for a blanket criticism of comic book culture in general, arguing that comics represent an unimportant and juvenile art form that doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.
Naturally, the fan backlash came hard and fast, and among these condemnations was a tweet from Neil Gaiman, a writer perhaps best known for his comic book series The Sandman. The author’s short message dismisses the controversial piece as a cry for attention before observing how Lee’s legacy and popularity overshadow Maher’s.
“Maher’s just trolling, and lots of...
- 11/18/2018
- by David Pountain
- We Got This Covered
The Happy Prince, the acclaimed biopic of Oscar Wilde, is more than a career-reviving film for the actor and director, it is an avowal of an enduring literary love
The surprised delight that met Rupert Everett’s second volume of memoir, Vanished Years, six years ago was a hint of what might be to come. The calibre of the writing matched any living diarist, according to a broad cross-section of reviewers, from Julie Burchill in the Guardian to the Telegraph’s Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who awarded five stars and revelled in the way the author “repeatedly slips the gears of genre, moving between scenes of farce, elegy and melodrama”. He predicted more “seriously good books” ahead, if only Everett would take himself “seriously enough”.
Well, now we know exactly what Rupert wrote next – a screenplay. And his new film biography of Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince, has wowed film critics in much the same way.
The surprised delight that met Rupert Everett’s second volume of memoir, Vanished Years, six years ago was a hint of what might be to come. The calibre of the writing matched any living diarist, according to a broad cross-section of reviewers, from Julie Burchill in the Guardian to the Telegraph’s Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who awarded five stars and revelled in the way the author “repeatedly slips the gears of genre, moving between scenes of farce, elegy and melodrama”. He predicted more “seriously good books” ahead, if only Everett would take himself “seriously enough”.
Well, now we know exactly what Rupert wrote next – a screenplay. And his new film biography of Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince, has wowed film critics in much the same way.
- 6/10/2018
- by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent
- The Guardian - Film News
Dismaland Castle and Big Little Mermaid suffering from split-personality disorder. Dismaland: Banksy and more than 50 other artists create bemusement theme park Who gives a damn about the cheap thrills to be offered by the Star Wars-themed expansion of Disneyland when you can relish the thought-provoking wonders of Dismaland? The artist Banksy, whose 2010 documentary feature Exit Through the Gift Shop was nominated for an Academy Award, has come up with his latest revolutionary artwork: a theme park for the bemusement of the whole family! Or perhaps not quite the whole family. Banksy calls his 2.5-acre art show a “family theme park unsuitable for small children.” Another Dismaland plus. Its construction shrouded in secrecy, Dismaland opened today, Aug. 20, '15, on the sea front at Weston-super-Mare, in Somerset, southwest England. While the theme park was being built, locals believed that the work going on at the derelict Tropicana “lido” – shut down in...
- 8/20/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The summer isn't quite over yet. Before you pack away your suncream and start your Christmas shopping, there's still time for one more series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2014.
Emma Willis will be introducing the new bunch of D-listers and faded stars on August 18, as they head into the famous compound for nearly a month of silliness, arguments over booze and daft ego-clashing.
But who is going in? We've gathered up the 17 latest rumoured housemates who may (or may not) be making a new home on Channel 5.
1. Helen Flanagan
It's a reality show. Bears still poop in the woods. Helen Flanagan is being tipped to take part by red top newspapers.
2. Lettice Rowbotham
She's quite posh. She played the violin on Britain's Got Talent. It's such a weird rumour, it could possibly be true.
3. Gary Busey
Most recently the star of films such as Piranha 3Dd, Dr Dolittle 3 and The Gingerdead Man,...
Emma Willis will be introducing the new bunch of D-listers and faded stars on August 18, as they head into the famous compound for nearly a month of silliness, arguments over booze and daft ego-clashing.
But who is going in? We've gathered up the 17 latest rumoured housemates who may (or may not) be making a new home on Channel 5.
1. Helen Flanagan
It's a reality show. Bears still poop in the woods. Helen Flanagan is being tipped to take part by red top newspapers.
2. Lettice Rowbotham
She's quite posh. She played the violin on Britain's Got Talent. It's such a weird rumour, it could possibly be true.
3. Gary Busey
Most recently the star of films such as Piranha 3Dd, Dr Dolittle 3 and The Gingerdead Man,...
- 8/8/2014
- Digital Spy
Two years after he elegantly deconstructed the declining standards of modern moviegoing in The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, Mark Kermode turns his gaze inward on his own profession in his third book Hatchet Job.
Digital Spy sat down with Kermode last week to discuss the shifting sands of film criticism in the digital age, how on-demand culture is making movie fans lazy, and his controversial love for sparkly vampires.
> Mark Kermode: 10 of the 'Hatchet Job' critic's greatest review rants
You've been working as a film critic for more than 20 years - what was it that motivated you to write about the profession now?
"It really came out of my last book, The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, which was about the state of cinema and the fact that with the change from celluloid to digital, there had come a point when everyone decided, 'Let's just fire all the projectionists,...
Digital Spy sat down with Kermode last week to discuss the shifting sands of film criticism in the digital age, how on-demand culture is making movie fans lazy, and his controversial love for sparkly vampires.
> Mark Kermode: 10 of the 'Hatchet Job' critic's greatest review rants
You've been working as a film critic for more than 20 years - what was it that motivated you to write about the profession now?
"It really came out of my last book, The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, which was about the state of cinema and the fact that with the change from celluloid to digital, there had come a point when everyone decided, 'Let's just fire all the projectionists,...
- 10/9/2013
- Digital Spy
TV Line has visited the set of Glee, and has news about our favorite couples. As for Britianna, well, there are going to be a lot of angry lesbians out there. And when it comes to Klaine, Darren Criss says that he and Kurt do "suss out" their relationship, but there's a new love interest for Kurt, and Blaine "strikes [up] a new relationship, not a romantic relationship – or maybe it is – with somebody who’s already been around, who is now more involved in Blaine’s life. They’ve kind of taken a new step in their relationship.” Clear as mud?
John Mulholland, editor of the British Observer, has released a statement about that horrible transphobic article over the weekend. "We have decided to withdraw from publication the Julie Burchill comment piece 'Transsexuals should cut it out'. The piece was an attempt to explore contentious issues within what had become a highly-charged debate.
John Mulholland, editor of the British Observer, has released a statement about that horrible transphobic article over the weekend. "We have decided to withdraw from publication the Julie Burchill comment piece 'Transsexuals should cut it out'. The piece was an attempt to explore contentious issues within what had become a highly-charged debate.
- 1/17/2013
- by lostinmiami
- The Backlot
The Hollywood director is trying to raise money for The Goon. Give enough and you could get a private screening with the film-maker
David Fincher's last film made £145m worldwide. The one before took £140m, plus three Oscars, a Golden Globe and a Bafta for best director. On the side, Fincher directs glossy ads for big agencies. Now: give this man your money.
"Help us make a New Kind of animated film ... one that's Loud, Violent and Offensive To Your Grandma." So runs the invite on the Kickstarter page for The Goon, which would be produced by Fincher and directed by Eric Powell, who wrote the comic strip of the same name, featuring killer robots, demon priests and giant fishmen. They're not funding a whole film: they're raising $150,000 to cut a feature-length storyboard with sound effects "to give Hollywood a complete look at the Goon film's potential".
As with most crowdfunding,...
David Fincher's last film made £145m worldwide. The one before took £140m, plus three Oscars, a Golden Globe and a Bafta for best director. On the side, Fincher directs glossy ads for big agencies. Now: give this man your money.
"Help us make a New Kind of animated film ... one that's Loud, Violent and Offensive To Your Grandma." So runs the invite on the Kickstarter page for The Goon, which would be produced by Fincher and directed by Eric Powell, who wrote the comic strip of the same name, featuring killer robots, demon priests and giant fishmen. They're not funding a whole film: they're raising $150,000 to cut a feature-length storyboard with sound effects "to give Hollywood a complete look at the Goon film's potential".
As with most crowdfunding,...
- 10/21/2012
- by Julie Burchill, Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
There are lots of hilarious British films about teenage boys. But unlike the Us, we don't do girl-centred comedy. Why?
The box-office success of The Inbetweeners Movie may have taken the film industry by surprise, but for many of its audience it was a no-brainer. A funny, frank film about adolescence that got everything right – the phoney, peer-pleasing, "street" jargon; the perpetually nagging fear of inadequacy, perked up by flashes of hope and well-oiled fantasy; the humiliations ladled out by bodies commanded by the whiff of sex. Why wouldn't film-lovers flock to see such a formative part of their lives recreated so authentically, to spend a couple of happy hours revelling in "thank God it's not just me" camaraderie (for youngsters) or "thank God it's over" nostalgia (for older ones)?
Well, one reason might be that they are female. Many saw our male counterparts weep with laughter and recognition at The Inbetweeners,...
The box-office success of The Inbetweeners Movie may have taken the film industry by surprise, but for many of its audience it was a no-brainer. A funny, frank film about adolescence that got everything right – the phoney, peer-pleasing, "street" jargon; the perpetually nagging fear of inadequacy, perked up by flashes of hope and well-oiled fantasy; the humiliations ladled out by bodies commanded by the whiff of sex. Why wouldn't film-lovers flock to see such a formative part of their lives recreated so authentically, to spend a couple of happy hours revelling in "thank God it's not just me" camaraderie (for youngsters) or "thank God it's over" nostalgia (for older ones)?
Well, one reason might be that they are female. Many saw our male counterparts weep with laughter and recognition at The Inbetweeners,...
- 9/29/2011
- by Jane Graham
- The Guardian - Film News
I was wrong about Drive's 'five-minute rule', but I'm certain Peter Jackson's re-issued 1994 drama is still disturbing and sublime
This week I was intending to blog about the new DVD and Blu-ray re-issue of Peter Jackson's early masterpiece Heavenly Creatures, featuring the sensational debut of the 19-year-old Kate Winslet and the no less outstanding Melanie Lynskey. Before that, though, I have to revisit Nicolas Winding Refn's new film Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as an ice-cool getaway driver.
It's time for a mea culpa, and a slice of what I can only describe as contrition quiche. Fans of this film were very far from happy with my three-star review and complained about my tiresome observations on the subject of the Driver's "five-minute rule", which they said were an toxic combination of pedantry and inaccuracy. They were entirely right to complain. I had simply got it flat-out wrong – and for this I apologise.
This week I was intending to blog about the new DVD and Blu-ray re-issue of Peter Jackson's early masterpiece Heavenly Creatures, featuring the sensational debut of the 19-year-old Kate Winslet and the no less outstanding Melanie Lynskey. Before that, though, I have to revisit Nicolas Winding Refn's new film Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as an ice-cool getaway driver.
It's time for a mea culpa, and a slice of what I can only describe as contrition quiche. Fans of this film were very far from happy with my three-star review and complained about my tiresome observations on the subject of the Driver's "five-minute rule", which they said were an toxic combination of pedantry and inaccuracy. They were entirely right to complain. I had simply got it flat-out wrong – and for this I apologise.
- 9/26/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Julie Burchill has hit out at the "pollution" of the entertainment industry by the children of famous people. In a column for MyDaily, the writer claimed that the "ever-burgeoning Sads (Sons And Daughters)" of stars were "just as parasitic and bogus as the Greater Spotted Wag (Wives and Girlfriends)". Burchill said: "Be they the Good (Daisy Lowe), the Bad (Otis Ferry) or the downright ugly (Kelly Osborne) they use their sharp elbows and blunt instrument brains to wiggle, worm and wail their way into the national consciousness. "So prevalent is their pollution of the current entertainment industry that when the occasional outsider such as Alexa Chung or Cat Deeley actually (more)...
- 6/10/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Julie Burchill has hit back at Lily Allen in their continuing war of words. After the columnist called Allen an "over-privileged cry-baby" in a piece about Cheryl Cole, Allen responded on Twitter, calling Burchill a "bitter old troll" and "a bit of a self-loather". Burchill has now told the Evening Standard: "For someone who doesn't want to be famous any more she spends a lot of time reading about herself and tweeting. "It was partly over Cole but partly because Allen had said some ignorant s**t about the working-class (more)...
- 6/2/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Lily Allen has hit back at journalist Julie Burchill over comments she made in a newspaper. In an article she penned about Cheryl Cole for The Sun, Burchill referred to Allen as an "overprivileged crybaby" and "public-school tool", provoking the singer to respond via Twitter. Allen posted: "Julie Birchill, you are an ignorant and bitter old troll, but I guess you know that already. The amateur psychiatrist in me says sees a lot of her younger self in me, and she's a bit of a 'self-loather'." Allen feuded with (more)...
- 5/30/2011
- by By Mark Langshaw
- Digital Spy
If we believe all the eulogies to the Hollywood star, how can we say that only thin women are truly beautiful?
At the time of writing, the death of Elizabeth Taylor has yet to feature on Goop, the lifestyle website founded and run by another movie star, Gwyneth Paltrow. Admittedly, the older actress's weakness for bourbon, hot dogs and prescription drugs are not a natural fit with Gwyneth's tips for eternal life – how differently Taylor's career might have ended had she stuck to morning draughts of kale juice, "full of calcium and antioxidants" – but in the tributes following her death, many varied, usually dissonant voices have agreed that the woman, with all her fleshly vices, was a goddess and an inspiration of the sort we shall not see again.
We find Julie Burchill, for instance, who once addressed Camille Paglia as a "crazy old dyke", in full agreement with the...
At the time of writing, the death of Elizabeth Taylor has yet to feature on Goop, the lifestyle website founded and run by another movie star, Gwyneth Paltrow. Admittedly, the older actress's weakness for bourbon, hot dogs and prescription drugs are not a natural fit with Gwyneth's tips for eternal life – how differently Taylor's career might have ended had she stuck to morning draughts of kale juice, "full of calcium and antioxidants" – but in the tributes following her death, many varied, usually dissonant voices have agreed that the woman, with all her fleshly vices, was a goddess and an inspiration of the sort we shall not see again.
We find Julie Burchill, for instance, who once addressed Camille Paglia as a "crazy old dyke", in full agreement with the...
- 3/27/2011
- by Catherine Bennett
- The Guardian - Film News
Sam Riley is Pinkie in a bold Mods'n'Rockers update of Graham Greene's classic
Keith Waterhouse once wrote that Brighton looked like a town that was helping the police with its inquiries; no less memorably, Brighton resident Julie Burchill wrote that the simple word "esplanade" gave her a secret, sensual thrill. There's something of both these feelings in writer-director Rowan Joffe's bold, intelligent but flawed new version of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, his noir tale of fear and sin amid the interwar racecourse gangs in Brighton. Here, it's updated to the 1960s world of running seaside battles between Mods and Rockers.
It's an intelligent and creative movie, not a masterpiece, but much better than some rather disobliging reviews have suggested, drawing less on the book than on the 1947 John Boulting film whose screenplay Greene co-wrote with Terence Rattigan. Fans of both, however, may be discontented with the way Joffe handles the ending,...
Keith Waterhouse once wrote that Brighton looked like a town that was helping the police with its inquiries; no less memorably, Brighton resident Julie Burchill wrote that the simple word "esplanade" gave her a secret, sensual thrill. There's something of both these feelings in writer-director Rowan Joffe's bold, intelligent but flawed new version of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, his noir tale of fear and sin amid the interwar racecourse gangs in Brighton. Here, it's updated to the 1960s world of running seaside battles between Mods and Rockers.
It's an intelligent and creative movie, not a masterpiece, but much better than some rather disobliging reviews have suggested, drawing less on the book than on the 1947 John Boulting film whose screenplay Greene co-wrote with Terence Rattigan. Fans of both, however, may be discontented with the way Joffe handles the ending,...
- 2/4/2011
- by Helen Mirren, Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Sam Riley is Pinkie in a bold Mods'n'Rockers update of Graham Greene's classic
Keith Waterhouse once wrote that Brighton looked like a town that was helping the police with its inquiries; no less memorably, Brighton resident Julie Burchill wrote that the simple word "esplanade" gave her a secret, sensual thrill. There's something of both these feelings in writer-director Rowan Joffe's bold, intelligent but flawed new version of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, his noir tale of fear and sin amid the interwar racecourse gangs in Brighton. Here, it's updated to the 1960s world of running seaside battles between Mods and Rockers.
It's an intelligent and creative movie, not a masterpiece, but much better than some rather disobliging reviews have suggested, drawing less on the book than on the 1947 John Boulting film whose screenplay Greene co-wrote with Terence Rattigan. Fans of both, however, may be discontented with the way Joffe handles the ending,...
Keith Waterhouse once wrote that Brighton looked like a town that was helping the police with its inquiries; no less memorably, Brighton resident Julie Burchill wrote that the simple word "esplanade" gave her a secret, sensual thrill. There's something of both these feelings in writer-director Rowan Joffe's bold, intelligent but flawed new version of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, his noir tale of fear and sin amid the interwar racecourse gangs in Brighton. Here, it's updated to the 1960s world of running seaside battles between Mods and Rockers.
It's an intelligent and creative movie, not a masterpiece, but much better than some rather disobliging reviews have suggested, drawing less on the book than on the 1947 John Boulting film whose screenplay Greene co-wrote with Terence Rattigan. Fans of both, however, may be discontented with the way Joffe handles the ending,...
- 2/3/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The UK may be struggling to keep up with the rest of the world in the arena of football, but we’re at least producing some top quality actors. Here’s Matthew’s pick of upcoming talent…
In a review I read for the BBC film, Dive, it stated, "It is lucky that, at a time when we are failing miserably to produce young footballers, we are producing such wonderful young actors." I'm not exactly sure why one would make up for the other, but I agree with the assertion. We have some great young actors and our young footballers are rubbish. For me, that's the best way round, though.
Here's a list of ten young British actors whom I expect to be making big moves in the world of entertainment in the near future, if they aren't already. The list is based on some completely subjective criteria such as talent,...
In a review I read for the BBC film, Dive, it stated, "It is lucky that, at a time when we are failing miserably to produce young footballers, we are producing such wonderful young actors." I'm not exactly sure why one would make up for the other, but I agree with the assertion. We have some great young actors and our young footballers are rubbish. For me, that's the best way round, though.
Here's a list of ten young British actors whom I expect to be making big moves in the world of entertainment in the near future, if they aren't already. The list is based on some completely subjective criteria such as talent,...
- 9/22/2010
- Den of Geek
When “Diamond” David Lee Roth quipped, “Rock critics like Elvis Costello because rock critics look like Elvis Costello,” he certainly did not have Nick Kent in mind. Kent, the most audacious and dissolute writer at Britain’s New Musical Express during its early- and mid-70s peak, had Wilde’s hair, Brando’s motorcycle jacket, Mick’s glittering scarves, and Keith’s appetite for heroin. Chrissie Hynde fell in love with him, Led Zeppelin trusted him, Lester Bangs tutored him, Malcolm McLaren endeavored to start a band with him (the excellently named Masters of the Backside, with Hynde and members of the future Damned), then consulted him on the Sex Pistols. That Frankenstein monster bit back when Sid Vicious bloodied Kent’s skull with a bike chain. On style points alone, Kent annexed a unique post among the academics and schlubs of music journalism of the 1970s and 80s. In the 90s,...
- 8/31/2010
- Vanity Fair
What makes a great critic? As we launch our third Young Critics' Competition, Guardian reviewers offer some expert advice – and reveal the writers who first inspired them
'A critic is more than a spectator' Michael Billington, theatre critic
I started reading reviews avidly in my teens. I'm still haunted by a phrase Harold Hobson used about Waiting for Godot in the Sunday Times: "If you have only 15 shillings left in the world, go and see Waiting for Godot. If you have 30 shillings, see it twice."
But the critic who really obsessed me, and most of my generation, was Hobson's great rival, Kenneth Tynan at the Observer. What Tynan showed is that criticism is principally about writing well. Open his collected reviews on any page and you find the phrases lock perfectly into place. Here's one example, from a 1956 review of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory: "Puffing on a cheroot,...
'A critic is more than a spectator' Michael Billington, theatre critic
I started reading reviews avidly in my teens. I'm still haunted by a phrase Harold Hobson used about Waiting for Godot in the Sunday Times: "If you have only 15 shillings left in the world, go and see Waiting for Godot. If you have 30 shillings, see it twice."
But the critic who really obsessed me, and most of my generation, was Hobson's great rival, Kenneth Tynan at the Observer. What Tynan showed is that criticism is principally about writing well. Open his collected reviews on any page and you find the phrases lock perfectly into place. Here's one example, from a 1956 review of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory: "Puffing on a cheroot,...
- 5/25/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Thanks to popular British film and television, there is a perception outside Britain that roaming amidst our green fields and cobbled streets are delicate, silver-spooned beauties and post-Henry Eliza Doolittles. While we are on record as being rather fond of the corset — for two reasons — in reality, there is a much more diverse bunch of British ladies turning heads. And a high proportion of them are swigging pints, not tea.
So we are dedicating this column to the introduction and celebration of some of today's most desirable ladies in dear old Blighty. And because we are gripped by UK election fever, we decided to be democratic about it and sent a Twat out a few days ago asking you to nominate the UK ladies you wish were of a lesbian persuasion.
It would be far too challenging a task to look at this with any deep meaning — we'd have to flick through historical archives,...
So we are dedicating this column to the introduction and celebration of some of today's most desirable ladies in dear old Blighty. And because we are gripped by UK election fever, we decided to be democratic about it and sent a Twat out a few days ago asking you to nominate the UK ladies you wish were of a lesbian persuasion.
It would be far too challenging a task to look at this with any deep meaning — we'd have to flick through historical archives,...
- 5/10/2010
- by Sarah and Lee
- AfterEllen.com
A new film shows how the cultural role of body art has changed. While some new insignias may irk, I'm still glad of mine
I can still remember the moment I began to appreciate the potentially subversive power of the tattoo. As a teenager, I acquired a copy of Julie Burchill's novel Ambition, the story of tough-talking hack Susan Street, who is promised editorship if she completes a series of challenges set by her newspaper's proprietor. I was hoping to pick up some tips on career development but, as the tasks unfolded, each one more outlandishly sexual than the last, I recognised that this would not be the case. What first alerted me that I was not in Judy Blume territory was the initial insistence that Street have the word "sold" tattooed just below her hairline.
Months after my adolescent probity had recovered from the lesbian orgy scene, I...
I can still remember the moment I began to appreciate the potentially subversive power of the tattoo. As a teenager, I acquired a copy of Julie Burchill's novel Ambition, the story of tough-talking hack Susan Street, who is promised editorship if she completes a series of challenges set by her newspaper's proprietor. I was hoping to pick up some tips on career development but, as the tasks unfolded, each one more outlandishly sexual than the last, I recognised that this would not be the case. What first alerted me that I was not in Judy Blume territory was the initial insistence that Street have the word "sold" tattooed just below her hairline.
Months after my adolescent probity had recovered from the lesbian orgy scene, I...
- 4/15/2010
- by Libby Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Since a bunch of you have asked, no, Series 4 of Dante's Cove has not started shooting yet. I checked. It is still in development for a Fall shoot. It's still a money-maker for Regent/here! so there's little doubt that cameras will roll on the naked and nearly naked flesh of all the denizens of DC sometime this year.
Dantes isn't one of my favorite shows. I applaud every year that another season gets produced. I truly love the fact that queer genre is being made, year in and year out. Like with the The Lair, it's awesome that there's an audience for the supernatural shenanigans on both shows. I just wish both shows were... better. Better written, better acted, better produced. I want our stuff to be great, regardless of the gayness of it. I've never been convinced that Dantes or The Lair does that.
I've posted below the...
Dantes isn't one of my favorite shows. I applaud every year that another season gets produced. I truly love the fact that queer genre is being made, year in and year out. Like with the The Lair, it's awesome that there's an audience for the supernatural shenanigans on both shows. I just wish both shows were... better. Better written, better acted, better produced. I want our stuff to be great, regardless of the gayness of it. I've never been convinced that Dantes or The Lair does that.
I've posted below the...
- 6/5/2009
- doorQ.com
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