Russell HowardÔÇÖs career has gone from strength to strength. Starting off as the geeky guy with a lazy eye from Mock The Week, he gained huge success with his own show: Russell HowardÔÇÖs Good News. Yet, it is as a stand-up comedian where he is most at home. Wonderbox is his first tour for three years and he returns with an increased popularity, having his … Continue reading Review: Russell Howard, Motorpoint Arena
Warning! Spoilers follow BBCÔÇÖs new drama, The Musketeers, is yet another ÔÇô very free ÔÇô adaptation of Alexandre DumasÔÇÖs famous 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers. The transition from book to ongoing series, of course, has required several changes, and the individual episodesÔÇÖ plotlines stray quite far away from anything Dumas ever wrote. In 1630 Paris, three friends, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, serving in the KingÔÇÖs … Continue reading The Musketeers: Episodes 1-7 Review
David O Russell once again joins forces with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, (The Fighter) Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver LiningÔÇÖs Playbook) for his latest film venture, American Hustle This is a film of deception and redemption. The world O Russell Stylishly paints is surmised by its protagonist, Irving Rosenthal (Bale) who suggests that there is ÔÇÿno black and white, only greyÔÇÖ. Although given its … Continue reading Review: American Hustle
The Killzone franchise is seemingly to Sony what the Halo franchise is to Microsoft. Both are first-person shooters set in the future, with the first three main entries being centred on an intergalactic/interplanetary war and now they can add ÔÇÿfourth entry being a sequel-reboot’ to the list of similarities. Case in point, Killzone Shadow Fall, the fourth instalment in the Killzone franchise and PlayStation 4 … Continue reading Review: Killzone: Shadow Fall
The Coen brothersÔÇÖ latest offering follows a heavily fictionalized recreation of the New York folk scene of the 1960s, shortly before the great folk revival. Effortlessly hilarious without sacrificing poignancy, Inside Llewyn Davis explores life in a pre-gentrified Greenwich Village through the eyes of a failing folk singer in crisis. The career of Oscar IsaacÔÇÖs Davis is loosely modeled on the influential but commercially unsuccessful … Continue reading Review: Inside Llewyn Davis
A brand new, and very well-publicised comedy night has come to Buffalo Bar. Sitting right on the doorstep of Cardiff UniversityÔÇÖs student populous, Buffalo comedy promised to bring a professional comedy night with value for money, and it has already delivered with its first instalment. The room feels like home for stand-up comedy; its capacity balances intimacy and gathering perfectly, and the acoustics make every … Continue reading Review: Buffalo Comedy, Buffalo Bar
Although there is a focus on monetary success, Why WasnÔÇÖt I Taught This At School? aims to bring an all-round feeling of success which stretches from career to personal life. The central idea is that change is possible, but only if it comes from within; that thinking like a winner leads to acting like a winner, leads to being a winner. Reynolds adopts a Nurture … Continue reading Book Review: ‘Why WasnÔÇÖt I Taught This At School?’ by Dave Reynolds
Imagine being abducted and forced to serve somebody against your own will. Imagine having to call somebody ÔÇÿmaster ÔÇÿ in order to keep your life.┬á You canÔÇÖt? After all, in a democratic country the idea of equal human rights for everybody goes without saying. At least thatÔÇÖs what most of us think. Based on the memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, 12 Years … Continue reading Review: 12 Years A Slave
Culture are on a mission to debunk the myths that make opera seem boring and unapproachable. Vaiva Seskeviciute reviews the dramatic story of La traviata, where the courtesan ViolettaÔÇÖs rise and tragic fall is spellbindingly presented through dance, music and song. Images courtesy of┬áRoger Donovan A string orchestra, and the mysterious walk of Alfredo opened the scene of La traviata, VerdiÔÇÖs most famous opera. The … Continue reading Review: La traviata, WMC
ThereÔÇÖs something very special about the construction of East India YouthÔÇÖs debut LP ÔÇô ÔÇÿTotal Strife ForeverÔÇÖ. Somehow, William Doyle has managed to make an album which is sporadic, indecisive and yet beautifully flowing all at the same time. With influences ranging from David Bowie and Sufjan Stevens to Factory Floor, any attempt to pigeon-hole this album into one given genre would be an insult … Continue reading Review: East India Youth – Total Strife Forever
Paul Michael Glaser, star of ÔÇÿ70s cop thriller ÔÇÿStarsky and HutchÔÇÖ, leads the talented cast of Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye which is on at the New Theatre until Saturday 8th February. Set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, Fiddler tells the story of Tevye, the father of five daughters who attempts to preserve his family and Jewish traditions in the face of the Tsar … Continue reading Review: Fiddler on the Roof – The New Theatre
The Leeds-based five-piece will drop their self-titled LP on March 3rd, but is it more eagle or seagull? Perhaps someone has already come up with that, but this album feels like both across its 10 tracks, swaying between a sense of wonderful intrigue and ear-piercing doubt. There is a bunch of mysterious openings and dark riffs to get interested in, with opener ÔÇÿNerve EndingsÔÇÖ suggesting … Continue reading Review: Eagulls – Eagulls
Review by Amy Pay Taschen, for the uninitiated, produce some of the most beautiful art books in existence. Always carefully compiled, dotted with facts and printed in rich coloured ink, their publications are a real treat to flick through. 100 Illustrators is one of the latest releases from Taschen, and, like its ancestors, its massive, shiny and bright pages of eye-candy will lure you in … Continue reading Book Review: TASCHEN 100 Illustrators
The Xbox One was marketed by Microsoft as being more than simply a gaming console with more emphasis being placed on it being an entertainment device. Now while this might have swayed some people in direction of its competitor the PS4; it is fair to say that Microsoft has delivered the next-gen experience with the entertainment features that it focused so much on. The first … Continue reading Review: Xbox One
Bravely Default is the best final fantasy game in a long while. It says a great degree about Square EnixÔÇÖs flagship franchise that this is the line most game reviewers have opened with, but itÔÇÖs true; Bravely Default captures the spirit of Final Fantasy V and brings it into the modern era. But how does it hold up? A game that has much in common … Continue reading Review: Bravely Default
Warning! Spoilers follow John took centre stage in this week’s episode The Tomorrow People follows up last weekÔÇÖs promising episode with another entertaining hour. There were good stories here as we got JohnÔÇÖs origin story, but the dynamic presence of guest-star Jason Dohring only highlighted how lifeless the show can be. As for the overall plot of the series this was JohnÔÇÖs hour, showing how … Continue reading The Tomorrow People: “Kill or Be Killed” Review
It doesnÔÇÖt seem like the most natural fit at first sight. The idea of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong releasing an album with Norah Jones may make listeners imagine a strange jazz/soul/pop-punk fusion album, but on ÔÇÿForeverlyÔÇÖ, the woman behind ÔÇ£my heart is drenched in wineÔÇØ and the man behind ÔÇ£do you have the time to listen to me whine?ÔÇØ are paying tribute to … Continue reading Review: Billie Joe and Norah – ‘Foreverly’
Despite the issues new consoles have on day one, the Playstation 4 (PS4) set-up seemed to go quite comfortably – 45 minutes from un-boxing it, the PS4 had done its required updates with no hassle and was ready to go. The interface is somewhat visually similar to the Playstation 3’s as both use a horizontal bar with an icon to represent a menu, although where … Continue reading Review: PlayStation 4
Warning! Spoilers follow Cara and Stephen discuss how to use their telepathy to help “humans” In this third episode of The Tomorrow People the show took some baby steps towards moving beyond its early routine of having Stephen find a problem, argue with John and Cara about whether heÔÇÖs allowed to help, and have the obligatory sneaking around Ultra sequence. We still got all of … Continue reading The Tomorrow People: “Girl, Interrupted” Review
For such a colourfully titled show, Canoe TheatreÔÇÖs Blue/Orange is set in a blandly sterile consultation room, illuminated by fluorescent lights. The audience is placed in the round ÔÇô except itÔÇÖs not round, but quadrilateral, perhaps reflecting the rigidly technocratic themes of the story. The technocracy in this case is the British healthcare system, and its inherent problems in trying to cater for a large … Continue reading Review: Blue/Orange, Sherman Cymru
