How secrets come out in a dark story with purple passages and spooky scenes

Jackalope(2026) Raindance Film Festival, The Vue Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London.Until and including June 26 , 2026. World Premiere. Bryce Hirschberg – Writer and Director. Independent horror/thriller. Stars Catherine Corcoran, Alex Mandel, and Bryce Hirschberg. The name Jackalope is a fictional beast – it combines a jackrabbit with the antlers of antelope or deer, rooted in American frontier tall tales and is a good choice of name for this dark film full of episodes to take our breath away. Jackalope indicates myth and mayhem and so the saga unfolds. It’s often fun to be watching a film which starts with … Continue reading How secrets come out in a dark story with purple passages and spooky scenes

Transformation from pop icon to song craftsman

George Michael, pop star who bleached his hair blonde, wore tiny shorts and at the same time, critiqued his own image mercilessly, wrote one of the biggest hits of our age in “about an hour” in his childhood bedroom and would go on to collaborate with some of the greatest musicians of all time from Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder. He lived through the AIDS crisis and one of the most homophobic periods of British history and yet when he finally came out, he did so boldly and unapologetically. Wham! Were the first Western pop group to play in Communist … Continue reading Transformation from pop icon to song craftsman

34th RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVALRaindance Film Festival: 17 – R26 June at host cinema Vue Piccadillyhttps://raindance.org/festival/nominees-2026/To celebrate the outstanding films screening at the 34th Raindance Film Festival (17 – 26 June), jury awards are presented to features and shorts. Raindance’s awards system honours features in 11 categories: Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Discovery Award for Debut Feature, Best Debut Director, Best Performance in a Debut Feature, Best UK Feature, Best Director of a UK Feature, Best Performance in a UK Feature, Best UK Cinematographthe Spirit of Raindance Award and new for 2026 is Best Horror Feature. Raindance is BIFA-qualifying for British features. An Oscar® qualifying festival, Raindance honours the work of short filmmakers with 4 awards. The recipient of Best Live Action Short, … Continue reading 34th RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Can a fox be tamed? 

While some of us crave crime and violence or in depth factual books on politicsor finance as well as self help bibles, some of us feel enlightened and soothedby human interest stories which follow relatively ordinary people and their lifeexperiences especially if animals are involved.So if you want to take a side step and read about Wilf and his foxy friendtogether with elaborate characterisations of many people vital in the story trythis novel which is a debut for Richard Tyrrell who has a degree inPharmacology and has worked as a book reviewer for mainstreet papers andwas a finalist in The … Continue reading Can a fox be tamed? 

Asha Bhosle, Bollywood playback singer dies at 92

Popular Bollywood playback singer, music icon, and film industry’s last Mughal passed away at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai today leaving behind her works. a body of work. “Her voice carried timeless brilliance” PM Modi said.  “ I like doing extraordinary things, Music has been my life. It has given me so much. I decided to do a spectacular concert on my 90th birthday. I doubt if anyone in the world has achieved this feat” Said the legend, who remained defiant of age and expectation. “I was around 10 when I started my singing career in 1943,Over the decades, I have … Continue reading Asha Bhosle, Bollywood playback singer dies at 92

The Globe Theatre at 21 Globe Walk

Diving into theatrical history in the 21 st century Shakespearesglobe.com currently playing Shakespeare’s The Tempest and A Mid Summer Nights Dream, soon to be performed Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare). It is a very popular venue, and don’t miss the details about the Sam Wanamaker theatre next doorand open all year round!The Globe Theatre at 21 Globe Walk, Bankside, Southwark, South London SE1 was in modern times the brain child of Sam Wanamaker who came to the UK in 1949, and who died in 1993. Buildingstarted in 1970 and finished in 1997 – they relied heavily on donations to complete the … Continue reading The Globe Theatre at 21 Globe Walk

Blending facts and fiction

“Hamnet” – What we all need in the New Year? Challenging dramawhich gradually unfolds to a telling finale.Starring Paul Mescal (Latin Tutor – Shakespeare), Jessie Buckley(“Agnes”) Emily Watson, Noah Jupe, Jacobi Jupe, Bodhi RaeBreatnach, Olivia Lynes and David Wilmot amongst the talentedcast.Director Chloe Zhao – 2 hours 5 mins running time – Golden GlobeAward for best motion picture. When the film premiered this year inTelluride it was met with rave reviews, later making Zhao the first towin TIFF People’s Choice Award twice. Steven Spielberg and SamMendes are among the Producers.This film is based on the novel “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell. … Continue reading Blending facts and fiction

Beyond the Milwaukee depression-era conspiracies

Imagine America now – The President of the United States busy redecorating the White House, a new wonder drug is making people skinny, Department of Efficiency, which was started by multi billionaire with a sideline in unusual forms of transportation including Hyperloops Cybertrucks and rockets. How do you see the world depends on your perspective where you start from? If you imagine that the centre of the known universe is the Milwaukee-Chicago, on the shores of the Lake Michigan, once the heartland and cross-roads of American farming and industry: Wisconsin’s vast dairy herds to the west, Flint and Detroit’s  automative plants … Continue reading Beyond the Milwaukee depression-era conspiracies

Realities of entrepreneurship: Greed, Wealth and Ambition of US business in the ’80s

The Bonfire of the Vanities in a ’87 satirical novel by Tom Wolfe, where there is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics and greed in 1980s New York City, and centres on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish assistant attorney Larry Kramer, and British expatriate journalist Peter Fallow. This novel was phenomenal success, and is often been called the quintessential novel of the ’80s. Sherman McCoy, the central character of Tom Wolfe’s first novel, is a young investment banker with a fourteen-room apartment in Manhattan. When he is involved in a freak accident in the … Continue reading Realities of entrepreneurship: Greed, Wealth and Ambition of US business in the ’80s

“DOWNTON ABBEY – THE GRAND FINALE”

“DOWNTON ABBEY – THE GRAND FINALE” IN A CINEMA NEAR YOU – NOW!! 124 minutes, PG Director Richard Curtis Characterisation and careful storytelling spins us another enchanting  yarn in The latest Downton Saga! Plots, plot twists and sub plots feature in this movie, enchanting in the opulent lifestyles portrayed, and the banter and relationships between those above stairs and those below who all seem to get on famously, symbiotic  as their roles are in life in the 30s. It is now 15 years since Downton hit our screens with lots of spin offs and as it is so well loved, I hesitate … Continue reading “DOWNTON ABBEY – THE GRAND FINALE”