More from Arts
Will the Houses of Parliament burn down?
What does £450 million get you these days? With that cash, you could buy a Premier League football club. Or…
John Mulhaney at his best is unstoppable
John Mulaney appeared to be just another of those identical, slick, clean-cut, young comedians in suits until Covid. But all…
The demise of London’s junk shops
‘The place through which he made his way at leisure was one of those receptacles for old and curious things…
The depressed duck detective is back
Grade: B– It’s a duck, except he’s a detective. Or a detective, except he’s a duck. Anyway he wears a…
Why I love blowing up worms
Grade: B+ War, as we all know, is hell. But if it involves small squeaky annelids blowing each-other up with…
A gallery that refuses to dumb-down
The DNA of Dulwich Picture Gallery is aspirational, in the sincerest sense. Opening in 1817 when private collections were still…
The decline of Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh International Festival was established to champion the civilising power of European high culture in a spirit of postwar healing.…
Pacy, fast-moving and graphically lavish: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 reviewed
Grade: B+ Tony Hawk is an old guy these days. The most famous sk8r boi ever to have lived is…
The Alfred Hitchcock of British painting
Carel Weight, the inimitable painter of London life and landscape, was my godfather. I remember a clownish-faced elderly man with…
What we get wrong about modernism
In The Art of the Novel, Milan Kundera writes, witheringly: ‘we must reckon with the modernism of fixed rules, the…
Kingsley goes to the toilet
In 1978, I gave a poetry reading at Hull University. Philip Larkin was glumly, politely, in attendance. I was duly…
Winning little narrative adventure: South of Midnight reviewed
Grade: A– For this winning little narrative adventure we are in the South – all gris-gris gumbo yaya, decaying mansions…
Ridiculously fun: Assassin’s Creed – Shadows reviewed
Grade: A Sometimes you want to admire the pluck and inventiveness of an indie developer. At other times, you just…
The new Civ is gorgeous and richly rewarding
Grade: A- It has been nearly ten years since addicts of the empire-building simulator Civilization – or Civ, as players…
The problem of back-story in drama
Olga in Three Sisters, the opening speech: ‘Father died just a year ago, on this very day – the fifth…
What makes a good title?
Liszt’s compositions tend to have descriptive titles – ‘Wild Chase’; ‘Dreams of Love’ – whereas Chopin avoided titles. Thomas Wentworth…
The Natural History Museum’s new Evolution Garden is inspired
The Natural History Museum is one of the most beautiful buildings in London, but its gardens have long been a…
The latest Dragon Age game is unbearably right-on
Like all other forms of culture, video games offer a way to escape from, or reflect on, reality through fiction.…
