Oscars
Sins of the fathers
Damian Thompson admires a Chilean film about paedophile priests which, unlike Spotlight, dares to explore social and psychological complexities
Oscar vs Augustus
There was something admirable about the spirit of careful mockery behind the doggy bags on offer to the finalists in…
High life
The Dolly Sisters were off to Davos last week for the World Economic Forum: Nat Rothschild and Sebastian Taylor in…
Is this a golden age of protest?
Are we living in a golden age of protest? A bunch of aggrieved citizens only has to raise a murmur…
The Oscars have a disgracefully racist record
In 2017 it will be exactly 50 years since a dapper Sidney Poitier announced to Rod Steiger, in the excellent…
Self-pitying, despairing, often delusional: the real Marlon Brando
Listen to Me Marlon is a documentary portrait of Marlon Brando that has him burbling into your ear for 102…
High and mighty
‘Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side,’ sang Miley Cyrus. ‘It’s the climb.’ She’s not usually a musician to…
Family matters
God, what a title. The Gathered Leaves. It sounds like a tremulous weepie about grief and endurance with a closing…
Diary
Last week I went to the exhilarating English National Opera production of Wagner’s The Mastersingers — five hours of wonderful…
That’ll teach you to attempt a joke, Sean
What a pleasure it is to see the Hollywood actor Sean Penn neck deep in PC ordure. The rodentine thespian…
High life
I had a short chat with BBC radio concerning the actor Jack Nicholson, whom I knew slightly during the Seventies…
Backing stars
Have you ever looked at backing singers and thought: what is their story? Do they or have they ever prayed…
High life
Damn, damn, damn! It has to be me, and all these years I’ve been thinking it was Hollywood. By the…
Oscar syndrome
Awards ceremonies grow ever sillier and more self-important
Notebook
All eyes on the Philippines this week, and rightly so. Godspeed to those American and British ships making their way…
