Film Jeanne Dielman: The Greatest Film of All Time? The Sight and Sound poll of the world’s best films had a bit of a shake-up last year when an obscure three-and-a-half-hour experimental feminist movie made it to the number one spot. Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is as austere, detailed and lengthy as its titl By Michael Hootman • 2 min read
Photo: Manuel Harlan Arts REVIEW: The Doctor @ Theatre Royal Brighton Robert Icke’s The Doctor is very much an ideas-driven play. It’s a profusion of debates about race, gender, identity, morality, religion, medical ethics and wokeness which, against the odds, fit neatly into one production. It’s hard to know where the author stands on pretty much any of the themes he By Michael Hootman • 3 min read
Arts AT HOME WITH HOOTMAN: From ‘Get Carter’ to ‘Vampyr’ What’s hot on the box? Film reviews from Michael Hootman By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
Arts At Home With Hootman: From ‘Jules et Jim’ to ‘Lawrence of Belgravia’ What’s hot on the box? Tune into these film reviews from Michael Hootman By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
Arts REVIEW: Circa Sacre @ Theatre Royal Brighton (BRIGHTON FESTIVAL) The choreography is impressive: fluid and gliding and suitably gravity-defying. However, due to my manifest limitations, I wanted to leave after about ten minutes. By Michael Hootman • 2 min read
Lead photo credit: Luca-Truffarelli Arts REVIEW: The Patient Gloria @ Theatre Royal Brighton (BRIGHTON FESTIVAL) It’s probably the only show you’ll see this year which has a flying penis. By Michael Hootman • 2 min read
THE HOMECOMING. Ian Bartholomew (Sam), Keith Allen (Max) & Mathew Horne (Lenny) © Manuel Harlan Arts REVIEW: The Homecoming @ Theatre Royal Brighton Jamie Glover’s excellent production certainly brings out the dark humour of the play. It’s always exciting in the theatre to find yourself laughing and then almost immediately feeling slightly guilty for doing so. By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
Arts AT HOME WITH HOOTMAN: From ‘YellowJackets’ to ‘Hard Cell’ What’s hot on the box? Michael Hootman reviews the best and the worst TV and film By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
Arts AT HOME WITH HOOTMAN: From ‘The Proposition’ to ‘Lot In Sodom’ What’s hot on the box? Michael Hootman tunes into the best and worst TV and film By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
Arts AT HOME WITH HOOTMAN: From ‘The Tinder Swindler’ to ‘The Real Charlie Chaplin’ What’s hot on the box? Michael Hootman tunes into the best and worst TV and film By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
Arts AT HOME WITH HOOTMAN: From ‘Don’t Look Up’ to ‘Toast of Tinseltown’ What’s hot on the box? Michael Hootman tunes into the best and worst TV and film By Michael Hootman • 4 min read
REVIEW: Bent Double @ Komedia Zoe Lyons has a great rapport with the audience and her likability is definitely an asset. Maybe she was having a bad evening but her material wasn’t great. There was some observational comedy (sans comedy) about people who wear wolf fleeces. We heard the old joke about teachers who work so hard tha By Michael Hootman • 2 min read
