masterful

Tipsy uncles swaying their arms, adverts for a local cash and carry, a child dozing on her mum’s lap: sold-out arena shows rarely feel intimate, but in Wembley, a masterful Shreya Ghoshal induces communal revelry.Ghoshal is one of India’s most successful contemporary playback singers (the vocalists dubbed over actors in film musicals). Emerging in 2000, then the 16-year-old winner of a TV talent show, her transfixing voice – capable of being sweet and delicate as well as altogether more formidable – has become a dominant…

By Jake Coyle | Associated Press When Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, the filmmaker Guillermo del Toro said in his introductory remarks: “We are privileged enough to be living in a time where Mozart is composing symphonies.” You might be tempted to call that hyperbole, but — this being Miyazaki, the legendary anime filmmaker of “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” — it’s closer to fact. The occurrence of a new film…

The creation myth of the Smiths is well-known: inspired by a South Bank Show documentary about the songwriting partnership Leiber and Stoller, Johnny Marr turns up unannounced on Morrissey’s doorstep, meets with the singer’s approval after being invited to pick a record to play and choosing the Marvelettes’ 1966 B-side Paper Boy, returns the following day, when the pair immediately write both The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Suffer Little Children, their extraordinary meditation on the Moors murders: immediate evidence…

On the last day of 2019 Rafael Behr had a heart attack, a really bad one, the kind known as a “widowmaker”. As he was recovering he was told he’d need to avoid stress. Which, as a political columnist for the Guardian, given the state of things, was no easy task. This book is pitched as an attempt to find a path back to engaging with current affairs without ending up in an ambulance again.The good news is that Behr has avoided any further trips to the hospital. The bad news is that he still seems pretty annoyed. Certainly…

Grant Morrison and Richard Case‘s run on Doom Patrol is a masterpiece. Along with other collaborators like Danny Vozzo, John Workman, Simon Bisley, Carlos Garzón, Scott Hanna, Mark McKenna, Kelley Jones, Steve Yeowell, and more, it’s a book that shows the limitless powers of imagination possible in the medium. With themes and ideas familiar to readers of everything from Aztek to Zenith. It’s one of those series that I think that everyone should read at least once in their lives and have it transform you. Amidst…

An excruciatingly heartfelt performance from Patton Oswalt carries this high-concept indie picture from writer-director James Morosini. It’s a film that genuinely does take the comedy of embarrassment to a new level. Morosini says that it’s based on a real incident in his own life; I can believe it. You couldn’t make it up. There is a stranger-than-fiction authenticity to the whole horrifying mess, in which Morosini cleverly uses real home-movie footage of his own childhood. The final 15 minutes have to be watched through…

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a contender for the biggest TV event this year, and the show’s estimated 100 million-strong audience represents a huge number of potential new readers. This book covers the same fictional period in Middle-earth history, the Second Age. If you want the genuine Tolkien version of the era, here it is in one rather beautiful package. And it could also be the palate cleanser you crave if you disliked the show and prefer to go back to the authentic flavour of Middle-earth and the…

Even though it is still a month away from release, the first reviews for Rian Johnson’s murder mystery Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery are out. And they are largely positive. The critics have hailed the film for its tone, smart writing, and the screen presence of its star Daniel Craig. A few critics have criticised the film, saying it falls flat as compared to the first part but by and large, the word is in the film’s favour so far. Also read: Glass Onion trailer: Daniel Craig is back for new Knives Out mystery, fans…

It’s just the latest example of Fetterman’s mastery of the comedic political hit job. His campaign has proven over and over again that, in the right candidate’s hands, Twitter trolling can have a devastating impact and a reach that goes far beyond the platform. While some of his tactics would likely be deemed undignified by Democrats of the when-they-go-low-we-go-high variety, Fetterman is decidedly not of that ilk. Perhaps that’s why he is currently up by six points.By now, even folks who proudly avoid setting digital…

Pulpy yet swooningly romantic, Edwin’s entertaining thriller has perhaps the coolest film title in recent years; it also won the Golden Leopard at last year’s Locarno film festival. Adapted from the popular novel by Eka Kurniawan – the first Indonesian writer to be nominated for the Booker prize – this is a bombastic time capsule of 1980s Indonesia that is all about the essence of manhood. Left impotent by a childhood trauma, Ajo (Marthino Lio) can’t get it up, but he can certainly raise his fists, earning a reputation as…