Category Archives: Oliver Heard

A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg – film review by Oliver Heard.

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Ever since I saw ‘Dead Ringers’, the films of David Cronenberg have filled me with feelings of “look away now”. But ‘A Dangerous Method’, exploring the relationship between a young Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his disturbed patient and lover Sabina Spielrein … Continue reading

Slow Club at Heaven, February 2012 – live gig review by Oliver Heard.

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Of all the new British bands, Sheffield’s Slow Club stand out for making pretty riffs and hooks you’ve heard a million times, into something distinctly above the average. Yes, they’re quite tidy and maybe we should expect more from rock … Continue reading

Frank Skinner & Friends at the Noel Coward theatre – review by Oliver Heard.

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  Frank Skinner & Friends, a reprisal of his Comedy Crunch, sees the amiable stand-up compering a week of comedy talent in London’s West End, with different acts each night. At sixteen pounds a show, it’s good value, if you … Continue reading

Five Christmas records that warm the heart and get me in the mood by Oliver Heard.

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Top 5: 1) Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney (1979) It’s one of those McCartney songs that’s so simple it’s ridiculous. The chorus goes round and round like “Your Mother Should Know”, and the record has a nice “boing, boing” synthesizer … Continue reading

“Death and the Maiden” at the Harold Pinter theatre – review by Oliver Heard.

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Ariel Dorfman’s ‘Death and the Maiden’, revived in this new production starring Thandie Newton, is a psychological pressure cooker of a play with political overtones. In an unnamed country in the transition from dictatorship to democracy, a middle-class couple, Paulina and … Continue reading

“One Man, Two Guvnors” at the Adelphi theatre, London, 2011.

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If you like James Corden, and eighteenth-century Italian farce, then you’ll love One Man, Two Guvnors. But most people don’t crave that combination, so it must be the ‘Gavin and Stacey’ star in the lead role as a buffoon, that’s … Continue reading

Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge theatre, London, November 2011 – review by Oliver Heard.

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The template for Matilda the Musical seems to be a combination of Oliver’s exuberance and the classroom rebellion of Grange Hill, although Roald Dahl’s view of school life was far nastier than Lionel Bart’s or Phil Redmond’s. Aussie comic Tim Minchin … Continue reading

Bon Iver live at the Hammersmith Apollo, 24th Oct 2011 – review by Oliver Heard.

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Bon Iver: I might be the only person on the planet who didn’t play Bon Iver’s debut album ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ to death. For sure, the title track ‘For Emma’ is a classic, but did Justin Vernon’s sensitive indie rock really … Continue reading

‘Backbeat’ at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, October 2011 by Oliver Heard.

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The back-story of The Beatles’ rise from playing the clubs of Hamburg to becoming the biggest pop group in the world, is well documented.  The focus of this stage adaptation of Ian Softley’s1994 movie of the same name, is the … Continue reading

Beth Jeans Houghton at The Lexington, London, 29/9/11 by Oliver Heard.

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Beth Jeans Houghton appears on stage tonight at The Lexington wearing a tiger suit with hood AND a beanie.  It’s a balmy late September’s evening in London and the Newcastle singer admits to sweating like a trooper. The things people … Continue reading