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‘Wicked’: Witches Get Stuff Done. Also Cynthia Erivo Is God

By David Fear

It was a wonderful day in Oz when the Wicked Witch of the West died, or so you’d think from the celebratory mood of the residents of Munchkinland. Every man, woman and child were whooping with joy, crying tears of relief, tearing down terrifying posters of the green-hued tyrant like they’d been liberated from the second coming of Stalin. Thank god that a young woman from the exotic, faraway paradise known as “Kansas” found that lethal bucket of H2O! Rejoice, you petite friends of Dorothy. The reign of terror had finally come to end.

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Meanwhile, over in Emerald City: The Wizard — you remember him, all-powerful dictator, really just a blustery grifter, pay no attention to him when he’s behind the curtain — has heard there’s a student over at Shiz who has the potential to read a rare spellbook and turn it into a weapon. Elphaba is invited for a personal visit. She takes Glinda along for the trip. And once both witches-in-training are in the presence of His Wizardness ( Jeff Goldblum ), it becomes apparent that they each have to make a choice about what side of the rainbow they will respectively end up on.

Not that you really need elaborate bells and whistles for that number — it’s all about who’s singing it and if they’re nailing the right wink-nudge spin of the lyrics, which is why you cast Ariana Grande. The singer has made no secret that she’s been pining to play this role for close to a decade , and you get the sense that she shares Glinda’s need to prove herself, if not the character’s grating self-centeredness. If Grande occasionally seems a little stiff doing the physical comedy bits and relies on the 1939’s version’s fluttering high notes as a punch line a tad too much, she’s completely at home belting out a theater-kid perennial like this one. The woman has incomparable pipes. She’s also a charitable screen partner, knowing when to goose scenes with Erivo for effect and when to cede the spotlight so her counterpart can shine that much brighter. They’re an extremely complimentary team. Just not exactly, shall we say, an equal one.

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Home Film Film Reviews

2 May 2024 3:56 PM

‘The Fall Guy’ review: Light on plot, heavy on action, but deliriously entertaining

It might not be perfect, but the first blockbuster of the summer is the definition of a brilliantly mindless popcorn flick.

By Alastair James

Is there a movie star who’s having more fun than Ryan Gosling right now? It’s hard to imagine so in a mad twelve months that have seen him bring the Kenergy in Barbie , *that* Oscars performance , and now in the first summer blockbuster of 2024: The Fall Guy .

In his latest cinematic outing Gosling is stunt man Colt Seavers. After sustaining an jury while filming a dramatic stunt (which Gosling, who is afraid of heights, actually shot) Colt returns to work on an upcoming movie, Metalstorm. It’s heavily inspired by Dune and The Fall Guy seems to have no trouble making that apparent.

The only problem, you see, is that Metalstorm is being directed by Colt’s former lover and first-time director Jody Moreno. The two reunite in an initially frosty exchange (on Jody’s part) but soon become reacquainted and sparks fly. But film producer Gale (Hannah Waddingham) soon reveals she brought Colt out of retirement to help track down missing movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor Johnson). Colt, who was Tom’s stuntman, is quickly embroiled in a plot that involves a dead man, drugs, and plenty of pyrotechnics.

Gosling, on top form here, is clearly having a great time and it really shows. Thanks to films like Barbie , The Nice Guys , and this latest outing he’s had a chance to show off his comedic chops away from more serious CV entries such as Only God Forgives and The Notebook . You could also argue that films like The Gray Man have established Gosling as a certified action star now, which this film subtly takes the piss out of.

Similarly, Blunt, who has as expansive a resumé, charms as Jody with the two stars sharing a strong on-stage chemistry. Hannah Waddingham – on her continued ascent to international treasure status – also gives us an hilariously egotistical film producer, while current RS cover star Johnson gets to join in on some of the fun in a supporting role.

The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, if you hadn’t guessed and is a great action-packed way to while away a couple of hours at the cinema. No muscles were strained in devising the film’s plot, but it fulfils its purpose as a relatively mindless adventure where you can sit back and let the madness unfold. It’s a tad long at over two hours – especially for a film that is light on plot and heavy on action – but it’s still entertaining. The first blockbuster of the summer, for the most part, absolutely delivers.

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Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance: A Film’ Is a Super Hero Epic in the Form of a Concert Movie

This document of her record-breaking 2023 tour is a tribute to the community around her, and the dance-culture legacy that inspired her.

Julian Dakdouk*

Beyoncé’s Renaissance is so much more than a concert film. It’s a superhero epic—as if Bey is filling the void left by The Marvels or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania . It’s a glorious three-hour tour of the Queen in all her creative splendor, on her record-setting Renaissance World Tour from this past summer. The movie would be a blast if it were merely a jubilant live performance, but it’s also a documentary of a year in Bey’s life. “I spent so much of my life a serial people-pleaser,” she says at one point. “And now I don’t give a fuck. I have nothing to prove to anyone at this point.”

Beyoncé wrote, directed, and produced Renaissance: A Film herself. It’s not aimed to be a musical blow-out like the relentless 2019 Homecoming , one of the most astounding concert movies ever. Instead, it’s half live, half behind-the-scenes footage. It’s self-consciously designed as a celebration of her community, where the dancers, the audience, the whole creative team is as important as the star. “My ultimate goal,” she says, “is to create a space where everyone is free and no one is judged, and everyone can be their childlike selves, their sexiest selves. They can all be on that stage. They are the vision. They are the new beginning. That’s what Renaissance is about.”

The tour, like her instant-classic 2022 Renaissance album, is her celebration of Black music and dance culture through the decades, paying tribute to the queer ballroom legacy, honoring different styles and generations of club life. The tour drew controversy by refusing to settle for a greatest-hits tour: Queen Bey was not out to rest on her laurels or rehash her oldies.

Renaissance covers the whole 56-show tour, with nearly every song from the set list. It’s got appearances from the stars who joined her onstage, with Megan Thee Stallion in Houston, or Kendrick Lamar and Diana Ross, who joined for her 42nd birthday show in L.A. It has loving tributes to her late great heroes Tina Turner (“River Deep, Mountain High”) and Donna Summer (“Love to Love You Baby”). She even ends it with a great new song, which is why nobody runs out during the end credits: “ My House ,” a hard hip-hop banger with The-Dream. It’s a musical departure from the club sound of Renaissance , but as always, Beyoncé does everything her own way.

The movie chronicles how she brought the whole tour and concept together. So if you’re the kind of Bey fan, like most of us, who really loves seeing her give orders, there’s plenty to cherish here. She has a classic description of her management style, when she’s dealing with disobedient underlings: “Eventually, they realize this bitch will not give up.” She also gives tantalizing hints about her artistic process, like how she goes onstage after a ginseng shot and a “pregame sandwich.” We needs to know what the hell is in that sandwich—recipe, please?

Renaissance is the rare concert film to get a theatrical release, instead of debuting on HBO or Netflix. It comes six weeks after Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie, and it’s perfect how both megastars have treated the moment like a joint venture, making the scene together at Tay’s premiere in L.A. and Bey’s in London , bonding like the mutual fans they’ve always been. It’s another peak in the long sage of Tayoncé. Both were teen stars initially dismissed as flash-in-the-pan fads, but check on them now—in 2023, they’re the only two supernovae massive enough to get away with dropping their concert movies on movie screens.

One of the best scenes in any movie this year: Beyoncé meets up in Houston for a brief yet fascinating reunion with her old bandmates from Destiny’s Child—not merely Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, but also the long-gone LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett. Despite all their conflicts in the past, they’re presented as one big lovefest. Do they sing? Of course not—just a quickie hug. “It was like a new birth for us,” Beyoncé says. “And a lot of healing.” We don’t know how healed the other four feel, since none of them get to speak a word. It’s a delightful flashback to the Survivor “I’m better than that!” era. Oh, for a documentary on this hug alone.

She devotes much of the movie to her family, with her husband Jay-Z, their kids, her parents. There’s a long-running subplot about her 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, who beguiles her into letting her dance onstage to “My Power,” becoming a regular part of the show. Most poignantly, she speaks about about her late Uncle Johnny, a gay disco fan who schooled her early in house music, then designed costumes for Destiny’s Child before his tragic death from AIDS. He became her major inspiration for Renaissance .

She’s got lots of love for her collaborators—especially her dancers. Not since Madonna’s Truth or Dare has a concert movie given so much screen time to the dance squad, especially her MC, the ballroom legend Kevin JZ Prodigy. Beyoncé also undergoes surgery on her knee, for an onstage injury that goes back 20 years, and we see her work through her rehab to get back up to fighting form. “Usually I only rehearse in heels,” she says. But because of my knee, I haven’t gotten that far yet. It’s hurting like crazy, but the best thing to do is to just get back on the horse.”

In classic form, she’s the most obsessively private and emotionally self-controlled of stars. “The biggest growth in my artistry has come from overcoming failure, conflict and trauma,” she says, though if she’s had creative or commercial failures, they’re well-hidden. She speaks movingly about feeling free in her forties. “The next phase of my life, I want it to come from peace and joy,” she explains. “It’s the best time of my life. I thought I was there at 30, but nah—it’s getting better. Life is getting better.”

Renaissance feels like two films in one. There’s Beyoncé offstage, trying to show how she’s just another member of her big happy creative family—as she says, “There’s so many bees in this hive.” She wants to be a team player. But then there’s Beyoncé onstage, transforming into a goddess and proving why she’s an absolutely unique life form in the universe. On the movie screen, as on the stadium stage, Beyoncé is always the presence who reminds you exactly why you’re here. Renaissance is her tribute to the community around her, and the dance-culture legacy that inspired her. But as soon as she steps in front of a crowd and the spotlight hits her, there’s no doubt about who’s the queen.

From Rolling Stone US