STEVE JOHNSON speaks to DJ and singer/songwriter Mark Radcliffe
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Going Gaga
MARIA DUARTE sees the pop star give a tremendous performance in A Star is Born
JAMES WALSH takes advantage of an evening of comedy snippets to pick out which clowns will make it in Edinburgh
MAYER WAKEFIELD is swept up by the tale of the south London venue where music forged alliances across race, class and identity
MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds Rosamund Pike’s punchy and tragic portrayal of a multi-tasking mother and high court judge
FIONA O CONNOR recommends an unflinching depiction of child sexual abuse and its aftershocks, set in a working-class Liverpool family
New releases from Paul Weller, Wet Leg, and Dino Saluzzi
A Star is Born (15)
Directed by Bradley Cooper
THIS third remake of A Star is Born is a true revelation in its ingenious and powerful on-screen coupling of Hollywood star turned film-maker Bradley Cooper and the iconic Lady Gaga.
The two are extraordinary together. Who knew Cooper could sing or play the guitar as well as he does, while Lady Gaga, stripped of make-up and gimmicky paraphernalia, shows what a talented actor and tremendous singer and artist she truly is.
The film opens with Cooper as the great rock star Jackson Maine performing at an open-air gig and having to take booze and pills before going on. On his desperate hunt for a drink after the concert, he enters a drag bar where he watches wannabe singer Ally (Lady Gaga) sing La Vie En Rose in a goose pimples-inducing performance and realises that a star is about to be born.
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