Matthew Knott

Gaga for Glee: in praise of Kurt

24th May 2010 | 0 comments | 2 people like this

The debate over the representation of gay characters on television is due to be reignited this week following the airing of Glee’s latest installment, which is set to showcase songs by Lady Gaga. Previews have revealed that the episode will feature the glee club being divided into two groups for a lesson on theatricality, with the boys performing one song, and the girls another. Only Kurt, the openly gay male...

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Treme: a man-made disaster?

27th April 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

This week the BFI screened the international premiere of Treme, the new HBO series from The Wire creator David Simon. Treme (it rhymes with “away”) is set in New Orleans, three months after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to the series premiere several weeks ago in America, insightful reviews already abound on the internet, many of which unsurprisingly compare the show to The Wire. Given this, I thought I would approach the show,...

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Cinema of dreams: the upside of Oscar

8th March 2010 | 0 comments | 1 person likes this

So the Oscars are over for another year. Reviews of the ceremony can be found elsewhere - instead I wanted to try and capture a sentiment which for me is always strongest the day after the awards have taken place. In the age of the blogosphere, Oscar hype is greater than it has ever been. And where there is hype, there is bound to be subsequent disappointment, maybe even embarrassment, for anyone who has invested anything in the...

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Awarding Meryl: Why bother?

3rd March 2010 | 2 comments | 3 people like this

This Sunday, Meryl Streep is in with a chance of winning her third Academy Award, following a record-breaking 16th nomination for Julie and Julia. Despite the extraordinary amount of goodwill towards Meryl Streep throughout the industry and the general public, the question has cropped up repeatedly amongst awards chatterers: does she really need three Oscars? Why bother awarding an actress who is already acclaimed as the greatest of her generation, whose...

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Under the Skin: a mid-series review

1st March 2010 | 6 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

This week’s episode of Skins confirmed that British television is in dire need of quality youth drama, but not for all the right reasons. At its best, the show easily deserves its reputation as the only series on TV that accurately portrays the true state of contemporary teenage life. But this week it also revealed itself as a programme deeply bogged down in its own format, and desperately requiring other, similar...

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How to make an action hero: the rapid expansion of Taylor Lautner

26th February 2010 | 2 comments | 1 person likes this

Is nobody else disturbed by the meteoric rise of Taylor Lautner’s abs? Following the success of New Moon, the Twilight sequel which grossed over $700 million worldwide, the owner of said abs has recently signed a remarkable series of big money deals. Not only will 18 year old Lautner play the lead in not one but two new superhero franchises, Stretch Armstrong and Max Steel, but he has agreed to...

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