Christopher Connor

Samuel Beam, better known as Iron & Wine has built a dedicated fanbase since the release of his debut album in 2002, with a winning blend of indie and folk. Iron & Wine returns with his first solo studio album since 2017 following 2019’s collaborative album with Calexico, ‘Years To Burn’. After a fairly sizable break, anticipation is high for his latest offering, promising more warm and soothing material for fans to indulge in.
‘You Never Know’ is a gorgeous way to kick off the LP, simple yet...

There’s Still Tomorrow, 2023.
Directed by Paola Cortellesi.
Starring Paola Cortellesi, Valerio Mastandrea, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Emanuela Fanelli, Giorgio Colangeli, and Vinicio Marchioni.
SYNOPSIS:
Trying to escape from the patriarchy in the Italian post-war society, Delia plots an act of rebellion against her violent husband.
Italian Cinema has had its share of triumphs over the years with the likes of Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini helping to define European Cinema of the mid 1...

La Chimera, 2023.
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher.
Starring Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, and Isabella Rossellini.
SYNOPSIS:
Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but never manage to find. For the band of tombaroli, thieves of ancient grave goods and archaeological wonders, the Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth. For Arthur, the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina. To find her, Arthur challenges the invisible, sea...

Neu Bulletins are DIY’s guide to the best and freshest new music. Your one stop shop for buzzy new bands and red hot emerging stars, it features all the tracks we’ve been rinsing at full volume over the last week.
We’ve also got a handy Spotify playlist where you can find all the Neu tracks we’ve been loving, so you can listen to all our hot tips in one place!
Nell Mescal - Yellow Dresser
Ireland’s queen of sad indie-pop bops Nell Mescal has returned with the effortlessly elegant ‘Yellow Dres...

Chris Connor reviews the fourth episode of Apple TV+’s Sugar…
Sugar continues to be both a homage to film noir of the past with clips from the likes of Double Indemnity and other well-known staples scattered throughout, but also a peculiar beast that is hard to pinpoint. It is this sense of uniqueness that keeps it riveting, with speculation surrounding a major twist later on, the show continues with its main investigation into the disappearance of Olivia Siegel, giving us more of a sense of ...

Sometimes I Think About Dying, 2023.
Directed by Rachel Lambert.
Starring Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Parvesh Cheena, and Marcia DeBonis.
SYNOPSIS:
Fran, who likes to think about dying, makes the new guy at work laugh, which leads to dating and more. Now the only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.
Daisy Ridley’s career couldn’t have got off to a bigger start with a leading part in Star Wars Episodes VII-IX. Since the Rise of Skywalker’s release Ridley has been picking some smaller s...

Photo: Maggie Rogers
Maggie Rogers built a solid reputation across her first two records — ‘Heard It In A Past Life’, propelled by the viral Alaska, and the expansive ‘Surrender’ — offering an exquisite blend of folk, pop, indie and classic singer-songwriter fare. Her third LP ‘Don’t Forget Me’ is a luscious patchwork of textures that displays her singular talent as an artist.
The title track is a good place to start. Leaning on an acoustic palette, it finds Rogers in a reflective mood: her f...

Chris Connor reviews the third episode of Apple TV+’s Sugar…
Sugar’s opening two episodes impressively built a sense of atmosphere and intrigue with nods to noir gone by but with a distinct edge, led by Colin Farrell’s lead performance. A shorter third episode continues the promise as Sugar continues the investigation into what happened to Olivia as some of the threads of his search begin to intersect.
We are immediately thrust into action and the pace doesn’t let up over the 33 minutes. We g...

Civil War, 2024.
Directed by Alex Garland.
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemmons, and Nick Offerman.
SYNOPSIS:
A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
Alex Garland has had a varied career, initially as a novelist best known for The Beach before collaborating with Danny Boyle on 28 Days Later a...

Released: 12th April 2024
Director: Ned Benson
Starring: Lucy Boynton, Justin H Min, David Corenswet
Music and film have a long history, with plenty of memorable films with music integral to their plot. Suppose you marry time travel and something like High Fidelity. In that case, the result is The Greatest Hits, the latest film from Ned Benson who worked on Marvel’s Black Widow and directed the ambitious The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. We follow Harriet (Lucy Boynton), a grieving young wo...

Neu Bulletins are DIY’s guide to the best and freshest new music. Your one stop shop for buzzy new bands and red hot emerging stars, it features all the tracks we’ve been rinsing at full volume over the last week.
We’ve also got a handy Spotify playlist where you can find all the Neu tracks we’ve been loving, so you can listen to all our hot tips in one place.
Hope Tala - I Can't Even Cry
A much-awaited return for the West London polymath, ‘I Can’t Even Cry’ sees Hope Tala find glimmers of op...

Chris Connor reviews Netflix’s Ripley…
Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley series of novels written between 1955 and 1991 have been adapted for film numerous times. The Talented Mr. Ripley has twice been adapted with Purple Noon in 1960 and a film using the book’s title in 1999. Ripley’s Game has also been adapted twice by Wim Wenders as The American Friend and under its original title with John Malkovich. Anticipation is high for the latest take on the first novel as a series for Netflix from The Ni...

Chris Connor reviews the season finale of The New Look…
The first season of The New Look draws to a close as we finish Christian Dior’s recount of the early years of his fashion house. This episode sees Dior’s rapid rise and a fall from grace for Coco Chanel as her actions and alliances come back to haunt her. Dior has poached from some of Paris’ other major fashion houses, to compensate for the lack of seamstresses. This causes contention with Lucien Lelong among others.
This episode feels l...

Chris Connor reviews the first two episodes of Apple TV+’s Sugar starring Colin Farrell…
L.A. set noir’s are certainly not a new phenomenon from the literary likes of Dashell Hamnett and Raymond Chandler to iconic films like Chinatown there have been many to pour over. The latest in this long tradition is the Apple TV+ series Sugar starring Oscar nominee Colin Farrell coming off the back of some of the strongest work of his career. Farrell plays the eponymous hero John Sugar, a PI with a knac...

Released: 29 March 2024
Director: Sean Price Williams
Starring: Jacob Elordi, Talia Ryder, Ayo Edebiri
Sean Price Williams has built a successful career as a Cinematographer working on the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time among others. Williams now makes his debut with the surrealist road film The Sweet East. The ensemble cast is full of rising stars like The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri and Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi.
We follow high school student Lillian (Talia Ryder), moving through a series of increasingly ...