| MovieSteve

Showbiz Kids

2026-02-25 by Steve

I’m reasonably sure Alex Winter is fine about being the one in Bill and Ted who isn’t Keanu Reeves. Showbiz Kids is part of the reason why I think that. The latest in a stream of fascinating documentaries taking in subjects as various as the downloading revolution (2013’s Downloaded), government secrecy (2018’s The Panama Papers) and Frank Zappa (2020’s Zappa), his latest takes in the landscape of the movie brat, the child star, focusing not so much on the obvious benefits as the near-bottomless downside. Like his earlier docs, this is well informed, humane, intelligent and thoughtful. In interviews publicising his films Winter comes across as someone who is fulfilled in his work, … Read more

Bamboozled

2023-10-292014-02-05 by Steve

A movie for every day of the year – a good one 6 February The first minstrel show, 1843 On this day in 1843, the Virginia Minstrels led by Dan Emmett became the first full-length black minstrel show in the USA. They’d tested and previewed the show at other venues but it was on 6 February that the show opened at the Bowery Amphitheater, New York. The show had a three-act structure – four guys sitting in a semi-circle, singing songs, telling jokes and just generally being entertaining; followed by a front-of-curtain variety segment; finishing off with a spoof/skit/satire piece. Minstrelsy goes back as far as you care to look – to the … Read more