Reviews
We regularly review film, theatre and concerts here on Westside to guide our readers on what there is to enjoy...
FILM REVIEWS: The Bikeriders, Something in the Water and The Exorcist – plus Doctor Who extra!
21st June 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Two 1970s classics – Jaws and The Exorcist – have inspired two of this week’s big releases, while there’s plenty of Goodfellas-style atm...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Inside Out 2; Arcadian; Watched; Unsung Hero; and The Lord of the Rings trilogy
14th June 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside’s pubs and bars will be licking their lips with both England and Scotland at Euro 2024 from today, Friday 14 June. But we’ve a...Read more
REVIEW: Ballet Black evokes emotions at The Rep
- News / Reviews / by Luisa Huggins
Now in its 22nd year, Cassa Pancho‘s Ballet Black has finally made its long anticipated return to The Rep theatre on Westside. I atte...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Bad Boys Ride or Die, and The Dead Don’t Hurt
7th June 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Will Smith is back in the building… 19 years after he really was at Cineworld Broad Street. Back in March 2005 he was promoting the f...Read more
REVIEW: live music from Henry’s Blueshouse relaunches at Snobs
5th June 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Henry's Blueshouse relaunched its live music gigs last night at Snobs, Birmingham’s most famous nightclub on Broad Street. Snobs bega...Read more
REVIEW: Westside’s latest wellbeing lunch with ‘Grand Canyon’ VR walk thrown in
31st May 2024 - News / Reviews / Wellbeing / by Graham Young
The latest monthly social and wellbeing event organised by Westside BID offered participants an unusual range of activities at All Bar O...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Spider horror Sting and Disney’s Young Woman and the Sea
- News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Every building has spiders, but there’s somewhere in Westside where they might make you jump out of your skin. The Park Virtual Reali...Read more
FILM REVIEWS. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie
24th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The BBC’s international hit Peaky Blinders held four of its six star-studded premieres in Westside at Cineworld Broad Street. Series one...Read more
ART: Ikon displays Italian masterpiece from National Gallery
- News / Reviews / by Graham Young
A 17th century Italian masterpiece has gone on display at Westside’s Ikon Gallery in Brindleyplace. The work by Artemisia Gentileschi...Read more
FOOD REVIEW: Broad Street’s newest place for lunches and weekend breakfasts
20th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Hands up if you thought Snobs nightclub on Broad Street was always open from 10.30pm every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night for part...Read more
FILM REVIEW: IF – an all-star family drama about imaginary friends
16th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by DanielDyson
With the National Sea Life Centre and Legoland Discovery Centre facing each other across the historic canal network, Westside is a great...Read more
REVIEW: The Rep gloriously injects touch of panto to Withnail and I
15th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by Steve Dyson
For anyone who’s watched the film from 1987, there’s a certain artistic sophistication about Withnail and I that they will never forget....Read more
FOOD REVIEW: Ed’s Easy Diner at the Utilita Arena
13th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
There’s a picture of a happy family in a 1958 car on the wall as soon as you enter Ed’s Easy Diner. And if that doesn’t take you back to...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
10th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Two of the year’s best action movies are now running side by side at our two brilliant 12-screen multiplexes Cineworld Broad Street and ...Read more
FOOD REVIEW: enjoy lunch at Westside pub made famous by Bill Clinton
7th May 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Incredibly, next week will mark 26 years since that sunny Friday when the then US president Bill Clinton appeared on the balcony at The ...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: The Fall Guy, Love Lies Bleeding, Tarot and … unique chance to get sniffy about Star Wars!
3rd May 2024 - News / Reviews / Uncategorised / by Graham Young
This week’s long-awaited big release at both Cineworld Broad Street and Odeon Luxe Broadway Plaza is a tribute to the stunt teams who br...Read more
FOOD REVIEW: float your boat at Bistro Pierre, overlooking Gas Street Basin
30th April 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
We decided to help celebrate the 30th anniversary the Bistrot Pierre company by dining at its venue tucked away on Westside’s 250-year-o...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Challengers, I.S.S., Boy Kills World and Ordinary Angels
26th April 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The subject of sport leads my film reviews this week which is a nice link for Westside, where workers in local businesses and residents ...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Abigail and The Book of Clarence
20th April 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Following on from TV comedy legend Peter Kay revisiting Westside’s giant Utilita Arena this week, both Odeon Broadway Plaza and Cineworl...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Civil War and Back to Black
12th April 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The Amy Winehouse story is on the silver screen at both Cineworld Broad Street and Odeon Broadway Plaza. And if you fancy a glass of ...Read more
REVIEW: Blue Beard packs a punch at The Rep
11th April 2024 - News / Reviews / by Tony Collins
This captivating play, which is enjoying its world premiere at The Rep, tells a sadly all-too-familiar story of a murderous man and the ...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: The Last Omen, Monkey Man and Seize Them!
7th April 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Our fascination with religious matters fuels the release of a sixth film in The Omen series. But if you want to visit a real Westside ch...Read more
FILM REVIEWS Kung Fu Panda 4, Mothers’ Instinct and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
30th March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
A big Easter weekend for film fans includes a murder mystery for adults, a monster mash-up for teens and the return of a favourite anima...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: The Persian Version, a new Ghostbusters and two horrors
22nd March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Iranian filmmakers are invariably talented ‘world cinema’ storytellers who rarely break through in multiplexes. But if The Persian V...Read more
Huge film savings at Cineworld with giant screen festival and action season
21st March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
It can cost up to £16.69 to see new releases like Dune at peak time on the giant IMAX screen at Cineworld Broad Street. But the retur...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Cabrini, Monster and Drive-Away Dolls will inform, educate and add spice
18th March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
There's a very strong Italian theme in one of this week’s films ... and if that puts you in the mood for food then there's plenty of app...Read more
Film reviews: Origin outclasses the stuffed bear in Imaginary horror
12th March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Playing at both Cineworld Broad Street and Odeon Broadway Plaza, this week’s lead film Origin offers a nod to the impact of slavery on m...Read more
VIDEO: restored Westside pubs all set for bumper Mother’s Day weekend
5th March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Pub giant Stonegate promised to reopen two of its flagship pubs in Westside by March 1, and both The Brasshouse and Slug & Lettuce w...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: sandblast your senses with Dune 2, plus Lisa Frankenstein
4th March 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Dune 2 is set to be this year’s biggest film to date, and the duty manager's eyes at the refurbished Slug & Lettuce in Brindleyplace...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Olivia Colman set to turn air blue at Cineworld and Odeon
23rd February 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
This week’s big film about poison pen letters in a local community takes us back to village life after the First World War. But in mo...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Madame Web, Bob Marley: One Love and The Promised Land
16th February 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
No matter which films play Cineworld Broad Street and Odeon Luxe Broadway Plaza, there’s always a connection with wonderful Westside. ...Read more
Breakfast review: Yorks blooms as Oozells Square’s blossom buds emerge again
14th February 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Christmas comes but once a year … but the amazing display of blossom in Oozells Square tends to last a whole month! And that magical...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Westside cinemas offering extra choices for Valentine’s Day
9th February 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
It’s Valentine’s Day on Wednesday 14 February, and Westside’s amazing range of pubs, bars and restaurants across Broad Street, Brindleyp...Read more
Breakfast review: eating at listed canalside pub that feels like a narrowboat
6th February 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The Tap & Spile doesn’t look like one of Birmingham’s most historic, real ale pubs from its address on Gas Street, with various cars...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Argylle, American Fiction, The Zone of Interest, and Migration
2nd February 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
There’s something for everyone at the movies this week – mirrored in real life by Westside’s attractions ranging from seeing ducks on th...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: The Color Purple, All of Us Strangers and Baghead
29th January 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Fresh from Odeon Luxe Broadway Plaza winning the 'Best Family Destination' at the WOWs 2024 awards, GRAHAM YOUNG reports on what’s showi...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Mean Girls, The Holdovers and Queen in concert
19th January 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Have you ever groaned in frustration at trying to reach the Odeon Luxe Broadway Plaza cinema by car? Travelling around the city’s A45...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: The latest movies from Emma Stone, Jason Statham and George Clooney
12th January 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside has always taken a grown-up attitude towards adult entertainment in the Broad Street area. Now Cineworld and Odeon Luxe Broadwa...Read more