Reviews
We regularly review film, theatre and concerts here on Westside to guide our readers on what there is to enjoy...
FILM REVIEWS: The Brutalist, Flight Risk and Presence
24th January 2025 - Reviews / by Graham Young
BBC Radio serial The Archers picked up a Broad Street Walk of Stars Award back in 2009, a timely honour given that that was the year cas...Read more
New Ikon exhibition will focus on city’s Muslim community
- News / Reviews / by Tony Collins
A new exhibition exploring Birmingham’s rich Muslim community and some of the issues surrounding it is to open on Westside this spring. ...Read more
Ikon to be ‘chained’ as part of Birmingham Light Festival
20th January 2025 - News / Reviews / by Tony Collins
The Ikon Gallery on Westside is to be surrounded by people next month in a revival of a centuries-old tradition. The ‘Clipping the Ik...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: A Complete Unknown, Wolf Man, William Tell and Here
17th January 2025 - Reviews / by Graham Young
This week's lead film about the early success of Bob Dylan will make you pleased that Westside is home to two of the best screens in the...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Maria, A Real Pain, and Babygirl
10th January 2025 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The script of our first movie reviewed below has been written by Brum’s prolific wordsmith and Westside regular Steven Knight, with Ange...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Better Man, We Live In Time, Nosferatu, and Sonic 3
3rd January 2025 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
How about this for a series of wonderful Westside coincidences. In 2022, Johnny Depp dined at the Varanasi Indian restaurant, next door ...Read more
FILM REVIEW … Mufasa: The Lion King
21st December 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside is the place to be this festive season for quality family time enjoying ocean wildlife at the National Sea Life Centre in Brind...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Kraven The Hunter, Queer and Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
16th December 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
One of the great tourist attractions of the Westside BID area is the Black Sabbath Bench on Broad Street. And this week you can hear Sab...Read more
VIDEO: Westside Christmas Choir play at The Exchange
11th December 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The former banking hall inside The Exchange on Broad Street proved to be a splendid location for the latest performance by the Westside ...Read more
VIDEO & PICTURES: Enjoy Westside’s magical twilight
10th December 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
It’s time to celebrate the best of Westside with our special video which illustrates the sheer joy of being in the area when there’s a m...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Nightbitch (a story by women, about motherhood!)
6th December 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Cinemas have recently seen business rise by 23 per cent year on year, thanks to the November releases of Paddington in Peru, Gladiator I...Read more
Film reviews: Ralph Fiennes’ Conclave and Disney’s Moana 2
29th November 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
There’s a choice of two top movies this week – Conclave’s twists would be great for adults to chew over in a Westside bar or restaurant ...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Wicked takes viewers on magical trip to Oz
22nd November 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Delayed by Covid and then a writers' strike, this adaptation of the 2003 musical Wicked finally hits the silver screen at exactly the ri...Read more
Westside music legend’s book reveals how Birmingham was 1980s capital of rock ’n’ roll
21st November 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
A new book by Westside music legend Jim Simpson on how Birmingham was the capital of rock ’n’ roll in the 1980s was launched this week. ...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Gladiator II hits Westside (but it’s not for the squeamish!)
15th November 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The crowds on Broad Street love a bit of fancy dress as they go a-partying for a night on the town to remember, and now they can get top...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Paddington In Peru, Red One and Piece by Piece
8th November 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The city’s largest winter attractions opened in Centenary Square on 1 November – thanks to Ice Skate Birmingham’s giant Ice Rink, ...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Heretic, Anora and Juror #2
1st November 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside truly is Birmingham’s capital of entertainment for the whole family. With Ice Skate Birmingham, the Big Wheel and other ride...Read more
VIDEO: Ice Skate Birmingham’s Christmas fair opens early for Halloween
- News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Surprise, spooky surprise! Centenary Square’s giant Christmas attractions enjoyed an unexpected ‘soft’ early opening last night. And ...Read more
VIDEO: watch the very FIRST rides on this year’s Big Wheel and Star Flyer
31st October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Welcome to this year's Big Wheel and Star Flyer, the most exciting festive rides in the Midlands that will be fully open to the public f...Read more
PHOTO SPECIAL: First views from this year’s Big Wheel and Flyer rides in Centenary Square
30th October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside BID photographer Graham Young was the first person allowed on preview rides of the Big Wheel and Flyer rides in Centenary Squar...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: VENOM: THE LAST DANCE / THE FRONT ROOM
25th October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
After Brummie legend Steven Knight kindly premiered four of his six TV series to date at Cineworld Broad Street, his first Peaky Blinder...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: The Wild Robot, Smile 2 and The Apprentice
18th October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside is a great place for family attractions – from Legoland Discovery to National Sea Life and Rock Up. But nothing beats a great n...Read more
REVIEW: Becoming Nancy hits The Rep like a Eurovision after-party
16th October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Steve Dyson
There was rocking in the aisles last night as Becoming Nancy raised the roof at The Rep. The audience just couldn’t get enough of sto...Read more
Jazz festival rose from the ashes to mark joyful 40th anniversary
11th October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Tony Collins
The famous jazz festival that almost never was ended up attracting audiences of nearly 90,000 fans across more than a hundred venues thi...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Transformers One, Salem’s Lot and Terrifier 3
- News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Animated robots and a double dose of bloody horror are the new films at Westside’s giant multiplex cinemas Cineworld Broad Street and Od...Read more
FILM REVIEWS. Joker: Folie à Deux and A Different Man
7th October 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
A major film taking place in a state hospital is a reminder that Westside once had various hospitals of its own. Waiting for redevelo...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Megalopolis
30th September 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
With the post-General Election disaster Conservative party conference in full swing at the ICC and across Westside’s hotels and nightlif...Read more
FILM REVIEWS. Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Never Let Go and The Outrun
27th September 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Delegates attending the reality of the 2024 Conservative party conference at the ICC until Wednesday 2 October might also want to let th...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Lee, The Critic and Speak No Evil
13th September 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
With themes of theatre life and war, the new films The Critic and Lee echo the roles played by the Birmingham Rep and the Hall of Memory...Read more
WATCH: rock star plays guitar with giant tram pole on Broad Street
- News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Like the best guitarists, Driving Force frontman Rich Dickinson can somehow play his instrument with his teeth to earn cheers all round....Read more
Westside Films – Rob Peace and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
6th September 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Broad Street’s Walk of Stars has long recognised the contribution made by the city’s, and wider region’s. brilliant black community. ...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Afraid and The Count of Monte Cristo
2nd September 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Westside in general, and Brindleyplace in particular, have benefitted greatly from new technology and allied building techniques. Gia...Read more
FILM REVIEW: The Crow (2024) starring Bill Skarsgård
28th August 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The Crow (2024) should have been the most widely reviewed film of the bank holiday weekend, but the distributor kept it firmly under wra...Read more
The Terminator, Pulp Fiction and Batman return to Westside with tickets at just £5 each
23rd August 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Hot on the heels of every original Spider-Man and Star Wars movie being screened again in Westside, Batman is now swooping in to gatecra...Read more
Watch every Star Wars blockbuster on Westside from next weekend
19th August 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
May the popcorn and ice creams be with you! The entire Star Wars canon is heading back to the big screen – with tickets costing just £5 ...Read more
FILM REVIEW. Alien: Romulus reinvents sticky creatures in space
16th August 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
One of Westside’s most popular tourist attractions is the National Sea Life Centre in Brindleyplace, which opened 28 years ago. Visi...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Trap, Borderlands and It Ends With Us
9th August 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
With a capacity of 15,800, Westside’s Utilita Arena is the biggest concert venue in the West Midlands, a magnet for music lovers who als...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Kensuke’s Kingdom
2nd August 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
There are two great new movies for families to enjoy on Westside if they're looking for somewhere to escape the intense city centre suns...Read more
Double bass legend makes surprise guest appearance at jazz festival’s final gig
30th July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
A man dubbed as ‘the UK’s finest double bass player’ made a surprise guest appearance at the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival’s fina...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine
26th July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
In a world where some things have always been together – from cheese and onion to black and white – there is now a new cinema combinatio...Read more
Free open-air jazz shows at Brindleyplace bandstand
23rd July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The bandstand at Water’s Edge, Brindleyplace is really coming into its own this week – as a regular lunchtime venue for the 40th Birming...Read more
VIPs help launch 40th jazz festival on Westside
22nd July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Tony Collins
A line-up of VIP guest speakers joined a troupe of international musicians to sound all the right notes at the launch of the 40th Birmin...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Twisters and Longlegs
19th July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Hard to believe that it’s 19 years since a tornado swept across Birmingham very close to Westside on July 28 2005. At that very momen...Read more
FILM REVIEWS: Despicable Me 4, In a Violent Nature and Fly Me to the Moon
12th July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The prospect of England winning Euro 2024 is set to fill many bars and pubs in good time for Sunday evening’s 8pm kick-off for the final...Read more
FILM REVIEW: Spot the Black Sabbath reference in new horror thriller MAXXXINE
11th July 2024 - News / Reviews / by Graham Young
Everything is to the ‘max’ in Westside at the moment, with the prospect of England offering two more Euro 2024 knockout matches great fo...Read more
VIDEO: Watch our interview with cast members of RUSH: A Joyous Jamaican Journey
28th June 2024 - News / Reviews / by Luisa Huggins
After my "blissful" experience watching RUSH at The Rep, I had the pleasure of interviewing cast members for a new Westside Live video. ...Read more
FILM REVIEWS. Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One; A Quiet Place: Day One; and Kinds of Kindness
- News / Reviews / by Graham Young
The titles of all three of this week’s films showing at both Odeon Broadway Plaza and Cineworld Broad Street offer curious reminders of ...Read more
REVIEW: The Rep’s staging of RUSH was pure bliss
26th June 2024 - News / Reviews / by Luisa Huggins
Nostalgic, heartwarming, thought-provoking and comical. Those are the key words that come to mind after watching RUSH: A Joyous Jamaican...Read more
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