Elizabeth Aubrey

Freelance arts and culture journalist/lecturer. My work is regularly found in NME, Evening Standard, The Guardian, Empire, The Quietus, GQ, The Independent, MixMag, Crack and more.

IndieWire •

‘Shaun of the Dead’ Oral History: Zombie Trust Exercises, Getting Egged on Set, and Helen Mirren’s Unforgettable Turndown

“Shaun of the Dead” remains, against the odds, one of the most successful British indie films of all time. Released in the early-noughties period when British indies were struggling, from a budget of a modest $6.1 million, Edgar Wright’s 2004 film earned $39 million at the box office and made household names of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost…
The Telegraph •

Daniel Mays: ‘Culture and the arts should never be for the privileged few’

Best and worst is a regular interview in which a celebrity reflects on the highs and lows of their life Actor Daniel Mays began his career working with director Mike Leigh in All or Nothing and Vera Drake. Since then, he’s appeared in Ashes to Ashes, Line of Duty, Made in Dagenham and Des. He was recently nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance in Guys and Dolls on the West End. He stars alongside Michael Douglas in new Apple TV+ drama, Franklin, about the founding father of America…
Record Collector •

Madonna 'Confessions on A Dancefloor' essay

Time was on Madonna’s mind at the start of her tenth album. Opening with a ticking clock on the seismic Hung Up, there’s an air of urgency as Madonna tells us there’s “No time to hesitate,” because “You’ll wake up one day/But it’ll be too late.” On the dramatic Let It Will Be, Madonna considers: “It won’t last long/The lights, they will turn down.” In How High, she asserts “Nothing lasts forever” and bleakly wonders: “Does this get any better?”
Record Collector •

Madonna at the Movies Feature Essay

Is Madonna only ever playing herself? That was the cliché about Madonna’s acting. Looking at her disparate roles, it’s a criticism that bears little scrutiny. Elizabeth Aubrey speaks to Madonna’s directors Susan Seidelman, James Foley and Abel Ferrara, plus A League Of Their Own writer Lowell Ganz, to learn of the reality of Madonna’s big-screen talent, while Madonna expert Lucy O’Brien assesses whether Madonna was always destined to prioritise music over movies.
Record Collector •

TANGK album review

Idles “isn’t a fucking punk band”, frontman Joe Talbot once said about his Bristol quintet, despite the fact they very much sounded and acted exactly like a punk band. Across their early albums the group raged against the government and their policies on austerity, Brexit and the NHS, their punk sentiment chiming with a generation who felt abandoned by Westminster. Their last two records, however, 2020’s Ultra Mono and 2021’s Crawler, veered away from politics – and from what some critics deemed...
Flaunt Magazine •

Eva Longoria | Cover Feature

“There’s a lot of amazing female directors creating amazing movies,” Eva Longoria tells FLAUNT, before excitedly naming some recent favorites: Greta Gerwig, Emerald Fennell, Ava DuVernay. “But I think it’s also a myth that Hollywood is progressive in that way, that women are directing everywhere.” Longoria continues, “We’re not. We’re still underrepresented behind the camera. We’re a smaller percentage now than in the years prior. We’re going in the wrong direction.”
NME •

'Slow Horses' season three review: the best spy show on TV is back

During his MI5 medical exam, Gary Oldman’s scruffy spook Jackson Lamb tells his doctor he’s quit smoking. “Really?!” the doctor says, suspiciously surprised. “Yeah… I haven’t had one for 27 minutes now.” “What about alcohol intake?” the doctor wonders, eyebrow aloft. “Two to three bottles a week.” Not bottles of beer or lager, he implies, but bottles of wine and whiskey. The doctor asks him to get on the treadmill. “You put me on a treadmill, you’ll be done for manslaughter,” Lamb retorts…
NME •

PJ Harvey live in Manchester

Mid-way through PJ’s Harvey’s intimate gig in the grandiose gothic surroundings of Manchester’s Albert Hall, a new pedal board suddenly appears on stage. Moments later, for the first time in the evening, Harvey addresses the audience: “I’d like to bring to the stage a very special guest,” she says in her rich Dorset tones. It’s The Smiths legend and local hero Johnny Marr, and the two duet on an emotive, stripped-back version of ‘The Desperate Kingdom Of Love’…
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