Lifestyle

  • Pity these fools – The A-team flops
    Friday, 30th July 2010
    Big action sequences can’t save a pointless remake of the 1980s television favourite
    Film THE A-TEAM Cert: 12A Rhys Griffiths A quarter of a century years after the finale of the TV show, the A-Team blunders its way into the twenty-first century – and what should be a film providing two hours of nostalgic, action-packed fun falls short of even the simplest of tasks. Instead it’s lengthy and boring. There’s very little in the way of plot. We meet the various members of the team, headed by Liam Neeson (with a rubbish grey hair-dye job) as Hannibal Smith with Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) as Templeton “Face” Peck, martial arts fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as B. A. Baracus... [Read more]

  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 30th July 2010
    PREVIEWS
    FILM Karate kid Shame on you Jackie Chan. Remake with Jaden “son of Will and Jada” Smith as the kid. south of the border Oliver Stone’s documentary about South America’s left wing resurgence.... [Read more]
  • When experiments go wrong...
    Friday, 23rd July 2010
    A topical horror thriller inspired by genetic cloning manages to be clever, sinister and enjoyable
    Film SPLICE Cert: 15 Rhys Griffiths A CONTEMPORARY morality tale, this horror thriller pushes topical science controversies – stem cell tinkering, genetic cloning – to nightmarish extremes. Clive (... [Read more]
  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 23rd July 2010
    PREVIEWS
    FILM CITY ISLAND Indie comedy about a disfunctional family with Andy Garcia and Emily Mortimer. IVUL French arthouse drama directed by the artist Andrew Kotting. MY NIGHT WITH MAUD Classic drama by... [Read more]

  • A thriller that’s a dream to behold
    Friday, 16th July 2010
    Batman director Christopher Nolan has created an audacious classic
    Film INCEPTION Cert: 12A Timothy Barber AFTER a few years spent making Batman films, British director Christopher Nolan has returned with such an audacious mixing of sci-fi, film... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT
    Friday, 16th July 2010
    FILM BLUEBEARD Austere French version of the classic medieval tale by auteur Claire Denis. THE CONCERT Another French drama, set in the world of classical music and orchestras. RAPT Yet another... [Read more]
  • Brand keeps living the rock star dream in Hollywood
    Friday, 25th June 2010
    The controversial British comedian manages to justify his star billing, says Rhys Griffiths
    Rhys Griffiths
    Film Get Him To The Greek Cert: 15 As recent comedies have gone, 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a neatly plotted break-up movie that managed to produce a fair amount of laughs, most of them... [Read more]
  • Going through the motions
    Friday, 18th June 2010
    Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl fail to sizzle in this limp action rom com
    Film Killers Cert: 12A When it comes to gun-toting, ass-kicking couples, Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl aren’t exactly on a par with Brad & Angelina. In Mr & Mrs Smith the dynamic between... [Read more]
  • Celebrating all things pretty, pricey and rare
    Friday, 18th June 2010
    Preview: MASTERPIECE
    Fancy getting your hands on a 1932 Bugatti Grand Prix car? How about a magnificently ornate Victorian billiards table? Alternatively, you could furnish your living room with a pair of stunning globes... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 18th June 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM WILD TARGET Brit comedy thriller with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt. PLEASE GIVE Charming indie drama starring Rebecca Hall. TRASH HUMPERS Hipster provocateur Harmony Korine’s latest effort. DVD... [Read more]
  • Hollywood gets the NYPD blues
    Friday, 11th June 2010
    A drama about corrupt New York cops is functional rather than fantastic
    Film BROOKLYN’S FINEST Cert: 18 This gritty police drama sees director Antoine Fuqua return to the familiar territory with which he made his name in 2001’s Training Day. Fuqua assembles an impressive... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 11th June 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM LETTERS TO JULIET Romantic drama set in picturesque Italy, with Amanda Seyfried. BLACK DEATH Medieval twaddle – you know, swords, mud, plague – with Sean Bean. H2OIL Documentary about the oil... [Read more]
  • Carrie and the girls lose it in Arabia
    Friday, 28th May 2010
    Oh dear. Fans of SATC will be sorely disappointed by this outing of the quartet
    Film SEX AND THE CITY 2 Cert: 15 by Leo Bear SORRY ladies, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s two years on from where the first film left off and Carrie and co are older (it shows) but not wiser... [Read more]
  • Preview: Mirrors
    Friday, 28th May 2010
    RONALD PHILLIPS GALLERY
    Zoe Strimpel
    AH, the mirror. By far the most magnetic item in any room – at least for the ordinary ego. In celebration of that most eye-catching of items, Mayfair’s finest antiques dealer Ronald Phillips is... [Read more]
  • Efficient tale of swords and magic
    Friday, 21st May 2010
    Jake Gyllenhaal makes a less-than-engaging action star
    Timothy Barber
    Film PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME Cert: 12A *** BASED on a computer game, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time sees doe-eyed actor Jake Gyllenhaal switch to swashbuckling action star, not entirely... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 21st May 2010
    TIMOTHY BARBER
    FILM BAD LIEUTENANT Nick Cage stars as a corrupt cop in Werner Herzog’s controversial remake. COP OUT Bruce Willis plays an NYPD detective in Kevin Smith’s crime comedy. HEARTLESS Supernatural... [Read more]
  • No men in tights: Russell Crowe shows the gritty side of a legend
    Friday, 14th May 2010
    The star and director of Gladiator have brought politics into the Robin Hood tale
    Timothy Barber
    Film ROBIN HOOD Cert: 12A *** ROBIN HOOD is the fourth collaboration between Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott, and comes a decade after their first outing, the majestic Ancient Rome saga... [Read more]
  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 14th May 2010
    TIMOTHY BARBER
    FILM AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY Documentary about the controversial late stand-up comic. EYES WIDE OPEN Powerful Israeli drama about an Orthodox Jewish father who falls for a male student.... [Read more]
  • NOW SHOWING | SIX OF THE BEST
    Friday, 14th May 2010
    THEATRE Peter Pan At the Barbican Theatre, this fantastical new version of JM Barrie’s classic tale is a thrilling experience for all ages, produced by the National Theatre of Scotland to mark the... [Read more]
  • High concept meets low aspirations
    Friday, 7th May 2010
    John Cusack is a shadow of his former self in a lame comedy that should have been a lot more fun
    Film HOT TUB TIME MACHINE Cert: 15 ** PRESUMABLY the makers of Hot Tub Time Machine started with the title – as titles, and indeed ideas, for high-concept extreme silliness go, it’s a humdinger. What... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 7th May 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM THE BACK-UP PLAN Someone allowed J-Lo to make a film again, supposedly a romantic comedy. Bad idea. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET Lame and pointless attempt to remake the Freddy Kruger slasher flick.... [Read more]
  • ON IN LONDON | SIX OF THE BEST
    Friday, 7th May 2010
    ART: Angela de la Cruz Head along to the Camden Arts Centre to decide for yourself whether de la Cruz, a painter who inflicts deliberate damage on her canvases, is worth her nomination for the Turner... [Read more]
  • Iron-clad entertainment
    Friday, 30th April 2010
    Tony Stark’s second cinematic outing is as much fun as his first
    Timothy Barber
    Film IRON MAN II Cert: 12A Compared to the brooding darkness of the Batman films or the commercial cynicism of the Transformers franchise, 2008’s Iron Man was a breezy joy of a blockbuster, and so is... [Read more]
  • Preview: the City’s own music festival
    Friday, 30th April 2010
    IAN RITCHIE FESTIVAL DIRECTOR THE City of London Festival sees the great and good of classical music join the avant-garde and the unusual each summer in the midst of the City. Concerts take place in... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 30th April 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM THE LAST SONG Saccharine family drama with Miley Cyrus. VALHALLA RISING Viking adventure with Casino Royale’s Mads Mikkelsen. A BOY CALLED DAD Touching tale of teenage parenthood, with Ian Hart... [Read more]
  • ON IN LONDON | SIX OF THE BEST
    Friday, 30th April 2010
    ART: Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance drawings Another corker of an exhibition at the British Museum, with scores of works by the likes of Titian, Michelangelo and Botticelli showing the... [Read more]
  • Carell and Fey hit the funny bone
    Friday, 23rd April 2010
    The celebrated US comics score a hit with their fresh take on the action comedy genre
    Film DATE NIGHT Cert: 15 Tina Fey and Steve Carell are such comic dynamite that their pairing up for Date Night promised explosions of mirth, especially when directed by Shawn Levy, of Night At the... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 23rd April 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE Gurinder Chadha’s latest comedy. CENTURION Amusingly awful Romans vs Picts action flick. AGORA More from ancient Rome, this time with Rachel Weisz. DVD THE MEN WHO... [Read more]
  • Rickie’s return just misses the mark
    Friday, 16th April 2010
    Gervais is back from Hollywood with a nostalgic look at Seventies Britain
    Timothy Barber
    Film CEMETERY JUNCTION Cert: 15 HAVING proved he can make it in Hollywood, Ricky Gervais has brought a whole load of Tinseltown gloss back with him for this tale of small-town kids in the Seventies.... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 16th April 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM REPO MEN Jude Law turns action hero in this futuristic thriller about a nasty trade in human organs. BOOGIE WOOGIE Weak satire of the London art scene with an all-star cast. DEAR JOHN Romantic... [Read more]
  • Inoffensive Infidel misses the mark
    Friday, 9th April 2010
    The story of a Muslim who finds he’s a Jew is too timid to be truly funny
    Timothy Barber
    Film THE INFIDEL Cert: 15 IN this David Baddiel-scripted film Brit comedian and sometime Hollywood actor Omid Djalili plays Mahmud, a slobbish dad and barely-practising Muslim who finds out that he... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 9th April 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM I AM LOVE Tilda Swinton stars in this beguiling romantic drama. SHELTER Preposterous thriller about multiple personality disorders, with Julianne Moore. NO GREATER LOVE Absorbing documentary... [Read more]
  • Mything in action
    Thursday, 1st April 2010
    Sea-monsters, heroes and giant scorpions make for fun – and the cast just manage to keep straight faces
    Film CLASH OF THE TITANS Cert: 12A THE first action blockbuster of the Spring is no classic, but as forgettable, brain-dead holiday entertainment it just about gets the job done. Starring man-of-the-... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
    Thursday, 1st April 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON High-quality animated family fun about a Viking boy and his dragon. REMEMBER ME R-Patz (Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, if you’re not a teenage girl) moves into romantic... [Read more]
  • ON IN LONDON
    Thursday, 1st April 2010
    SIX OF THE BEST
    FILM: Scouting Book for Boys Thomas Turgoose, who made his name as the young star of This Is England, proves his star credentials in this imaginative, whimsical story about the dramas and trials of... [Read more]
  • Bullock is Miss Sentimentality in her apple pie Oscar role
    Friday, 26th March 2010
    An all-American tale of class, race and sport sadly fails to translate
    Timothy Barber
    Film THE BLIND SIDE Cert: 12A IT’S certainly a remarkable story. “Big Mike” Oher, a poor black kid from the Tennessee projects abandoned by his junkie mother, became a major star in American football... [Read more]
  • ON IN LONDON | SIX OF THE BEST
    Friday, 26th March 2010
    THEATRE 4:48 Psychosis Scintillating adaptation of the late writer Sarah Kane’s autobiographical prose poem, by Polish company TR Warzawa. At the Barbican. EXHIBITION Kingdom of Life: Sculptures... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
    Friday, 26th March 2010
    FILM, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM NANNY MCPHEE AND THE BIG BANG Thompson returns as the magical nanny. LOURDES Award-winning film about pilgrims heading to the French town, starring Sylvie Testud. PERRIER’S BOUNTY Irish crime... [Read more]
  • Camp Carrey in strange but true romance
    Friday, 19th March 2010
    The Hollywood comic breaks daring new ground in his latest role
    Timothy Barber
    Film I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS Cert: 18 Jim Carrey has never played it weirder than in this so-strange-it-must-be-true (and it is) story of a conman who became one of the most persistent escape... [Read more]
  • Animation fails to bring Alice alive
    Friday, 5th March 2010
    Visual tricks are not enough to make this blockbuster exciting
    Timothy Barber
    Film ALICE IN WONDERLAND Cert: PG THE idea of Tim Burton turning his imaginative powers to Lewis Carroll’s children’s fantasy, and roping in his old mucker Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in the... [Read more]
  • SIX OF THE BEST
    Friday, 5th March 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    FILM Ponyo Japanese auteur Hayao Miyazaki’s latest flight of imagination is his uniquely surreal take on The Little Mermaid. ART Richard Hamilton Tate Modern’s fascinating retrospective of the... [Read more]
  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 5th March 2010
    PREVIEWS
    FILM LEGION Supernatural thriller with Paul Bettany as an angel saving the world from God’s wrath. Sure. ONDINE Colin Farrell plays an Irish fisherman who thinks he’s caught a mermaid in his net.... [Read more]
  • Travolta goes over the top in Paris
    Friday, 26th February 2010
    A wildly over-acting superstar, complete with silly facial hair, can’t rescue this absurd action flick
    Film FROM PARIS WITH LOVE Cert: 15 YOU certainly can’t accuse this action comedy of being slow – its 90 minutes whistle by in a hale of bullets, explosions, cars, bodies and dodgy wisecracks. So it... [Read more]
  • OUT OF WEEKEND
    Friday, 26th February 2010
    PREVIEWS
    FILM MICMACS AMELIE AND DELICATESSEN DIRECTOR JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET SERVES UP ANOTHER DAZZLING FANTASY. EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES ROPEY DRAMA WITH HARRISON FORD TRYING TO FIND A CURE FOR POMPE DISEASE.... [Read more]
  • Find a new you with a new look
    Tuesday, 23rd February 2010
    Makeup guru Lauren Luke shares her top tips for City women
    Zoe Strimpel
    LAUREN Luke’s life was not going anywhere when she decided to ditch her job as a taxi dispatcher in a town near Newcastle and begin selling makeup on eBay. To accompany the products, she took photos... [Read more]
  • Bridges stakes his Oscar claim in a hoary old tale
    Friday, 19th February 2010
    This story about a washed up musician may be hackneyed
    Timothy Barber
    Film CRAZY HEART WERE it not for Jeff Bridges’ dazzling central performance, Crazy Heart would be a hard sell, particularly in this country. The story of a washed-up, hard-living country music star... [Read more]
  • Mel is back in his gritty comfort zone
    Friday, 29th January 2010
    Gibson does what he does best in a manly cop thriller
    Timothy Barber
    Film EDGE OF DARKNESS Cert: 15 FOR those old enough to remember, Edge of Darkness was originally a critically acclaimed BBC thriller broadcast in the mid-80s. Its director, Martin Campbell, went on... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 29th January 2010
    TIMOTHY BARBER
    FILM THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG Disney makes a return to hand-drawn animation and fairy tales. ADORATION Director Atom Egoyan’s drama stars Devon Bostick as a troubled teenager. BREATHLESS South... [Read more]
  • Clive Owen proves that he’s the daddy
    Friday, 22nd January 2010
    A strong central turn and nuanced script help stave off the schmaltz in this true story
    Film THE BOYS ARE BACK Cert: 12A NOTHING to do with Thin Lizzy (sadly), this adaptation of Simon Carr’s memoir stars Clive Owen as Joe, a macho Brit sports journalist living in happy isolation on the... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 22nd January 2010
    PREVIEWS
    FILM BROTHERS Powerful post-Afghanistan drama with Toby Maguire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhal. A PROPHET Stunning French film about an Arab man who becomes a kingpin in a French prison.... [Read more]
  • A corporate hit-man with a heart
    Friday, 15th January 2010
    George Clooney is brilliant as a man who fires people for a living but finds his softer side
    Film UP IN THE AIR Cert: 15 IN an age when films are sometimes made two years before they are released, Up in the Air’s most obvious selling point is its timeliness. Jason Reitman, director of Oscar-... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 15th January 2010
    TIMOTHY BARBER
    FILM THE BOOK OF ELI Denzel Washington goes into action in post-apocalyptic America. ALL ABOUT STEVE Sandra Bullock plays a zany crossword expert who falls for her blind date. Dreadful. CRUDE... [Read more]
  • Love triumphs on the road to hell
    Friday, 8th January 2010
    What has to be the bleakest road movie ever sets a deeply gloomy tone for the new year
    Film THE ROAD Cert: 18 IT’S hard to imagine a less happy future than the one conjured up by this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. In last month’s disaster flick 2012, we... [Read more]
  • SIX OF THE BEST
    Friday, 8th January 2010
    FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    THEATRE – Red Alfred Molina stars as expressionist painter Mark Rothko in John Logan’s two-hander at the Donmar Warehouse. FILM – Tokyo Story Japan’s Yasujiro Ozu is thought by some to be cinema’s... [Read more]
  • ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 8th January 2010
    TIMOTHY BARBER
    FILM SEX AND DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL Andy Serkis puts in a sterling performance in this biopic of Blockhead-in-chief Ian Dury. DAYBREAKERS Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke – no, come back – battle... [Read more]
  • A true blue sci-fi classic
    Friday, 18th December 2009
    Titanic director has a hit on his hands with an epic tale of eco-friendly aliens
    Timothy Barber
    Film AVATAR Cert: 12a It’s the most expensive and technically ambitious film ever made, and the most hyped – and wouldn’t you know it, it’s also pretty good. Avatar is a compendium of director James... [Read more]
  • Knightley shines in biting satire
    Friday, 18th December 2009
    Theatre - First Night THE MISANTHROPE Comedy Theatre FOR HER theatrical debut, Keira Knightley plays a Hollywood starlet accused of the same beauty-over-talent deficiencies with which Knightley... [Read more]
  • WHAT TO ENJOY THIS CHRISTMAS FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES
    Friday, 18th December 2009
    FILM NINE Daniel Day-Lewis leads Chicago director Rob Marshall’s star-studded tribute to Italian cinema. NOWHERE BOY Former YBA Sam Taylor-Wood’s biopic of John Lennon’s early years. DID YOU HEAR... [Read more]
  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 4th December 2009
    PREVIEWS
    FILM ME AND ORSON WELLES Zac Efron stars as a teenager cast in an Orson Welles play. DEPARTURES Charming Japanese film about a cellist who ends up preparing the dead for burial. DISGRACE John... [Read more]
  • What's in the box? Not very much
    Friday, 4th December 2009
    It's based on a simple Twilight Zone idea, but Richard Kelly's science fiction saga is a mess
    FilmTHE BOXCert: 12A WHAT would you do if a stranger with half a face offered you a box, and explained that if you pressed the button inside it you could win $1m but a stranger would die? Probably... [Read more]
  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 27th November 2009
    PREVIEWS
    FILM LAW ABIDING CITIZEN Denzel Washington and ever-busy Scotsman Gerard Butler clash in this so-so thriller. BUNNY AND THE BULL Surreal comedy from the director of TV comedy hit The Mighty Boosh.... [Read more]
  • Fairly normal horror flick is no Blair Witch
    Friday, 27th November 2009
    Despite having scared the pants off American audiences, this hand-held job lacks impact
    FilmPARANORMAL ACTIVITYCert:15 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY has caused quite a hullabaloo in the States where it has taken $150m, having been made for just $15,000. It follows the now-familiar blueprint... [Read more]
  • Damon excels in portrait of a whisteblower
    Friday, 20th November 2009
    But Stephen Soderbergh's tale of corporate angst is just too gentle
    Timothy Barber
    FilmTHE INFORMANT!Cert: 12AMATT Damon plays a senior executive and whistleblower in the latest film from prolific director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11, Out of Sight). But this isn’t the... [Read more]
  • OUT THIS WEEKEND
    Friday, 20th November 2009
    PREVIEWS
    FILMGLORIOUS 39 From director Stephen Poliakoff, a film about an British family on the eve of war.EXAMINED LIFE Documentary about contemporary philosophers in New York. CHRISTMAS IN WONDERLAND... [Read more]