Bridget Riley at Hayward Gallery review: Art meets psychology in this brain-bending exhibition October 25, 2019 Bridget Riley, one of the defining figures in the op art movement of the 1950s and 60s, was as much a psychologist as she was a painter. Her works aren’t really about what’s on the canvas (although her flawless brush strokes are certainly nice enough) – they’re about the sensations they provoke, the strange, hypnotic [...]
Why The Apprentice is actually really good for business October 25, 2019 Last week, Matt Clifford was lambasted by Lord Sugar on Twitter for his piece in City A.M. on why The Apprentice is bad for business. But having watched the past 15 series of the UK version of the show, there are many positives about the programme. The business world is constantly changing, but the fundamentals [...]
Out of Order at Southbank Centre review: It’s hard to stay focused on this experimental, dialogue-free play October 18, 2019 If you’re going to see Out of Order, the latest project by experimental theatre company Forced Entertainment, you’ll need to leave your understanding of what constitutes a play at the door. There’s no dialogue – instead, you watch a group of six mime-clowns in tartan suits repeatedly trying to sit down at a table as [...]
Gemini Man review: A technical tour de force, but a mediocre action movie October 10, 2019 Ang Lee’s latest film, Gemini Man is remarkable for two reasons. Firstly, it stars regular Will Smith facing off against a digitally de-aged Will Smith, in a feat of cinematic engineering that is genuinely very convincing. Thanks to whatever manner of advanced Snapchat filters Ang Lee brought to bear upon the actor’s motion-captured face, Smith [...]
The Last Supper: Musician and DJ Cerys Matthews tells us what she’d eat for her last meal on earth, including Ian Brown’s secret recipe October 4, 2019 When I was touring I used to keep a little journal about food, full of curiosities and surprises and things that make you smile. Like the fact people from Luxembourg call turkeys “schnuddelhong”, which translates as “snot hen”. Once you’ve heard that you can’t look at a turkey the same way. I collected all these [...]
Real-life Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort reveals why the UK will survive Brexit October 4, 2019 The most remarkable thing about Jordan Belfort, the self-styled Wolf of Wall Street, is not his once-prodigious drug consumption or the Bacchanalian excess of his infamous company Stratton Oakmont – it’s his sheer, bloody-minded staying power. In his 56 years he’s experienced bankruptcy, drug addiction and incarceration, losing more money than most people could earn [...]
Judy film review: A nuanced portrait of troubled Hollywood icon October 4, 2019 This biopic of screen legend Judy Garland (Renee Zellweger) picks up its star in the late 1960s, and things aren’t going well. Her ex-husband wants custody of her two youngest children, she’s doing shows in grubby venues for $150, and getting kicked out of hotel suites when she can’t pay. Desperate for cash, she agrees [...]
Two Ladies at Bridge Theatre review: A gripping but unremarkable political drama October 3, 2019 Two Ladies begins with a powerful image: FLOTUS Sophia enters with her cream two-piece covered with deep red blood. It’s a clear nod to Jackie Kennedy, and a neat introduction to the theme of Nancy Harris’s new play – the psychology of women who exist a manicured fingernail’s breadth from the most powerful jobs in [...]
Joker review: Joaquin Phoenix carries this supervillain’s dark origin story through its own dopey social commentary October 3, 2019 On social media site Reddit there is a section called “Am I the asshole?”, where concerned users submit situations in which they feel they may have been in the wrong, to seek a kind of masturbatory catharsis from a jury of their peers. There are arguments with strangers, disputes with family members, feuds in the [...]
Nintendo Switch Lite review: The quirky hybrid has become a conventional handheld October 2, 2019 Nintendo has a reputation for updating its consoles mid-generation, not long after launching them, to the extent that it’s become a little risky to be an early adopter. Why spend a few hundred pounds on a device that will be refined into something neater in 12 months, as the Nintendo DS was with the DSi, [...]