One Night in Miami at the Donmar Warehouse is a powerful account of the night Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, with the help of Malcolm X October 13, 2016 “Why am I so pretty?” asked Cassius Clay – as he was called back in 1964 – on the night he defeated Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Rather than hit the clubs, the 22-year-old spent the night eating vanilla ice cream in a hotel room with three superstars of the civil [...]
The Mountaintop play at Young Vic review: a searing, sexy, devastating imagining of Martin Luther King Jr’s last night October 13, 2016 Martin Luther King Jr is one of the towering figures of the 20th century. A champion of African-American culture and people, a religious leader, a community organiser, a crusader for civil rights, an exemplar of non-violent resistance, a model of masculinity, a moral touchstone, an icon, a martyr, a secular saint. A play about his [...]
Movie-length games: new titles you can play in under three hours, including That Dragon, Cancer and Virginia October 12, 2016 These movie-length games pack an emotional punch but won't lead to you getting a messy divorce because you neglected your family to farm credits to pay for a new colour of rocket launcher. That Dragon, Cancer Platform: iOS That Dragon, Cancer is less a game than an interactive art installation about a grieving family coming to [...]
Mafia III review: An evocative open-world shooter that’s only slightly more fun than a horse head in the bed October 12, 2016 Mafia III is the third instalment of a game franchise all about the mafia. This may sound a little glib, but here’s the thing: the implications of choosing a title as bold as ‘Mafia’ are significant. The word is laden with cliché. By using it, you’re invoking some of the most significant movies and novels [...]
Q&A with Andrew Kerr: how you can help shape Edinburgh’s future October 11, 2016 | City Talk Edinburgh’s residents, businesses and partners are being invited to help shape the capital’s future under the 2050 Edinburgh City Vision project. We spoke to City of Edinburgh Council chief executive Andrew Kerr to discover more. What is the 2050 Edinburgh City Vision? Edinburgh has always been known as a city of innovation and change. The last 30 [...]
Lord Sugar is back: Here’s what happened in the first episode of The Apprentice October 7, 2016 It’s that time of year again, when wannabe business people climb over one other to peddle knick knacks, design advertising campaigns and generally make cringe worthy TV, all in an effort to win the heart and cash of Lord Alan of Sugar. Here’s happened in last night’s first episode: Read more: Five things we learned from The [...]
The world’s 50 best bars have been named and nine of them are in London October 7, 2016 It's official: we live in the capital of cocktails – in fact, London has claimed nine of the spots in this year's World's 50 Best Bars ranking. We'll drink to that. The ranking, which was compiled by an "academy" of 476 experts from 57 countries, put New York's The Dead Rabbit at the top – but included three [...]
The Greasy Strangler review: a gross-out B-movie that will turn even the strongest stomach October 7, 2016 The Greasy Strangler is gross, but also kind of compelling, like picking a giant scab and rummaging around in the wound with your fingernail. It’s a carnival of the grotesque, wilfully offensive, trying every trick in the book – and some it came up with itself – to turn your stomach. As the title suggests, [...]
The Girl on the Train film adaptation is even better than the book – and better than the Gone Girl movie October 6, 2016 Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Online… two things are clear: girls-doing-stuff is big money, and society will insist on calling fully-grown women “girls”, even after they’ve killed someone (it’s only a matter of time, Zoella). That’s why the film rights for The Girl On the Train, [...]
Picasso Portraits at National Portrait Gallery is an astonishing display of the artist’s versatility October 6, 2016 The sheer prodigious output by Pablo Picasso is one reason he’s regarded by many as the greatest artist of the 20th Century. A gift for curators, his rich catalogue can be examined from all manner of starting points. It is surprising then, that this survey of his portraits is the first large-scale exhibition on the [...]