Film review: Ted 2 is a barrel of silly laughs July 9, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★☆☆ It hasn’t been a great year for adult comedy. Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart collaboration Get Hard underwhelmed, while films such as Unfinished Business and Hot Tub Time Machine 2 had critics seething and audiences shrugging. Next up, Ted 2, Seth MacFarlane’s sequel to his $500m 2012 hit about immature Bostonian John (Mark [...]
Theatre review: To Kill A Mockingbird July 9, 2015 Barbican | ★★★★☆ When great books are adapted for the stage, a great deal can be lost in translation: a couple told me during the interval, for instance, that after seeing a stage version of To Kill A Mockingbird, their son spent a fruitless afternoon in the library looking for “Tequila Mockingbird”. There’s little chance [...]
Theatre review: A Number July 9, 2015 Young Vic | ★★★½ This revival of Caryl Churchill’s 2002 play takes place in a sealed glass box, the audience gazing voyeuristically in like scientists observing participants in an experiment. A man and his son (played by real life father and son John and Lex Shrapnel) are in a state of distress – they have [...]
Perfect Saturday July 9, 2015 BREAKFAST RIVINGTON GREENWICH The Greenwich-based sister restaurant to Shoreditch’s Rivington Grill is the perfect place for some hair of the dog TLC before the weekend really starts. The Bloody Marys are legendary, as is the lengthy house cocktail list. The best breakfast in south east London. Visit rivingtongreenwich.co.uk WAY OUT EAST HYPER JAPAN As you’re [...]
Chance to see David Hockney’s iPad doodles: The octogenarian artist fearlessly embraces tech to create fresh artworks July 8, 2015 David Hockney lived in California for most of his life, but moved back to Bridlington in east Yorkshire – where he grew up – in 2005. Returning home proved beneficial for his state of mind and artistic output. Having built a glittering career on the back of sunny, semi-abstract paintings of salubrious LA living, the Briton [...]
Perfect Saturday July 2, 2015 LATE MORNING INDEPENDENCE DAY BRUNCH It’s Independence Day this Saturday, and to celebrate, Covent Garden’s trendy, New York-influenced Balthazar will be serving an American-inspired brunch including fancy hot dogs and Scotch beef brisket braised in barbecue sauce. Available from 10am till 4pm, call 02033011155 for details. AFTERNOON STIMULATION JOSEPH CORNELL The enigmatic and devoutly religious [...]
Film review: In Terminator Genisys the future isn’t as frightening as it used to be July 2, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★☆☆ Not even the most ardent Terminator fan wanted another sequel. Not after Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, with its lazily re-hashed storyline and absurd villain. Not after the bloated robot-opera Terminator Salvation, which even Christian Bale couldn’t make palatable. And that TV series… Oh God. But here we are. Arnold [...]
Theatre review: Bend it like Beckham July 2, 2015 Phoenix Theatre | ★★★☆☆ New British musicals have had a tough time of late. Made in Dagenham sank without a trace earlier this year, despite decent reviews and an A-List lead, and Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice both had new shows suffer similar fates the year before. Compared to the above, Bend [...]
Theatre review: The Trial is a cultural vegetable July 2, 2015 Young Vic | ★★★☆☆ New York Times writer Dan Kois popularised the phrase “eating your cultural vegetables” – the idea that you need to wade through challenging material you don’t necessarily enjoy to offset the times you feel like binging on candyfloss. For all its prophetic brilliance, Kafka’s The Trial would qualify on most people's list [...]
Film review: Magic Mike XXL is a fun but inferior summer sequel July 2, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ When a modestly budgeted film goes on to make $100million, a sequel is near-enough guaranteed. The follow up to Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike finds the eponymous Mike living a life away from dancing. He’s successful but somewhat unfulfilled until he receives a call from his old colleagues, “The Kings of Tampa”, who [...]