Film review: Woman in Gold April 10, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ Ryan Reynolds, playing lawyer Randy Schoenberg, sums up the plot succinctly when he tells an Austrian court “this is a simple matter of one woman getting back what’s rightfully hers.” Of course, when it comes to the Woman in Gold by Gustav Klimt, the reality is more complicated than that. Not [...]
Film review: Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River April 10, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★☆☆ Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, Lost River, could charitably be called a paean to his cinematic heroes: David Lynch, Terence Malick, Harmony Korine, Guillermo del Toro and, most of all, his sometime collaborator Nicolas Winding Refn. He borrows themes, tropes, sometimes even complete shots from all of them, weaving a lurid, dark, [...]
Film review: John Wick April 10, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ Reports that Keanu Reeves is staging a comeback are too true to be good. Over the past decade, as the actor languished in b-movie limbo, the more optimistic among us began to hope that we’d soon be rid of him altogether. But lo and behold, his latest action thriller has done [...]
Theatre review: Oppenheimer play is an explosive hit April 9, 2015 Vaudeville Theatre | ★★★★★ Tom Morton-Smith’s brilliant new play for the RSC begins at a smoke-filled fundraiser for the anti-fascist forces fighting Franco in far away Spain. Jazz is playing, and everyone dances – everyone except for Robert Oppenheimer (John Heffernan pictured above), who stands at the centre of things, martini in hand, smiling. In [...]
Something for the weekend April 9, 2015 EAT! THE DUCK AND RICE As you might have guessed from the name, Wagamama founder Alan Yau’s latest venture combines two British favourites: Chinese food and a traditional pub. Head down to Soho for a pint and some prawn crackers. 90 Berwick Street, visit theduckandrice.com SIP! WHISKY WEEKENDER Do you like whisky? Of course you [...]
Review: Fast & Furious 7 is still one hell of a ride April 1, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★★☆ Fast & Furious 7 – or as the Japanese call it, Wild Speed: Sky Mission – is quite possibly the dumbest movie of the year so far. But it’s also an absolute blast. All the expected elements are here in furious abundance: cars, family, bromance, explosions, criminality, loyalty and [...]
What to do in London this Easter weekend April 1, 2015 The long Easter weekend is almost upon us and here’s what London has to offer. 500 Years of Hampton Court Palace Historic Royal Palaces is throwing a birthday bash for King Henry VIII’s former residence. Visitors during the day will be greeted by five royal carriages, specially created for the occasion, while William Shakespeare and [...]
Theatre review: Rules for Living March 27, 2015 National Theatre | ★★★★☆ So this is it: the final curtain for Sir Nicholas Hytner, the revitalising creative director of the National Theatre. That he would bow out with Rules for Living, a new play from young writer Sam Holcroft and directed by stalwart Marianne Elliot, exemplifies the combination of steady-handedness and risk he has [...]
Art review: Anish Kapoor at the Lisson Gallery March 27, 2015 Lisson Gallery | Until 9 May This new solo show by one of Britain’s most famous sculptors marks his return to painted works. A triptych of silicon and resin pieces dominates one room; raised red and burgundy bringing to mind torn flesh. The works are in part a continuation of Kapoor’s long-term fascination with [...]
Film review: Blind is divisive but gripping March 27, 2015 Cert 18 | ★★★★☆ Films about the blind, like films about the deaf, are faced with a formal problem: how do you convey the subjective experience of blindness without showing the viewer a blank screen for two hours? Compellingly, the Sundance-winning Blind gets around the problem by focusing on the flights of imagination that can [...]