Musical adaptation of film is a certain hit April 13, 2014 THEATRE DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS The Savoy Theatre | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars STARRING Robert Lindsay, Zoe Wanamaker and the guy from the BT adverts, My Family was the sitcom equivalent of Michael McIntyre; good-natured mass-market comedy so inoffensive it ended up offending the chattering classes. Lindsay played flustered middle-class dentist Ben Harper, a far [...]
Days of future caste April 3, 2014 FILM DIVERGENT CERT 12a Three Stars IN DIVERGENT a special young woman battles against a repressive society to achieve her true potential. Based on the first in a series of “Young Adult” novels by Veronica Roth, and with a sequel already confirmed, Divergent is unoriginal but sophisticated, engaging and surprisingly fun. I don’t wish to [...]
Richard Ayaode is a Double visionary April 3, 2014 FILM THE DOUBLE Cert 15 Four Stars RICHARD Ayoade’s first film, 2011’s Submarine, shuffled bashfully through the beaches and bedrooms of suburban seaside adolescence, stopping for cuddles, puppy love and the odd mumbled voice-over. For his second, loose Dostoevsky adaptation The Double, he dives arms flailing into the chaotic nightmare of adult anomie. It is [...]
Disappointing on a biblical scale April 3, 2014 FILM NOAH Cert 12a Two Stars You probably remember Noah’s Ark from school. It’s the one where the nice man with the beard builds the giant boat to save the furry animals from the massive flood. It’s a simple, morally unambiguous story, and as such it’s is one of the best-loved tales in the Bible. [...]
The Winter Soldier is Captain fantastic March 27, 2014 FILM CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER Cert 12a | By Melissa york Four Stars CAPTAIN America is no one’s favourite Avenger. He’s a white bread, vanilla, all-American goody-two shoes. Born of a genetic experiment to create the perfect soldier during WWII, he doesn’t even have any real super powers other than being able to beat [...]
Family drama is a surefire future classic March 27, 2014 FILM THE PAST Cert 12a | By Alex Dymoke Five Stars NAMING a film after a big, weighty abstract noun like “the past” demands something serious and monumental – The Past is just that. It’s a slow-burning, intelligent and unexpectedly gripping family drama about the power exerted by the past over the present, and the [...]
Line, colour and an encyclopedia for modern life March 27, 2014 ART OBJECTS OF OUR TIME Alan Cristea Gallery | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars IN THE 1970s and 80s, Michael Craig-Martin’s output earned him a reputation as the most hated man in British art. His brazen conceptualism infuriated the critics. One particularly memorable piece was “Oak Tree” – a glass of water on a plinth [...]
Fashion biopic more style than substance March 20, 2014 FILMYVES SAINT LAURENTCert 15 | By Simon ThomsonTwo Stars THERE just isn’t enough of a story to support a biopic of Yves Saint Laurent. The first half, addressing his early career and emergence as an independent force in the fashion industry, is an underpowered French remake of Mad Men. The second, where he descends into [...]
These excursions put the treat into corporate retreat March 20, 2014 Forget the cringeworthy connotations of team-building, these outings are team-tastic TeamSport go-kartingFrom £24.99 per driver, team-sport.co.ukBoost your employees’ competitiveness and drive by pitting them against one another on a race track. TeamSport has just opened a new 800m track in Charlton, and they’ve bought up a shiny fleet of 270cc LPG karts that can reach [...]
Where to Drink: Your guide to London nightlife March 20, 2014 Sometimes it’s more palatable to pitch up at a restaurant bar to get a feel for the ambience rather than committing oneself to an entire meal, and with many of the most oversubscribed eateries boasting better drinking facilities than your local boozer, it can be a good bet for starting a night out. Roka Mayfair [...]