Film review: Rush September 20, 2013 AMID the resigned sighs of many Formula One fans throughout the world, Sebastian Vettel is currently cruising his Red Bull towards a drearily comfortable fourth straight world title. Two consecutive wins have put the relatively young German 53 points clear of Fernando Alonso, whose attitude towards his Ferrari increasingly resembles my own sentiment whenever I [...]
A right royal mess of a biopic September 19, 2013 FILM DIANA Cert 12a | By Daniel O’Mahony One star OLIVER Hirschbiegel’s film is an excruciating, tacky attempt to tell the story of the last two years of Diana, Princess of Wales’ life, starring Naomi Watts as the press-hounded princess. It revolves around her love affair with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews) and the [...]
Tatum can’t save presidential flop September 12, 2013 FILM WHITE HOUSE DOWN Cert 12a | By Simon Thomson Two stars WHITE House Down could have been the biggest movie of 1996. Wedged in between Nicolas Cage’s The Rock and Harrison Ford’s Air Force One, the premise of terrorists attacking the seat of American government would have blown the minds of the movie-going public. [...]
Where to Drink September 12, 2013 From NYC to London EVERY so often in a major metropolitan centre, one venue will achieve supremacy as the foremost spot to see and be seen in, and Ian Schrager’s new hotel, nestled in Fitzrovia on Berners Street, bears all of the hallmarks of one such opening. Famed for founding the zeitgeisty Studio 54 in [...]
A well-produced morality play for the modern age September 12, 2013 THEATRE THE RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF GORGE MASTROMAS Royal Court | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars PLAYWRIGHT Dennis Kelly creates a morality play for the modern age in The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, his enthralling debut at the Royal Court. Its premise is simple: an affable everyman is offered the opportunity to succeed, a Faustian [...]
You’ll feel like you’ve been here before with this time travel rom-com September 5, 2013 FILM ABOUT TIME Cert 12a | By Daniel O’Mahony Three Stars FOR ME, it was always going to be about love.” That’s the reaction of Domhnall Gleeson’s Tim upon discovering he can travel through time. A knowing line from writer-director Richard Curtis, whose Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually trademarked the [...]
A third installment that’s as Riddick-ulous as the first two September 5, 2013 FILM RIDDICK Cert 15 | By Daniel O’Mahony One Star IN A heated standoff with bounty hunters Vin Diesel’s Riddick offers some ominous advice: “Forget about the start; it’s the end you want to think about now.” Say what you want about Vin Diesel, he clearly knows his audience: I had forgotten all about the [...]
Review: What Maisie Knew August 23, 2013 FILM WHAT MAISIE KNEW Cert 12A Four Stars Maisie is six years old and already more emotionally mature than her flaky, dysfunctional parents. Her saucer eyes are wise – and sad – beyond her years. We stumble with her from scene to scene, placed in her shoes, trying to work out exactly what [...]
Theatre review: The Picture of Dorian Gray August 22, 2013 THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY | ★★☆☆☆ | thealchemicorder.com The location of The Alchemic Order’s production of The Picture of Dorian Gray is so secret I almost couldn’t find it. Eventually, on ringing the bell of an unassuming Greenwich townhouse, I was greeted by a moustachioed man in Victorian butler’s attire, who ushered me into [...]
Where to drink August 22, 2013 If the Notting Hill Carnival isn’t your cup of tea, there are plenty of interesting venues across London at which to drink away the bank holiday. In Fitzrovia, for instance, the perennially popular Sanderson is keeping its courtyard terrace fresh with an especially a la mode pop-up. Named Sanderson Green, it’s serving laid-back, haute fast [...]