Inside amazing new London restaurant in an old bank near Oxford Street October 16, 2025 New London restaurant Aki has opened in a quiet enclave a few minutes’ walk from Oxford Street A handsome, high-ceilinged former bank with all its beautiful ceiling cornicing and latticework from its 1825 opening has been refashioned as a Japanese restaurant. New London restaurant Aki is behind an unassuming door opposite The Phoenix pub a [...]
After the Hunt: Luca Guadagnino’s MeToo drama misfires October 15, 2025 Luca Guadagnino’s films tackle the big questions: “What if tennis players were sexy?” “What if Suspiria was boring?” “What if a man had sex with fruit?” His latest, After the Hunt, asks an altogether more controversial question: “What if we shouldn’t believe women?” This post-post-MeToo parable has the dubious honour of capturing the cultural crossroads [...]
Anemone review: Daniel Day-Lewis returns in his son’s debut film October 15, 2025 After starring in some of the most iconic movies of the last 40 years – Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood, The Age of Innocence – Daniel Day-Lewis retired after 2017’s Phantom Thread. Perhaps the most famous of the method actors, his commitment to the bit – three years in the gym for [...]
No Other Choice review: Is Park Chan-wook satire a new Parasite? October 15, 2025 You could make a case for Park Chan-wook having the most absurdly varied CV of any living director. Coming to international attention in 2003 with cult classic revenge movie Oldboy, his oeuvre includes steamy psychological thriller Stoker, disturbing erotica The Handmaiden and romantic neo-noir Decision to Leave. Next up is No Other Choice, a sprawling, [...]
Is This Thing On? at London Film Festival: Bradley Cooper’s hilarious homage to John Bishop October 14, 2025 Is This Thing On? starring Bradley Cooper, review and star rating from the London Film Festival: ★★★★ It is the strangest-sounding premise of any of the films premiering at the London Film Festival 2025: in Is This Thing On?, Bradley Cooper directs a biopic inspired by the life of Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop. It is [...]
The authentic side of Amsterdam, with amazing restaurants, hipster bars and outdoor swimming October 14, 2025 In 2008, I was a 23-year-old uni student on an Erasmus programme in Amsterdam. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I may have held a few herbal cigarettes, stumbled around the red light district and generally been that Brit abroad. My recollections of those 12 months are somewhat fuzzy. What I have never forgotten, [...]
LFF film review: Ballad of a Small Player sees Colin Farrell at his absolute peak October 13, 2025 Conclave director Edward Berger is a long way from the hallowed halls of the Vatican in his new film, a surreal neon noir following a down-and-out gambler through the casinos of Macau. Ballad of a Small Player tells the story of Lord Doyle, a dapper aristocrat who seems to have misplaced his silver spoon. When [...]
Why The Inbetweeners comeback is perfectly timed for Millennials October 13, 2025 Expect more dad dancing, car stomping and general cringe-inducing telly: The Inbetweeners comeback means the foursome is returning after more than ten years away. And yes, it looks like the original cast is returning too. This is great news, and I’d argue that there couldn’t be a better time to unite the four unlikely friends. [...]
50 First Dates musical review: Surprisingly, it feels like a good fit for the stage October 10, 2025 50 First Dates musical review and star rating: ★★★ This year’s ‘was a film and is now a London musical’ cohort includes The Devil Wears Prada, Hercules, Paddington and Elf! The Musical. They join Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge and The Bodyguard, and a host of critics crying about the lack of originality in musical theatre. [...]
We saw the new Kate Moss movie first – here’s our honest review October 9, 2025 Kate Moss movie Moss & Freud at the London Film Festival review: ★★★ It’s often a red flag when stars executive produce their own biopics. Elton John’s Rocketman was viewed as too sympathetic to its subject, and Kate Moss has certainly been too close to this saccharine but not meritless Kate Moss film premiering at [...]