Assassins film review – N Korea murder doc is an unbelievable hit March 18, 2021 A controversial hit at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Assassins has had a bumpy road to the screen, but those who seek it out will discover an unbelievable tale. Assassins follows the trial of Vietnamese citizen Đoàn Thị Hương and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, for the 2017 murder of Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of North [...]
Diverse Oscar noms drag 90-year-old awards into 21st century March 15, 2021 In recent years, the nominations for the Academy Awards have often drawn anger and frustration. #OscarsSoWhite became a regular trend for past ceremonies as actors of colour were ignored, while there was ongoing criticism at the absence of female behind the scenes nominees, and LGBTQ+ artists. Today, observers held their breath as this year’s nominations [...]
Best of travel: The world’s most exclusive nightclub is in a jungle March 15, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. Today we revisit Siobhan Grogan’s expedition through a jungle in Thailand in search of… a nightclub? ••• Clinging to the Cape Panwa peninsula on the very tip of south eastern Phuket, Sri Panwa is buried deep within [...]
Locked Down is the pandemic heist movie we didn’t need March 12, 2021 While some TV shows and awards ceremonies have made magic out of the limitations of the pandemic, movies haven’t fared as well. Michael Bay’s Songbird was a misfire, while Netflix’s Malcolm and Marie wasted talented actors on a self-indulgent script. Locked Down was conceived, written, filmed, and edited in around four months from the start [...]
SAS: Red Notice is Outlander star Sam Heughan’s Bond audition March 11, 2021 With Daniel Craig’s final Bond movie on the horizon, it’s that time again where every British leading man fields questions about whether they would like to take over. This week it’s the turn of Outlander star Sam Heughan, who raised the issue in an interview with Esquire Magazine. He’s the right age, has a strong [...]
Tom Holland shows his dark side in Russo Brothers’ Cherry March 11, 2021 With so much high-profile work under his belt, it’s easy to forget that Tom Holland has only been in movies since 2012. The 24-year-old made his on-camera debut alongside prestigious company in Oscar nominated drama The Impossible, and has barely stopped for breath since. Best known as Peter Parker/Spider-man in the all-conquering Marvel Universe, the [...]
Why civil servants shouldn’t fear a move to Darlington March 10, 2021 Guy Opperman, the MP for Hexham in Northumberland and the Minister for Pensions, on falling for the charms of the North East and why Treasury civil servants shouldn’t shed any tears when they move from London to Darlington. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget was truly transformative. The North East will be home to the flagship [...]
The dishes that got top chefs through lockdown March 9, 2021 When future generations look back at lockdown, they will be able to differentiate its different stages by what we were cooking. Sourdough bread gave way to banana bread before TikTok coffee suddenly took off. But what about the professionals? We asked four of the top cooks in the land about the dishes that have sustained [...]
WandaVision S1E9: Can the finale live up to the hype? March 5, 2021 *** WARNING: This review contains spoilers for all episodes of WandaVision *** So we arrive at the finale of WandaVision. If you’ve been following the series, or these reviews, then you’ll know that the previous episode has caught you up with everything you need to know. We’ve found out the identity of Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), [...]
Coming 2 America: Eddie Murphy sequel is past its best March 4, 2021 COVID may have scuppered many studios’ plans, but Paramount Pictures made the best of unforeseen circumstances, selling many titles to streaming services including comedy sequel Coming 2 America. The follow up to the 1988 Eddie Murphy hit was purchased by Amazon for a reported $125m, believed to be a record for streaming rights. A sequel [...]