Electricity: The Spark of Life at the Wellcome Collection is an informative history of everyone’s favourite form of energy February 23, 2017 Frogs appear at several major junctures in the history of electricity. I know, right? I was surprised too, but our amphibian friends are dotted throughout the Wellcome Collection’s new exhibition about everybody’s favourite form of energy, electricity. The very first object you see, in fact, is a frog-shaped amber pendant from Ancient Greece. Long before [...]
Horizon Dark Zero review: A vast and exhilarating post-apocalyptic adventure February 22, 2017 Horizon Zero Dawn is the best looking console game ever made. Set centuries after the collapse of human civilisation, you play as Aloy, an outcast in a beautifully overgrown post apocalyptic world inhabited by futuristic machines. With tonnes of quests, a lengthy story and a huge open world, Horizon is rich with things to do [...]
Beyond Caravaggio has left the National Gallery, so we’ll just have to put up with Cagnacci’s Italian Baroque masterpiece instead February 20, 2017 For those missing strong, dramatic Italian Baroque art in their lives now the excellent Beyond Caravaggio show has wrapped, the National Gallery have secured (timely, for Valentines?) a superb and extremely rare loan of the magnificent painting, ‘The Repentant Magdalene’ by Guido Cagnacci, from the Norton Simon Museum in California. Many will likely not have heard [...]
Nick Jones interview: Soho House founder on The Ned, his new £200m project in the heart of the Square Mile February 18, 2017 As Nick Jones returns his teacup to its saucer, sits back and spreads his arms across the fluffy blue sofa, he looks uncommonly comfy. Of course he does. The founder of the world’s most famous chain of private members clubs, Soho House, is in his home from home, 76 Dean Street, one of 18 dotted [...]
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone may take the La La Land plaudits, but Londoner Marius de Vries is the man behind the musical’s genius February 18, 2017 It’s tough being a Hollywood actor in 2017. Gone are the days when being in films was enough to make you a star. Now, you’re expected to have political opinions, a kooky yet glamorous Instagram account and the ability to belt out song and dance numbers at the drop of a top hat. At least, [...]
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone may take the La La Land plaudits, but Londoner Marius de Vries is the man behind the musical’s genius February 18, 2017 It’s tough being a Hollywood actor in 2017. Gone are the days when being in films was enough to make you a star. Now, you’re expected to have political opinions, a kooky yet glamorous Instagram account and the ability to belt out song and dance numbers at the drop of a top hat. At least, [...]
Eduardo Paolozzi Whitechapel Gallery: artist’s technophobia is a mirror for millennial fear February 17, 2017 Even if you don’t know the name Eduardo Paolozzi, you’ll be aware of his work: he’s the man behind the brightly-coloured mosaics at Tottenham Court Road underground station. These vibrant, energetic works – saxophones and commuters and abstract spheres – belie a man whose artistic life is perhaps best summed up as a prolonged existential [...]
The Great Wall film review: It’s a shame, but this Chinese film plays like a bog standard Hollywood movie February 17, 2017 Dir. Zhang Yimou Hero director Zhang Yimou’s expensive opus sees Matt Damon play a mercenary taken prisoner on the Great Wall of China, during the Song Dynasty. He discovers the wall was built to protect the country from invading alien monsters, and joins the fight to keep them at bay. The film represents a landmark [...]
Hidden Figures film review: This timely story is important, if a tad sentimental February 17, 2017 Dir. Theodore Melfi One of the films vying for Best Picture at next weekend’s Oscars, Hidden Figures tells the fascinating story of three African-American women (Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae) who overcome prejudice to be vital in NASA’s first missions to space. The issue of racism within the space programme is handled [...]
The Founder film review: the story of Ray Kroc, the man behind McDonalds’ fast food empire, is a fascinating watch February 17, 2017 Dir. John Lee Hancock The story of Ray Kroc and the birth of one of the great corporate empires is a fascinating watch. Set in the 50s, a struggling milkshake machine salesman (Michael Keaton) stumbles across a small burger shop named McDonald’s, with two brothers setting out a system to deliver the perfect burger quickly. [...]