Cymbeline at the Barbican review: Epic, thrilling and bold to the core November 10, 2016 Shakespeare is the still the master of blending the personal and the political. And nowhere is this showcased more effectively than this production of Cymbeline by the RSC, set in “a dystopian Britain not too far in the future” (the programme’s words, not mine). In a symbolic act of self-sabotage, our green and pleasant land [...]
American Pastoral review: The American Dream dissolves into a bleak nightmare in this all too relevant film November 10, 2016 A film exploring the frailties of the American Dream couldn’t be more relevant, yet there’s little that rings true in this adaptation of Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the generational shifts in post-war American politics. The novel occupies a profound place in the US literary canon, so it seems an odd vehicle for Ewan [...]
Arrival review: This is Close Encounters for the Interstellar generation November 10, 2016 Language is both a bridge and a barrier in Arrival, a film in which a dozen gargantuan alien ships appear around the world and cause global existential upset. These obsidian-black sentinels hover metres above the earth, silent, still and towering, and in an effort to figure out the intentions and nature of their occupants the [...]
Restaurateur Mark Hix reminisces with artist Gavin Turk about the glory days of the YBAs ahead of his upcoming show at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery November 10, 2016 I’ve converted a couple of veggie artists over the years, tempting them with tasty cuts of rare beef – Tim Noble and Mat Collishaw spring to mind – but I suspect Gavin Turk is a lost cause. Gavin, one of the original YBAs, has been veggie for over five years and went full-vegan last year; [...]
Edinburgh’s quality of life key to attracting talent from across the globe November 10, 2016 | City Talk They say home is where the heart is: where we feel comfortable, safe and free to explore our interests and dreams. Home can be four walls and a roof, a familiar serene landscape or a vibrant city. Home is good for the soul, but interestingly, recent research has also begun to explore the strong correlation [...]
Hitman Season One review: There’s nothing in gaming that’s quite so deviously inventive November 9, 2016 Globetrotting assassination might sound like hard work, carrying all those bodies around and avoiding being spotted, but in the crime-ridden world of gun-for-hire Agent 47 it’s a surprisingly creative profession. Fun, even, if you can call choking, shooting, crushing, exploding, stabbing, incinerating and pulverising your various targets enjoyable. Square Enix’s episodic experiment has wrapped up [...]
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare limps into outer space, but its generic sci-fi stylings are anything but stellar November 9, 2016 This year’s Call of Duty takes place in a war-torn vision of the future that, given the current political climate, seems entirely too achievable. Mankind has successfully mastered space travel, colonising the planets of our solar system using our fleet of cool spaceships. But despite our advanced technology, infinite resources and superfast iPads, we’re still [...]
Lord Stuart Rose interview: Former M&S boss opens up on the ill-fated Stronger In campaign and his 10,000 bottles of wine November 9, 2016 Lord Rose of Monewden knows how to do things in style. In the space of a 45-year business career he managed to navigate his way through more boards, bids, bust-ups and blow-ups than seems possible in a single lifetime, collecting a knighthood, then a peerage and a comfortable fortune on the way. More to the [...]
Gordon Ramsay interview: Michelin stars, overtaking the French and why his new restaurant, Le Pressoir d’Argent, is something special November 9, 2016 “If I’d tried to open this restaurant 15 years ago, I’d have been shot, hung upside-down and had my bollocks put in that thing over there, the pressoir d’testicle.” Finally, I thought. So measured – serene even – was the Gordon Ramsay sitting opposite me, I’d started to wonder if his famously filthy lyricism had [...]
Nobu interview: the sushi tycoon talks about family, Robert De Niro, and how his new Shoreditch hotel will be a game-changer November 8, 2016 According to Madonna, you can tell if a city is going to be fun by whether there’s a Nobu in it. The brainchild of Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro – or just plain “Bob” – the brand has an uncanny knack of courting the beau monde. Even after 22 years, in which time more [...]