The artful dodger: Prolific forger Mark Landis gave all his counterfeit paintings away for free July 2, 2015 Mark Landis was 30-years-old and living alone in San Francisco when, on a whim, he decided to become a museum benefactor. “I had been seeing things on TV about wealthy philanthropists giving pictures away to museums in memory of people. I wanted to show my mother that I was doing well, I wanted to show [...]
Art review: Serpentine pavilion June 25, 2015 Hyde Park Three Stars From above it looks like a half masticated piece of bubblegum spat out by a thirsty giant in between slurps from the Serpentine Lake. A chaos of colourful plastic given structure by higgledy metal frames, the temporary pavilion was designed by Selgas Cano, a husband and wife team relatively unknown beyond [...]
Art review: Barbara Hepworth June 25, 2015 Tate Britain Three Stars She may not have had a major London show for 50 years, but we’ve hardly been deprived of Barbara Hepworth. Her sculptures are everywhere in Britain: in parks and gardens, in busy city thoroughfares, on beaches and in museum collections up and down the country. That her work is so ubiquitous [...]
Film review: Minions June 25, 2015 Cert U | ★★★☆☆ A large part of the Despicable Me franchise’s $1.5bn success, loveable sidekicks the Minions were bound to get their own spin off. This prequel follows the yellow babbling hoards as three of their number look to find an evil leader to serve, inadvertently causing chaos along the way in 1960s London. [...]
Film review: Slow West June 25, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ In an era when capes and dinosaurs rule the box office, is there room for the Western in mainstream cinema? In recent years the genre has been adapted by more left-field filmmakers such as The Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino, both of whom brought their own auteurish instincts to bear [...]
Theatre review: The Motherf***er With the Hat is a wickedly comic, foul-mouthed romp that packs a sentimental punch June 25, 2015 Lyttelton Theatre | ★★★★★ The Motherf***er With the Hat is where you might end up if you commissioned Quentin Tarantino to write an episode of Eastenders. The plot makes the play sound like a far grimmer affair than it really is. Recovering alcoholic Jackie has just been released from prison for drug dealing. [...]
Perfect Saturday June 25, 2015 BREAKFAST AT FARM GIRL Get your Saturday off to a wholesome start at Farm Girl on Portobello Road. Australian Rose Mann’s cafe has just opened and will be serve up nutritious delights including superfood smoothies and chicken fried in coconut oil. Visit thefarmgirl.co.uk PRIDE PARADE IN THE AFTERNOON No city does Pride like London. Tens [...]
Something for the weekend June 18, 2015 SING! BLUR IN HYDE PARK See the britpop quartet perform their full roster of 90s classics as well as some tracks from their well-received latest album. They never disappoint in front of a large crowd. Saturday, get your tickets now from bst-hydepark.com. FEAST! LOBOS TAPAS New Borough tapas restaurant promises to deliver a perfect blend [...]
Theatre review: We Want You To Watch June 18, 2015 NT Temporary Theatre | ★★☆☆☆ We need to talk about pornography. Since the internet allowed it to profligate, it has become as instantly accessible as television. Acts of reprehensible violence, criminal outside the medium, are available for easy consumption. In We Want You To Watch, dance-performance duo RashDash and playwright Alice Birch have collaborated to [...]
Film review: Entourage is a harmless cinematic victory lap June 18, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★☆☆ What better way to end a series about Hollywood than with a movie adaptation? Movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his trio of friends are trying to keep Chase’s directorial debut from spiralling out of control while managing their own frantic personal lives. From the start, Entourage falls into the [...]