Review: Only God Forgives August 1, 2013 FILM ONLY GOD FORGIVES Cert 18 | By Steve Dinneen Three stars SO, ONLY God Forgives… Owwwwkaaaaaaay… Nicholas Winding Refn’s blood-soaked Bangkok revenge movie makes his previous film, Drive, look like a kids movie about a plucky stuntman. It’s essentially a collection of stylish, exquisitely orchestrated but disjointed scenes portraying a level of graphic violence [...]
Bankers as trapeze artists, central planners and markets July 30, 2013 THERE are three ways we can organise banking. The first, which I don’t recommend, is to adopt the pre-2008 model; the second is the current approach, which seeks to micro-manage everything and which will also fail; and the third would be to allow genuine market discipline to be reinstated. Under the first approach, there [...]
The year’s most spectacular theatrical extravaganza July 28, 2013 THEATRE THE DROWNED MAN Temple Studios | By Steve Dinneen Five Stars Punchdrunk theatre company has been flying the flag for immersive theatre for over a decade, joining the likes of Shunt and Secret Cinema in dragging the genre from niche installations in trendy basements to marquee productions that charge £50 a ticket. Unlike some [...]
Where to Drink July 28, 2013 TOAST the arrival of the Royal Baby at one of London’s new bars and clubs. Ascend to the rarefied heights of Aqua Shard, where it’s claimed a generous amount of space for its standalone lounge bar. Situated in a three storey atrium with immense windows bathing the room in light, it’s the perfect place to [...]
Review: Richard Rogers Inside Out July 18, 2013 ART RICHARD ROGERS INSIDE OUT Royal Academy | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars THE new Richard Rogers exhibition at the Royal Academy includes his 1958 report from the Architectural Association School. It reads: “Rogers has a genuine interest in and a feeling for architecture, but sorely lacks the intellectual equipment to translate these [...]
Review: A Season In The Congo July 18, 2013 THEATRE A SEASON IN THE CONGO Young Vic | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars THE Young Vic stage is transformed into a busy Congolese bar at the opening of A Season in the Congo, Aimé Césaire’s play about the African country’s first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Out of the muddle emerges a beer salesman – [...]
Review: Breathe in July 18, 2013 FILM BREATHE IN Cert 15 | By Steve Dinneen Four Stars BREATHE In is an almost unbearably tense drama about first, lost and forbidden love that will drag memories of every bad thing you’ve done in a relationship from the pit of your stomach. Guy Pierce plays Keith, a high school teacher in [...]
Review: Timber! July 18, 2013 THEATRE TIMBER! Southbank Centre | By Alex Dymoke Three Stars CIRQUE Alfonse isn’t afraid to eschew the conventions of family entertainment. Its new show Timber! features Michael Jackson-style baby dangling, worryingly inept axe juggling and lots and lots of drinking. The bottles may not contain real booze, but the show is as much [...]
Review: The World’s End July 18, 2013 FILM THE WORLD’S END Cert 12a | By Alex Dymoke Three Stars MORRISON’S car parks, Kit Kats, national rail services from Leicester to Coventry – it’s easy to hate the banal rubbishness of small-town Britain. But as a spate of offbeat British comedies have shown, it’s easy to love it too. Hot Fuzz, [...]
Review: Mama February 26, 2013 FILM MAMA Cert 15 *** AFTER producing the deliciously terrifying The Orphanage and directing the superb horror fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth, you would bet your house on Guillermo del Toro nailing what is essentially a stripped down, monster-in-the-house horror movie. This is why I’m not a gambling man. It starts off convincingly enough. The plot – [...]