Another striking play in The Shed at The National October 6, 2013 THEATRE THE WORLD OF EXTREME HAPPINESS The Shed | By Xenobe Purvis Three Stars A MAN describes the taste of pigeon excrement, his wife gives birth, praying with every eye-popping push that her child will be a son, and a newly-born daughter is thrown to the slop bucket, all within the space of ten minutes. [...]
Filthy, dirty and great fun October 3, 2013 FILM FILTH Cert 18 | By Steve Dinneen Three Stars Adaptations of Irvine Welsh novels, like Irvine Welsh novels, have gone downhill since Trainspotting. The Acid House (1998) had a flawed, lunatic charm but Ecstasy (2011) was little more than an anemic homage to Danny Boyle’s more famous Edinburgh romp. Filth – based on a [...]
Where to Drink: A new opening from the owners of Bodo’s and a slice of Indian chic in the middle of Mayfair October 3, 2013 SEPTEMBER witnessed a number of high-end clubs and bars launching across London and the Westbury Hotel has bragging rights to one such venue. No 41 is nestled underneath the newly Michelin-awarded Brasserie Chavot and accessed through a street-side entrance. The nightclub is a plush amalgam of self-aware opulence, with a design scheme replete with grand [...]
A bleak, brutal and smart crime thriller September 26, 2013 FILM PRISONERS Cert 15 | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars PRISONERS is essentially a three-way acting competition between Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jake Gyllenhaal’s hair. Seriously, Jake Gyllenhaal looks really cool in this movie. Far too cool for a real cop, what with all those tattoos and his shirt done up to the top. [...]
Review: Blue Jasmine September 26, 2013 FILM BLUE JASMINE Cert 12A | By Steve Dinneen Three Stars Every new Woody Allen movie – and they arrive with disquieting regularity – is greeted with the same question: is it a return to form or another of his onanistic “wilderness” projects? The general rule of thumb is that further he strays from his [...]
Brilliant performance art poorly presented September 26, 2013 ART ANA MENDIETA: TRACES Hayward Gallery | By Joseph Funnell Three Stars I REMEMBER the first time I saw a work by Ana Mendieta. It was a film of the performance Chicken Piece, where the artist stood naked holding a recently decapitated chicken that violently flapped as life drained from its wings. It was shocking. [...]
Also out this week September 26, 2013 FILM: AUSTENLAND (Cert 12a) Twilight author Stephanie Meyer’s first foray into film production is sweet but witless. ART: VAN GOGH IN PARIS (Eykyn Maclean Gallery) Van Gogh’s Paris paintings are brighter than most of his more famous works. ART: PHILIP-LORCA DICORCIA (David Zwirner) Photographer DiCorcia examines the unease that accompanied the end of the Bush [...]
A fun but shallow spectacle September 22, 2013 THEATRE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Noël Coward Theatre | By Xenobe Purvis Three Stars THE Michael Grandage Company turns to Shakespeare with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the fourth in a series of productions. The play, which has suffered a history of hackneyed interpretations, is given a contemporary twist in Grandage’s hands, set in the hedonistic [...]
An extraordinary, enchanting exhibition September 22, 2013 ART RICHARD SERRA: DRAWINGS FOR THE COURTAULD The Courtauld | By Joseph Funnell Four Stars BEST known as a small treasure-trove of impressionist/ post-impressionist masterpieces, there is something a little extra-ordinary going on at the Courtauld Gallery. Atop its spiralling staircase we are confronted with an enigmatic set of forms that comprise a new body [...]
Where to drink September 22, 2013 LONDON is most definitely on the move, with a plethora of openings across the city. For adventurous spirits, head to Islington, where new cocktail bar Hoxley & Porter launched last week. Fashioned to resemble a deluxe train carriage from the halcyon days of African exploration, the room is one of a kind, featuring a dark [...]