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 – [...]
Review: Money The Game Show February 26, 2013 In Clare Duffy’s new play, Money The Game Show, two ex-bankers, Queenie and Casino (Lucy Ellinson and Brian Ferguson), explain the financial crisis through a series of audience participation games. Two halves of the audience face each other and in the centre is a platform, complete with cartoon noises and colourful flashing lights that combine [...]
Float through the traffic in the E300 February 25, 2013 Mercedes-Benz’s latest hybrid executive saloon is so smooth it is more magic carpet than automobile Traditionally, delivering high fuel economy hasn’t been a primary focus for large executive cars. But the times they are a-changin’. Car manufacturers know they need to provide cleaner and more efficient vehicles to appease European regulators and discourage buyers from [...]
Rival motors February 25, 2013 NOT CONVINCED BY THE E300? HERE ARE SOME ALTERNATIVES BMW ActiveHybrid 5, £47,095 If you fancy something a little sportier, BMW’s ActiveHybrid 5 combines a 3.0-litre twin turbo six-cylinder petrol engine with an electric drive system and eight-speed automatic gearbox. With a combined power output of 340hp, BMW’s executive hybrid can be driven on electric [...]
Prepare for the London Marathon February 25, 2013 Barry’s Bootcamp trainer Ricardo Vargas gives his top tops for getting through the London Marathon unscathed 1. Make sure you push yourself on the treadmill The best thing to do is a high intensity, varied workout, as opposed to just running at a constant speed. You want to regularly change the incline and alter the [...]
Recharge your batteries with a Polynesia massage at Kensington’s Baglioni spa February 25, 2013 “This massage will actually take you to Polynesia,” says my Baglioni Spa therapist. These are eight words you really want to hear on a cold, grey morning in London. To disappoint literalists, the massage won’t actually take you to Polynesia – that blissful archipelago nestled in the Pacific Ocean – but it will rub you [...]
Paradise found at Canyon Ranch February 24, 2013 Newsreader Emma Crosby finds Canyon Ranch is the perfect antidote to the punishing daily newsbeat IT’S 7AM and the thermometer is already pushing 80 degrees centigrade. I’m cycling in what must be one of the most stark but beautiful places on Earth, the Sonora desert in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains in Arizona. My [...]
Choose The Black Run for a painless trip to the slopes February 24, 2013 ALL SKIERS know the feeling. Waking the family at four o’clock in the morning, squeezing them into the car alongside bulky bags of equipment, only to arrive at the airport and find an hour long check-in queue waiting for you. The children are tetchy, and towers of luggage are balanced precariously atop a trolley that [...]
It’s a pop hit February 22, 2013 ART LICHTENSTEIN: A RETROSPECTIVE By Alex Dymoke | Tate Modern **** IS HE the worst artist in the US?” asked Life magazine about Roy Lichtenstein in 1964. The primary colours and thick, innocent lines are too much – or too little – for many. However, his paintings are some of the most familiar images of [...]
The top shows from fashion week February 21, 2013 While New York was a muted affair, British brands embraced colour and everyday decadence in a big way L ONDON FASHION Week is a third of a century old and this season: it showed. There was a maturity and a sense of optimism, both in the way the clothes were presented and in the collections [...]