Modern living in reborn Wembley May 20, 2010 WITH three weeks to go until the World Cup, the red and white flags and bunting have started appearing in the shops this week, which must mean it’s okay now to be getting excited. Notwithstanding the unfortunate comments of Lord Triesman last weekend, there’s still the hope that in eight years time we’ll have the [...]
Efficient tale of swords and magic May 20, 2010 Film PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME Cert: 12A *** BASED on a computer game, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time sees doe-eyed actor Jake Gyllenhaal switch to swashbuckling action star, not entirely successfully. He’s got the beefy physique, and thanks to CGI there’s no end to the acrobatic leaps and somersaults he can perform [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND May 20, 2010 FILM BAD LIEUTENANT Nick Cage stars as a corrupt cop in Werner Herzog’s controversial remake. COP OUT Bruce Willis plays an NYPD detective in Kevin Smith’s crime comedy. HEARTLESS Supernatural thriller set in London’s urban ganglands, with Jim Sturgess. DVD SHERLOCK HOLMES Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are Holmes and Watson in Guy Ritchie’s [...]
Cocktail hats for Ascot… and every other day May 20, 2010 CHANCES are, when you meet Sahar Freemantle you will be slightly stopped in your tracks. Not only is she a striking combination of an Iranian mother and English father (hence the name), she will probably be wearing bright red lipstick and a cocktail hat. And, being a cocktail hat designer, it’ll probably be one of [...]
Understated and ineffably English May 20, 2010 WHETHER it’s for Ascot or a wedding, wearing a morning suit is a chance for a chap to look at his ineffable best – it should never be seen as a chore. There’s a reason why morning dress is perhaps the most fundamental expression of English sartorial style – it’s simply tremendously elegant. The curve [...]
Picnic of champions May 19, 2010 AT bloomin’ last. It may have taken forever, but there’s finally warmth in the air and the weekend is expected to be lovely. The sunshine will have lots of us trotting off to the nearest park clutching blankets and picnic baskets, but we shouldn’t waste the occasion on the kind of basic fodder one can [...]
Borough Market gets a taste of Caribbean cacao May 19, 2010 THINK of premium, top-end chocolate and you probably think of exquisite truffles or smooth, silky bars in luxurious packaging, creations of meticulous artisan craftsmanship with the words “Swiss” or “Belgian” included somewhere. You wouldn’t think of inelegant, lumpy, rough-hewn shards of the stuff sold in no less elegant paper and plastic bags with a sticker [...]
Another triumph from the master of literary darkness May 19, 2010 THE SUNSET LIMITED BY CORMAC MCCARTHY Picador, £9.99 **** THE iconic American author of the Pulitzer winning The Road (2006) and No Country For Old Men (2005) has a fixation with the grim. Men (in general) love to read his work, see the film adaptations, perhaps because it all toys with apocalypse in various ways [...]
VEXED IN THE CITY May 19, 2010 I’m fed up with my office pal taking out his temper on me DEAR VEXED: There’s a guy at work in the same division as me. We’re on the same level as each other and joined the company at the same time. We get on brilliantly most of the time; laughing and joking, he even [...]
Polo’s hottest event returns to Hurlingham May 18, 2010 FOR a game that’s nearly 3,000 years old, polo has certainly kept up with the times. Last year’s MINT Polo in the Park event at Hurlingham attracted a crowd of 24,000 and a TV audience of more than two million viewers, making it the most watched polo match ever. The first recorded game took place [...]