Hogwarts? It’s Hollyoaks with broomsticks July 16, 2009 FilmHARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCECert: 12A AT THE START of the Harry Potter franchise, the films were fun. They were joyful affairs, full of the sweetness of JK Rowling’s imagination and the spirit of inventiveness that seemed to suffuse everything, from quidditch games to Diagon Alley. Even with Death Eaters, basilisks and dark lords [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND PREVIEWS July 16, 2009 FILMTHE INFORMERS Adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis’s novel, with Mickey Rourke and Rhys Ifans. FROZEN RIVER Strong US drama about illegal immigration, with Melissa Leo on Oscar-nominated form. KISSES Charming Irish indie film about a pair of runaways up to no good in Dublin. DVDTHE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT Ghoulish supernatural goings on, supposedly based on [...]
NOW SHOWING SIX OF THE BEST July 16, 2009 THEATRE:Jerusalem Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook star in playwright Jez Butterworth’s return to the Royal Court. ART: Corot to Monet The National Gallery rustles up its best Impressionist landscapes. FILM: 35 Shots of Rum Terrific latest from French director Claire Denis. THEATRE: Eight Vote for the plot you want to follow in Ella Hickson’s award-winning [...]
The lady with the power of heeling July 16, 2009 FOR more than a century, we have been heeling exceptional people,” says Olga Berluti, doyenne of the bespoke shoe business and maker of some of the most sought-after men’s footwear around. You sense she could mean “healing” too – she has an almost moral belief in the value fine shoes bring to her customers. For [...]
DRESSES IN THE OFFICE July 16, 2009 Sara HollambyStyle Counsel IWAS talking to a friend the other day about wearing dresses at the office – are they suitable and high-powered enough for the City? Dresses are certainly very comfortable when the weather is hot, you don’t have to worry about co-ordinating tops with bottoms, and they are a great way of injecting [...]
Its hip to be in the square, whether that’s in London or outside the city July 16, 2009 IN residential stakes, it’s pretty hard to top the London square. An emblem of elegance, a coveted enclave for the rich, famous and private, a square is where people who have reached the top go for a house. And despite the property market slump, those with cash still can’t get enough of them. Howard Elston, [...]
FOCUS ON: DARTFORD, KENT July 16, 2009 PRIORY LANE, EYNSFORD, DA4 0AYPrice: £1.35m This pretty four-bedroom home is thought to date from the 17th century and is set in the village of Eynsford, which is about half an hour from London by train. The drawing room is double aspect while the dining room has French doors which look out on to a [...]
Q&A: SALES July 16, 2009 Russell HuntMANAGING DIRECTOR, PROPERTY HUNTQ. I keep missing out on properties as they’re selling very quickly. What tips can you give me? A. If you are getting a mortgage then you must make sure that you can get your finances agreed in principle before you start looking. Remember that you will be coming up against [...]
Mixing business with glamour and killer heels July 15, 2009 THE TOWERING WORLD OF JIMMY CHOO By Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de RosanBLOOMSBURY £18.99 PART business manual and part snoopy fashion reportage, the tale of super-brand Jimmy Choo is by turns compelling and dull. Well, it depends on the reader, actually. If your primary interest is learning about what makes companies successful, then [...]
Middle of the road July 14, 2009 ANOTHER version of the popular and much-copied TT is here. Do I sound bored? I’m not really, it’s just that this sector is chock-full of perfectly good cars, many of which have taken a bit of the TT’s design and slapped them onto their own product. So, we see lots of this car creeping into [...]