Red Rocket review: Majestic career high for former porn star who partied with Paris Hilton March 11, 2022 Red Rocket isn’t the first cinematic reminder we’ve had this year that penises make for hilarious viewing. Jackass Forever, the year’s most unlikely hit, was basically middle-aged men getting laughs from their appendages. This indie is going in for a slice of the same pie, although the silly jokes sit alongside a serious message about [...]
Turning Red review: Another straight-to-streaming Pixar hit March 11, 2022 It hasn’t been a great pandemic for Pixar. Turning Red is the third film to miss cinemas entirely, heading to Disney+ in the wake of the Omicron variant. Like Soul, it seems unfortunate that a film breaking a lot of barriers should miss the big screen, being the first Pixar film to be solely directed [...]
Small Island review at the NT: A fabulous play about racial injustice March 11, 2022 The small island is Jamaica but then again it is also Britain: this brilliant play explores the injustices faced by the people who arrived on our shores in the 1940s in search of a better life, only to be met with violence and hostility. One of the play’s great strengths is how it makes audiences [...]
Red Rocket review – a fascinating story of sleaze March 10, 2022 Like 2017’s Oscar nominated The Florida Project, director Sean Baker once again deals with people at the other side of The American Dream in a story that is miles away from anything you’ll currently see at the cinema. Simon Rex stars as Mikey, a former LA porn star who returns to his hometown in Texas [...]
A look towards this year’s BFI Flare LGBTQ film festival March 10, 2022 During the height of The Gateway club’s popularity in the 1960s, Mick Jagger turned up and begged for entry. He knew this was a space for women only but he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “He said ‘Go on Gina, I’ll wear a dress,’” recalls Jacquie Lawrence, director of a new documentary on the [...]
Ginetta G56 GTA review: the real racing deal March 10, 2022 The Ginetta G56 GTA isn’t a supercar modified for the track – it’s a raw and uncompromising racer. Tim Pitt swallows a brave pill…
Hendrick’s looks to the sea for inspiration for its brand new gin March 10, 2022 Hendrick’s flagship gin arrived in the vanguard of the gin revival. Packed with floral notes from rose petals, and freshness, from cucumbers, its inventive blend and distinctive bottling has been emblematic of gin’s return to prominence over the last two decades. In recent years the brand has continued to innovate, with regular releases of limited-edition [...]
The Pumproom at Rivet Distillery is a real treat March 10, 2022 Under an hour from London lies historic Chatham and nestled against the River Medway is the beautiful Rivet Distillery.A destination point in itself, guests can enjoy an hour’s tour of the distillery ahead of a tasting, trying their range of English spirits. Prioritising distillation over casks to create flavour, they make smooth grain whiskies, a [...]
Celebrating International Women’s Day – With Wine March 9, 2022 This week was International Women’s Day and it is fitting for me to celebrate this through wine. When drinking, women choose wine nearly twice as often as men but the industry itself is still largely a man’s game. Speaking to some women who have worked in wine for up to 40 years, it is clear [...]
The A-Z of wine: D is for… Douro March 9, 2022 HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE DOURO? doer-oh WHAT’S THIS THEN? An iconic, strikingly beautiful Portuguese wine region, best known for being the home to Port, the fortified wine that we all claim to love, yet usually only buy once a year. More specifically, the Douro is the wine region around the river of the same name [...]