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 [...]
The personal touch: why you need a stylist March 9, 2022 Change comes slowly to the citadels of menswear in Savile Row. There were intakes of breath when the venerable Huntsman and Sons (established in 1849) forged a commercial cinema tie-in with the Kingsman franchise. So the idea of visiting not just a traditional tailor but someone who would offer the services of a personal stylist [...]
The Merchant of Venice at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review March 9, 2022 Abigail Graham’s production of The Merchant of Venice, at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, sets out with the stated intention to “reclaim Shakespeare’s disturbing tale”, from whom it is not clear, but it successfully reframes the ancient hatreds central to the text in a way that will sit even more uncomfortably with contemporary audiences. If it [...]
New version of The Batman really puts the ‘dark’ in the Dark Knight March 9, 2022 The new version of The Batman really puts the “dark” into the Dark Knight. It’s the meanest, most sinister take on the character yet, set in a squalid, rain-soaked Gotham full of thugs and perverts, the Batman most definitely among them. Starring the always-excellent Robert Pattinson, it’s a decidedly emo take on a character who [...]
Animal Kingdom at Hampstead Theatre is theatre as therapy March 8, 2022 The intimate Hampstead Downstairs is just the setting for the emerging playwright to display their wares – all the more so when the work in question introduces its audience to the very private, innermost space of a family therapy session. From the other side of an imaginary two-way mirror, the audience observes an exposed, unadorned [...]
Ali and Ava film review – a wholesome modern British romance March 8, 2022 British director Clio Barnard returns with her first film since 2017’s Dark River, and it’s an uplifting story of a second chance at love. As the title suggests, this is the story of Ali and Ava, two lost souls who seems to find each other in their bustling Bradford community. Ava (Claire Rushbrook) is a [...]
The Duke is a gentle farewell to British cinema great Roger Michell March 8, 2022 A long-delayed film finally getting its release is a weekly occurrence at the moment, but British comedy-drama The Duke arrives with some sadness. It is the final film of Roger Michell, the beloved British director of Notting Hill, Venus, and Enduring Love, coming just five months after his passing. The BAFTA winner’s final bow is [...]
Even after 50 years, The Godfather is still the Don Corleone of movies March 8, 2022 Even half a century since its release, it shouldn’t be difficult to convince you why The Godfather is worth catching this weekend for its anniversary. It’s The Godfather – the title itself is practically a synonym for good cinema. Adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel, Francis Ford Coppola had to fight to get his vision on [...]
Postwar Modern at the Barbican is a timely exhibition full of energy March 8, 2022 How do you make sense of war? How can the human psyche comprehend senseless, wanton de- struction and loss of life for supposed political reasons? This question is searing red hot across the world following Russia’s inva- sion of Ukraine, and adds an un- nerving poignancy to this vibrant survey of 48 artists working in [...]