More artists are benefiting from streaming than they did from CDs according to new data January 4, 2022 Official figures released by record labels’ association the BPI show that more artists are succeeding as streaming and the music industry boomed in 2021.
The top colours to paint your home in 2022 January 3, 2022 Every autumn household paint brands announce their “colour of the year”. The home improvement equivalent to groundhog day, it has become a much-awaited ritual, and the brands’ respective decision-making processes are rather opaque: some determine their colour through surveys, others via mysterious searches into the ether. But what this year’s colours bring is a sense [...]
Best of 2021: The Huracan STO is the best Lamborghini around January 3, 2022 The new 2021 Huracan STO is peak Lamborghini, says Tim Pitt, and one of the most exciting supercars on sale.
Best of 2021: Nomadland was the Best Picture winner for a reason January 1, 2022 Sometimes, being an Oscar favourite can be a set back for a movie. The branding of best picture implies that it must be all things to all people, leaving an inevitable disappointment in some when they find a movie that isn’t to their taste. This year is a bit different, with the nominees generally being [...]
Best of 2021: CODA is a moving coming-of-age drama January 1, 2022 Festival hype can be a double-edge sword, particularly at the Sundance Film Festival where success doesn’t always translate to box office. For every Napoleon Dynamite or Get Out, there are films that are bought for big money that flop spectacularly (see Steve Coogan comedy Hamlet 2, or teen weepie Me, Earl, and The Dying Girl). [...]
Best of 2021: Dune has masterful visuals and spellbinding performances December 31, 2021 It was never going to be easy for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The director of Arrival and Sicario took on his dream project knowing full well that previous versions of Frank Herbert’s novel had infamously arduous journeys to the screen. Then came a pandemic, and Warner Bros’ decision to include this film as part of the [...]
Best of 2021: J Sheekey remains a masterclass December 31, 2021 Before the pandemic, the London food scene was all about the hot new thing. Upon meeting up with friends who consider themselves part of that scene, the first question would always be “where have you eaten recently?” or “have you been to so-and-so yet?” (this paragraph is the journalistic equivalent of a subtweet to half [...]
Best of 2021: The iPhone 13 is an extraordinary device December 31, 2021 Those following the launch of Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro could be forgiven for thinking it doesn’t push the envelope far beyond last year’s already-excellent 12 Pro. It’s essentially the same chassis, distinguishable only by the new colourways – notably Gold and the powdery Sierra Blue – and a marginally smaller “notch” housing the front-facing camera. [...]
Best of 2021: Hamlet at the Young Vic December 30, 2021 Playing Hamlet is still seen by many as the pinnacle of an acting career. When we think of the greats in the role we think of John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ian McKellan (twice, as of this summer). But Cush Jumbo inhabits the part so brilliantly in this new production at the [...]
Best of 2021: The Tragedy of Macbeth at the Almeida December 30, 2021 South African director Yaël Farber’s The Tragedy of Macbeth will fill the Almeida thanks to her casting of four-times Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, but it will be remembered long after the run has ended as one of the most strikingly original, hauntingly atmospheric productions of the Scottish Play in recent times. The tone is set [...]