The American Clock at the Old Vic theatre review: A bad production of a bad Arthur Miller play February 14, 2019 The American Clock is Arthur Miller’s attempt to chart the death of the old America and the traumatic birth of the new in the years following the Great Depression. It has a loose, fidgety structure – it’s a series of vignettes, really – but the central dramatic arc follows the Baums, a well-to-do family who, [...]
The Boy Who Would Be King review: Arthurian legend meets London suburbia in Joe Cornish’s latest adventure February 14, 2019 Almost eight years have passed since Joe Cornish brought science-fiction to an inner city council estate in his alien-invasion movie Attack the Block. Now the writer-director deftly splices London suburbia and Arthurian legend in The Boy Who Would Be King, the story of a 12-year-old who yanks a big sword out of a bit of [...]
Tracey Emin at the White Cube Bermondsey: An agonised howl marks Emin’s return as an artist February 13, 2019 It’s been years since the last major Tracey Emin exhibition, but she returns with an agonised howl of a show exploring the gaping emotional wounds that threatened to destroy her as both an artist and a human being. The White Cube’s first room is dominated by 50 giant selfies of Emin in bed, taken on [...]
Resident Evil 2 Remake review: A brilliant, pant-soiling reimagining of the classic survival horror February 13, 2019 The best pop-culture horror holds a mirror to our deepest psychological fears. And while Resident Evil 2 hit consoles in the relative peace and prosperity of 1998, its shuffling brand of OG zombies, jerking towards an unspecified apocalypse, driven not by a grand unified plan but a mindless, instinctual desire to see the world burn [...]
Focus On the City of London: How much does it cost to live in the shiny new developments in the Square Mile? February 11, 2019 Have you ever thought about living in the Square Mile? Fair enough if you haven’t because you’re certainly in the majority, With an eye-watering average second-hand sale price of £840,053 – for context, the London average is £497,452, according to Savills Research using the Land Registry – and an outmoded reputation for being suits central, [...]
Interiors: Laura Ivill explains why companies and five star hotels are splashing out on experts of the ancient Chinese art form February 11, 2019 The year of the pig has arrived in the City of London. There was a time when only Chinese brokerages celebrated the tradition in the Square Mile, but now it’s a lively fixture across the City. At Asian restaurant Mei Ume, stationed at the Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square hotel near Tower Bridge, which is [...]
All is True review: Kenneth Branagh retells the final scenes of Shakespeare’s ‘small’ life in this cosy but sedate film February 11, 2019 Ever wonder what happened to William Shakespeare when he retired? No one does, mainly because he didn’t write any plays, so quite why Ben Elton thought it’d be a good idea to write a feature length film about the Bard’s latter days in Stratford-Upon-Avon is anyone’s guess. Mostly, Shakespeare just potters around his garden and [...]
Setting out on a two-day city break in India to see how many temples, tours and thalis I could fit in in a week February 8, 2019 The buzzing financial capital of Maharashtra as well as the heart of the Bollywood film industry, Mumbai is home to 24m people. It’s hard to get your head around but, like any big city worth its salt, Mumbai is a mass of contradictions and conflicting realities, the city of dreams that India’s most wealthy citizens [...]
Cheval Blanc St Tropez offers Michelin-starred meals and modern glamour on the Cote d’Azur February 8, 2019 So your superyacht’s currently in dry dock, but you still want a taste of the action in St Tropez? Languid lunches at Senequier, liberally doused with Provencal rose; late-night grooving at Les Caves du Roy, next to George Clooney or Beyonce; the possibility of spotting reclusive former sex goddess Brigitte Bardot (or BB, as she’s [...]
New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend February 8, 2019 New developments on the market this week Kidbrooke Village, Greenwich From £567,500 for a two bed with two bathrooms First time buyers can get on the ladder – and be part of a £1bn regeneration project – on the outskirts of Blackheath with the launch of these new Help to Buy homes. The interior design [...]