Blair Witch game review: Bloober Team over-stretches with this ambitious but flawed tale September 11, 2019 There are moments in Blair Witch that live up to the promise of the source material, recreating the sense of suffocating panic that comes from being lost and alone. It’s an area in which Polish games developer Bloober Team has form: in psychological horror Layers of Fear, doors would flicker out of existence when you [...]
It Chapter 2 film review: Stephen King adaptation limps over the line September 6, 2019 Pennywise the dreadful clown is brilliant as a twisted metaphor for our childhood fears. He is less brilliant as a literal space alien who can only be defeated through some arcane Native American ritual. Alas, that’s where Stephen King’s bulging 1,200-page novel ends up. It proved to be the undoing of the 1990 TV mini-series, [...]
Hansard at the National Theatre play review: Political drama is a blistering debut September 6, 2019 George Osborne was in the audience for this blistering political drama by debut playwright Simon Woods, no doubt taking some credit for lines such as: “It’s so easy to mistake an expensive education for a genuine understanding of the world”. Hansard – the title taken from the verbatim record of everything said in Parliament – [...]
First look: The super-luxe apartments within a former army barracks in Chelsea September 6, 2019 If ever there was a long-awaited London development, then Chelsea Barracks is it. Empty for a decade, and five years under construction, residents will finally start to move in this month. This week, the first show apartment was revealed – and even if we don’t have the £24m required to snap up this four-bedroom 4,000 [...]
Which London Boy location should Taylor Swift snap up a home in? September 6, 2019 When Taylor Swift released her latest album, Londoners were surprised to find she had penned an ode to our city in a track called London Boy. In the song, she travels around the capital using routes that anyone with a cursory knowledge of the transport system would find completely illogical, such as going from Shoreditch [...]
New homes, shops and cultural venues are set to revitalise a hidden part of Brentford’s industrial past September 6, 2019 Although it is only divided from Kew by a thin stretch of river, Brentford and its West London neighbour could not be more different. Take their history, for example. While the former started out as a country retreat for royals, Brentford has built itself on being a hive of industry. In the Victorian era a [...]
Control game review: Alan Wake developer perfects its formula with this sci-fi blockbuster September 5, 2019 When David Lynch and Mark Frost came up with the pitch for Twin Peaks, they ignored the prevailing wisdom for creating a TV show. First they mapped out the town itself – the sheriff’s station, the high school, the woods – then they imagined the kind of people who might live there. The murder mystery [...]
Weekly Grill: Scott Paton, head chef at Boringdon Hall, tells us about the joy of peaches and an unwanted sausage September 3, 2019 Who are you and what do you do? I’m Scott Paton, head chef at Boringdon Hall Hotel. I oversee all food outlets within the 5-star country house hotel in Devon. Tell us about your new menu We have a new multi-course experience in the pipeline, a journey through the history of the hotel, which dates back to [...]
Tribute act: Why Ferrari’s F8 Tributo is an extraordinary piece of engineering September 3, 2019 Talk about hallowed tarmac. Fiorano is Ferrari’s private test track next to its world-famous HQ in Maranello. It was built in 1972 to run both road and racing cars. Driving it is a rite of passage for any serious Ferrari owner, and for many a motoring journalist. As I passed through the famous gates, I [...]
Appropriate at Donmar Warehouse review: An expert study of sibling rivalry August 30, 2019 There’s something special about an argument between siblings. No other type of altercation conjures up that same breed of no-holds-barred viciousness, which has the ability to transform even the most composed of us into a ill-tempered child as soon as the first insult is hurled. This is the object of study in Appropriate, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play [...]