Focus On Barking: Will Khan’s approval for ‘Barcelona-on-Thames’ change the landscape of east London? September 16, 2016 It’s not often Barking – an industrial suburb of east London – finds itself in the spotlight. But that’s exactly what happened this month when Mayor of London Sadiq Khan approved “one of the largest and most ambitious regeneration schemes in Europe” on the north bank of the Thames. Barking Riverside, as it’ll be known, [...]
Property of the Week: How one design-focused couple turned their house in Mile End into a million pounds September 16, 2016 Over 20 years ago, Antonius and Claire Wubben, a couple with a strong background in design, started looking for a property to buy in the East End of London as they were fascinated with the area’s typical Victorian architecture, the tight-knit community living there and its residential streets. They finally landed on an 1880s three [...]
New homes on sale in Stanton William’s Riverwalk, the curviest towers on the River Thames September 16, 2016 Riverwalk, Westminster From £1.25m A scheme at Millbank on the north bank of the Thames is throwing open its doors this weekend to prospective buyers. Over 75 per cent of the homes have been sold off-plan at the Ronson Capital Partners development, which has 119 one to four bedroom apartments spread across two buildings. The [...]
Alexandra Soveral creates smells to welcome the wealthy residents home to The Bishop’s Avenue in Hampstead September 16, 2016 We put a ridiculous amount of effort into making our homes smell nice. Remember when all shag-pile carpets needed for a total refresh was a liberal dose of Glade Shake’n’Vac? Then came those peculiar little stashes of potpourri, followed by the ubiquitous scented candle; and finally we’ve graduated to the reed diffuser. They are as [...]
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week review: Ron Howard has made the definitive Beatles documentary September 16, 2016 Eight Days A Week is a fascinating look at a vital few years in the story of The Fab Four, covering their initial success, Beatlemania, and the unprecedented American success that caught a country unawares. Films about The Beatles often struggle to capture why they made such an impact. In Ron Howard's film archive footage [...]
Doctor Faustus at the Barbican review: a lively, relevant morality tale September 15, 2016 Shakespeare’s contemporary Christopher Marlowe certainly gave him a run for his money when it came to blood and gore. Even a modern audience can’t help but flinch when the titular doctor slices his arm open – three times no less – to make an unholy pact with the devil. In fact, it’s these darker forays [...]
Dream Play at The Vault review: A profoundly odd exploration of human emotion September 15, 2016 Very roughly based on the story of an alien who visits Earth to experience the full gamut of human emotions, Dream Play presents a series of disjointed vignettes that teeter on the fuzzy precipice between real and abstract. That’s to say, it’s supremely odd. Actors repeatedly swap characters as the audience moves from room to [...]
The Infiltrator review: Brian Cranston makes for an underwhelming lead in this coke-fuelled true story September 15, 2016 In the years since Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston has struggled as a movie lead, with the underwhelming Trumbo being followed by this true story of Bob Mazur, an undercover customs agent who goes deep into the operations of Pablo Escobar. Despite a confident performance from Cranston, who skates the line between good and evil as [...]
Bridget Jones lives next to a hospital, right, so why does it take her so long to get to a maternity ward when she goes into labour. It doesn’t make sense September 15, 2016 Here’s a thing. Bridget Jones lives on Bedale Street, close enough to Borough Market that she could swan dive from her bedroom window and land in a basket of organic, gluten-free sourdough, or one of those massive iron pans filled with Ethiopian curry. Directly across the road from her flat is Guy’s Hospital (the tallest [...]
Blair Witch: this 2016 sequel to the found-footage classic has plenty of scares but little new to offer September 15, 2016 The Blair Witch Project was the product of a more innocent time. Back in 1999, people believed the film might have been a genuine documentary about some kids being murdered by a witch. Actor Heather Donahue, who played a fictional version of herself, even complained that “being dead” had an adverse affect on her career. [...]