Property of the Week: Crime queen PD James’ house in Holland Park is on the market for £4.95m July 20, 2018 If you’re finding inspiration hard to come by, you could do worse than take up residence in the home of one of the most famous crime writers in the world. Holland Park Avenue, Holland Park, £4.95m “Appointed OBE in 1983 and Baroness James of Holland Park nine years later, PD James lived at the address [...]
Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again review: A joyous summer fling that you’ll either love or hate July 20, 2018 I’ve never met a mum who didn’t like the film version of ABBA musical Mamma Mia. You can see why; it blasted them back to a past when you could leave the house in a spangly jumpsuit and dance to Waterloo in a club even if it wasn’t Cheese Night. And at heart, it was [...]
Safari From Above: We take to the skies over Botswana for a whole new perspective on African safari July 20, 2018 Viewed from above, an elephant is a curious sight. Longer and considerably heavier than the light aircraft I was flying in, each member of the herd was unperturbed by the fact that our descent onto the dirt airstrip was only a few tens of metres above their heads. In fact, the only one who was [...]
Pity at the Royal Court review: A shambolic take on modern society that has big ideas but abject execution July 20, 2018 Last year was a difficult time for the National’s Olivier theatre, with a run of less-than-brilliant productions that was enough for some to speculate it had lost its touch. A case in point was lacklustre modern fairytale Saint George and the Dragon written by Rory Mullarkey, a kind of Brexit pantomime for adults that [...]
The Lehman Trilogy at the national Theatre review: An astonishing play about the banking dynasty by a red-hot Sam Mendes July 19, 2018 To a generation, Sam Mendes is synonymous with Oscar-winning Hollywood films, from the introspective dramas of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road to big budget blockbusters like Skyfall and Spectre. But his relationship with the stage is far more enduring, beginning a decade before his cinematic debut, and encompassing a stint as artistic director of [...]
Hotel Artemis film review: A stylish but ultimately disappointing homage to John Wick July 19, 2018 Hotel Artemis is a film of almosts. It almost belies its meagre $14m budget. It almost has something to say about contemporary America. It almost puts an interesting sci-fi spin on a classic crime caper. It’s almost good. It begins with a paint-by-numbers bank heist gone awry, although this is soon revealed to be [...]
Rolls-Royce unveils ‘flying taxi’ at Farnborough Airshow July 15, 2018 Rolls-Royce has released plans for a flying taxi that could be taking to the skies in the early 2020s. The British manufacturer will unveil its designs for an electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) vehicle at the Farnborough Airshow, which will be officially opened by Prime Minister Theresa May tomorrow. The air show is one of [...]
Auction house breaks record with £10m Aston Martin sale July 14, 2018 Auction house Bonhams yesterday broke the record for the most valuable British car sold at a European auction when an Aston Martin was sold for more than £10m. The 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato fetched £10,081,500, which Bonhams said was a record. It sold in the room to a European buyer. The lot was part [...]
Skyscraper review: Dwayne Johnson jumping around on top of a tall building is precisely as entertaining as that sounds July 12, 2018 Having recently fought a malevolent board game in Jumanji: Return to the Jungle, and wrestled giant mutant monsters in Rampage, Hollywood’s busiest stack of sentient beef Dwayne Johnson is back to face off against his largest foe yet, the world’s tallest skyscraper. Mountains and small moons must now be shaking in their enormous boots, [...]
Day by day, Donald Trump is reshaping America. We travel the west coast from Canada to Mexico speaking to people about their hopes and fears, and how their lives are changing July 11, 2018 The Seattle skyline, with the iconic Space Needle against the backdrop of Mt Rainier, may be familiar from TV series including Frasier and Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s the city’s music scene that sent ripples across the world, through Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix. “The music scene helped build Seattle’s liberal values,” says Nick, a [...]