Car review: Will the Mercedes-Benz GLC overtake its rivals? July 27, 2015 Mercedes-Benz finally has a new, smaller 4×4 to take on the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. But is it worth the wait? Readers of a certain age may read the acronym GLC and be forcibly reminded of the Ken Livingstone-headed Greater London Council. Thankfully, initials are all the Mercedes GLC has in common with [...]
Not convinced? July 27, 2015 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… AUDI Q5 2.0 TDI 190 S TRONIC SE PRICE: £34,280 0-62MPH: 8.4 secs TOP SPEED: 130mph CO2 G/KM: 152g/km MPG COMBINED: 48.7mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Four Stars PERFORMANCE Three Stars PRACTICALITY Four Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Two Stars BMW X3 20D SE AUTO PRICE: £35,305 0-62MPH: 8.1 secs TOP SPEED: 130mph CO2 G/KM: 136g/km [...]
Too early to plan your winter ski holiday? Snow way! Guarantee the white stuff with a cross-country expedition to Norway July 26, 2015 I was here because of snow. Or rather, lack of it. Good snow was hard to score in the Alps last year, and when you’re looking for a reliable source of the white stuff, Norway can hook you up. In season, you can even ski on the outskirts of the capital. Where I was headed, [...]
48 hours in… Kenmare, Ireland July 26, 2015 WHERE TO STAY With its breathtaking views of Kenmare Bay, Sheen Falls Lodge effortlessly mixes quiet charm with modern luxury. The rooms are comfort personified with high ceilings and antique furnishings. Visit sheenfallslodge.ie WHERE TO GO Kenmare is home to some of the best walking trails in Ireland. You can easily spend a day larking across the [...]
Picnic in the park with a butler: An indulgent alternative to afternoon tea July 24, 2015 A summery lunchtime alternative The butler is a British institution both ridiculed and revered in equal measure. A complex figure, sitcoms have parodied the butler, but he is also powerful, and his omnipresence has been portrayed in period dramas and twee murder mysteries for decades. It is no wonder, then, that butler services prove a [...]
Film review: No knock-out blow for Southpaw July 23, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ There’s an exchange that takes place in every boxing movie ever, in which the trainer takes his hot-headed young buck aside, points to his fist and says, “it’s not about this” and then taps his temple and says,“it’s about this.” The message: mind over muscle. Thought over fight. Well, what [...]
Film review: Maggie is a nuanced entry to the zombie canon July 23, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ There are no one-liners or knowing winks in this Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie movie; it’s a bleakly plodding, quietly affecting drama that’s not so much interested in moments of terror, but what happens when they subside. On the face of it, the premise is familiar: a “necroambulist” virus that turns people into [...]
Film review: The Legend of Barney Thomson July 23, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★☆☆ Robert Carlyle’s directorial debut is a grotesque carnival of murder and excess that consistently entertains but eventually trips up on its own wild ambition. It follows the titular Barney, a spiritless Glasgow barber guilty of the only sin that’s beyond redemption in his home-town: having nae banter. When he accidentally murders [...]
Theatre review: American Idiot July 23, 2015 Arts Theatre | ★★☆☆☆ Green Day and musical theatre seem like odd bedfellows until you consider that both are fun, infantile and the kind of thing that no self respecting adult would confess to enjoying. When the two came together for 2010’s Broadway production American Idiot, the show won two Tony awards and a Grammy; [...]
Film review: Inside Out July 23, 2015 Cert U | ★★★★☆ Kids are notoriously difficult to read. Try asking one whether they like school or turkey dinosaurs and all you’re likely to get is a non-committal shrug. But Disney Pixar’s latest animated feature will make you completely reassess the way you talk to pre-teens as it fires you right into the turbulent [...]