Denzel saves turbulent drama January 31, 2013 FILM FLIGHT Cert 15 *** Flight probably isn’t the film you’re expecting. For the first 15 minutes, Cast Away director Robert Zemeckis flexes his live-action, big-effects muscles but following the knuckle-whitening opener, it becomes less a dramatic thriller than a slow-paced portrait of alcohol addiction. We meet Denzel Washington’s Captain Whip Whitaker as he wakes [...]
Murray’s FDR breathes life into flabby period drama January 31, 2013 FILM HYDE PARK ON HUDSON Cert 15 *** Bill Murray sits at the centre of this flabby period drama like a grotesque but lovable toad in a dangerously shallow pond. Hyde Park on Hudson follows the budding sexual relationship between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Murray) and his distant cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley during the visit [...]
Arts round-up: Manet, Picasso and Jurgen Teller exhibitions January 31, 2013 MANET: PORTRAYING LIFE Royal Academy of Arts Manet: Portraying Life is the first major UK exhibition dedicated to the portraiture of the great French painter Édouard Manet. The exhibition brings together works from America, Europe and Asia, including the famed The Railing he created in 1873. Don’t expect to see his most famous pieces though [...]
Overcome the January lull at these drink dens January 31, 2013 London always experiences a bit of a lull in January, but there are still some notable new arrivals you may have missed around town. The first of such is The Luggage Room, nestled neatly into the north-eastern corner of Grosvenor Square, just next to Maze and Maze Grill. It takes its name from its previous [...]
UK house prices tick up in January January 31, 2013 UK house prices edged up in January, boosted by the Funding for Lending scheme, mortgage lender Nationwide said this morning. According to the lender, house values ticked up 0.5 per cent in January, although values were flat year on year, avoiding a decline for the first time since February. The typical UK home is now [...]
The sporty but sensible Mazda 6 January 29, 2013 With the price of fuel about to go up again, it’s no surprise so many of us now consider fuel economy one of the most important considerations when buying a new car. It’s the latest front to open up in the battle to attract car buyers and Mazda has made a massive effort to ensure [...]
Car talk January 29, 2013 Aston Martin ushers in an even faster supercar Aston Martin has introduced a faster, more agile four-door Rapide supercar. The Rapide S luxury GT has a more powerful, though more efficient, 6.0-litre V12 engine. Power is up by a massive 80bhp to 550bhp shaving 0.3 seconds off its 0-62 mph time; down to just 4.9 [...]
Nuno Mendes: how to throw the ultimate dinner party January 28, 2013 When Krug decided to host an event based around the concept of happiness, they called on Nuno Mendes, the experimental Michelin-starred chef behind Bethnal Green’s Viajante restaurant. The ambitious project aimed to create the ultimate dining experience – helped along, of course, by some of Krug’s finest fizz. We caught up with Mendes to ask [...]
It is high time the steamed pudding made a come-back January 28, 2013 Head chef, Paternoster Chop House Can you remember the last time you ate Spotted Dick? I’m betting that for many of you it was several decades ago at school, covered in lumpy custard. Aside from that eternal favourite sticky toffee pudding, we don’t tend to eat a lot of steamed puddings these days. This is [...]
Breathe new life into your fitness routine January 28, 2013 For the core queen: If you’re one of those people who has left a traditional Pilates class wondering what all the fuss is about, you might like Pop Pilates. Dubbed the “super intense, hard-core version of Pilates”, Pop Pilates sees you performing the traditional bridge with weights; a plank on a Swiss ball and dumbbells [...]