Film review: Magic Mike XXL is a fun but inferior summer sequel July 2, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ When a modestly budgeted film goes on to make $100million, a sequel is near-enough guaranteed. The follow up to Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike finds the eponymous Mike living a life away from dancing. He’s successful but somewhat unfulfilled until he receives a call from his old colleagues, “The Kings of Tampa”, who [...]
Film review: Amy is a moving, sober tribute to a tragic genius July 2, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ “Amy had the most emotional connection with music of anyone I’ve ever known,” says Winehouse’s pianist Sam Beste in Asif Kapadia’s documentary, Amy. “It was like a person in her life who she loved. She would die for it.” He doesn’t need to say it, it’s clear from the very first [...]
The artful dodger: Prolific forger Mark Landis gave all his counterfeit paintings away for free July 2, 2015 Mark Landis was 30-years-old and living alone in San Francisco when, on a whim, he decided to become a museum benefactor. “I had been seeing things on TV about wealthy philanthropists giving pictures away to museums in memory of people. I wanted to show my mother that I was doing well, I wanted to show [...]
Simon Roberts’ photographs of heritage sites explore the effect of history on identity for Britons in the 21st century July 2, 2015 Simon Roberts is a landscape photographer, but his real interest is in people. His pictures explore the way we interact with the land, how a sense of place informs a sense of identity, and how Britain’s long and varied history intrudes on modern life. At first glance the scenes he captures look unremarkable, but the [...]
Shirley Baker: One of the leading photographers of her time July 2, 2015 The history books paint mid-twentieth century northern industrial towns as grim places full of privation, poverty and soaring unemployment. It’s a narrative so dominant you could be forgiven for thinking nothing joyful ever happened there. But one woman, armed with a camera and a passionate belief in social justice, challenged the orthodoxy by showing life [...]
I want that: On our shopping list this month July 2, 2015 BLEU DE CHANEL £80/150ML, SELFRIDGES.COM Bleu de Chanel is our top summer scent. The peppery, citrusy top notes and ginger and sandalwood base notes make it a distinctly masculine fragrance. WEMPE HELIORO BRACELET €695-€795, WEMPE.COM This leather chord bracelet with a rose gold (€695) or white gold (€795) pendant, available in a [...]
The surprisingly refined world of Las Vegas dining July 2, 2015 If Las Vegas’ 110-year history was played out over a single day, the first decent restaurant would open shortly before midnight. Vegas went from a mining-boom service town to a mob-ruled vice den to a family holiday destination before Barack Obama’s favourite chef, Wolfgang Puck, opened Spago in 1992. It came as a surprise: prior [...]
Work and plays: Meet Richard Bean, Britain’s most successful contemporary playwright July 2, 2015 When Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors embarked on its first UK tour, every morning the dramatist would email James Corden (the lead) with tweaks and extra lines tailored to whatever audience he was facing that evening. Oh, you’re in Birmingham, swap line X with line Y. Leeds? Make sure you say Z. This tells [...]
It’s okay to forget the rings on your wedding day – just grab one of these extra special watches to celebrate instead July 2, 2015 Among the seemingly limitless array of judgment calls that wedding planning involves (I’ve been learning this first hand over the past few months), the choice of rings seems relatively straightforward. Life slips into a mysterious parallel reality where canapé volumes, seating arrangements and – God help us – the merits of different shades of the [...]
Max Büsser’s 10th anniversary limited edition timepiece is a petrolhead’s dream July 2, 2015 It’s 10 years since one of Switzerland’s most creative horological brains, Maximilian Büsser, set up his “Max Büsser & Friends” brand, with the intention of working collaboratively with the finest watchmaking talents to create the most unusual, highly-specified timepieces. This one is styled around 1970s digital driving watches, in which time was shown at the [...]