Hold the praise for Sergio Ramos: our willingness to applaud the dark arts of football has gone too far May 29, 2018 Football’s loose and ever-shifting moral code has been thrown under the spotlight by Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph over Liverpool, the injury to Mohamed Salah that changed the momentum of Saturday’s final, and the foul by Sergio Ramos that ended the Egyptian’s participation – and possibly his hopes of playing at the World Cup next [...]
Irvine Welsh interview: Growing old disgracefully May 3, 2018 The image of a former enfant terrible growing up, moving to a big house by the ocean and living a life of manicured leisure is hardly novel. Even so, hearing Irvine Welsh – former heroin addict, guitarist with punk band The Pubic Lice, and author of Trainspotting – talk about his Miami pilates regime is [...]
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is facing a fresh trial over alleged bribery March 24, 2018 Formula One's former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is set to face a fresh trial over bribery and corruption allegations, relating to the 2006 sale of the motor racing business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. London's High Court announced yesterday that Ecclestone will face trial on 1 October 2019, reviving a case which Ecclestone [...]
Ollie Phillips: Danny Cipriani and Dan Robson need to be on England’s radar for South Africa tour March 22, 2018 Rumblings of the same old Eddie Jones – really impactful in the first couple of years before losing his way – are well and truly underway following England’s fifth-place Six Nations finish. Fantastic results and quality performances over the past two years have brought an expectation and that pressure will be weighing heavily upon Jones [...]
Peter Rabbit review: Highly irritating bunnies ruin a charming rom-com loosely based on Beatrix Potter’s book March 16, 2018 From Paddington to the Big Friendly Giant, British children’s literature is killing it at the box office. It was only a matter of time, then, before someone snapped up the film rights to Beatrix Potter and her merry band of trouserless critters. It’s attracted some big stars, too; Sam Neill as the ultimate nimby Farmer [...]
Jamie Chadwick interview: I want to reach Formula One for myself but also to show that women can do it March 14, 2018 Jamie Chadwick is not like other British prodigies tipped for future Formula One fame. Of course, there have already been the customary podium places in British F3, the interest from sponsors and the media excitement that greets any early success on the track. But whereas the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Damon Hill [...]
Macbeth at the National Theatre: Rufus Norris’ stars fail to shine in this cautious production March 9, 2018 Rufus Norris, the artistic director at the National Theatre, isn’t having a great time right now. While his predecessor Nicholas Hytner is having a ball at the helm of the new Bridge Theatre down the riverbank, Norris has suffered a string of flops in the Olivier, from a sand-blasted Salome to the bafflingly coarse Common. [...]
Summer and Smoke at the Almeida: Tennessee Williams’ complex play is brought to heart-rending life in this fantastic production March 9, 2018 Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke is about opposing forces: the microscopic and the infinite, the physical and the spiritual, anarchy and order, sanity and madness, and the thankless task we humans have trying to work out where exactly we fit into all this. It tackles these swooping metaphysical questions through the prism of unrequited [...]
Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy at the Tate Modern: Exhibition focusing on a single year in the life of the great artist shows the sheer audacity of genius March 9, 2018 By the age of 50, Picasso’s days as a starving artist were long behind him. His paintings sold for fortunes despite the gathering economic gloom; he and his former-ballerina wife were courted by politicians and socialites; he was preparing to be celebrated by a major Paris retrospective, a rarity then for a living artist. [...]
Premier League TV rights packages booted into long grass amid “cut-price” concerns March 7, 2018 The Premier League has booted a decision on unsold TV rights packages into next month, as it faces being forced to accept a “cut-price deal” for the remaining 40 games. Sky and BT Sport snapped up five of seven packages on offer for a total of £4.5bn in mid-February. But the remaining two sets of [...]