A pathetic yet fitting end to four years of Roy Hodgson; a man out of time and a reign bereft of moments to savour June 27, 2016 Elimination from Euro 2016 by Iceland was a pathetic yet suitable end to an underwhelming four years of Roy Hodgson characterised by meaningless wins and repeated failures when it really mattered. History may not be kind to Hodgson, whose appointment was greeted with a combination of surprise and unkind mockery which gave way to a [...]
Southampton close in on manager Claude Puel and offload £34m Sadio Mane to Liverpool June 27, 2016 Southampton hope to bring a measure of stability to another tumultuous close season by finalising the appointment of French coach Claude Puel and the £34m sale of Sadio Mane to Liverpool. Puel is poised to succeed Ronald Koeman at St Mary’s this week after spending four years at Nice, who he guided to fourth place in [...]
Reigning champion Novak Djokovic content as Wimbledon title defence begins with crushing victory over Briton James Ward June 27, 2016 WORLD No1 Novak Djokovic declared himself content after his quest for a third consecutive Wimbledon crown began with a straight sets victory over British wildcard James Ward on Centre Court. Djokovic claimed the first nine games before world No177 Ward fought back in the second set, although the Serb, who currently holds all four grand [...]
Independence Day: Resurgence is a bewildering montage of CGI disasters and giant alien spaceships June 27, 2016 Independence Day: Resurgence is pitched as an antidote to the gritty movies ushered in by the age of the super-hero blockbuster. Sometimes, however, the cure can be worse than the disease. The original Independence Day, now 20 years old, was a bona fide cinematic event, expanding the boundaries of what was possible with CGI; the [...]
Barbu review: A sexy, hairy and acrobatic exploration of the history of circus June 27, 2016 ★★★★★ | Spiegeltent, London Wonderground An acrobatic circus and dance act from the most hirsute recesses of Quebec, Barbu dismantles preconceived notions of masculinity and then rebuilds them into something new using hula hoops, see-saws, ribbons and swings. Several large, beautiful men cavort and spin about the stage, like lumberjacks trapped in a salad spinner, [...]
Painters’ Paintings at the National Gallery review: a thought-provoking exhibition featuring Freud, Matisse, Degas, Reynolds and Van Dyck June 27, 2016 ★★☆☆☆ | National Gallery Painters’ Paintings is a highly unusual exhibition in that it imposes a context onto its collection that many visitors may never have considered before; it is surprising to learn that the National Gallery possesses some 70 paintings that were owned by the other painters it displays. It takes as a starting [...]
Miss Revolutionary Idol Berserker at the Barbican review: An exotic explosion of cabaret that won’t be to everyone’s taste June 27, 2016 ★★★☆☆ | Barbican Fancy spending an evening in a sweltering sub-basement – where the room and all its furnishings are wrapped in plastic? How about if you are too? Kitted out in earplugs and a disposable plastic poncho, which acts as your own uncomfortably sticky sauna? And what if you’re screamed at, serenaded, spat upon, and [...]
New films out this week: reviews of Secret Life of Pets and Elvis Nixon June 27, 2016 Elvis Nixon | Dir. Liza Johnson | ★★★☆☆ A comedy about the real life meeting between Presley (Michael Shannon) and Nixon (Kevin Spacey) that resulted in the US National Archive's most requested photograph. The film makes no bones of the fact that this is a mostly fictional portrayal of how their meeting transpired, and so aims [...]
Euro 2016: Who are England’s last 16 foes? Stats and facts on Iceland June 27, 2016 UNFAMILIAR FOES The Three Lions have only crossed swords with Iceland twice. The last meeting was a Euro 2004 warm-up clash at the City of Manchester Stadium which England won 6-1. Skipper Wayne Rooney scored twice that day, while Iceland were captained by Former Chelsea, Tottenham and Fulham forward Eidur Gudjohnsen. The only other meeting [...]
Hungary 0, Belgium 4: Wilmots welcomes Chelsea’s Eden Hazard to Euro 2016 party after stunning solo goal June 27, 2016 Belgium boss Marc Wilmots welcomed Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard to the Euro 2016 party as a stunning individual performance during their thrashing of Hungary on Toulouse stoked his side’s passage to the quarter-finals. An early header from Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld failed to open the floodgates and it took until late in the second period for substitute [...]