Six Nations 2016: Is George Ford and Owen Farrell pairing best bet for England v Italy? February 12, 2016 Instead of pitting George Ford and Owen Farrell against each other for a starting spot as England’s fly-half, Eddie Jones deployed the pair in a 10-12 axis against Scotland in their successful Six Nations opener. The head coach played Ford and Farrell at fly-half and inside-centre respectively and the presence of two decision makers within [...]
Lord Coe accuses Nestle of hypocrisy and vows to fight Swiss-based firm over IAAF sponsorship deal February 11, 2016 Lord Coe last night accused Nestle of hypocrisy and vowed to fight the decision of the Swiss-based food and drinks giant to terminate its sponsorship of crisis-hit athletics world governing body the IAAF. Nestle argued that it feared its sponsorship of the governing body’s Kids’ Athletics programme would damage its reputation after leading IAAF officials [...]
Sunderland and England winger Adam Johnson sacked after admitting child sex charge February 11, 2016 England winger Adam Johnson was last night sacked by Sunderland after his plea of guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one charge of grooming. Blacks Cats boss Sam Allardyce had earlier confirmed that Johnson would not be involved in the club’s Premier League fixture against Manchester United at the Stadium [...]
Zoolander 2 wrote its own eugoogly when it put cameos before comedy February 11, 2016 Dir. Ben Stiller | ★★★☆☆ Over the last 15 years, Zoolander has boiled down in the public consciousness to its very essence, becoming less a movie than a handful of fondly remembered quotations. Its pop-cultural caché is so high that it’s easy to overlook its simple premise: the endearing, Chaplin-esque stupidity of its narcissistic leads. This [...]
Kate Moss, Cara Delevigne and Lily Cole are in Vogue at the National Portrait Gallery February 11, 2016 The National Portrait Gallery | ★★★★☆ The National Portrait Gallery’s Vogue 100 exhibition is an epic stroll through a century of photography from fashion’s undisputed powerhouse. The trail leads backwards, opening with vast prints of the most recognisable faces from today’s magazines; Cara Delevingne gives way to Lily Cole, who gives way to Kate Moss. The [...]
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies review – plus the rest of this week’s biggest film releases February 11, 2016 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (15) | ★★☆☆☆ Dir: Burr Steers Rarely has a film been more self-explanatory than this horror comedy which re-imagines Jane Austen's classic in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, with both the Bennet sisters (including Lily James's Elizabeth) and Mr Darcy (Sam Riley) now highly trained to fend off the [...]
Battlefield at the Young Vic draws effective parallels between Syria and the Mahabharata February 11, 2016 Young Vic | ★★★☆☆ Can a 2,500-year old story tell us something new about the human condition? That was presumably one of the considerations of 90-year old playwright Peter Brook and his long time collaborator Marie-Helene Estienne when they returned to an Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Having already told the story through their nine-hour 1989 [...]
Ed Woodward hints Manchester United will have money to spend this summer and confirms club is in market for “top players verging on world class” February 11, 2016 Manchester United still expect to become the first English club to break the £500m revenue barrier this season, despite their struggles in the Premier League and uncertainty over the future of manager Louis van Gaal. Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward delivered the upbeat forecast to investors on Thursday after announcing second-quarter results which included a [...]
Manchester United share price pops following £84.5m increase in cash balance and rise in revenue thanks to commercial strength February 11, 2016 Out of the Champions League and seemingly out of the Premier League title race, Manchester United at least finished their second quarter in the black with £18.6m profit, triggering a seven per cent share price pop in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The figures United's commercial strength helped the club record its highest [...]
Deadpool film review: fresh and funny but fails to break new ground February 11, 2016 Dir. Tim Miller | ★★★☆☆ Deadpool was born out of the comic book nadir of the early 1990s, when super-hero books tended towards the morose and the self-indulgent. It was a time when muscles were big and boobs were bigger. Rob Liefeld's wise-cracking mercenary Deadpool, AKA Wade Wilson, was a breath of fresh air amidst the [...]