Yen at the Royal Court review: A candid exploration of teenage poverty, sexuality and neglect January 28, 2016 Royal Court | ★★★★☆ In the new post-Benefits Street dispensation, references to “poverty porn” have become commonplace. Initially this meant a sort of guilty pleasure at watching the pitiful antics of a presumably scrounging underclass, but the term has become ever less metaphorical. Earlier this month social commentators flaunted their sincerest outrage at popular trouser-free [...]
Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse at the Royal Academy review January 28, 2016 Royal Academy | ★★★★★ At the turn of the century the concept of the modern garden – a tended, cultivated individual plot to be enjoyed as a respite from urban life – increased in popularity throughout Europe and the US, with fervent intellectual interest in botany. The Royal Academy captures the artistic reaction to this in [...]
Herons at the Lyric Hammersmith review: a soaked stage sets the scene for this brutal play January 28, 2016 Lyric Hammersmith | ★★★★☆ It’s testament to Billy Matthews’ excellent performance in Herons that, just a few minutes into the play, I wanted to clamber up on to the flooded stage and punch his character in the face. He plays Scott, a feral, hateful teen who wages a warped campaign of bullying and wild aggression against [...]
Spotlight film review: a real-life story that’s as slow and forceful as a steamroller January 28, 2016 15 | Dir. Tom McCarthy | ★★★★☆ The Da Vinci Code was ridiculed for the moment Tom Hanks cried, “I need to get to a library. Fast!” In Spotlight, a trip to the library is a genuinely exciting proposition. It’s a nuts-and-bolts examination of the Boston Globe’s exposé of systematic child abuse within the Catholic [...]
Getty Images Year in Focus 2015: “The best images of the year” reviewed by our Picture Editor January 28, 2016 The Getty Images Gallery | ★★★★★ Getty Images’ Year in Focus 2015 retrospective showcases the best work by the picture agency’s staff photographers who operate at risk and under high pressure across news, sport, entertainment and portraiture. Refugees arrive in Europe (Source: Getty Images) The escalation of the refugee crisis over the last year makes for [...]
Robert De Niro in Dirty Grandpa, Paul Sorrentino’s Youth and Patricia Riggen’s The 33 reviewed January 28, 2016 Dirty Grandpa 18 | Dir. Dan Mazer | ★★★☆☆ Robert De Niro plays a recently widowed army vet who tricks Zac Efron into driving him to Florida to chase young women. Who'd have thought that De Niro would spend the latter half of his career dropping N-bombs and making dick jokes? But while it's not [...]
Chris Powell: Managers shouldn’t ignore the power the FA Cup has to invigorate fans – just look at Arsenal January 28, 2016 I’m always really surprised to hear people suggest there’s not much interest in the FA Cup these days because for me, it will never die. Financial concerns mean the league has taken precedent over the cup and have changed people’s mentality towards the season. Now it’s all about the league and nothing else which is [...]
FA chairman Greg Dyke to leave role following Euro 2016 January 28, 2016 FA chairman Greg Dyke has announced his intention to leave the organisation after Euro 2016, claiming it needs "more of a conciliatory figure" to push through reforms. The former BBC director-general replaced David Bernstein in July 2013 and quickly built a reputation for his outspoken style and strong opposition to Sepp Blatter as Fifa president. Dyke [...]
Under Armour share price soars as Steph Curry’s basketball shoes helps revenue beat expectations January 28, 2016 Under Armour jumped more than 18 per cent in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange after its fourth-quarter results destroyed expectations. The figures Full-year net revenues increased 31 per cent to $3.96bn (£2.76bn) – beating the sportswear brand's outlook of $3.91bn. The biggest performance in the company's portfolio was found in its footwear division [...]
Australian Open 2016: Andy Murray faces Milos Raonic with belief that he is back to his grand slam-winning best January 28, 2016 Britain's Andy Murray believes he is close to achieving the glory of a third grand slam title as he bids to reach the final of a tournament that has caused him more anguish than perhaps any other. Murray takes on Canadian 13th seed Milos Raonic on Friday morning in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, [...]