Theatre review: Constellations is a beautiful and sad play about life’s possibilities July 16, 2015 Trafalgar Studios | ★★★★☆ A disconcerting and comforting thought: everything that has ever happened, every permutation of what could possibly take place, is taking place now, forever, and stretched back infinitely into the past. It’s a point drummed softly but precisely home in Nick Payne’s thoughtful play Constellations, in which bee-keeper Roland and cosmologist Marianne [...]
Film review: True Story lacks direction July 16, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ True Story takes a fascinating premise and does its best to drown it with clumsy story-telling and a lack of clear direction. The film, which really is based on a true story, begins with two men on opposite sides of the world introducing themselves as Michael Finkel from the New York [...]
Theatre review: The Mentalists is overblown and overstretched July 16, 2015 Wyndham’s Theatre | ★★☆☆☆ Long before the crowd-pleasing slapstick of One Man, Two Guv’nors, outrageous phone-hacking satire Great Britain and musical Made in Dagenham, there was The Mentalists. Playwright Richard Bean debuted this short play back in 2002 and now it’s back for a limited run. Only this time his success has ensured it’s in [...]
Film review: Self/less is slick but not memorable July 16, 2015 Cert 12A | ★★★☆☆ Immortality is rarely given a positive spin in Hollywood – from mopey vampires to haunted Wolverines, it appears living forever ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. The latest to tread this path is Tarsem Singh’s Self/Less, in which a dying businessman (Ben Kingsley) pays for a secret, expensive procedure to [...]
Film review: Ant-Man is entertaining but forgettable July 16, 2015 Cert 12A | ★★★☆☆ Ant-Man is an entertaining but largely forgettable romp set on the peripheries of the rapidly expanding Marvel universe. It follows Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), an earnest ex-con who accidentally steals a suit that can shrink him to the size of an ant (it also allows him to talk to ants). He’s [...]
Perfect Saturday July 16, 2015 AUSSIE BREAKFAST FARM GIRL Forget fry ups, treat your hangover to a nutritious breakfast at new opening Farm Girl. Set up by 26-year-old Rose Mann, it brings the food of her rural upbringing in Melbourne to Portobello Road. Open Tuesday to Sunday, serving breakfast all day, thefarmgirl.co.uk SUMMER LOVIN’ HACKNEY VILLAGE FETE St John-at-Hackney Church [...]
Johnson puts US Open woe behind him to eclipse Spieth July 16, 2015 US OPEN runner-up Dustin Johnson insists he is over his Chambers Bay heartache and ready to seize a first Major victory after he set the pace in the Open Championships yesterday. Johnson took advantage of good early weather at St Andrews to card a bogey-free 65 for the outright lead on seven under par, one [...]
Golf Comment: Spieth delights again but Zach is danger man July 16, 2015 PERFECT weather yesterday made St Andrews look very beatable but the Old Course started to show its teeth in the afternoon and the forecast suggests today could be very tough. Dustin Johnson showed that he has forgotten his disappointment at the US Open by playing beautifully, although I was even more impressed with Jordan Spieth. [...]
Smith taunts defensive England as Aussies make Ashes statement July 16, 2015 AUSTRALIA vice-captain Steve Smith accused England of reneging on their much-vaunted attacking mantra after his side surged back into Ashes contention by dominating day one of the second Test at Lord’s yesterday. England were subjected to a gruelling stint in the field as the tourists won a crucial toss on a benign wicket to amass [...]
Britain handed Gasquet let-off as they eye end to 34-year wait July 16, 2015 GREAT Britain will not face a singles match against the Frenchman who went furthest at Wimbledon when the two nations clash in a Davis Cup quarter-final at Queen’s Club, starting today. World No13 Richard Gasquet, who reached the semi-finals at the All England Club before losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic, has been selected solely [...]