Theatre review: Ah, Wilderness! April 24, 2015 Young Vic | ★★★★☆ The life of American playwright and Nobel Laureate Eugene O’Neill was often tragic but in Ah, Wilderness! he mines his youth for comedy, and the results are unexpectedly delightful. The action takes place over the 4 July weekend, 1906, mostly at the Miller family’s Connecticut beach house. They suffer [...]
Theatre review: Carmen Disruption April 24, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★☆☆ Carmen Disruption asks two big questions: 1) what becomes of a performer who plays the same role over and over again for her entire life, and 2) what happens when a culture becomes obsessed with disruptive, distracting technologies? Prolific playwright Simon Stephens obviously thinks one informs of the other – [...]
Film review: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence April 24, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★★★ “We just want to help people have fun,” intone two ashen-faced salesmen of crummy novelty items. Lord knows the people in this film need the help. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is the third part of Swedish director Roy Andersson’s trilogy “about being a human [...]
Film review: The Falling April 24, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ Jean-Luc Godard once said that a story should have a beginning, middle and end, but not necessarily in that order. The Falling has several middles, even more beginnings, and an end that doesn’t resolve any of them. This is no feat of narrative ingenuity – just a mess. The setting [...]
Avengers: Age of Ultron is another Marvel marvel – film review April 23, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★★☆ Marvel has achieved a rather incredible thing with Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s a bubbling cauldron of a film, filled with dozens of characters, layer upon layer of convoluted plotting, flash backs, flash forwards and dream sequences. It draws upon details introduced over no less than 10 previous movies – [...]
Something for the weekend April 23, 2015 EAT! CIRCLE PIZZA COMPANY Okay, so Hoxton’s newly opened Circle Pizza Company has hardly reinvented the wheel with its circular pizza concept, but head chef Tony won a silver at the world pizza championships so you know it’ll deliver on flavour. 2-4 Hoxton Square, visit circlepizzaco.com WATCH, LISTEN! BUSTER KEATON WITH LIVE SCORE The Royal [...]
Root century gifts England victory scent April 23, 2015 ENGLAND batsman Joe Root cruised to his sixth Test century as the tourists produced a resilient batting performance on day three of the second Test against the West Indies in Grenada. Root will resume today on 118 not out, while his first overseas Test hundred, brought up in just 125 balls, helped England finish on [...]
Racing Comment: Broken bones, chipped teeth: AP’s given all April 23, 2015 THOUSANDS will travel to Sandown Park tomorrow to see the curtain come down on the career of Anthony Peter McCoy, an extraordinary jockey and truly remarkable sportsman. AP, as he’s become known, will be crowned Champion Jump Jockey for a record-breaking 20th consecutive year. While his fans and the media wax lyrical about his glittering [...]
Harlequins sign Stanley and aim for Roberts next April 23, 2015 HARLEQUINS boss Conor O’Shea has confirmed the club’s interest in signing Wales centre Jamie Roberts, who is set to leave French side Racing Metro at the end of the season. Roberts’ former outfit Cardiff Blues have also held talks with the experienced 28-year-old, who has won 69 caps for Wales and toured with the British [...]
Record can wait as Kipsang aims to retain crown April 23, 2015 DEFENDING men’s champion Wilson Kipsang is predicting a fast London Marathon on Sunday but is happy to pass up a world record in favour of focusing on winning the race for a third time. Kipsang’s biggest threat is his fellow Kenyan and training partner Dennis Kimetto, who last year in Berlin became the first man [...]