Art review: Rubens and his Legacy at the Royal Academy January 23, 2015 Royal Academy | ★★★☆☆ How do you celebrate an artist when you only have access to a meagre handful of his best works? You curate an exhibition dedicated to his “legacy” and fill it with the works of every great, good and terrible artist ever to have had a passing thought about said artist. [...]
Film review: Beyond Clueless explores a golden age of teen movies January 23, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ Fairuza Balk’s sultry croak guides us on a hypnotic journey through the teen movie genre in Charlie Lyne’s debut feature Beyond Clueless. Lyne skilfully marries heartfelt affection and academic distance in his cine-essay comprised of hundreds of clips taken from films released during one of the great golden ages of the [...]
Theatre review: Bull at the Young Vic January 23, 2015 Young Vic | ★★★☆☆ Mike Bartlett’s one act play, Bull, gives us a Hobbesian view of office-life with backstabbing and conniving aplenty. And at a scant 55 minutes, it’s “nasty, brutish and short”. Tony, Isobel, and Thomas, are a trio of grasping would-be Apprentice-types, awaiting the arrival of their boss, Carter, who will decide [...]
Film review: Ex Machina is a psychological techno-thriller tour de force January 23, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★★ With everyone from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk warning we’re about to be slaughtered by artificial super-intelligences, Ex Machina is a timely reflection on consciousness, creativity, hubris, and the possibilities that await us just around the corner. Author-turned-screenwriter Alex Garland’s directorial debut is a psychological techno-thriller tour de force. Caleb [...]
Film review: A Most Violent Year is a most intelligent movie January 22, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ In an early scene in JC Chandor’s A Most Violent Year, budding oil entrepreneur Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) stares his employees in the eyes and says, “You will never do anything as hard as staring someone in the eye and telling the truth.” This rings especially true in their world, where [...]
Something for the weekend January 22, 2015 PARTY BEYOND CLUELESS FRAT PARTY Celebrate the release of Charlie Lyne’s love letter to the teen movie genre with a screening followed by a frat party at the ICA including beer pong, a prom night photo studio and plenty of red cups. From £8, visit ica.co.uk CELEBRATE BURNS HIGHLAND SWING AT BOISDALE Head to Boisdale [...]
Obscure wage bill rules blamed for January transfers shortage January 22, 2015 An unexpetedly quiet January transfer window could be the first sign of little-known Premier League cost-control regulations starting to bite, according to industry experts. Despite English top-flight clubs being richer than ever before – all 20 are among the top 40 wealthiest in the world, it emerged this week – they have failed to spend [...]
England vow to protect stars after Morgan caught in blackmail row January 22, 2015 CRICKET chiefs have vowed to prevent England’s World Cup bid being blown off course by external factors after one-day skipper Eoin Morgan was yesterday the subject of an alleged extortion plot. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) say they were contacted by an Australian man, the boyfriend of a woman Morgan had a brief [...]
Juventus Mutu appeal victory to leave Chelsea £15m out of pocket January 22, 2015 CHELSEA are set to suffer a hit in excess of £15m after Juventus successfully appealed a ruling ordering the Italian club to pay the sum to the Blues over the signing of Adrian Mutu 10 years ago. World governing body Fifa decreed in November 2013 that Juventus and Livorno were jointly liable to pay the [...]
Sport Comment: Van Gaal system is nothing new but needs refinement January 22, 2015 THERE are lies, damned lies and statistics, so the saying goes. And while British sport is not as consumed by stats as our Stateside cousins, the numbers game is catching on fast. Football formations are not stats in themselves, but are becoming an important part of the game’s currency. This season, more than ever, there [...]