Spider-Man entertains but fails to amaze April 21, 2014 FILM AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Cert 12A Three Stars MARC Webb’s second installment of the re-booted Spider-Man franchise feels like a throwback to the super-hero movies of a decade ago – the first Hulk, Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies, Mark Steven Johnson’s Daredevil. It’s all spectacle, explosions and a dash of romance. It’s melodramatic rather than dark, [...]
No punch in Thompson and Brosnan rom-com April 21, 2014 FILM THE LOVE PUNCH Cert 12A Two Stars IT’S UNCLEAR why this film is called The Love Punch. The title is never mentioned, no one drinks any punch and it isn’t really about love. Richard (Pierce Brosnan) owns an investment firm that’s bankrupted by a dodgy, cackling Frenchman. Assets crippled, Richard rushes to ex-wife Kate [...]
Incest is best in this Cheek By Jowl production April 21, 2014 THEATRE ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE Barbican Four Stars CHEEK By Jowl’s production of John Ford’s 1633 play ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore rips some of the flesh from the original but preserves its darkly beating heart. Condensed into an intense interval-less two hours, it’s a bloody collision of taboos lit up by a sparkling [...]
10-week fitness challenge | The get-fit diary of an out-of-shape office worker April 21, 2014 Steve is undertaking a 10 week “total body transformation” programme with No.1 Fitness, which involves four sessions at the gym a week, a strictly-controlled diet and absolutely no alcohol under any circumstances whatsoever (not even a little bit, just to take the edge off…). Here’s how it’s going: I’VE never been a fit man. I [...]
Moyes axe could spark tug of war for Van Gaal April 21, 2014 TOTTENHAM could face a fight for Holland coach Louis van Gaal after David Moyes’s short and unhappy spell in charge of Manchester United neared its end yesterday. Moyes’s dismissal is expected to be confirmed this week, following a day of fevered speculation that United have lost faith in the Scot less than 12 months into [...]
Football Comment: Diabolical defeat to former club was final straw for United board April 21, 2014 IT WAS a trip back to the club where David Moyes made his name that showed him in the least flattering light. Everton’s defeat of Manchester United on Sunday proved what a difference a good manager can make, and also rubbished the idea that Moyes took the Toffees as high as they could go. Moyes’s [...]
Mourinho tips Torres to give old flame Atletico the blues April 21, 2014 CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho expects striker Fernando Torres’ to ignore his love for tonight’s Champions League semi-final opponents Atletico Madrid and earn his team a vital first-leg advantage. Torres scored 84 league goals for Atletico, his hometown club he joined as an 11-year-old, and remains a hugely popular figure at the Vincente Calderon. But Mourinho [...]
Premier League: City hoping for Reds’ collapse April 21, 2014 MANCHESTER CITY 3 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 MANCHESTER City boss Manuel Pellegrini hopes victory in their final four matches can cause league leaders Liverpool to buckle under pressure. First-half goals from Pablo Zabaleta, Sergio Aguero and Martin Demichelis cancelled out Graham Dorrans’ sublime strike for struggling West Brom and moved City six points off the [...]
Geraghty roars to Grand National win April 21, 2014 HORSE RACING: Jockey Barry Geraghty rode Shutthefrontdoor to a narrow victory in yesterday’s Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse. The Jonjo O’Neill-trained favourite beat Golden Wonder by three quarters of a length, with Saoirse Dun third.
Long wait for American champ ends April 21, 2014 ATHLETICS: Olympic silver medallist Meb Keflezighi became the first American to win the Boston Marathon since 1983 yesterday. Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo won the women’s race in a course record 2:18.57. Last year, three runners were killed and more than 260 injured in bomb explosions.