Big Freddie Burns moment personifies great game of rugby June 19, 2022 What constitutes a great game? Is it a record amount of points, tries upon tries and showboating rugby? Is it gripping, tense and decided in the final 20 seconds with a drop goal? Saturday’s Premiership final between Leicester Tigers and Saracens ended in the manner of the latter. It wasn’t a record-breaking points haul like [...]
Bronte Law wins battle of the Brits in sizzling Aramco Team Series London June 19, 2022 England’s Bronte Law savoured the sweet taste of home success after sinking a monster eagle putt at the last hole to snatch the individual crown at the Aramco Team Series London on Saturday. After three days of intense competition in stifling conditions at Centurion Club more in keeping with the Sotogrande or Jeddah legs of [...]
Jurassic Park’s sound designer reveals the secret sounds of the dinosaurs June 17, 2022 For sound designer Al Nelson, jobs don’t come much bigger than Jurassic Park. When the technician started out in the industry in the late nineties, one of his first big jobs was The Lost World, Steven Spielberg’s follow-up to Jurassic Park, the film which birthed the seismic dinosaur franchise. In the 25 years since, Nelson [...]
My Fair Lady review: Polished production lacks energy June 17, 2022 “Wouldn’t it be loverly,” Eliza Doolittle wonders in My Fair Lady, dreaming of a life of chocolate, heat and warm feet. Let me put it to Eliza: wouldn’t it also be ‘loverly’ if more musicals had the audacity to radically rethink their tired misogynistic plots like this version of My Fair Lady does? Musicals have [...]
Jitney review: Atmospheric and quietly revolutionary, but lacks plot June 17, 2022 August Wilson, who The New York Times described as “theater’s poet of Black America”, is having a moment. Fresh off the success of recent Oscarwinning film adaptations of his plays Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, we are now seeing a return to the London stage for Jitney, Wilson’s workplace drama, which won the Olivier [...]
George Michael: Freedom Uncut review: Singer personally sets record straight June 17, 2022 It’s clear that the real George Michael is quite different from the caricature created by the tabloids during his life. Just over five years on from his death, Freedom Uncut, the late singer’s final work, offers a personal perspective on his legacy. Featuring heavy involvement from Michael himself (who is credited as a director), George [...]
Good Luck to you, Leo Grande review: Suave and sexy June 17, 2022 Sex and cinema haven’t historically been good bedfellows. The sight of two people getting it on often has censors clutching for their pearls, but thankfully, this new comedy-drama gets permission to be a bit more grown up. Emma Thompson plays Nancy, a retired RE teacher who hires handsome young escort Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) for [...]
Lightyear review: Enjoyably nostalgic flight from the past June 17, 2022 Just when you thought Hollywood couldn’t find a new way to rehash old material, here comes a new category of film entirely. Lightyear is a spin-off of Toy Story, but one that imagines Buzz Lightyear as a real person. As the film explains in its opening moments, this is the movie that the toy was [...]
Barbarians hark back to less serious times, says David Flatman June 17, 2022 Sunday sees the curtain fall on the rugby season in England as an Eddie Jones XV takes on the globetrotters of oval ball in the Barbarians. The side are put together with little preparation and aim to please the masses, and former England international David Flatman says this year will be no different. “The pure [...]
Ollie Phillips: Leicester versus Saracens final rounds off great season June 17, 2022 South west London will be the centre of the rugby world this weekend when one of the most competitive seasons of Premiership action reaches its climax. You’ve got Leicester Tigers, buoyed by brilliant home form this year, and have a serious amount of off-field emotion in tow. And you’ve got Saracens who are hated by [...]