David Fincher’s Mank is a classic about a classic December 5, 2020 There is a sad irony to David Fincher’s love letter to Old Hollywood being a big new release for Netflix. Mank is the company’s big hope for Oscar glory, as films about the film business tend to go down well with the people in it (Birdman, La La Land, The Artist, Adaptation… we could go [...]
The Godfather Part III gets a new cut and a new title – The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone December 5, 2020 It’s not just superheroes that are getting a new edit. Thirty years on from its release, The Godfather Part III gets a new cut and a new title – The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo’s original vision was a coda, rather than an official third [...]
The Mandalorian season 2 episode 6: S2E6 sees a legend return December 5, 2020 *** SPOILERS AHEAD: If you haven’t watched the most recent episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2, look away now*** After a few episodic adventures, the larger picture of this season of The Mandalorian seems to be coming together. Last episode we got a huge chunk of information about The Child – or Grogu, as he [...]
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at Tate Britain review: A playful enigma December 5, 2020 In an ideal world, you could write about the excellent Lynette Yiadom-Boakye exhibition at Tate Britain without mentioning race. Her enigmatic portraits, which have a Hockney-esque knack of capturing not just an expression, but an entire personality, don’t seem particularly concerned with race, beyond the fact they feature black people – something that’s still sadly [...]
Crock Of Gold – A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan: A tribute to a life lived hard December 4, 2020 When we first see the star of Crock Of Gold – A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, the instinct is to feel sad. He looks ravaged by the excesses of his 62 years, wheelchair bound and pale. However, one of the first preconceptions this documentary smashes is the idea that the singer/songwriter is a tragic [...]
Trevor Steven: Born again Tottenham are genuine Premier League title contenders December 4, 2020 As Tottenham prepare to host Arsenal this weekend, the north London rivals could hardly be in more contrasting form. Spurs sit top of the Premier League after 10 games, 13 places above their neigbhbours, so the momentum is firmly with them. And I put that down to three main factors: Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and [...]
Cameron van der Burgh on ‘winning the swimming game’, his new life at a London hedge fund and his mental health struggles December 4, 2020 It was at the afterparty for the Rio 2016 Olympics that the seeds of Cameron van der Burgh’s move to a London hedge fund were sown. Days earlier, the South African had been beaten into second place in the men’s 100m breaststroke final by his great rival, Britain’s Adam Peaty. Van der Burgh was not [...]
Successful Indian Premier League 2020 underlines that competition remains king December 3, 2020 Cricket’s Indian Premier League ended with the Mumbai Indians beating the Delhi Capitals in a rather one-sided and lacklustre final last month. Yet while the showpiece event failed to deliver, it couldn’t take the gloss off a remarkably successful tournament in the UAE. Uday Shankar, president of Disney Asia Pacific, which owns broadcaster Star Sports, [...]
Premier League agrees £250m bailout package to help EFL clubs survive pandemic December 3, 2020 The Premier League has agreed a £250m bailout for struggling clubs outside the top division. The aid package for the English Football League (EFL) includes £50m in grants for teams in Leagues One and Two. A further £200m in interest-free loans will be made available to clubs in the Championship. The long-awaited deal to mitigate [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Yashenkov makes fan pledge ahead of election; global golf tour moves step closer; and Cazoo trumpets Hundred deal December 3, 2020 It’s a big weekend for rugby in Europe, and not just because of the final round of Autumn Nations Cup fixtures. On Friday, Russian challenger Kirill Yashenkov is hoping to topple incumbent Octavian Morariu and be named president of Rugby Europe. Yashenkov has vowed to double the organisation’s budget and create more opportunities for elite [...]