Green Book review: Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen shine in a bromance that’s as insightful as it is charming February 1, 2019 A Best Picture nominee about racism in the USA isn’t usually an uplifting experience. On paper, Green Book, the true story of a New Yorker chauffeur tasked with safely getting an African American pianist from gig to gig in the segregated South, sounds like it could be a long, hard grind. But Viggo Mortensen and [...]
Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams at the V&A is a thorough investigation of the haute couture brand, if not the man himself February 1, 2019 By 1955, over half of all haute couture exported from France was designed by Christian Dior. Not bad for someone who started out selling sketches outside his house for 10 cents apiece. Not that you’d know that having been to this exhibition as, unlike the V&A’s blockbuster retrospective on the late Alexander McQueen, this show [...]
Leave to Remain play review: Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke brings sparkle to this relationship drama February 1, 2019 Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke and co-star Matt Jones play a pair of troubled young lovers in this touching, physically impressive play that dwells far less on Brexit than its title suggests. If follows smitten couple Obi and Alex who, after 10 months together, risk being parted when Alex’s company posts him to the Middle [...]
Burning film review: Lee Chang-dong’s Haruki Murakami adaptation is more proof he’s the best director you’ve never heard of February 1, 2019 Lee Chang-dong may be the best director you’ve never heard of. He has made just six films, each of them wonderful and largely unknown to Western audiences, over a peripatetic career that has also included a stint as culture minister in the South Korean government. Burning, adapted from a Haruki Murakami story, is his best [...]
Can You Ever Forgive Me? film review: Melissa McCarthy shines in this odd-couple heist movie February 1, 2019 The normally jovial Melissa McCarthy completely transforms herself to play Lee Israel, a New York biographer who finds a new stream of income forging personal letters from famous writers of the past. It’s a fascinating premise (adapted from the real life Israel’s 2008 memoir), playing out as a simple but well executed heist movie. The [...]
Premier League clubs’ January transfer window spending falls for first time since 2012 February 1, 2019 The amount Premier League teams spent in the January transfer window fell for the first time since 2012, according to football money experts Deloitte. England's top tier clubs spent just £180m on permanent signings, some way off the £430m that was lavishly shelled out last winter. Nearly a third of this window's total outlay was [...]
The Six Nations is becoming increasingly competitive but Ireland are still clear favourites according to a supercomputer February 1, 2019 The Six Nations has rarely been more competitive. Last year’s championship saw an average points difference of just 14 across the 15 games – the lowest since 2013 – according to Gracenote Sports. Although Ireland ran out Grand Slam winners, there were just five points separating second-placed Wales and fifth-placed England come the end of [...]
Ollie Phillips: Ireland are favourites but the opening round could shape a tight Six Nations January 31, 2019 The Six Nations finally gets under way tomorrow and the fixture list has thrown up some fascinating ties to kick off with. England travel to Dublin to face defending champions Ireland on Saturday, which I think might actually prove to be a blessing rather than a curse as there is little pressure to improve their [...]
Problems mounting for stubborn Maurizio Sarri as his footballing philosophy shows its weaknesses at Chelsea January 31, 2019 On the face of things Chelsea are far from a club in crisis. They sit outside of the Premier League’s top four on goal difference and are still in all four competitions, having progressed to the final of the Carabao Cup and the fifth round of the FA Cup in the last eight days. The [...]
Escape Room is a fun, trashy but ultimately gutless horror flick that deftly tunes into a booming trend January 31, 2019 When future historians look back on the twenty-teens, perhaps on a nostalgia-fuelled talking head show called ‘I Love 2018’, they’ll remark on the popular trends that characterise our present day. “Who remembers flossing?” the cadaver of Victoria Beckham will rasp, what remains of her body elegantly propped up in a Christian Dior gurney and kept [...]