Gaming changers: how marketing messages have had to change for gambling companies April 1, 2019 Where do you know Ray Winstone from? If you’re of a certain vintage, you’ll probably recall his early work. Carlin in Scum, Kevin the rocker in Quadrophenia. More of a millennial? Then perhaps it’s his turn opposite Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast or as Frenchy in The Departed. Or maybe it’s simply him yelling “put [...]
Fulham must shed their excess to prepare for relegation and the hard landing looming in the Championship March 31, 2019 The summer was a time of excitement and optimism for Fulham. After an impressive 23-game unbeaten streak and fairytale play-off final win at Wembley, the club set about expensively assembling a squad it thought could not just avoid the drop the following season but thrive in the Premier League. Thanks to the deep pockets of [...]
Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham: Fortune favours the Reds as they go back top of the Premier League March 31, 2019 The title race remains on. It looked very much to be slipping away from Liverpool, but as the ball trickled over the line at the Kop End it was clear fortune favoured the reds. Rather than one of their own players, Liverpool fans were left celebrating the mistake of an opponent, as Hugo Lloris inexplicably [...]
Arsenal v Newcastle: Unai Emery’s incessant tinkering is proving a hidden strength March 31, 2019 In the Premier League’s current climate, new managers are expected to revolutionise the way their team plays, implementing an attractive style of football and instilling a work ethic that often involves pressing high up the pitch. Under Unai Emery this season, Arsenal have been accused of failing to follow that blueprint and told that they [...]
Romeo & Juliet: Kenneth MacMillan’s notoriously tricky take on Shakespeare’s classic is brutally beautiful March 29, 2019 Romeo and Juliet Royal Opera House Shakespeare famously trailed his tragic romance with ‘there never was a story of more woe / than this of Juliet and her Romeo”. Big words, Bill. But they hold up in this brutal, speechless version by The Royal Ballet. The Bolshoi Ballet first brought Romeo & Juliet to the [...]
Dumbo review: Tim Burton turns a family favourite into an animal rights advocacy project March 29, 2019 In case you’ve forgotten – it did come out in 1941 – the animated Disney film Dumbo is deeply odd and wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice for a live action remake. There are barely any humans in it, for a start, then there’s Dumbo himself, a doe-eyed, speechless pachyderm who gets bullied for 70 per [...]
Ollie Phillips: Home advantage weighs heavy for Saracens, Edinburgh, Leinster and Racing 92 in the Champions Cup March 29, 2019 The Six Nations finished two weeks ago but the tournament remains relevant as we head into the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup this weekend. The relationship between club sides and their countries is an interesting one and it’s born out when looking at the fixtures for Europe’s premier club competition. Wales won the Six Nations [...]
At Eternity’s Gate review: A dreamlike and impressionistic portrait of Van Gogh March 28, 2019 In this dreamlike journey through the artist’s later years, American painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel frames the artist as the director wants to see him, keeping his drunkenness, violence and bouts of psychosis somewhere just off-screen. The film presents a fragmented and impressionistic series of vignettes filmed in a drunken POV aspect, as though the [...]
Van Gogh and Britain review: Just how much did London inspire the artist? March 28, 2019 You really don’t need much of an excuse to dust off a collection of Van Goghs, but Tate Britain has reached for one all the same with its latest exhibition of twenty of the man’s works. Van Gogh and Britain contextualises the artist’s output around his few interactions with this country, which amounts to a [...]
Where Huddersfield Town rank among the five worst teams in Premier League history March 28, 2019 Huddersfield's relegation from English football's top tier could be confirmed this weekend. But where do the Terriers rank among the worst teams ever to play in the Premier League? 5. Sunderland 2002-03: 0.50 Points per game The fifth worst team in Premier League history, this Sunderland side took just 19 points from their 38 matches. Under [...]