Eddie Jones urges England to scale new heights to avoid Ireland gatecrashing Grand Slam party March 16, 2017 England head coach Eddie Jones insists his Six Nations champions will have to scale new heights in order to prevent Ireland gatecrashing their Grand Slam party on Saturday. Tournament victors England will become just the sixth side in history and first since the inception of the Six Nations in 2000 to claim back-to-back Grand Slams [...]
Personal Shopper review: Anyone expecting a straightforward horror film will come out with buyer’s remorse March 16, 2017 Personal Shopper puts so much effort into not being your typical supernatural horror film that it almost forgets it’s a supernatural horror film. It opens with a familiar scene, a young attractive woman (Kristen Stewart in this case) wanders around a scary old house, following the sound of dripping taps and creaky door handles. But [...]
My Country: a work in progress at the National Theatre review: a play that tries to make sense of Brexit March 16, 2017 It has been said that our membership of the EU was too complicated a subject for a referendum, and this play – born out of a nationwide listening project – also makes the theatre feel inadequate when it comes to deciphering what the hell happened on 23 June. Each actor is assigned a region – [...]
Cheltenham Festival 2017: Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins kick-start week with four winners March 16, 2017 Jockey Ruby Walsh toasted Ireland’s dominance on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival after he and trainer Willie Mullins teamed up to land a spectacular four-timer. Walsh and Mullins bounced back in emphatic style, following a barren start to the week that included Douvan’s shock defeat in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, as Irish [...]
Injury to scrum-half Conor Murray could be terminal to Ireland’s chances against Grand Slam-chasing England March 16, 2017 Injury to Munster scrum-half Conor Murray is a real game-changer and alters the whole dynamic of Ireland’s tactics when they come up against Grand Slam-chasing England on Saturday. The British and Irish Lion is excellent and absolutely vital to Joe Schmidt’s side. Murray has failed to recover from the shoulder problem incurred during his side’s [...]
Seventeen review: An exploration of the quirks of pissed up post-exam youngsters March 16, 2017 Premiered in Australia and reproduced for the Lyric Hammersmith, Matthew Whittet's tale of smalltown British teens getting sozzled after finishing their A-levels is a gentle love-letter to the clumsiness of adolescence, as portrayed by a cast of middle-aged actors. The characters should be immediately familiar, from coming-of-age fiction if not firsthand experience – a prancing [...]
Secret Cinema returns with a belting rendition of Moulin Rouge March 16, 2017 At the end of the 19th century, the Parisian district of Montmartre was a bohemian blend of aristocrats, artists, writers and dancers. Now you can visit the era without having to stray beyond Canning Town. You probably know the premise of Secret Cinema by now – watch a film and experience the world in which [...]
Beauty and the Beast review: This live-action remake loses most of the original’s magic March 16, 2017 The timeless story of a girl who falls in love with her malevolent captor, a ten foot tall talking bear, Beauty and the Beast famously teaches that the man of your dreams is only ever a Stockholm Syndrome away. But while this live-action remake of an animated Disney classic leaves most of the hard lessons [...]
Get Out film review: A brilliant scary movie where casual racism is the unseen terror March 16, 2017 In this Stepford Wives-style horror the unseen terror is casual racism and the insidious force is cultural whitewashing. And while that premise could easily descend into a liberal jumble of earnest back-slapping, Get Out is smart enough to balance its message with a wicked comic streak and some serious horror nous. It follows a young [...]
Michelangelo & Sebastiano review: The National Gallery’s compelling visual investigation of an overlooked artistic partnership March 16, 2017 You probably haven’t heard of Sebastiano del Piombo, the Venetian born artist and contemporary of the Renaissance superstar Michelangelo. Frankly the dynamic, superlative output of Michelangelo blows Sebastiano’s relatively diminutive works out of the water. Thankfully, this show is unconcerned with ‘rediscovering’ a lost master, or using Michelangelo’s name to sex-up a generic Italian Renaissance [...]