Have Manchester United reached peak noodle partner? Why the club’s status as football’s commercial kings may be under threat February 11, 2017 Manchester United’s commercial power could be plateauing. Figures revealed this week in the club’s second quarter report suggest United, who have been more effective at selling their brand to sponsors than any other football club in the world in recent years, may have finally reached peak noodle partner. United’s commercial income came in virtually unchanged compared [...]
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk review: Ang Lee’s directorial return is pocked with missed opportunities February 10, 2017 Much like the title character, Ang Lee’s first film since Life of Pi comes with some baggage. A huge flop on its release in the US, low box office number summed up the indifferent reaction from customers as well as critics. It’s easy to see why. Based on the Ben Fountain novel, the story takes [...]
Fences film review: Incredible acting overcomes stagey direction in this Denzel Washington movie February 10, 2017 Stepping into the director’s chair for the first time in a decade, Denzel Washington also takes the lead in this adaptation of August Wilson’s play. Troy (Washington) is a hard working, hard drinking garbage man in 1950s Pittsburgh. Resentful of his lot in life, he pushes away his sons, leaving his wife (Viola Davis) to [...]
Eddie Jones backs rookie flanker Jack Clifford to thrive under Six Nations pressure February 9, 2017 Rookie flanker Jack Clifford has been tipped to thrive under the pressure of a crunch Six Nations showdown after head coach Eddie Jones named him in his side’s starting XV for Saturday’s clash with Wales. Clifford has only started one previous match for England, coincidentally against Wales last year, while the 23-year-old has not featured internationally [...]
Eddie Jones spoils Welsh plans by U-turning on Principality Stadium roof issue February 9, 2017 England head coach Eddie Jones has fanned flames of hostility after he reneged on his previous assertion and insisted the Principality Stadium’s roof for tomorrow’s crunch Six Nations showdown with Wales be kept open. Jones had previously professed indifference to whether the retractable roof for the Cardiff clash would stay open or not, claiming the defending [...]
The Lego Batman Movie review: This might be the best Batman film ever, watch your back Affleck February 9, 2017 Batfleck may have thus far been a mixed blessing for comic book fans, but there's no doubting the popularity of his smaller, Lego counterpart. Will Arnett's cocky Caped Crusader was the breakout star of The Lego Movie three years ago, earning his own solo adventure. Having saved Gotham again, Batman finds himself alone and without [...]
Revolution: Russian art 1917-1932 review: A dense and difficult exhibition that rewards those who look beyond the red flags February 9, 2017 Revolution: Russian Art marks the centenary of the momentous turning point in Russian history, the October Revolution of 1917, with a monumentally packed survey of the complicated, politically charged visual art up to the suppression of the Avante-Garde by Stalin in 1932. The bright red first room, filled with propaganda and state-sanctioned Social Realist painting, [...]
David Hockney at Tate Britain review: A Bigger Splash still makes a bigger splash than the artist’s weak newer works February 9, 2017 This major David Hockney retrospective, the first for 30 years, flits between brilliance and nonchalant mediocrity, with virtuoso paintings hanging metres away from self-cannibalising pastiches of the artist’s best work. Hockney is the nation’s favourite painter, a national treasure on a level with Alan Bennett, popular enough for The Sun to ask him to redesign [...]
The Robots exhibition at the Science Museum is a fascinating (and a little creepy) history of human-like automata February 9, 2017 Greeting you when you first enter the Robots exhibition at the Science Museum is an animatronic baby, pinned like some prized insect to a wall of pulsing lights. Commissioned especially for the exhibition and built by a special effects company, the mechanical baby repeats a series of pre-programmed animations, sneezing and wavings its arms and [...]
Football Association warned by MPs it is in “Fergie Time” over calls for reform February 9, 2017 Football Association chiefs have been warned they are running out of time to reform voluntarily after MPs approved a motion of no confidence in the body’s ability to modernise on Thursday. The FA could lose at least £30m of Sport England funding unless it introduces reforms including greater diversity among board members, more transparency and [...]