Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a feel-good hit April 19, 2012 FILM SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN Cert 12A | By Zoe Strimpel **** A beautiful young woman named Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) works for an unrealistically glossy PR company in London. She has a client: a sheikh, who has a dream to create a river in the desert land of the Yemen, import Scottish salmon [...]
Ecstasy is a low-rent Human Traffic that came 13 years late April 19, 2012 FILM ECSTASY Cert 18 | By Steve Dinneen ** Almost two decades since Trainspotting was released, Irvine Welsh is once again the man of the moment. His prequel to that groundbreaking novel, Skagboys, is just out (doing little to dispel the claim he’s just a one-trick pony) and now he’s back on the big screen [...]
Cillian Murphy plays the role of his life in Misterman April 19, 2012 THEATRE MISTERMAN Lyttelton at the National | By Steve Dinneen ***** The Lyttelton theatre is a big space for one man to fill – but for the duration of Misterman, there is only one person you will want to look at. Cillian Murphy plays the God-fearing Tommy Magill, a troubled but well-meaning young man from [...]
Viable boozing in Kings Cross April 19, 2012 JUST across the Thames from Parliament, a grand new English steakhouse named Gillray’s has opened in London’s County Hall, bringing with it an imposing circular cocktail bar with views across to Big Ben. Taking its name from a satirical 18th Century caricaturist, it exudes a fitting old-world gentility and commitment to everything English, evident in [...]
Gunners to prosper with no distractions April 19, 2012 AS Madness’s One Step Beyond boomed out at Stamford Bridge after the 1-0 defeat of Barcelona on Wednesday night, the Chelsea players looked like they believed this could be the year they finally go all the way in the Champions League. Roberto di Matteo’s back-to-basics approach is paying handsome dividends and he’s taken expectations from [...]
Course specialist Merigo can claim his second Coral Scottish Grand National April 19, 2012 PAUL Nicholls had possibly the greatest day of his racing career last Saturday when Neptune Collonges finally broke his Grand National hoodoo, and Team Ditcheat will be confident of notching another big win tomorrow as Harry The Viking looks to hold strong claims in the Coral Scottish Grand National (3.25pm). The seven-year-old, part-owned by Sir [...]
Bank of America reports lower first quarter profit April 19, 2012 Bank of America Corp reported a drop in first-quarter profits as the second-largest U.S. bank took accounting charges related to its debt. Bank of America said net income was $653m, or three cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $2.05 billion, or 17 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. The [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown assets climb April 19, 2012 FTSE 100 fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown reported a £2.6bn rise in assets under administration to a record £26bn in the three months to the end of March. The company said that trading volumes were up 12 per cent in the year so far, triggered by volatility on markets. In the first quarter clients invested £1bn [...]
WH Smith targets overseas growth as UK stalls April 19, 2012 Newspapers, books and stationery retailer WH Smith plans to expand domestically and internationally, focusing on new stores at travel hubs and in growing overseas markets which are helping offset weakness on Britain’s high streets. WH Smith, which operates over 1,100 stores primarily in Britain, said that profit before tax rose to £66m in the six [...]
GSK sees $2.6bn bid for Human Genome rejected April 19, 2012 Human Genome Sciences said it had rejected an unsolicited bid worth around $2.6bn from long-time partner GlaxoSmithKline, marking a new takeover battle in a drugs sector that has been swept by M&A recently. Human Genome said it did not believe the offer of $13 a share in cash reflected the value inherent in the company. [...]
