A true blue sci-fi classic December 17, 2009 Film AVATAR Cert: 12a It’s the most expensive and technically ambitious film ever made, and the most hyped – and wouldn’t you know it, it’s also pretty good. Avatar is a compendium of director James Cameron’s familiar themes – aliens against soldiers, futuristic technology, bone-crunching sci-fi action, corny romance and an epic pomposity that, as [...]
Knightley shines in biting satire December 17, 2009 Theatre – First Night THE MISANTHROPE Comedy Theatre FOR HER theatrical debut, Keira Knightley plays a Hollywood starlet accused of the same beauty-over-talent deficiencies with which Knightley herself is regularly charged. And boy does she give it back. Her character, megastar Jennifer, is happily surrounded by toadying sycophants in her London hotel. The misanthrope of [...]
WHAT TO ENJOY THIS CHRISTMAS FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES December 17, 2009 FILM NINE Daniel Day-Lewis leads Chicago director Rob Marshall’s star-studded tribute to Italian cinema. NOWHERE BOY Former YBA Sam Taylor-Wood’s biopic of John Lennon’s early years. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker rom com. Nuff said. DVD IN THE LOOP Malcolm Tucker takes on the White House in the [...]
Getting to the BOTTOM of ladies’ underwear December 17, 2009 You know the feeling. It’s two days before Christmas and there is a creeping sense of dread threatening to ruin your festive spirit. So far seasonal cheer has extended to quaffing too many glasses of strong lager and trying not to abuse your boss at the office party. But now there’s no more putting off [...]
Say pants to those dull boxers December 17, 2009 Paul Smith Striped boxer shorts Price: £30 www.paulsmith.com Ted Baker Soball printed trunks Price: £18 www.tedbaker.com Topman Turquoise bright check trunks Price: £6 www.topman.com Calvin Klein Botanical Deco print trunk Price: £18 www.underu.com
MEN: IT’S TIME TO SAY YES TO THOSE MOOBS December 17, 2009 Jeremy Hazlehurst Style Counsel FOR men, there are sure-fire signs that you are getting older. You start getting an urge to ruffle the hair of young boys. Everybody in the England football team is younger than you. And then there is the inevitability of getting fatter. In their 20s, many men can’t put on weight [...]
US shares sink as dollar jumps higher December 17, 2009 AMERICAN stocks fell yesterday as the dollar’s rebound spurred a safe-haven trade, cutting demand for riskier assets, while a soft profit outlook from economic bellwether FedEx sank transportation shares. Financial services stocks took a beating after influential banking analyst Meredith Whitney cut her earnings estimates on Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The US dollar index, [...]
Bank jitters and commodity weakness hits London stocks December 17, 2009 Jitters in the financial sector prompted by tough new proposed regulations sent banks sliding yesterday while commodity stocks also retreated on weaker raw material prices, pulling the FTSE 100 down 1.9 per cent by close. The FTSE 100 closed down 102.65 points at 5,217.61, having closed 34.49 points, or 0.7 per cent, higher on Wednesday [...]
SUITOR LIES IN WAIT AS HOODLESS PLANS FOR A CHANGE OF SCENERY December 17, 2009 THINGS are hotting up over at broker Hoodless Brennan, which I hear is currently in the final throes of negotiating a move from its current Canary Wharf HQ back to the quainter environs of the Square Mile. The brokers at Hoodless, which plans to shack up on Finsbury Pavement some time early next year, are [...]
It’s high fives for Swann as brave England show fight December 17, 2009 SEAMER Graham Onions has warned his England team-mates there is plenty of hard work left to do after the tourists battled back to leave the first Test with South Africa delicately poised at a sun-drenched Centurion. The Durham paceman recovered from a calf strain on the opening day to take 3-86 as he and five-wicket [...]