OUT THIS WEEKEND PREVIEWS May 14, 2009 FILMFIGHTING Tough as old boots movie about bare-knuckle boxing in New York. VIVA Peculiarly kitsch drama about suburban sexual-awakening in 50s America. FRENCH FILM Incompetent Brit rom-com, with a bizarre cameo from Eric Cantona. DVDFROST/NIXON Michael Sheen and Frank Langella star in the adaptation of Peter Morgan’s play. DEFIANCE World War II drama with Daniel Craig [...]
NOW SHOWING FIVE OF THE BEST May 14, 2009 FILM: Let the Right One In: Swedish film-maker Tomas Alfredson weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing vampire movie that’s one of the stand-out movies of 2009. OPERA: Peter Grimes at the ENO: Premiered in 1945, Britten’s masterpiece concerns an anti-hero outsider in a fishing village. An eagerly awaited new production by David Alden. [...]
Church of Nonsense May 14, 2009 ANGELS & DEMONSCert: 12ATHIS tediously dull follow up to the tediously dull Da Vinci Code was the highest-profile victim of the Hollywood writers’ strike last year, becoming substantially delayed as a result. However, it gives the impression of not having been written by professionals at all. Instead, the dialogue consists almost entirely of lumbering exposition. [...]
Technology shares give Dow a boost May 14, 2009 US STOCKS rose last night as investors returned to financial and technology shares on bets the recent rally could have more room to grow after a brief pullback. Volume, however, was light, a possible indication of a lack of broad conviction. Technology gains were led by big-cap tech and semiconductor companies after five straight days [...]
FTSE 100 nudges higher as banks start to look oversold May 14, 2009 THE FTSE 100 edged up by 0.7 per cent yesterday, snapping a three-day losing run, with gains in banks and miners offsetting weakness in oil producers hurt by weaker crude prices. The index closed 31.21 points higher at 4,362.58 in a choppy session. “It still looks too early to predict the end of this two [...]
CITY CURRY LOVERS EMPTY THEIR POCKETS FOR UK WAR VETERANS May 14, 2009 NOSHING down on a good curry is one of the best ways to relieve City stress (just ask chancellor Alistair Darling, who famously thrashed out the details of his mammoth £500bn bank bailout plan over an Indian takeaway back in October). So it should come as no surprise that Lord Mayor Ian Luder decided to [...]
The future of home entertainment May 14, 2009 WHAT started with gramophones and wax records is going through its next great change. Media servers are the units with whopping hard drives onto which you can condense your music and film collections. They’ve been around for a bit, but only now are improved user interfaces and more streamlined designs making them a serious option [...]
Third day of red as miners and banks lose their appeal May 13, 2009 THE FTSE 100 dropped 2.1 per cent yesterday, succumbing to disappointing US retail sales figures, profit-taking in the banking sector and mining stocks weighed down by weak commodity prices. The index retreated for the third day in a row, closing at 4,331.37, or 94.17 points down. “Despite the change of tone, markets have more room [...]
VT is building a great warchest so get ready for a spending spree May 13, 2009 Age: 59 Work: 1968 – joins Dowty Fuel Systems as a student apprentice. 1980 – group general manager for energy services group Schlumberger. 1987 – managing director, Dowty Aerospace & Defence. 1990 – chief executive of instruments specialist Graseby. 1997 – group managing director, Balfour Beatty. 2002 – CEO at VT Group Education: Studied mechanical [...]
RISK MANAGEMENT NUMBER-CRUNCHING May 13, 2009 Research conducted this year by GRS, the leading financial recruitment organisation, has revealed the following statistics. In a survey of 800 risk professionals, 43 per cent said that risk managers in general had failed to communicate risk effectively to their organisations. 63 per cent said that the credit crunch had been beneficial for them in [...]
