A War film review: An ambiguous, but triumphant, Danish drama January 8, 2016 15 | Dir. Tobias Lindholm ★★★★☆ The many grey areas of modern warfare are examined in this Danish drama, shortlisted for Best Foreign Language film at this year’s Oscars. We follow Commander Claus Pedersen, stationed in Helmand Province, as well as his wife and children carrying on with life back in Denmark. The future of [...]
Top tips for saving up a house deposit January 8, 2016 Four out of five Britons under 30 would prefer to own their own home, rather than rent, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, but in London, that’s easier said than done. Home ownership is at its lowest level in 25 years and property prices have risen to about six times the UK’s average annual [...]
Focus On Croydon: The affordable South London hotspot that’s getting a £1bn facelift January 8, 2016 If there’s one thing we learnt from the London property market in 2015, it was not to underestimate the outer boroughs. Some of the largest house price growth increases were to be found in these supposed backwaters. Growth in places like Haringey and Hillingdon far outstripped traditionally prime areas like Kensington & Chelsea and Camden, [...]
Homes go on sale at former North London Post Office building in Islington January 8, 2016 As the historic North London Post Office, this 50,000sqft site in Islington delivered birthday cards, love letters and lists for Father Christmas. But next year, joint property developers Sagar Group and Cain Hoy hope they’ll be equally as successful at delivering a new housing, shopping and commercial district in the heart of one of London’s [...]
Food trends 2016: black food, Persian food and cherry bakewell tarts January 6, 2016 Black to snack Bamboo blackened brioche buns, dark ribbons of squid ink pasta and even charcoal-infused water will herald the arrival of what might be this year’s least appetising food trend. In 2016 expect to eat black food, very black food, darker than the howling souls of the damned. Burger King Japan kicked off the [...]
Working Lunch review: Big Easy, Canary Wharf January 6, 2016 Big Easy, Crossrail Place, E14 WHAT? The third – and largest – Big Easy serving “low and slow” meat and seafood cooked in pit rooms that house two tonne US smokers. The sheer size of this venue – to give you an idea, it employs 170 staff – means it also accommodates an American breakfast [...]
Lessons in wine: Use Dry January to brush up on your wine critics and make a tidy profit January 6, 2016 The most important thing to remember is that a wine is subjective. Wine lovers should be guided by the critics, but at the end of the day the only thing that really matters is each individual drinker’s own enjoyment. With the arrival of the internet, it’s never been so easy to learn about and voice [...]
Head to upstate New York to beat the crowds this ski season for a skiing hotspot bigger than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined December 21, 2015 The Hamptons is the summer escape for sweltering New Yorkers, but when the winter snows lie thick in Central Park, it’s the pine-clad ski slopes of the Catskills and the Adirondacks that beckon these urbanites. Of course, for us, Europe has every kind of ski adventure imaginable; but as the Brits charge off en masse [...]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens review: The best film in the series since The Empire Strikes Back December 18, 2015 12A | Dir. JJ Abrams ★★★★★ Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens opens with the now familiar golden expository text scrolling into an infinity of stars. The Empire has fallen, only to be replaced by Darth Jar Jar and his Ewok army, who ruthlessly enforce a trade blockade against the ice planet Hoth… just [...]
Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie review: A faithful rendering of the classic comic strip December 18, 2015 U | Dir. Steve Martino ★★★★☆ Like Elvis, apple pie and widespread gun ownership, Charles M. Schulz’s “Peanuts” is woven into the fabric of American culture. The animated Christmas Special from the 60s has become part of the holiday tradition, and now the team behind 2011’s Rio are bringing the characters into the 21st century. [...]
