Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie review: A party of pissed up PRs and celebrity cameos June 30, 2016 Given the media obsessed culture we live in, it’s remarkable that cinema audiences haven’t already been introduced to Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone. The drunken duo (played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley) amassed a cult following during their 90s small screen run, which has seen several one-off returns over the years. Following the critical [...]
David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still Life review – The Royal Academy hosts the artist’s first exhibition since returning to Los Angeles June 30, 2016 David Hockney believes there are just three genres of painting: landscapes, portraits and still life. Having successfully packed a wing of the Royal Academy in 2012 with varied (sometimes iPad created) drawings of hawthorn-pocked East Yorkshire hills, he returns now to tick the art world’s two remaining boxes. The Royal Academy’s 82 Portraits and 1 [...]
Trayser eBike review: The most futuristic battery-assisted pushbike yet June 30, 2016 Electric bikes are increasingly falling into two categories. Most attempt to disguise the fact that you’re getting a speed boost from the rear-wheel motor, squirrelling the battery away in a discreet water bottle and leaving all around you to think that – as you zip off into the distance – you might just have really [...]
What it’s like to take on one of the world’s toughest race tracks in the 2017 Nissan GT-R June 27, 2016 Nearly 50 drivers and motorcyclists have died at Spa-Francorchamps since the first race there in 1922. Nestled in the lush green hills of the Belgian Ardennes, this tortuously twisty circuit is second only to the Nurburgring for morbid notoriety. So it’s with some trepidation that – having signed a lengthy disclaimer – I don my [...]
Independence Day: Resurgence is a bewildering montage of CGI disasters and giant alien spaceships June 27, 2016 Independence Day: Resurgence is pitched as an antidote to the gritty movies ushered in by the age of the super-hero blockbuster. Sometimes, however, the cure can be worse than the disease. The original Independence Day, now 20 years old, was a bona fide cinematic event, expanding the boundaries of what was possible with CGI; the [...]
Barbu review: A sexy, hairy and acrobatic exploration of the history of circus June 27, 2016 ★★★★★ | Spiegeltent, London Wonderground An acrobatic circus and dance act from the most hirsute recesses of Quebec, Barbu dismantles preconceived notions of masculinity and then rebuilds them into something new using hula hoops, see-saws, ribbons and swings. Several large, beautiful men cavort and spin about the stage, like lumberjacks trapped in a salad spinner, [...]
Culture, coffee and cocktails. A tour of arty and historic Vienna June 24, 2016 The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Joseph I of Austria – head honcho of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for nearly 70 years – presents a grand opportunity to delve into Vienna’s imperial past while catching up on some of its more contemporary delights as well. Franz Who? No, not Archduke Franz [...]
Discover Pompeii and the Gulf of Naples, a luxury destination in the shadow of Vesuvius June 22, 2016 So this huge cloud of scalding steam, which reached temperatures of around 600 degrees centigrade and contained toxic gases, caused people’s brains to basically boil and explode through their skulls, after which their skin began to melt off,” says historian Dr Francesca Del Vecchio to her frankly horrified audience, who are hanging on her every [...]
The best way to get to Berlin? Take the Venice Simplon Orient Express, an enchanting route to the German capital that crosses the Rhine Gorge June 10, 2016 THE WEEKEND: Berlin, which has always demonstrated its ability for re-invention, is experiencing one of its most exciting eras. The old East, left by the Kremlin to rot, has been cleaned up with futuristic steel-and-glass architecture; making for a dazzling capital city. THE JOURNEY: Take Belmond’s new London to Berlin overnight service, the Venice Simplon [...]
The Deep Blue Sea review: Terrence Rattigan’s evocative portrayal of post-war Britain’s uncertain future June 9, 2016 National Theatre | ★★★★☆ This new production of Terrence Rattigan’s 1952 play evokes brilliantly both the uncertainty of the decade in which it was written and its universal insights about relationships. It opens with a bungled suicide: Hester Collyer (played by Helen McCrory), the estranged wife of a judge, has tried to gas herself but forgot [...]
