I See You review: A tense exploration of identity, race and language in post-apartheid South Africa March 8, 2016 Royal Court | ★★★☆☆ Language is all tangled up in history and identity, a thick linguistic rope wound tight around an ancestral flagpole. Set in post-apartheid South Africa, I See You considers what happens when that rope breaks and a language is lost, and asks whether it’s what you speak, rather than what you say, [...]
Virtual reality startup Magic Leap raised $793.5m without even having a product February 2, 2016 Augmented reality startup Magic Leap has just raised a record-breaking $793.5m in Series C funding – before even releasing a product. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba led the round, which leaves the virtual reality firm with a $4.5bn valuation, according to a spokesperson. Alibaba’s executive vice chairman Joe Tsai joins Google chief Sundar Pichai on the [...]
Property of the Fortnight: The Muppet Show comes to Camden January 25, 2016 It’s time to play the market for the Muppet House tonight. That’s right, for the first time ever, the Creature Shop that used to house Jim Henson’s furry cast is going on sale as a luxury penthouse. The Henson Building, as it’s still known, is on 30 Oval Road in an imposing Victorian warehouse in [...]
UK rental market: The government must do more to combat rogue landlords January 22, 2016 Today Brandon Lewis MP announced £5m in government funding to combat the scourge of rogue landlords. Councils are in desperate need of additional funding to help them fix the problems associated with rogue landlords and there's no doubt that this public money be put to good use. They will be better able to target notorious ‘beds in sheds’, cramped hellholes rented out [...]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens set to break sales record as film is on course to make $1bn in 12 days December 24, 2015 The latest in the iconic series of sci-fi films, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to become the first film ever to take over $1bn globally in 12 days. By the end of close Sunday, Star Wars, if on track, should topple Jurassic World, which passed the $1bn mark in just 13 days, according to Forbes. [...]
Why director JJ Abrams initially turned down Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens December 19, 2015 Talk about a bold career move. When JJ Abrams was offered the opportunity to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he initially turned it down to avoid becoming “the guy who does sequels”. The film, is already slated to become the UK’s highest-grossing film just two days after its release, but Abrams nearly missed out [...]
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 [...]
It’s time investors got behind our world-beating creative industries November 18, 2015 Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK last month was largely overshadowed by concerns regarding his country’s impact on Britain’s steel industry. Even so, almost £40bn worth of trade and investment deals were announced during the visit, yet one significant part of the UK economy was overlooked in the commentary: the creative industries [...]
London house prices might be mind-boggling for renters and young buyers, but it’s forcing creative solutions to the problem like never before October 15, 2015 This month, Daniel Radcliffe reportedly put his New York apartment up for rent at an eye-watering price of $19,000 (£12,500) per month. But now you can live the real “Harry Potter” lifestyle for a snip of the cost after an eager London renter in search of a new home tweeted a ‘room’ that was available to rent [...]
London house prices: Even Harry Potter had better than this mattress in a cupboard for £500 September 30, 2015 We all know London's house prices can seem a bit crazy at times, but one potential househunter thinks he might have found a new low. While current tenants of the Clapham property are keen to mention that the room is fully furnished, both the words "room" and "bed" could be argued to stretch the truth: [...]