OUT THIS WEEKEND December 3, 2009 FILM ME AND ORSON WELLES Zac Efron stars as a teenager cast in an Orson Welles play. DEPARTURES Charming Japanese film about a cellist who ends up preparing the dead for burial. DISGRACE John Malkovich stars in this adaptation of JM Coetzee’s novel. DVD HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Harry and co’s darkest outing [...]
St Ives suffers sales slump November 30, 2009 St Ives, printer of the Harry Potter books, suffered a nine per cent fall in underlying sales in the first quarter but said profitability remained in line with expectations. The printer said the economic outlook remained uncertain with a number of clients cautious about the early part of next year. St Ives, which has cut [...]
EXBARRISTER FINDS A RAFT OF USES FOR CITY’S USELESS BANKERS November 16, 2009 A RATHER quaint looking little book lands on The Capitalist’s desk and promptly causes a bit of a stir. Said tome has been penned – if you can call it that – by Alex Steuart Williams, a former barrister turned cartoonist and feature film animator (with movie credits such as The Lion King and Harry [...]
FOOTBALL-CRAZY PWC GETS STUCK IN ON ENGLAND’S WORLD CUP BID October 28, 2009 GOOD news for the multitude of football fans in the City: the team behind England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup have secured themselves a powerful ally. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy giant, today announces it is the first sponsor to officially back the bid, responsible for working on crucial aspects of the proposal such [...]
Cineworld profits on the up despite the downturn October 27, 2009 CINEWORLD revealed a solid third-quarter trading performance yesterday, despite the economic downturn and decline in screen advertising. The group posted healthy trading with total revenues up 6.5 per cent in the 43-week period to 22 October. This was largely due to the 10.9 per cent growth in box office sales and five per cent growth [...]
How Apple is stealing the limelight from Microsoft October 21, 2009 WHEN Microsoft releases Windows 7 today, it will be closing a troubled chapter in its history. The previous version of its operating system, Windows Vista, has been cut adrift by massive changes in the PC market since its launch in 2007; a resurgent Apple, soaring sales of netbooks that run free alternatives to Windows and [...]
OUT OF OFFICE October 19, 2009 LAPLAND VIA THE LANGHAM HOTELIf you’re planning a bit of wining and dining over the festive season – and let’s face it, who isn’t? – you could end up in Lapland courtesy of the Langham Hotel. Diners who make reservations for four or more people at the hotel’s restaurant, The Landau, or its private dining [...]
Demand for luxury goods aids Burberry October 14, 2009 Luxury fashion retailer Burberry yesterday smashed City forecasts as shoppers rushed to get this season’s latest handbags and accessories. Burberry reported revenue of £343m in the three months ended 30 September, down five per cent at constant currencies, but ahead of analyst forecasts of £320m to £335m. Chief financial officer Stacey Cartwright said the group [...]
The Gulf states need to become a marketplace October 5, 2009 LAST week, I found myself in Doha with the man who brought us JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, Nigel Newton, the chief executive of Bloomsbury Publishing. He was in town to launch qfinance.com, a website focused on serving finance professionals in Qatar, in a joint venture with the Qatar Finance Authority. There, in a sea of [...]
Hogwarts? It’s Hollyoaks with broomsticks July 16, 2009 FilmHARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCECert: 12A AT THE START of the Harry Potter franchise, the films were fun. They were joyful affairs, full of the sweetness of JK Rowling’s imagination and the spirit of inventiveness that seemed to suffuse everything, from quidditch games to Diagon Alley. Even with Death Eaters, basilisks and dark lords [...]