Monsters: Dark Continent – film review May 1, 2015 Cert 15 | ★☆☆☆☆ War is always an ugly enterprise, but is it any uglier when aliens are involved? That’s the totally pointless question Monsters: Dark Continent asks. After sitting through it for two hours I can confirm that the answer is both “yes” and “who cares”. It’s a huge let-down, especially so [...]
Film review: Far from the Madding Crowd is rushed, but Carey Mulligan sparkles May 1, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★☆☆ In 19th century England, the line between fancying someone and marrying them was terrifyingly thin. Or so you might think from Thomas Vinterberg’s new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, in which the twinkly Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) hurdles marriage proposals like a Victorian Colin Jackson. All [...]
Theatre review: Everyman is a thrilling, touching success April 30, 2015 Olivier Theatre | ★★★★☆ The first play directed by Rufus Norris since he took over as artistic director of the National Theatre is an ambitious, frenetic production that hints at exciting times ahead for the institution. Everyman is a 15th century morality play warning of the perils of pursuing bodily pleasures over the [...]
Something for the weekend April 30, 2015 SING! BILLY ELLIOT One of the best loved musicals of recent times celebrates its tenth birthday this May – as good a reason as any to book a ticket if you’re yet to see it. Tickets £20.70 – £68.70, call the box office on 0844 248 5000 CHEER! BRENTFORD VS WIGAN Head to west London [...]
Oh my god: A new book celebrates the finest in modern religious architecture April 30, 2015 German theologian Rudolf Otto popularized the idea of the “numinous”, a feeling of awestruck oneness with the Holy Other liable to induce fear, trembling, a widening of the eyes. Built in the right way, religious spaces can induce numinous feelings: from the towering, echoey symmetry of Salisbury Cathedral to the dizzying, hallucinatory tiled ceiling of [...]
Story time: Escape to the past with British painter Eleanor Watson April 30, 2015 Eleanor Watson paints light-dappled rooms full of frills, finery and baroque detailing. Sometimes shadowy, sometimes ablaze in brilliant oranges, her paintings have the texture and atmostphere of memories – passionate, randomly detailed and with the occasional blank spot. Working from photographs, she recreates idealised, dreamlike spaces that seem familiar from museums and period dramas. In [...]
Beautiful things: Maritime clocks and parrot lamps April 30, 2015 The romantic image of the seabound adventurer telling the time from the position of the sun was rendered obsolete by clocks like these. But what we lost in romance, we gained in style and craftsmanship. Wempe’s Senator Brass clock is a technical masterpiece, with an eleven-jewel Swiss rate regulator for ultimate precision. And that’s just [...]
Out on the tiles: Italian mosaic experts Bisazza on how the ancient artform has survived the millennia April 30, 2015 As passengers disembark at Gatwick’s South Terminal and make their way down ramps to the luggage carousel, they’re met by two giant portraits of the Queen. In one, piercing blue eyes stare out of a youthful, newly-coronated face, while the other is of a plumper, cheerier disposition. Everyone fixates on them, tourists and homecomers alike, [...]
Sky high: Introducing the most expensive homes in the world April 30, 2015 For the super rich, a trophy home isn’t simply a place to live, it’s a savvy investment; the discreet market in prestigious properties is booming and they’re selling for record-breaking prices. The cities that are home to these super-luxe homes also get an ego boost, as their ability to attract some of the wealthiest individuals [...]
Architects of the future: How young designers are taking on space constraints, the cost of living and technology April 30, 2015 As property prices continue to rise and land available for development dwindles, architects and designers are tasked with devising ways to recommission and re-purpose spaces to make them suitable for modern life. Five architects and designers under 40 explain how they are taking inspiration from these challenges, and how they see their industry changing in [...]
