It’s a pop hit February 22, 2013 ART LICHTENSTEIN: A RETROSPECTIVE By Alex Dymoke | Tate Modern **** IS HE the worst artist in the US?” asked Life magazine about Roy Lichtenstein in 1964. The primary colours and thick, innocent lines are too much – or too little – for many. However, his paintings are some of the most familiar images of [...]
The top shows from fashion week February 21, 2013 While New York was a muted affair, British brands embraced colour and everyday decadence in a big way L ONDON FASHION Week is a third of a century old and this season: it showed. There was a maturity and a sense of optimism, both in the way the clothes were presented and in the collections [...]
This new Porsche sounds like a hit February 18, 2013 SOMEWHERE IN the latest Porsche Cayman are 12 loudspeakers. How they’ve squeezed them in is anyone’s guess. It’s “the fastest concert hall in the world,” according to Hans Jürgen Wöhler, chief of mid-engined cars at Porsche. Despite the fact no one is going to buy this car for its audio system, Wöhler can barely contain [...]
Small but perfectly formed: why Brides les Bains is a ski paradise February 17, 2013 BRIDES les Bains may be the smallest place you ever visit. With a population of just 600, it’s reminiscent of those little Irish towns where everyone knows everyone and the pharmacist is also the butcher and the local mechanic on Tuesdays. In fact, while dinning at the town’s main restaurant, La Petite Auberge (where 80 [...]
An explosive return for the bad boy of opera February 14, 2013 BALLET MIXED PROGRAMME Royal Opera House **** The Royal Opera House’s mixed programme of ballet, marking the 25th anniversary of renowned dancer and choreographer Frederick Ashton’s death, was bound to be an explosive affair. It saw the dramatic return of Sergei Polunin – the former bad boy of British ballet – to the stage he [...]
The City in full swing with glut of new joints February 14, 2013 New King’s Road launch Upper West channels the spirit of Manhattan clubs like PH-D. The lounge bar boasts a roof terrace complete with olive trees and cascading fountains, while the separate nightclub Madison’s is accessed by a grand staircase and will feature floor to ceiling bronze mirror panelling and a state-of-the-art lighting system. The City [...]
This is 40 minutes too long February 14, 2013 FILM THIS IS 40 Cert 12A ** Half-way through Judd Apatow’s latest, This Is 40, a woman accuses Debbie (Leslie Mann) and Pete (Paul Rudd) of looking like a couple from a bank advert. Its one of the better jokes, not least because it highlights the fundamental problem with the film. Debbie and Pete are [...]
A Good Day to Die Hard is a ludicrous, outdated relic February 14, 2013 FILM A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD Cert: 12A ** John McClane is a family man. When he purged that New York tower block of eastern European terrorists in 1988, he wasn’t doing it out of patriotic or professional duty – he was doing it for his wife who was trapped in the building. A [...]
Great Expectations, below par results February 14, 2013 THEATRE GREAT EXPECTATIONS Vaudeville Theatre ** The Vaudeville seems a fitting space to stage Great Expectations. It was founded in 1870, just ten years after Dickens finished serialising his much loved classic, and Dickens himself – who loved theatre deeply – might have visited had he not died in the year it was completed. Like [...]
Underground success story February 14, 2013 EXHIBITION POSTER ART 150 London Transport Museum **** In this excellent new exhibition at the London Transport Museum, 150 posters have been selected from a collection of more than 3,300. Not only are the posters striking pieces of art, they also offer a unique insight into the history of the transport system that most of [...]
