Champagne: is bigger better? October 8, 2012 Morning Wire’s wine industry expert When you think about buying a bottle of Champagne, which names immediately spring to mind? Bollinger? Moet & Chandon? Brands like these carry a hefty price tag but whether their wines are better than the cheaper alternatives is up for debate. You can buy a bottle of Tesco-branded Champagne for [...]
Visit Malaysia for the birds, the bees and the leeches October 7, 2012 MY HERO swoops down in the nick of time. I’m perched atop a bare rock, too petrified to move when she flies to my rescue. Barely seven inches tall, the blue-winged pitta flits to the ground and within moments, her beak is filled with what look like needle-thin worms. I’ve never been happier to see [...]
Nationwide to scrap interest-only loans October 4, 2012 ONE of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders yesterday said it would withdraw interest-only mortgages to future homeowners from next week, in a further sign of the squeeze on higher risk lending. Nationwide Building Society, the third biggest mortgage lender in the country, wrote to brokers yesterday saying it would stop offering the mortgage on 11 [...]
Few perks in this soppy teen melodrama October 4, 2012 FILM THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER Cert 12A ** THE PERKS of Being a Wallflower promises to be that rare thing: a high school movie with weight; a coming of age story about characters you recognise. It follows the archetypal bunch of High School Misfits (TM); a group so socially hideous that they can [...]
Our Boys is a brave look at post-war trauma October 4, 2012 THEATRE OUR BOYS The Duchess Theatre **** It’s press night at Our Boys, and I’m sandwiched between London’s new theatrical glitterati – Billie Piper, Jemima Rooper and several generations of Dr Who. They were there to support their boys: a group of 20 somethings including Laurence Fox (of THAT acting dynasty) portraying the shattered lives [...]
The Knot fails but Liberal Arts is a mixed bag October 4, 2012 THE KNOT (cert 15) With The Knot, British screenwriter/actor Noel Clarke (Kidulthood, Adulthood) is attempting to cash in on wedding-based money-spinners Bridesmaids and The Hangover. The problem is, those two films were funny and The Knot is not. Instead we get a jovial procession of tired clichés, unsympathetic characters and unfunny jokes – douchebag men [...]
Battle of the hot new e-readers October 3, 2012 Kindle Paperwhite, $119 (US price) Amazon says this is the Kindle it has always wanted to build. The Paperwhite is similar to the Kindle Touch but with one important difference – it comes with a built-in light that “evenly illuminates the screen”, allowing you to read in the dark. The only problem is, if you live [...]
Few compromises on this eco Ford October 2, 2012 With fuel economy figures of 78.5mpg, Ford’s Fiesta Econetic model is not just the most economical model in Ford’s range but one of the most frugal cars on sale anywhere. This is one reason why I am not overly excited to drive it: in my experience, most super-economical and green cars are lacking enjoyment-wise. Which [...]
Exclusive interview with Homeland’s Mandy Patinkin October 2, 2012 IN a small, dark ante-room, with a one-way pane of glass, Mandy Patinkin is wearing a set of headphones and a highly concentrated expression. On the other side of the glass, in a CIA interview room, Clare Danes, businesslike in a dark blue trouser suit, and Damian Lewis, one of his fists bloodied and bandaged, [...]
UK house prices slump in September October 2, 2012 UK house prices fell by 0.4 per cent in September, according to Nationwide. Figures from the lender showed that house values are now 1.4 per cent lower year on year, with the average house price sitting at £163,964. Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said this morning that the Funding for Lending scheme should bolster [...]