Freaky Tales review: Pulp pleasure for Grindhouse lovers April 30, 2025 It’s a busy year for the internet’s daddy Pedro Pascal. Currently wowing audiences in the second season of The Last Of Us, he’s soon to try and revive the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of the new Fantastic Four film. In between all these big budget efforts, however, is the flawed but charming cult actioner [...]
Mini Aceman is an electric SUV with more character than most April 30, 2025 It has been nearly a quarter of a century since BMW revived the Mini. Reinterpreting an icon held close to many hearts is a risky business, as proven by Jaguar’s controversial rebrand and Ford’s attempt to revive the Capri. However, BMW’s Mini is one of the most successful comebacks for a classic name, making the [...]
The Penguin Lessons: Steve Coogan stars in lovable crowd pleaser April 30, 2025 Cinema has an inexplicable fascination with Penguins. From award-winning docs like March Of The Penguins to animation like Happy Feet, there’s something about these flightless birds that sells a movie as well as any A-lister. New drama The Penguin Lessons will certainly hope that continues to be the case, as it pairs Steve Coogan with [...]
Warfare review: Alex Garland returns with a April 30, 2025 Alex Garland imagined a future conflict in last year’s dystopian drama Civil War, and will do so again in the summer as the writer of long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later. Before that, however, he returns to the director’s chair to portray real-life combat in the absolutely haunting Warfare. The film is a re-enactment of co-writer/director [...]
Dealer’s Choice review: Poker play returns after three decades April 29, 2025 Dealer’s Choice | ★★★☆☆ | Donmar Warehouse Anyone who plays poker knows its potential to create stories. It’s a game that’s perfectly in step with our age of individuality, an analogue for capitalism in which – so the myth goes – anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and a run of bad luck [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines Diary: Quaffing Spanish wine in the Parisian Pulitzer April 29, 2025 Paris has often been described as “magical” but I experienced my own miracle this weekend. The Significant Other and I were dining at Le Patio, the restaurant of Hotel Pulitzer in the Opera Quarter of Paris. Over squidgy, crispy croquettes and pesto laden burrata, I realised I had lost an earring. An earring my late [...]
Can a Young Driver training course reduce accidents by 80 per cent? April 29, 2025 On the 18th of June 1996, I passed my driving test. On the 19th of June 1996, I wrote off my Mini City E by parking it in the back of a BMW. For a 17-year-old who aspired to be a motoring journalist, it wasn’t the most auspicious start. To prevent my son from suffering [...]
Ford is killing off the Ford Focus – but why? April 29, 2025 Thirty years ago, one in five new cars sold in Britain wore a Ford badge. The Escort was the nation’s favourite – as it had been for decades – followed by the Fiesta in second place and the Mondeo in third. Today, Ford has slipped to fifth place in the UK market, behind Volkswagen, BMW, [...]
The Return review: Uberto Pasolini’s take on The Odyssey April 29, 2025 Uberto Pasolini’s new drama comes to cinemas with the curious fate of being compared to a filmthat isn’t even out yet. Christopher Nolan is currently filming his next project The Odyssey, based on Homer’s epic poem. The Return is an adaptation of the final parts of that same poem, meaning scrutiny will be paid to [...]
Holy Cow: A delightfully uplifting , scrappy comedy April 29, 2025 The pursuit of prize-winning cheese is the unlikely goal for an orphaned boy in this unusual but fulfilling comedy-drama. Holy Cow stars Clément Faveau as Totone, an 18-year-old boy living in rural France whose life of drinking and partying comes to a halt when his father dies in a drink-driving accident. Alone and left to [...]