Captain America: Brave New World proves superhero movies need to end now February 20, 2025 Captain America: Brave New World review and star rating: ★★ Hollywood’s biggest franchise is at a turning point. In the six years and 11 movies since the all-conquering Avengers: Endgame, few entries in the franchise have felt like a genuine event. It’s partly the arrival of lesser-known new heroes, but also the sheer fatigue that [...]
Kenrex, Southwark Playhouse, review: Jack Holden’s astonishing scope February 19, 2025 Kenrex, Southwark Playhouse, review and star rating: ★★★★ Here’s the thing: there are plenty of people who technically do what Jack Holden does, but scarce few who actually do what Jack Holden does. In Cruise, Holden’s homage to the people who were hit by the AIDS crisis, and new show Kenrex, he creates the scope [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines diary: why wine drinkers always crave beer February 19, 2025 Libby’s Naked Wines diary this week: why I’m craving beer after wine, and why we travel I first met Ashwin Bhardwaj in my living room 17 years ago. I had come through in the morning to make my shreddies and found a nearly naked chap in a tiny pair of pants, doing lunges. He had [...]
The future of the Swiss Alps? A ski holiday in Andermatt February 19, 2025 In the social hierarchy of Swiss Alps ski resorts, Andermatt has long sat in the shadow of its counterparts, but thanks to a raft of foreign investment in recent years, the former garrison town’s star is on the ascendancy. For now, at least, the ski area of Andermatt-Sedrun is regarded as fairly snow sure, usually [...]
Who watches the Watches? February 19, 2025 As a newly minted Picture Editor and thus part of the management team of a then-popular left-wing national newspaper, I sat in on a discussion about why the poor ate so badly. Having only recently landed the job and as keen as mustard – and oh so naive – my feet were still planted firmly [...]
New Spectre Black Badge is the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever February 18, 2025 Rolls-Royce has unveiled a new, performance-focused Black Badge version of its electric Spectre coupe. The Black Badge arrives in response to unprecedented customer demand, as the British company prepares to invest £300 million in its Goodwood headquarters. Chris Brownridge, chief executive at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “Black Badge Spectre is one of the clearest statements [...]
When drinking wine can actually be good for you February 18, 2025 At a recent event, a gentleman humbly recounted a story to me. He had been boasting of his impressive collection of Chateauneuf du Pape to a wine merchant, but upon revealing the vintages, he was dismayed to be told that all these prized bottles would now be past their best and he should have drunk [...]
Haute Maurienne Vanoise: A mindful hike in the French Alps February 17, 2025 On my climb towards the Vallonnet glacial cave in Haute Maurienne Vanoise within the Savoie region of the French Alps, the landscape was pristine and the silence profound – it was a stillness I had never experienced before. There was no wind, no animal sounds, no people, no traffic. Nothing. The snow is abundant – [...]
Unicorn play review: Mike Bartlett as sharp as ever with Stephen Mangan throuple play February 14, 2025 Unicorn play review and star rating: ★★★★ Through plays like King Charles III and Cock, Mike Bartlett has delivered some of the freshest-feeling contemporary writing about the way we live our lives today, particularly to do with sexuality and dating. Cock with Jonathan Bailey became one of the hardest tickets to land in the West [...]
Bridget Jones director on finding ‘real heat’ between Leo Woodall and Renee Zellweger February 14, 2025 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy director Michael Morris shares “precious” memories of reuniting Hugh Grant and Renee Zellweger, those age-gap sex scenes and reflects on the scenes he wishes he didn’t have to cut Renee Zellweger was apprehensive about playing Bridget Jones again. Of course she was: you’re careful about reprising the roles that [...]