Hotel Review: The Cary Arms & Spa in Torquay is a highlight of the Devon coastline June 10, 2019 Whatever they paid the marketing wizard who rebranded Torbay as the ‘English Riviera’ – where the Cary Arms & Spa resides – it wasn’t nearly enough. The name evokes images of sun-beaten beaches lined with palm trees swaying in the hot afternoon sun. Of ice creams melting down sticky hands, thick paperbacks with broken spines [...]
Seven of the best mocktails: Keep your January dry with this selection of the best non-alcoholic cocktails in London January 15, 2019 1. Summer Cooler Margot, Covent Garden, £9.50 Pretend it’s the middle of July with this fresh orange juice and ginger ale punch, picked up with a splash of lime and garnished with a selection of berries. 2. Afternoon Reviver American Bar, Strand, £12 A fruity and coffee-based pick me up, this does exactly what it [...]
A Very Very Very Dark Matter review: Martin McDonagh’s twisted Han Christian Andersen biography is a weird blunder October 26, 2018 There’s lots to love about Martin McDonagh, author of such universally acclaimed works as In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, The Pillowman, and lately the Oscar-nominated Three Billboards. His newest play, A Very Very Very Dark Matter, has all the hallmarks of his weirder writing. It’s a twisted, violent and deeply ironic reimagining of the life of [...]
Sony Xperia XZ3 review: The new flagship’s 6-inch QHD OLED display is spectacular to behold October 26, 2018 Think of Sony and you think of three things. The iconic “bwoarrrr” sound that PlayStations used to make when you switched them on, that weird little robot dog that would die if you didn’t feed it a constant supply of batteries, and the best televisions in the world. That it’s taken Sony this long to [...]
Wise Children at the Old Vic review: Emma Rice’s latest show is a celebration of all things theatre October 19, 2018 Emma Rice has named her new theatre company after its very first production, which is ballsy, a bit like getting your partner’s name tattooed across your chest, or calling your child Susan B Successful. Had her fever dream adaptation of Angela Carter’s last novel been a resounding flop, the name Wise Children would haunt Emma [...]
Pixel 3 review: Google’s flagship returns with an improved camera, better software, and the notch to end all notches October 17, 2018 In the 1995 film Casper, there existed a machine that could give ghosts corporeal form, turning them from translucent, intangible spectres into real, physical beings. In much the same way, Google’s range of Pixel phones gives the company’s far-reaching software a hard, phone-shaped body in which to exist. To put it in even more 90s [...]
What wicked rugs we weave: Anni Albers at the Tate Modern is a retrospective of modernism’s forgotten pioneer October 11, 2018 Born in Berlin in 1899, Anni Albers was a pioneer of the textile art movement. A weaver, designer, writer and printmaker, she trained at the Bauhaus, where she explored the possibilities of bringing weaving into the modernist project. She later became a teacher at the legendary Black Mountain College, where her work sought to redefine [...]
First Man review: A thrilling and awe-inspiring Armstrong biopic October 11, 2018 When it was first screened, Damien Chazelle’s movie about that time we went to the moon drew criticism from a particularly moronic corner of society. Ryan Gosling stated his educated belief that Neil Armstrong never considered himself to be an American hero. Coupled with the director’s decision not to include a scene in which the [...]
Astro Bot Rescue Mission review: a slice of Nintendo-grade genius that celebrates the PSVR’s abilities October 10, 2018 There’s a moment shortly after you begin playing Astro Bot when the character you’re controlling runs behind a wall and out of view. You expect the camera to follow after him, but it doesn’t, until you remember that you are the camera, and you must physically lean forward in your seat to peer around the corner and [...]
Firewall Zero Hour is a tactical multiplayer shooter with depth. It proves the genre can work in virtual reality October 10, 2018 I’ve got a chest infection. My lungs are all wrong. If I were a translucent man from a cough syrup commercial, my insides would be flashing red while some hovering labels point at all of the inside parts of me that are revolting. Which is all to say that I’ve been coughing a whole lot [...]
