John Wick 3 review: Keanu Reeves shines in the action franchise’s brilliant third installment May 24, 2019 The John Wick films are so far ahead of other Hollywood action movies that this third installment is the best the genre has produced in recent years, without even being the best film in the franchise. We pick up immediately after the end of Chapter 2, with Wick having been declared ‘excommunicado’ from the High [...]
Ignore the parades, China has no claim to any kind of greatness October 3, 2019 Seventy years ago this week, Chairman Mao Zedong inaugurated the People’s Republic of China after his decisive victory in the Chinese Civil War over the rival Kuomintang. With the defeated Chiang Kai-shek having fled to Taiwan, the new dictator set in motion his vision of what China should look like and aspire to. Much of [...]
Musical shares: Why Merck Mercuriadis believes the old ones are always the best October 14, 2019 Merck Mercuriadis has a party trick. If you tell the veteran music mogul-turned City slicker your favourite band, he’ll name an older band that influenced them. Like a Spotify algorithm, but in real life. Mercuriadis’s encyclopedic music knowledge is hardly surprising. Over his career he has managed artists including Morrissey, Beyonce and Elton John, and [...]
How the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was designed and the future of football grounds August 27, 2019 The third of April 2019 was a big day for Christopher Lee. After months of delays, speculation and criticism the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium officially opened its doors, with Spurs facing Crystal Palace in the Premier League. For the stadium’s project director it was the culmination of eight years of hard work – a chance for [...]
New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend February 15, 2019 New developments on the market this week Ridgeway Views, Mill Hill From £569,995 Move into one of these two and three bedroom flats in time for the summer. The latest phase of homes, called Highwood Place, went on sale this week overlooking Totteridge Valley, with views of the rolling hills from private balconies and terraces, [...]
Focus On Bermondsey: The London borough with the Shard in its back yard June 7, 2019 Seventy two households, all belonging to the Count Robert of Mortain, and collectively worth a grand total of 40 pence; this was the value of Bermondsey as recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. Things have changed somewhat since then (Bermondsey wasn’t even an official part of London at the time), but few areas have [...]
Kalifornia Kitchen review: Vegan health food in the heart of London June 25, 2019 Walking into Kalifornia Kitchen is like slipping through a Goodnight Sweetheart portal, except rather than arriving in World War Two you’ve been teleported across the Atlantic to Venice Beach, as seen through an Instagram filter. It’s as though this healthy-eating vegan diner has been surreptitiously airlifted from the West Coast to Tottenham Court Road in [...]
If you’re panicking about a spike in oil prices, look to history for a silver lining June 19, 2019 The tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman have raised fears of a sharp increase in the price of oil. These are currently being offset by worries about a slowdown in the world economy and a drop in the demand for oil. But what if the conflict escalated and oil prices really did go through [...]
HS2 Q&A: Where is the route, how much will it cost and when will it open? January 20, 2020 Today’s forecast that the cost of HS2 could soar as high as £106bn will come as no surprise to close observers of the project. The number, calculated by infrastructure consultant Michael Byng, is in line with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s prediction last year that the project will come in “north of £100bn”. But the figure [...]
Chris Grayling could be forced to take the stand as Stagecoach launches legal action over franchise snubs May 8, 2019 Beleaguered transport secretary Chris Grayling could be called to the stand to defend the government after Stagecoach formally launched legal action over its decision to disqualify it from three rail franchises. After weeks of tension, Stagecoach formally launched legal action against the Department for Transport (DfT) over its decision to disqualify the firm from the [...]