by Hannah Kane | Dec 5, 2014 | Culture
The Battle of the Five Armies, 15, 134 mins Director: Peter Jackson Stars: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellan, Cate Blanchett ✮✮☆☆☆ Like butter scraped over too much bread, Sir Peter Jackson’s patience-testing second Middle Earth trilogy comes to its...
by Hannah Kane | Jul 17, 2014 | Beauty
For Londoners seeking a weekend spa break, the credentials are usually as follows: close enough to the capital for easy access, suitably secluded to ensure a serene ambience, with more luxurious fixtures than you can shake a well-massaged limb at. Sure, there are...
by Hannah Kane | Jun 12, 2014 | Fashion
Following some truly incredible catwalks, Salford University had a lot to live up to, but the graduates kept up the pace with the day’s most thought provoking show. Certainly a divisive presentation, Iqra Rashid showcased the power of accessories in her bold...
by Hannah Kane | May 27, 2014 | Beauty
PHOENIX visits the heady halls of a Morrocan Hammam in the comfort of London town We all know the pre-holiday exfoliation drill by now. We’re forever being reminded that a dedicated all-over body scrub before jetting off not only equates to improved skin tone and...
by Hannah Kane | Apr 28, 2014 | Culture
Everyday Robots Artist: Damon Albarn Producer: Richard Russell Label: Parlophone ★★★★☆ At 46, you would have thought Damon Albarn is well due a rest. The man is forever busy, with a creative output that is as persistent as it is diverse. It is not surprising then that...
by Hannah Kane | Mar 28, 2014 | Culture
★★★★☆ In a Paris atelier in the autumn of 1957, a deft moment of improvisation by a young Yves Saint Laurent immediately transforms a model’s black dress. Christian Dior, looking on, approves of what a white sash can achieve. This is a scene from Jalil...
by Hannah Kane | Jan 13, 2014 | Culture
★★★★☆ Frontman Matty Healy takes to the stage wearing ripped jeans and an oversized t-shirt, flicking his hair and swigging a half-empty bottle of wine. He’ll later tell the crowd in a humble drawl: “This is one of the best nights of our lives”. On their third...
by Hannah Kane | Dec 5, 2013 | Culture
★★★☆☆ Henry V, Act 4, Scene 7. The King of England, engaged in the midst of a bloody battle with France, strides onto the stage with his nobles in tow, having just discovered that, against all codes of military conduct, the French troops have murdered the group of...
by Hannah Kane | Nov 20, 2013 | Culture
Joyce’s popular book wins out with substance over style There is a lot to be said for simply-written prose. As my very favourite writer, Charles Bukowski, once said, “An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple...
by Hannah Kane | Feb 15, 2013 | Fashion
In the gilded opulence of the Savoy ballroom, ex-Fashion Fringe winning duo Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman, aka Fyodor Golan, presented their AW13 collection. Entitled Belle De Jour after Luis Bunuel’s 1967 film, according to the show notes it “unravels the...
