THEGAYUK

Category: Review

  • CAR REVIEW | Zoe, Renault Electric dreams? Living with the Renault Zoe

    The electric car has seen a significant rise in popularity in recent years. Once seen as the preserve of milk floats and mobility scooters, advances in battery technology have increased range, reduced charging time and made electric vehicles seem a viable option.

    The question is how do they perform in the real world? Only one way to find out….

    Renault’s Zoe is an all-electric supermini that is around the same length and width as a Clio (they even share a platform) but a bit taller. You wouldn’t call it an MPV or a crossover but you do find yourself looking over the roofs of most other cars meaning visibility is excellent. Thanks to clever packaging of the batteries, motor and other mechanical bits there’s plenty of space inside. Front seat passengers will be able to stretch out and even wear a hat while those in the back won’t be much worse off. It’s no limo but it’s certainly better than you’d expect from this size of car. Open the boot and you’ll be pleasantly surprised again; it’s huge for a supermini although the load lip is a little high and does without a plastic trim. It’s a minor thing but I’d worry about scratching the paint when loading something heavy or bulky. More of an annoyance are the pair of charging leads in bags either side of the boot.

    Other manufacturers can hide them away so why can’t Renault?
    Style wise I think Renault are onto a winner. There are a few touches such as the blue rear lights and ‘ZE’ (zero emissions) badge that suggests electric propulsion but unlike cars like the G-Wizz or Renault’s own Twizy, these aren’t overt. Instead, you get a nicely sculpted shape that hides its height well. The only angle I’m not keen on is the rear; the feature lines that flank the number plate and lead into the bumper make it look a bit jowly. Inside is light, airy and modern with visually appealing plastics. Sure they’re hard to the touch but then you have to remember the cheapest Zoe is less than £14,000 including a £5,000 government grant. Even the top of the range model barely breaches £20,000. You’d spend an awful lot more on an electric Golf which would be a lot more austere too. At that price, you do need to lease a battery pack at between £70 and £113 a month. If you want to buy the battery outright then add £4500 to the base price.

    Renault’s 7” ‘R-Link’ infotainment system works well being easy to navigate, easy to pair a phone to via Bluetooth and lacking any sort of lag other systems sometimes suffer from. Sat-nav is an option but a CD player is not. For me, this isn’t really a problem as streaming music is simple plus you can always use the USB or aux port conveniently placed above a cubbyhole perfect for your media device. Conventional dials have been replaced by another TFT screen which I found clear and easy to use. There’s even a gauge to show you how much juice you’re using and when you’re charging the batteries whilst slowing down. This becomes a very useful tool when you’re looking to maximise the car’s range.

    Speaking of range, Renault suggests that on average you’ll need to charge up every 80 miles. In practice, this distance is totally achievable as long as you change your driving style to suit electric power. Gentle acceleration and deceleration is vital as is maintaining your speed where possible. While this may sound like hassle, the reality is that it’s actually pretty relaxing. You soon get used to barely touching the brake pedal, instead relying on the car’s regenerative brakes that harvest energy as you start coasting. What may grate is that air-con and heating take a chunk out of the range; not an issue on short commutes but potentially a worry on longer journeys. Still, chargers are popping up all the time and the most powerful can squeeze 80% of a full charge into the Zoe in 30 minutes.

    So what’s it like to drive? Being electric there’s only one forward gear plus reverse with no clutch at all. I suppose you could compare it to an automatic (there’s only a throttle and brake pedal) but with totally seamless acceleration. Performance below 40mph is actually pretty brisk, feeling much quicker than the numbers suggest. Over 40 it does struggle a little as the torque drops off significantly. 70mph is achievable but it drains the battery very very quickly; it’s better to stick to 60 or below and relax. The ride is fairly comfortable although the stiff sidewalls of the low profile economy tyres mean potholes and expansion joints can thump through the suspension into the cabin. There is a fair amount of body roll if you push it hard around a corner but it never feels unstable thanks to the low mounted batteries. You’d never call it fun or involving but it is very competent and not at all unpleasant, perfect for commuting in other words.

    With that in mind, it’s commuting that I did plenty of in my week with the car. Renault will supply all Zoes with a fast charger as plugging it into a normal electric socket gives a charging time of 16 hours. Thankfully I had access to a fast charger which ensured the car was always 100% charged at the end of the working day.

    In total, I travelled nearly 400 miles and came away very impressed. Only once did I suffer from any ‘range anxiety’ but even then I was able to get to a charger which topped up the battery enough to get me home after less than 45 minutes.

    Make no mistake, the Zoe won’t be for everyone. If you need to go more than 80 miles in a day and/or spend a lot of time on motorways then you’re better off sticking to a diesel. For the rest of us – a sizable majority – then the Zoe does make sense. It’s quiet, refined, easy to drive and very spacious while the styling is significantly nicer than the vast number of ‘eco’ cars. If I were in the market for a new supermini, the Zoe would be a serious contender.

    PROS

    Spacious

    Easy to drive

    Fast charging times
    Cons

    CONS

    Range could still be better

    Not much fun

    Charging cable storage could be better

  • TV REVIEW | The Royals

    ★★★★ | The Royals

    When I first heard of this riotous royal romp, I thought no, cant be, can it? A soap opera based on our royal family, with good old Brit Liz Hurley as Queenie? But, yes, it can be and it is.

    And actually it isn’t half bad – if you suspend disbelief for a while. Like all good/bad programmes, it’s the idea that can turn you off but once you start watching…it goes and gets you hooked!

    This future camp classic has Elizabeth Hurley (Bedazzledand Gossip Girl via that safety pin dress) as posh tottie Helena, not born to the throne but also unlikely to give it up any time soon either. We have William Moseley (Chronicles of Narnia and Goodbye Mister Chips) as Prince Liam, Alexandra Park (Home and Away) as wild child Princess Eleanor and finally Vincent Reagan as King Simon (300 and Snow White and the Huntsman). This is a good cast and a well acted piece of TV.

    This first series introduces us to these characters and the background – old King Simon and his doubts about the future of the monarchy, Queen Helena as a model mother, well a model-wannabe judging by that sashay, Prince Liam as the spare to the heir Prince Robert and Princess Eleanor as the favourite of the London party scene – well, any party scene and a stranger to underwear apparently.

     

    This normal, happy family life is throw into turmoil when the heir Prince Robert (we never meet him) dies tragically and suddenly, Liam is being groomed for the throne – something he hadn’t really planned on – as he did his best party and bed hopping impression of a certain other spare we all know and love.

    Filmed at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Churchill, for the E! channel, it was written by an ensemble of good writers, mainly Marck Schwahn who wrote for One Tree Hill – and it shows. This is pure gloss, good music, party scenes aplenty and the odd nod to actual Royal protocol.Written with its tongue firmly in its cheek, this show will be Martmite to most – my BF hated it but I stuck with it and actually found myself rooting for Liam and his love life, hoping Eleanor never found her knickers and that Simon abdicated and found himself a nice farm somewhere!

    Give it a go – blame me if you hate it!BUY IT NOW from Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW | Tab Hunter Confidential

    ★★★★★ | Tab Hunter Confidential

    Tab Hunter was and still is at the age of 83-years old a stunningly handsome man.

    When he was a teen idol in the 1950s he was the ultimate clean-cut, all-American boy and seemingly butter would not melt in his mouth. He was Warner Brothers Studio’s biggest box office movie star for at least three years of his tenure there. Surprisingly, we learn from this documentary, that Tab’s sexuality didn’t play a part in the ending of his Hollywood career. It was the actor’s own desire to buy himself out of his studio contract. Even though he was a major star, Hunter was extremely unhappy with the lightweight fluffy movies that he was always having to make.

    Tab Hunter Confidential is based on the memoir that Hunter penned with film historian Eddie Muller in 2005. It is a lively account of how this handsome matinee idol, with a rigid set of principles, coped with his dramatic professional and personal life. His sexuality, although hidden from the public in the early days, was no deterrent for studio mogul Jack Warner who never raised the subject. He was simply happy that Hunter was such a moneymaker for him. When on one occasion Hunter’s privacy was sacrificed to save Rock Hudson from being exposed, Warner defended him with a blunt, “Today’s headlines are tomorrow’s toilet paper.”

    With his career fading, Hunter resorted to dinner theatre and whatever work he could get to scrape by until his career got a second wind in the 1980s when he co-starred in Polyester with Divine.

    The most interesting part of the story is Hunter’s romances ranging from ice skater Ronnie Robertson to actor Tony Perkins, the latter who managed to break his heart and steal a role that he had coveted. In an era when homosexuality was not only illegal but could also destroy lives, Hunter resisted taking the well-worn path of other closeted gay men in the public eye who had marriages of convenience. True, he very publicly ‘dated’ many starlets and took part in many photo spreads in fanzines with them, but he resisted the pressure to opt for the easy way out by getting wed.

    Hunter a very devout Catholic explains his dilemma at the time: “If you were with a man you would be sinning, and if you were with a woman you would be lying.”

    He did, as Debbie Reynolds confirmed, make the right choice and he eventually was able to come to terms with his sexuality by accepting the Church’s teaching on love and self-acceptance.

    Some 30 years ago, Hunter aged 53 met a 23-year-old man called Allan Glazer who became his partner, and now after three decades together Glazer is a producer of this documentary which may be a reason why there is little of him in this movie. Since Hunter’s second movie with Divine in 1985 Lust In The Dust, he has settled down to a life away from the spotlight on his ranch with Glazer raising horses.

    Emmy Award winner Jeffrey Schwarz directs the movie, and this is his fourth documentary of a gay icon (Vito, Jack Wrangler and Divine). Schwarz shows a genuine affection for his subjects and the portraits he paints are very insightful and totally riveting. He reintroduces this disarmingly charming man to those of us who have memories of Hunter growing up, and present him to a new generation, who will see him as a role model that they can look up too.

     

    The Tab Hunter DVD is available to buy

  • RESTAURANT REVIEW | Metropolitan, Moreish Morsels At M Restaurant

    Hanging out with Hugos, Alistairs and Tarquins in the confines of the trader’s square mile doesn’t grab one immediately when choosing a venue for supper.

    (more…)

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Camelot, The Shining City

    ★★★ | Camelot, The Shining City

    Sheffield Theatres join forces with the innovative Slung Low Theatre Company to present an intriguing and immersive theatrical experience. Whilst this is a show which takes inspiration from the legend of King Arthur and which borrows both characters and plot points, this is by no means a straight retelling, but instead sets the action in a dysfunctional, near-future Sheffield, where totalitarian rule by a military dictatorship sparks revolution, rebirth and riot.

    Utilising a cast of 150 people, made up of a mixture of professional actors and members of the Sheffield People’s Theatre, this is theatre on a big scale. Starting on the stage of the Crucible Theatre itself, the action, cast and audience subsequently spill out into the summer evening in Tudor Square outside the theatre itself; with the action then moving to the Peace Gardens in the town centre for the final act.

    Soldiers patrol the crowds, riot police with spotlights line the roofs of the neighbouring buildings, rioters mingle with the audience members, military jeeps sweep up the square, a taxi is smashed during a riot and pyrotechnics light up the twilight of the evening as the show culminates. This is not just your run of the mill street theatre; it is street theatre on an impressive and grand scale.

    Where this show is a real success is that it quite literally places you; as an audience member; right in the middle of the action, with the play taking place all around you. Each audience member is given a headset with a radio receiver, which allows you not only to hear every word spoken by the cast, but also allows for interior monologues of the characters to be heard, for atmospheric music and sound effects to consume you and to effectively isolate you from the “real world” making you feel even more a part of what is being portrayed in front of you.

    Whilst the actual story itself was not particularly strong and the performances were never more than functional, there was some clever writing involved. Key plot points were written into the story to signify the change of performance venue, and even the transporting of the audience was part of the play itself, not only flowing with the story, but including you being surrounded by the cast still in character. There were a number of local references which further assisted in blurring the lines of the real world and world on stage; and the presentation and grandiose nature of the whole thing was tremendously impressive.

    As someone who is fortunate enough to frequent the theatre regularly, this was not only very well and smartly staged, but was a wholly different and highly enjoyable theatrical experience unlike any other I have attended. For those looking for a very unique evening of theatre, look no further.

    Camelot – The Shining City is currently playing at Sheffield Theatres until 18th July 2015. For details and tickets, visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call the box office on 0114 249 6000

  • FILM REVIEW | Elephant Song

    ★★★★ | Elephant Song

    At only 26 years old, French-Canadian Xavier Dolan already has five films under his directorial belt, all of which have been well received and critically acclaimed. In addition, he’s acted in 12 films, including the just released Elephant Song.

    In 2009, Dolan directed, produced, starred and wrote J’ai Tué Ma Mére (I Killed My Mother), a semi-autobiographical story about him as a young gay man at odds with his mother, and wrote the script when he was at the tender age of 17. It won 3 awards at the Cannes Film Festival. The next year he wrote, directed, produced and starred (again) in Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats), a story about three close friends who are involved in a love triangle. In 2012 Dolan continued his string of emotional and heartfelt films by writing and directing Laurence Anyways. At 168 minutes, it was an ambitious project for the young director to do, it was about the struggle of a straight man who, over the course of ten years, transitions from male to female, and how it affects the relationship with his lover (with amazing performances by Melvil Poupajd and Suzanne Clément). Laurence Anyways won many awards, including two Cannes Film Festival Awards (the Queer Palm Award and Best Actress for Clément). Lawrence Anyways was also nominated for ten Canadian Screen Awards (winning two), and more importantly, at the Toronto International Film Festival, it won Best Canadian Feature film. Not bad for a local boy.

    2013 is when Dolan wore multiple hats in a film. In Tom á la Ferme (Tom at the Farm), Dolan, who wrote, produced, directed and starred, plays Tom, a young man who works in an advertising agency and travels to the Canadian countryside for the funeral of his 25-year-old boyfriend. The problem is that the grieving mother did not know that her son was gay, so she accepts Tom as his friend in the hopes that he can tell her all about her dead son’s life. Meanwhile, the deceased’s brother, 30-year-old Francis (an amazing Pierre-Yves Cardinal), knew that his brother gay but could never really accept it. Conflict, anguish, thought provoking moments, anger, love, and acceptance follow. More acclaim followed Dolan when Mommy was released in 2015. It stars French Canadian actress Anne Dorval who is a widowed mother overwhelmed by her teenage son (Antoine Olivier Pilon – a relevation) and his attention deficit disorder. Dolan wrote, produced and directed Mommy, and it won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and won nine Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture.

    In the newly released Elephant Song, Dolan, who co-stars along with Bruce Greenwood and Catherine Keneer, plays Michael, a psychologically unwell young man in a mental institution who may or may not have had something to do with the disappearance of his psychiatrist. So it’s up to Greenwood’s Dr. Greene to interview Michael to try to get to the bottom of his colleague’s disappearance. During the interrogation, Michael plays mind games with Dr. Greene, alluding to the fact that he knows where his psychiatrist is but is not quite yet ready to tell. Michael is clearly a very disturbed young man, his very famous opera singer mother all but ignored him, and the one time he spent with his father was when he took him elephant hunting, with the boy Michael crying over his father’s killing of an elephant. And Michael alludes to a sexual relationship that he is having with his psychiatrist, so it’s up to Dr. Greene to take what Michael is saying with a grain of salt. Even the head nurse, Susan Peterson (Keneer), warns Dr. Greene to keep his distance from Michael. It’s a film that at its centrepiece is Dolan, who is perfect as Michael, very good looking yet very mischevious, you don’t know whether you want to hug him or to run away from him. And the film revisits the themes of homosexuality and the lack of acceptance so common in Dolan’s films.

    What’s next for Dolan besides conquering the world? He just finished shooting ‘It’s Only the End of the World,’ about a young man who returns home after 12 years to announce his impending death to his family. It stars Marion Cotillard and Vincent Cassel. Dolan will also be shooting his first film in the United States, to be titled The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, in 2016. It’s a fictional story about an actor who is famous for playing a Marvel-style superhero whose life and career are turned upside-down when his private correspondence with an 11-year-old fan is exposed and made to look indecent by a villainous gossip columnist. This one stars Hollywood heavyweights Kit Harrington, Jessica Chastain, and Susan Sarandon. If his previous films are anything to go by, these new films (and his future films) will be eagerly anticipated and will be must sees.

  • FILM REVIEW | Boys In Brazil

    ★ | Boys In Brazil

    This painfully unfunny dramedy starts and ends with a group of four closeted gay friends at São Paulo’s Gay Parade, one of the largest in the world. As the Parade ends one of them is gay-bashed and after they beat the thugs off, the four make a pact that by the time of next year’s Parade they will all finally come out of the closet.

    Outrageously camp teenager Mauro has aspirations to be a Drag queen, something his devout evangelical parents are quick to put a stop too once they catch him midstream trying out his lip-synching routine. Their reaction is to drag around their local priest to exorcise the devil out of their son. Mauro’s rather shy best friend Rodrigo just needs a push to hook up with another handsome classmate, and telling his parents that he now has a boyfriend is rather a non-event.

    Mauro’s gay uncle Vicente who was also part of the group is a high-flying businessman who panics when his boss is in town from Paris and insists on having dinner with Vicente and his wife. Vicente’s best girlfriend is dragged into be his beard, but he needn’t have bothered as the boss turns out to be gay too. Who Vicente would have preferred to be dining with is Roger the rather hunky man he helped rescue from the gay bashing incident. Roger, however, is married and about to be a father a second time, and just cannot find the time to reach his part of the pact and come out to his wife. It’s not helped by the fact that his mother-in-law (played by a real-life drag queen!) practically lives with them.

    Then there is the angry and rather annoying self-righteous lesbian blogger who sits in judgement of them all and wants to publicly ‘out’ both Roger and Mauro against their wishes.

    The cliché driven very lame plot is packed full of old-fashioned stereotypes that seem so out of place in contemporary gay cinema. Even the coming-out aspect of the stories are handled so clumsily, that they are difficult to empathise with.

    I saw this one so you wouldn’t have too!

  • TECH REVIEW | Minirig Bluetooth Speaker

    I love it when you get a new piece of tech, fresh out of the box and it feels so intuitive that you just plug and play! That’s how it is with this new speaker from Minirigs.

    It is beautiful to look at, all curves and matte colour. Mine for review was a deep red, with black accents and my favourite part – nothing superfluous in terms of buttons and flashing lights.

    This isn’t a piece of kit for the kids – but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have one, or two…

    It is a boutique British brand, built in Bristol – ok, am out of B words now. It’s not as small as some speakers out there but it’s packed with features, and, as mentioned above, it has some serious sleek looks and an eye-catching array of colours (7 in total) which means it’s suitable for everyone’s decor. It’s anodised aluminium shell has a cool feel, and contrasting textured polycarbonate adds an accent that doesn’t jar.

    It’s not just the looks that win you round though – this is a speaker that delivers. No tinny sound here – you get full-bodied bass, and a volume to wake the neighbours, home or away…

    It also comes with a proven 50 hours of battery life – that’s 50, a 5 and a 0. Just charge up the speaker, and you’re off and running to whatever festival you’re heading to this summer – and not only does it play from your smartphone but it has a charging capability too. It can charge your phone via its unique USB in and out cable. You may need to check the connectivity heads but, hey, that’s why we have Maplins, right?

    The guys and gals at Minirigs have mastered a way of delivering Bluetooth connectivity, without draining the battery faster than me with a wine bottle. This means it holds its charge if not used, and provides an average of 30 hours playing time per charge.

    Also, it has True Wireless Stereo (TWS) which means you can connect 2 units for stereo sound or double the volume. I used the connecting cable when test driving this little thing, and it worked a treat – perfect for getting that deep down sound you need when watching Game of Thrones on your iPad.

    At the moment, there is an app, but it’s Android only, with an iOS due shortly, so I wasn’t able to test this functionality but am assured that the inbuilt media controls allow you to stream Soundcloud, YouTube, etc and also manage your battery life – all whilst tweeting and posting and snap chatting!

    Right, now down to the good, bad and ugly:

    Good:
    Love the colours
    That body with no flaws
    Ease of use
    That sound
    The battery life

    Bad:
    No iOS app yet? Come on guys!

    Ugly:
    Nothing!
    Not a blinking thing…

    Price: Single speakers: £139, 2 speakers and a subwoofer: £390 (special offer only from Minirigs site) and are available here:

    http://www.minirigs.co.uk

    I’m not one for loud music anymore – too long in the tooth, but I do like my music without distortion and a lot of the speakers on the market these days are cheap for that very reason. This doesn’t distort, and is so well built it could be the only one you need for some time to come – with the option to add when you feel the need to release your inner Flashdance or Footloose (told you I was old!).

    I give it 5 huge stars as I see this having longevity – it isn’t a trend or a flash in the pan idea but a well thought out piece of kit.

    Our Rating: ★★★★★

    TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
    MINIRIG BLUETOOTH
    Dimensions : 101.62mm x 73mm
    Net Weight : 435g
    Frequency Response : 75 – 20kHz
    Battery Life : 50 Hours (Low Volume)
    : 30 Hours (Average Use)
    : 10 Hours (Maximum Volume)
    Input Power : USB (5V DC @ 500mA)
    Output Power : USB (5V DC @ 500mA)
    Bluetooth : 4.0 With APTX and Wireless Stereo
    Bluetooth Range : 10-50 Metres Line-Of-Sight
    Charging Time : 6-8 Hours
    Audio Input / Output : 2 x 3.5mm Mini Jack Socket
    Construction : Anodised Aluminium And Polycarbonate
    IP Rating : IPX4 – Air Tight Enclosure With Waterproof Cone
    Maximum Peak Output : >100DB
    Colours Available : Silver / Black / Red / Blue / Purple / Gold / Green

  • FILM REVIEW | The Loft

    The storyline is fairly straightforward, five seemingly respectable professional men conspire to share a secret apartment. A safe space in which to conduct their illicit affairs and indulge in their deepest, darkest fantasies, safe from the prying eyes of their wives.

    That is until one of them, Luke, arrives to find a dead body, an unknown woman, a blonde, hand-cuffed to the bed they have all used at some point.

    Then their fantasy turns into a nightmare, as they realise there are only 5 keys to the apartment and it isn’t possible to duplicate the keys… so one of the 5 must be the murderer?

    Or so you think…

    The film is quite inventive in terms of use of flashbacks, the way the five are questioned by the detectives investigating the crime, the possibility of the wives being involved? The list of potential suspects grows, as the victim is revealed. It has a feel of classic Hitchcock about it as we appear to suspect everyone, no-one is safe.

    With a stellar cast, including James Marsden (Hairspray, amongst many others), Keith Urban (Bones in the Star Trek reboot), Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) and Matthias Schoenaerts (from the original version of Loft, and also Rust & Bone, A Little Chaos and Far from the Madding Crowd) who all give performances that waver between making you feel revulsion for them and their predicament and pity for the game they are all involved in.

    Erik Van Looy remakes his 2008 Belgian classic and succeeds with playing with you – you think you know where it’s going, but you’re wrong!

    One for a DVD and pizza night…

    A massive 4 stars

  • FILM REVIEW | Magic Mike XXL

    The Kings of Tampa are back! The men, strippers from the 2012 film Magic Mike, return with a sequel – Magic Mike XXL – and they are back with a bang!

    Magic Mike XXL reunites Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer and the rest of the cast from the hit film about male strippers and picks up the story three years later after Mike has left the world of stripping. He’s got his own furniture business but it’s not doing too well. So when the former Kings of Tampa look him up on the way to a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, Mike (Tatum) can’t resist the pull to go back to stripping, and to reunite with his buddies. So what takes place is a male stripper road movie with scenes that allow all of the men to display their fine physical goods.

    And these scenes are hot. In one, reminiscent of Jennifer Beal’s dance scene in the film Flashdance, with sparks flying all around, Mike does the same in his garage, a freestyle solo that proves he’s still got it. Once on the road, we are treated to the men’s misadventures, to be voyeurs in their exhibitionism, with a front row seat. First stop, a gay bar in Jacksonville where the drag queen emcee asks members of the audience if they want to participate in an amateur strip contest. Of course our men enter and wow the crowd. After, they find themselves at a beach party, where Mike has an encounter with Zoe (Amber Heard), who takes his picture while he is urinating.

    Big Dick (Manganiello) get his big showy number when he performs, on the spot, for a shocked but very lucky female gas station attendant. You’ll never look at a bag of Cheetos the same way again.

    A stop at private club Domina, Mike’s pre-Tampa stomping ground, transforms the movie into a breathtaking and intensely sexual film. You see, Domina’s female customers are treated to in-your-face male strip shows, and these strip shows are like ones you’ve never ever seen before on film. It’s here that Mike re-encounters Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith) the proprietress, and a woman from his past.
    It you’re out of breath at this point (trust me, you will be) there’s lots more. The men wind up at the home of Nancy (Andie MacDowell), a recently divorced sexy and flirtatious woman in her early 50s, and the rapport between Nancy and her female friends and the men is very palpable, very real, you can cut the sexual tension between the men and the women with a knife.
    It’s at the Myrtle Beach stripper convention where the film comes to a climax. Each man gets to perform his own unique dance, for a room full of ladies, and perform they do. Tatum strips all the way down to a shiny jockstrap, while the other men do their own special routines, one which includes chocolate sauce and whipped cream, and another one involves a sling. Various ladies from the audience are lucky enough to be chosen as part of the act. And Tatum chooses Zoe to be in his act, performing on her on stage in every position imaginable.
    Directed by the same man who directed the campy Liberace film “Behind the Candelabra,” Gregory Jacobs brings a stylised nuance to Magic Mike XXL, where the long dance scenes take a life of their own. And the male stars of this film really put themselves out there, hell, they’ve all got the bodies, so why not? And for the female actresses who were chosen to be performed on in various scenes of this film, we can assume they were not just acting, but were also extremely enjoying themselves. So will you.

  • THEATRE REVIEW: wonder.land, Manchester International Festival

    ★★★★ | wonder.land, Manchester International Festival

    Now in its tenth year, the Manchester International Festival is a biannual showcase for newly commissioned work by leading artists from all around the world.

    One of 2015’s biggest shows is wonder.land, a new musical featuring music by Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz fame.

    wonder.land, a new take on the classic story of Alice In Wonderland, tells the story of Aly. Aly is a lonely teenage girl, recently moved to a new area after the bitter split of her parents. Bullied at school and feeling neglected by her mother due to her baby brother, one day she stumbles across wonder.land, a website promising escape into a virtual world. Creating an avatar called Alice, in this world, Ali makes new friends and some refuge from her loneliness until the day her headmistress, Ms. Manxome confiscates her mobile phone and she is denied access to the game. Before long, Aly finds herself fighting for her existence in the game after her identity is stolen and her virtual friends turn against her.

    The story of Alice in Wonderland has long been one of the most loved and iconic of children’s books. This version, with themes of online gambling addiction, bullying and fractured families is a fiercely contemporary adaption. Elements of the Lewis Caroll tale remain but with a modern twist. For example, the Mad Hatter becomes Matt Hatton, Aly’s recovering gaming addict dad with a history of mental illness.

    If this sounds all a bit worthy then luckily wonder.land has enough sly wit and playfulness to prevent it feel like a preachy night at the theatre. The innovative design, mixing 3 dimensional back projection with moveable sets creating the two different worlds of the show also added a huge amount of visual excitement.

    wonder.land is not without flaws. The music, a combination of traditional musical theatre orchestration and electronica is pleasant if not especially memorable and the big climatic showdown between Ali and the villainous Ms Manxome feels rather rushed. This is not to deny however that this is a bold, exciting and original piece of work.

    In a strong ensemble cast, it was Anna Francolini who was the performance of the evening as Ms Manxome, this version’s Red Queen. Ms Manxome is an old fashioned big barnstormer of a role that it’s very easy to see musical theatre actresses of a certain age fighting to play. Francolini attacks the part with swagger and enormous charisma.

    Special mention must also go to Rosalie Craig in the lead role of Ali, who brings huge quantities of vulnerability to her performance matched by a strong singing voice. Her complicated relationships with her parents and budding friendship with Luke, himself a target for homophobic bullying, are affecting and powerfully portrayed.

    For all it’s modern trappings, at its heart wonder.land is a story about family and the quest for self-esteem. Lewis Carroll purists may very well hate it but plenty other will relate to its warmth, wit and the timeless themes under the hi-tech surface.

    wonderland
    Palace Theatre, Manchester
    2nd to 12th July 2015