By Stephen Mayne @finalreel Has it really been 25 years since maverick Chilean Alejandro Jodorowsky last released a film? Such is his ability to burn surreal imagery permanently into my memory, it’s hard to believe he’s been absent for so long. Not that he’s been resting on his laurels of course. The intervening years since The Rainbow Thief (1990) have seen him dabbling in a wide array of cultural pursuits, from theatre to comics. It’s good to have him back...

The upcoming bank holiday means we're all thinking about our holiday plans - and a new survey has found that Londoners are less likely to stick to UK breaks than those from other parts of the nation. The research, carried out by staycation travel company Back-Roads Touring, suggests Londoners visit less UK counties than any other residents. Instead, the historical and cultural landmarks they visit are likely to be far-flung attractions, with Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, the Inca Trail in Peru, Cambodia's Angkor...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Just across the floor from the dining area of London’s Hutong, which specialises in delicious Sichuanese cooking, the restaurant’s bar offers a range of exciting cocktails available to enjoy as you gaze across London’s constantly growing skyline from the 33rd floor of The Shard. Featuring Snow Queen Vodka, Cucumber, Lychee and Chilli, we have the recipe for Hutong’s Nuwang cocktail. Why not head over to London Bridge this weekend, taste the original then attempt...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent The BBC Symphony Orchestra is to perform at the Sibelius Festival in Finland to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Unique celebrations will take place over a week from 31st August – 6th September at the 16th Sibelius festival to honour the distinguished composer’s life and work.  Visitors can enjoy six orchestral concerts directed by the renowned conductors Okko Kamu, Osmo Vänskä, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo and Leif Segerstam performed...

By  Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  The French Government's approval of the Macron Law, a bill designed to modernise France’s economy, speed up growth and deregulate many industries, has led to a resurgence of coach travel in France after years of train domination. France is expected to have in excess of 5,000,000 new coach passengers within the next year, resulting in an extra 22,000 jobs created. As a result, the travel industry will also experience the opening up of long distance coach operations across the country....

#13: The Big Three: Edinburgh, London, Margate (Fri 21st August 2015) Hello once again, dear reader! What a week it’s been – on Monday, me and “King” Rob Sedgebeer performed WiFi Wars at the Pleasance, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – a huge thank you to those of you who came along and said hi afterwards! Yesterday I was in London for the final voiceover session for my Minecraft TV series ‘Digging Deeper’ on Ginx TV - there’s...

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel It takes something a little bit out there to reveal how crushingly conventional so much of what we watch is. We all love the familiarity that comes with genre of course, and conventions often become conventions because they’re simply the best damn way of doing something, but where’s the excitement? As far as family films go, Canadian émigré Kenton Hall knows. His feature debut A Dozen Summers shows its budgetary constraints, and with such a frenetic...

Photo: davidwphotos.co.uk By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With plenty of incredible restaurants popping up all across the Capital, it’s confirmed that there’s always something delicious to eat within just distance. It would be impossible to list every single great dish available in London, but we’ve compiled a selection of our absolute favourites, featuring big budget luxuries at high-end restaurants through to cheap eats from humble Bakeries. Peas & Mint at Dabbous, W1T One of the most exciting things about the...

By Nick Joelson, Marketing Manager at Liberis Every small business owner knows it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to keep yourself afloat and ahead of the competition. According to recent research by Simply Business, there has been a 110% increase in the number of independent retailers launched in the last five years, suggesting it’s a great time for retailers to do business. However, research from The British Independent Retailers Association states there are more than 220,000 independent...