Review: Room
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Note: This review contains what could be considered mild spoilers Twenty four year old Joy (Brie Larson) and her son Jack (Jacob Trembley) live as hostages inside a squalid shed in Ohio, which they describe as Room. They eat, sleep and exercise all within this tiny space as captives of a man they name “Old Nick” who routinely abuses Joy. Jack (a product of abuse) is often hidden from Nick by Joy, who does her...
Review: Everybody Wants Some!!
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Moments after the title credits for Everybody Wants Some pop on the screen, it’s clear to many that College was never like this. But director Richard Linklater’s latest feature is the type of coming of age film that allows a few viewers to wallow into the fantasy that this college is what they wish it would be. Considered a spiritual successor to the hazy 70’s set cult hit Dazed and Confused (1993), Everybody Wants Some,...
Review: Green Room
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Jeremy Saulnier’s stomach churning thriller; Green Room hits you with the blunt force of a dull cleaver. Its execution is brutal, it's characters timely and its tension more than palpable. Saulnier previously delved into the mundane yet murky effects of amateur revenge in his earlier feature; Blue Ruin. Here in Green Room, he mines at the often mentioned white anxieties with a similar, creepy accuracy, compacting a measurable amount of visceral thrills into a tight...
BBC biased against Corbyn, claims ex-BBC Trust chairman
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Sir Michael Lyons the ex-chair of the BBC Trust has said: “There have been some quite extraordinary attacks on the elected leader of the Labour party.” The Labour leader has had a tough time from the a large section of the media and Lyons pondered whether BBC big-wigs had abandoned their impartiality of their coverage of Corbyn. This statement appears to back-up the arguments that corbyn supporters have complained about for some time. He said...
Tories going to court over campaign spending
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Conservative Party is being forced into the courtroom by the Electoral Commission over accusations that it broke strict spending laws. The election watchdog has asked the high court for disclosure order when the party failed to give enough details of their campaign spending. Party chiefs had not provided the details they had requested in time. The court action will fans the flames of the claims that the party chairman Andrew Feldman and others are...
Investigation into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, says Muslim Council
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Muslim Council of Britain, the largest Muslim group in UK, have called for a probe into Islamophobia in the Tory party. The Council have said that the Imam, who the PM accused of being an IS supporter, has faced threats to his life, and the claims are “smears.” The group now want an probe into anti-muslim rhetoric in the party, which would follow the investigation into claims of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Cameron...
Drink of the week: Glen Grant 12 Year Old Single Malt
Glen Grant 10 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky makes up one of my top three off-the-shelf drams (and happened to be named the best single malt in the world by whisky expert Jim Murray), so I was keen to try the three new whiskies Glen Grant are launching this month. The launch sees the introduction of the 12 Year Old, 12 Year Old Non Chill-Filtered (which will only be available in duty free and travel retailers) and 18 Year Old variants. We were...
Budget Train Service to Launch Between London and Edinburgh
A budget train service is set to launch between London and Edinburgh with stops at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth. First Group, which also operates Great Western Railway (GWR) and TransPennine Express, has won approval from the UK rail regulator to run the service with an average fare of £25 or less. The train operator says it will start operating five trains a day from 2021, which could damage the Virgin East Coast franchise which offers one way tickets from London to...
Where’s Rooney Puzzle Goes Viral
A Where's Rooney puzzle has gone viral as speculation over his future hits fever pitch. Ladbrokes dreamt up a fun puzzle days before Roy Hodgson is due to name the squad travelling to Euro 2016 in France. The bookies expect the tournament to break Euro betting records with over £500 million wagered across the industry. England are currently the 9/1 fourth favourites to lift the trophy, having been 12/1 before the friendly win over Germany. Alex Donohue, at www.ladbrokes.com, said: "The patriotic...