Last updated on May 27th, 2021Alan Alexander Milne, or A. A. Milne as he is known, is a household name today, thanks to a silly old humming bear and his furry friends, but he was also a successful novelist, screenwriter, humourist and playwright. Born and bred in London, Milne spent the bulk of his creative…
Art Imitating Art: Stanley Kubrick | Design Museum
Last updated on October 30th, 2019Is there anyone on the planet who hasn’t seen a Stanley Kubrick film? My Kubrick of choice, and one of my all-time favourite films, is the lesser-known Barry Lyndon, the tale of a rake’s progress where every scene is a delicious 18th century painting. To watch it is to step…
The Real Ladies of London
Last updated on April 23rd, 2023What does a real Londoness like to do in the world’s greatest city? Discover what it’s like to really live and love London: from magical walks and secret gardens, to food markets, theatre, museums, afternoon tea, local restaurants and bars…come and enjoy a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day with the Real Ladies of London!…
FILM REVIEW: Viceroy’s House
Last updated on October 22nd, 2020Gurinder Chadha is dressed up to the nines and a little breathless: she’s just arrived from an audience with HM the Queen at Buckingham Palace. She’s at the Curzon Mayfair to talk about her new film, Viceroy’s House, which has been two generations and seven years in the making. Her…
Midnight in London
Last updated on June 2nd, 2021Come with me on a flight of fancy just for a moment. Imagine that the film director Woody Allen had set his film “Midnight in Paris” in London. In which period of British history would Allen have time-travelled: what moment in time represents London as its most nostalgic? I thought…
Falling in Autumn
Last updated on November 21st, 2022As Summer prepares to retire and the long days start to wane, it’s time to banish the summer’s end blues and prepare for my favourite time of year. Russet-coloured river walks, pumpkin pie, cosy, crackling fires in my local pub, conker games, and rain, rain and more rain: roll on…
A Life in Movies
Last updated on June 2nd, 2021I wasn’t born with a silver spoon but rather into the silver screen and into a life in movies. Darryl F. Zanuck, the flamboyant 20th Century Fox movie mogul, was barking on the phone to my mother, moments after I catapulted into the world, checking in to see if she…