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Dealer's Choice at the Donmar Warehouse review: savagely comic study of blokes playing poker

Dealer's Choice at the Donmar Warehouse review: savagely comic study of blokes playing poker

Dealer's Choice seemed to come out of nowhere in 1995. Marber was a former standup best known as a writer and performer on news spoofs On the Hour and The Day Today: suddenly, he had a play on at the National Theatre. The script showcased the sharp observation he's since honed as a playwright, screenwriter and director. It also drew on his experience of gambling while at Oxford.
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TALK OF THE TOWN: No dire digs for student Emma Watson as she buys herself a mansion (complete with a Snoopy flag)
TALK OF THE TOWN: No dire digs for student Emma Watson as she buys herself a mansion (complete with a Snoopy flag)

Daily Mail​

time17 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

TALK OF THE TOWN: No dire digs for student Emma Watson as she buys herself a mansion (complete with a Snoopy flag)

TALK OF THE TOWN: No dire digs for student Emma Watson as she buys herself a mansion (complete with a Snoopy flag) Emma Watson may have swapped acting for studying at Oxford University – but her palatial new home screams far more Hollywood star than grungy student. I hear that Emma, below, who rose to fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, has splashed out on a multi-million pound house in the affluent Oxford enclave of Jericho. Emma, 35, who is reading for a DPhil – Oxford's version of a PhD – has added a touch of character to her new abode, hanging a Snoopy flag, right, outside the nine-bedroomed mansion. I imagine Emma, who recently broke up with fellow Oxford student Kieran Brown, will enjoy hosting raucous parties at the property, especially as I hear she has installed a sauna and Jacuzzi. She was spotted last month on a date with a mystery man beside the river Isis at Port Meadow, Oxford, where they enjoyed a Bridesheadian pastime – al fresco painting. Last year she split from Brandon Green, son of former British Home Stores tycoon Sir Philip Green, following an 18-month romance. Emma, who starred in the film Little Women in 2019, has been at Oxford for two years, after she decided to take a hiatus from her acting career to do a master's degree in creative writing at Lady Margaret Hall. The former United Nations ambassador made headlines recently when she was banned from driving for six months for speeding in Banbury Road, Oxford. Emma Watson, who starred in the film Little Women in 2019, has been at Oxford for two years, after she decided to take a hiatus from her acting career to do a master¿s degree in creative writing at Lady Margaret Hal Emma, 35, who is reading for a DPhil ¿ Oxford¿s version of a PhD ¿ has added a touch of character to her new abode The Harry Potter star has hung a Snoopy flag (pictured) outside the nine-bedroomed mansion. She was fined £650, reduced because of her guilty plea, and told to pay court costs of £120 and a £264 surcharge. While she may not be able to get behind the wheel, Emma is partial to rowing down the Isis. As I revealed in June, she coxed for a New College crew in Oxford's Summer Eights rowing regatta. To her dismay though, Emma and her team finished last. Imagine what swotty perfectionist Hermione Granger would say! Keira's man is now the bigger star... Keira Knightley may be one of our most-loved stars but she has competition when it comes to bagging big-screen roles – her musician husband James Righton. Over the past two years, James has been credited as a composer on seven TV or film projects, while Keira, 40, has acted in four over the same period. James Righton and Keira Knightley attend ERDEM & Gay's The Word Pride Cocktail on July 3, 2025 in London It seems that James, 41, who also put together the musicians for the Abba Voyage show, is far too busy to entertain the idea of a reunion with his old band, Klaxons. What a relief for Keira, who won't lose her husband's help at home with their two girls for a life on the road! Wills and Kate are tickled pink I hear that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been very enthusiastic about a certain brand of rosé lately – and no, it's not Meghan's As Ever. William reportedly found a new £20 bottle called Apres so quaffable he wrote to its founder Toby Irons to say how much he and Kate had enjoyed the Provencal wine. Toby, who launched the brand last year, told me: 'I thought this was amazing.' Meanwhile, over in Montecito, Meghan has announced a restock of her own As Ever rosé... coincidence, or yet another corking piece of royal rivalry? The Prince and Princess of Wales share a joke during a tour of an artisan market on April 29 in Tobermory, Scotland Cheers to Rory Guinness! On the subject of booze, cheers to Rory Guinness, part of the brewing dynasty, who celebrated his birthday last week in un-aristocratic fashion by taking over the Paddington Railway Working Men's Club in Notting Hill. Usually the haunt of train drivers, the club was swarming with high-society types for the night, including Lady Martha Sitwell. But the most delicious detail? The posh lot were merrily guzzling pints of Guinness for £4 – about half the price revellers often pay for the stout in the capital. Who'll flee the Cotswolds next? Has the Cotswolds lost its cool? Donna Air seems to think so. The TV star, right, has just put her country retreat there on the market for £3million. Perhaps Donna, who has a daughter with her ex, conservationist Damian Aspinall, has had enough of the celeb enclave. Donna Air has just put her country Cotswold retreat there on the market for £3million And who could blame her, after it emerged that US Vice President J.D. Vance is planning a holiday in the area? Who'll flee next? Let it be, Sir Paul McCartney Sir Paul McCartney just can't let it be when it comes to the impending Beatles biopic where he's being played by Paul Mescal. I'm told the 83-year-old legend has been popping by the set, and was spotted on Wednesday deep in conversation with crew members and even the costume department. Rumour has it Macca's taking a more hands-on approach this time round, perhaps still smarting from earlier Beatles films such as Nowhere Boy. The star didn't like that Thomas Brodie-Sangster, playing him, was shorter than Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who played John Lennon – when in real life they were the same height. This time, he seems keen to ensure every last detail comes together, right now... SPOTTED

I have to warn you after watching 'heart-stabbing' Netflix film My Oxford Year
I have to warn you after watching 'heart-stabbing' Netflix film My Oxford Year

Metro

timea day ago

  • Metro

I have to warn you after watching 'heart-stabbing' Netflix film My Oxford Year

Netflix has just released a new film that has fan up in arms about its ending, questioning its classification as a rom-com – and I'm afraid to say, is also just a bit crap. Fans have swarmed social media to reveal they are 'speechless', 'devastated' and generally crying their eyes out over the movie, while others have taken it to task for being 'so boring' and leaving them 'feeling nothing' for any other characters. And I wholeheartedly agree. Not only does My Oxford Year take a very long time to introduce any stakes, but before we get there it's a painful watch for British fans not particularly interested in the film's tourist porn shots of the titular city and university. And while they do at least cast English actors in English parts (Corey Mylchreest, Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack), some of the schmaltz could not more obviously point to American involvement – we just don't mix well with unnecessarily twinkling and dramatic music underscoring even the most mundane of teaching scenes. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. The 'rom-com', loosely based on the book by American author Julia Whelan, who attended Oxford herself, concerns ambitious working-class New Yorker Anna (Sofia Carson), who is attending the University of Oxford to study Victorian poetry as a postgraduate. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video While there she falls for charming local Jamie (Queen Charlotte's Mylchreest), who also happens to be teaching her classes, and the pair begin a very tedious, chemistry-free flirtationship before a secret he's been hiding threatens their burgeoning romance. (Also warning you that, despite Bridgerton raising our expectations in this department, there are no steamy sex scenes to be found here, and even their tiringly clichéd kiss in the rain gave me nothing.) *Spoilers ahead for My Oxford Year* This is where My Oxford Year takes a sharp left into cancerbait territory, revealing that Jamie is doomed to succumb to an unspecified form of the disease, just like his late brother, despite looking and acting like the healthiest, liveliest rake in the room – plus, y'know, Mylchreest. Obviously, they are reminding us that not everyone fatally ill looks or acts that way (and nor should they have to), but it's a clumsily made point when the film decides to give Mylchreest his first topless scene while receiving chemotherapy. And then they belatedly whack out the greyish face make-up for one scene later on. My Year at Oxford's ending reveals that Jamie does indeed die after catching a critical case of pneumonia, sharing the news surprisingly subtly as Anna lies in bed with Jamie, narrating the stops of the grand European tour they intended to go on. While the montage initially shows the couple happily together exploring Amsterdam, Venice, Paris and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion in Greece, the camera then swings around to reveal Anna on her own taking the trip instead – and fine, yes, okay, I got a little burning behind the eyes at this, but it is not a high bar to pass for a film to manipulate me intro crying. It proved even more emotionally effective for others though. 'Did I finish the movie or did the movie finish me?' asked fan Agnes on X over My Oxford Year's traumatic conclusion. 'Thought I was signing up for a chill romantic movie with a few clichés. Instead, My Oxford Year wrecked me emotionally, stabbed me in the heart and walked away like nothing happened. That ending?? RUDE. Yeah. I'm not okay. Not even a little bit,' ranted user @_httpSea_, echoing a lot of the shocked reaction to the film. 'My Oxford Year is the biggest Trojan horse ever seen. I thought I was watching a silly romcom and I just got depressed with the ending of it,' tweeted @JENNIEDEMIE. 'Why did nobody warn me that it ended like that and why am I bawling over a movie I thought would be a cute and silly rom com,' complained Lily-Rose, while Mel shared: 'Netflix really thought the book My Oxford Year wasn't sad enough, so they proceed to change the ending to send us in therapy.' Critics have not been kind to My Oxford Year, with it sitting at a dismal 29% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes at the time of publication. Collider criticised it for having the 'plot and character development out of a Wattpad novel written by a 15-year-old One Direction fan', while The New York Times called it 'a limp attempt at being this generation's About Time'. 'An uninspired yet competently assembled trifle,' mused The Guardian's two-star review, with critic Benjamin Lee saying the cancer twist will be 'met with a sigh of disappointment' for being so hackneyed. Other viewers agreed, with one saying it was 'pretty pointless' and another that it was 'worse than mediocre'. Noga E described it as 'a painful failure' in comparison to the book while Nina B complained: 'There's no spark, no soul – just two hours of hollow stares and fake chemistry.' 'It's as if A Walk to Remember and Me Before You had a very, very odd cousin that no one wants to hang out with,' added Teresita G. I knew what I was in for when the film mentioned how much it rains in the UK after barely a minute, and Carson began her narration as Anna by quoting poet Henry David Thoreau. Literature references are always the sign of an overly earnest film as you'd never catch a normal human going around quoting poetry, including out loud and at somebody (which also happens later in the film) to make a comparison, even if you were studying it at university (and I did). More Trending That sort of thing is far too intense and emotional, control yourself… which I guess may prove the film's point about British people being repressed and not wanting to talk about their feelings, which is what drives a wedge between Jamie and his father, played by Scott. So I'll give it that, I guess. My Oxford Year is streaming now on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix fans declare 'weekend is sorted' as addictive TV series drops 6 new episodes MORE: 17,000,000 Netflix users risk £1,000 fine for watching WWE SummerSlam MORE: 'I'm a TV critic – I'm convinced Netflix's August thriller will blow me away'

Radiohead album cover image taken in hospital basement
Radiohead album cover image taken in hospital basement

BBC News

timea day ago

  • BBC News

Radiohead album cover image taken in hospital basement

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and artist Stanley Donwood have revealed the front cover of their album, The Bends, came about after the pair sneaked into a hospital and Donwood told the story in an interview ahead of a new exhibition of their work at Oxford's Ashmolean year marks 30 years since the release of The Bends, and Donwood said the cover was going to be based on the title of the album's lead single."It was a literal thing, because the song was called My Iron Lung, and I was like, 'Let's go and find an actual iron lung and film it'," he said. Their hunt led them to the basement of Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, where they found the dummy that appears on the cover. Speaking to the exhibition's curator, Lena Fritsch, Yorke said it was "probably" Donwood's fault it happened the way it said: "We managed to get into the basement of the John Radcliffe Hospital… we shouldn't have. "I don't know how we got in. We weren't supposed to be there."Donwood said they went into a "horrible storage area" which was like "something from a low-budget horror film". But, when they found the iron lung, they thought it was "very boring… just a metal box".But nearby they found a mannequin used to train people to perform CPR and use defibrillators."There were a few of them, actually. The resuscitation dummy was literally lying there," Yorke said. 'The record sold alright' Radiohead was formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in the mid-1980s - comprising of frontman Thom Yorke, brothers Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Philip and Donwood became friends at Exeter University, where they were both studying English literature and fine first joined forces in 1994 to design the cover of Radiohead's single, My Iron Lung, and their second album, The whose real name is Dan Rickwood, has worked on most of Radiohead's cover art as well as for Yorke's other music projects. Donwood, describing their artistic process at the time of The Bends, said: "We had a video camera and went out filming material, all sorts of things, it didn't really matter what it was. We then played it back on Thom's TV and photographed the TV screen with a film camera."At the time, all of the TVs were analogue. So, when you got close to them, their display was really interesting, like a pre-pixel world."Yorke said: "Blowing it up would pixelate it. Then we stretched the image, distorted it a bit to exaggerate the expression.""Not very much, though, because I think we had a deadline the next day... from the record company," Donwood added. The pair admitted they had only just figured out how to use Photoshop and the colours on the image came out wrong."They all looked great on the screen, but when you print it onto actual records, then it was like, 'What's that muddy mauve colour?' 'That's your blue.' "So, good job there's not too much blue on the front cover," Donwood said."Good job the record sold alright. It looked like we meant it," Yorke exhibition This Is What You Get is on at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum from 6 August until 11 January. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.

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