The Pretty One Film Review

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

The Pretty One has a lot going for it. A unique storyline, dazzling performances from all of the actors, a banging script and the two wonderful leads, Zoe Kazan and Jake Johnson. Jake has slowly been building up a stellar career, moving from bit parts to New Girl, he is having a career peak at the moment. Zoe Kazan is something to behold. She is just perfect in this film. Oh, and adorable. Both her and her character. She plays both twin sisters, Laurel and Audrey. Laurel is shy and stayed with their father after the death of their mother, looking after him and painting with him. She even wears her mothers old clothes. A lot of people think she is strange. Audrey is confident, ballsy, the woman everyone is in love with.

After Audrey dies in a head-on collision whilst driving with her sister, just after they switch seats, Laurel doesn’t realise who she is straight away. And when she does it seems that people don’t really care that much, her step-mother even says it was a good thing Laurel died as she would not have coped with losing her sister. Devastated, Laurel decides to become her sister and live her life. As the consequences mount, and the lie becomes bigger she has to decide whether to come clean or continue living the lie. What will she do?

The Pretty One is a truly wonderful, uplifting film, despite its moments of tragedy. I loved it and so did the people I watched it with. It is newly out on DVD and I highly recommend it. It is surely set to become a classic. It is funny and warm, tragic and sad all rolled into one perfect ball of a film. The DVD also has a great, delightful, visual effects featurette.

The Pretty One is available here.

Directed by Jenée LaMarque. With Jake Johnson, Zoe Kazan, Ron Livingston, Frances Shaw.

The Watchmakers – Carpe Diem Music News

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Frostie

The Watchmakers

Their new single on Loaded Soul Records
Illumination / Carpe Diem

Format: Limited Edition Vinyl & Digital Download

Combining the sounds of classic 60s psychedelia with The Verve, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Primal Scream, Manchester based four piece The Watchmakers have created a unique blend of psychedelic rock n roll. Their self-produced demos Before Questions Became and Waves earned the band high praise and airplay from the likes of John Kennedy at XFM and BBC Manchester Introducing, leading to seasoned music lovers and music industry insiders clamouring for more material.

Following headline appearances at two sold out Psychedelic Happenings in Manchester as well as playing with the likes of The Pretty Things, Jacco Gardner, Dark Bells and Exit Calm, The Watchmakers were invited to play a BBC Showcase in February 2014 where BBC 6 Music recommended them as ‘ones to watch’. June 2014 see the release of two new tracks – Illumination and Carpe Diem. The songs, the first release from the Manchester based label Loaded Soul Records, will be available on limited edition vinyl and digital download.

“Imagine if Noel Gallagher’s solo record had actually been willing to cut loose and explore its boundaries, and you might be arriving somewhere near to their sound”
Drowned In Sound

Cinnamon Soho Restaurant Review

Posted on June 23, 2014 by James Yardley

Cinnamon Soho is a stylish and contemporary restaurant which has just recently opened, following on from the extremely successful Cinnamon Kitchen and Cinnamon Club. First impressions of the restaurant were excellent. The interior looked great and clearly no expense had been spared.

The bottle of house wine we started with was excellent. It was a very good white wine. Very refreshing and drinkable. For a starter we tried the steamed chickpea cake with coconut chutney and the grilled asparagus, sesame and garlic yoghurt.

The chickpea cake was astonishing. It’s soft spongy delicate texture was indeed cake like but it did not feel out of place as a starter. The flavours were brilliant, the coconut chutney combined brilliantly with the chikpea and the raw red onion and cucumber brought freshness to the dish. The dash of spice was beautifully balanced. A truly original and exciting dish.

Our asparagus was also very good. It was beautifully cooked and very well seasoned with coriander and cumin. The sauces it came with were all beautifully balanced with excellent flavours.

Expectations were very high for our mains after the superb starters and they didn’t disappoint. I had the Orissa style chicken curry. My chicken was gorgeous, it was succulent, moist and perfectly cooked. The tomato lentil based sauce was a delight. Everything was beautifully spiced and seasoned without being overpowering. This was high class Indian cooking of a type I am not usually used to. It was very clear the chef had an excellent palate. As a side we had some superb peshwari naan. I love Peshwari naan but this was particularly good and had clearly been freshly made.

The other main we had was seared plaice with tomato lemon sauce and a lentil salad. Again, a beautifully cooked piece of fish with a delicate and exciting sauce with subtle spice and flavors. The portion sizes were perfect.

Our puddings did not disappoint either. The sticky ginger toffee pudding with banana ice cream was delicious. The banana ice cream was a delight and the pudding was light and tasty. The second dish of yoghurt and lime cheese cake with tamarind glazed strawberries was even better. An original dish with a wonderful creamy texture and refreshing taste. Perfect for a pudding at the end of a meal.

Overall Cinnamon Soho was a delight. The food was exquisite and the service which I have forgotten to mention until now was also excellent. Even more astonishing was the price. Our meal which came from the lunch menu was just £11.75 each for three courses! (excluding wine) or £9.75 for two courses. Frankly it was incredible value for food of this quality. Definitely the best value restaurant Frost has been to this year. We will certainly be going back soon and I highly recommend you give it a visit in the near future.

5 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5PF

Tel: 020 7437 1664, www.cinnamonsoho.com

facebook.com/cinnamonsoho

@cinnamonsoho

Wimbledon slices

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

With Wimbledon starting today its only the done thing to give you all a little bit of Summer heaven in the form of a delicious treat. I created these from a recipe for strawberry drizzle cake, but I added my own naughty little twist by filling these babies with tenderised strawberries right through the entire mixture. This creates the softest and most moist slices. They are divine and they get better the next day when all the juices have settled. Sticky, sweet and so sensational you will be rolling those eyes as you gobble them up.

You will need:

600g box of strawberries
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla essence
50g Icing sugar
100g Salted Dairy Butter, at room temperature
200g self raising flour
200g caster Sugar

Put the caster sugar and the butter in to a bowl and mix into crumbs.

Add 1/2 of the strawberries cut into slices.
Then add the flour, vanilla essence and the eggs. Mix to a creamy consistency.

Pop it in to a greased lined baking tray. Cook in a preheated oven gas mark 6 or 200c for 45-60 minutes depending on your oven. Just make sure its cooked through. While this is cooling add the remainder of the strawberries to a dish along with 25 of icing sugar and let the juices start to come out.
Put the other 25g of icing sugar into a bowl and strain off the juiced strawberries. Mix this up and pour over your creation, Its best to make small holes all over the cake to let the icing drizzle down into the sponge. Then let this cool off completely before turning out, dusting with a little icing sugar and then lastly cutting into nice sized chunks. Perfect with a Wimbledon cocktail…..Recipe for that coming soon!

Cant have you over indulging too fast can we. Its a recipe worth waiting for I assure you! I hope you make a batch of these while watching the games as they are amazing! Let me know if you do and pop me a quick tweet @sarahbacchus. For loads more recipes head over to our lifestyle magazine www.slbstyle.com and for photographic work check out www.sarahbacchus.com

The Bestselling England Football Autobiographies | Books

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Frostie

Amazon.co.uk has revealed the bestselling England football autobiographies – and David Beckham is only sixth!

Gary Neville tops the list, with David Beckham only making it to number six and Brian Clough beating Bobby Robson to the manager’s job

Looking at England’s players and managers, both past and present, the ranking takes into account print and ebook autobiography sales. Amazon has revealed the top 10 best sellers and translated the list into a full team starting lineup – in a 4-5-1 formation.

The Amazon Autobiography Starting Line Up is:

Stan Collymore

(11)

Paul Gascoigne

(7)

Paul Scholes Steven Gerrard Bobby Charlton David Beckham

(4) (2) (5) (6)

Stuart Pearce Tony Adams Jamie Carragher Gary Neville

(16) (12) (3) (1)

Peter Shilton

(25)

Brian Clough

(Manager) (10)

The Amazon.co.uk Top 10 bestselling autobiographies are:

1. Gary Neville – Red: My Autobiography
2. Steven Gerrard – Gerrard: My Autobiography
3. Jamie Carragher – Carra: My Autobiography
4. Paul Scholes – Scholes: My Story
5. Bobby Charlton – My Manchester United Years
6. David Beckham – David Beckham
7. Paul Gascoigne – Gazza: My Story
8. Frank Lampard – Totally Frank: The Autobiography of Frank Lampard
9. Brian Clough – Clough, The Autobiography
10. Bobby Robson – Farewell but not Goodbye: May Autobiography

How many have you read?

Patricia Byrne Dies Aged 80

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Errol Clarke

Better known as Patsy Byrne, born on July 13, 1933 in Ashford, Kent, England. Easily remembered for one role that is iconic… “Nursie”(Bernard) in Blackadder!

Patsy was married to Patrick John Seccombe from 1967 until his death in 2000. It is with a saddened heart that we lose an icon on 17 June 2014 at Denville Hall, a retirement home for performers in Northwood, London. She was 80. She leaves behind her 6 step-children.

Her career spanned from 1962, The Cherry Orchard, all the way to 2006 on Holby City. Her range of acting was vast and was even on BBC’s children TV shows, as well as dramas and, of course, comedies.

Her talent is not restricted to the screen, but having toured the with the RSC, where Patsy met her husband, she also doubled as an assistant stage manager, at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch. Later taking acting roles at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, and eventually the Royal Court in London. In 1998, Patsy played the character, “Toussaint” in Les Miserable.

The only daughter of a railway engineer, Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne was born on July 13 1933 at Ashford, Kent, and educated at Ashford Grammar School for Girls. After studying Drama at the Rose Bruford College.

Patsy Byrne revealed that the Queen’s nurse’s real name was Bernard, apparently an in-joke inspired by the Conservative politician Bernard Jenkin.

Her loss is to the industry will not be forgotten and immortalised as her character in Blackadder, she will live on and thankfully bring a smile as big as hers! With Rik Mayall (Lord Flasheart) also passing through the veil, I am sure they will be banding together making jokes and more laughter with their own sketches.

Thank you, Patsy, may you hold your head high, as you leave a legacy most actors only dream of.

The Noodle House London Restaurant Review

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

I love Asian food so was absolutely delighted when we were invited to review the newly opened Southeast Asian restaurant The Noodle House on Shaftesbury Avenue. The decor looks great and it is busy. It may be newly opened but it already has found plenty of customers. It is not a tourist trap however, it has enough calm to be an enjoyable experience. We start off with some cocktails. We have the Moonshadow: vodka, lillet blanc, chrysanthemum, jasmine tea syrup and a Hit The Rojak: tequila, kamm & sons, star fruit juice, apple juice, Rojak syrup and lime. Both cocktails are great. Delicious and unique.

For starters I have the Crispy Calamari: Crispy fried calamari seasoned with sea salt and Szechuan pepper served with chilli dipping sauce and my colleague had the Si Racha Prawns: Tempura style prawns served with our signature spicy mayo. The crispy calamari is delicious and comes with a great sauce. The prawns are amazing, very generous in size and the sauce is great. It has a bit of a kick to it. Both starters are great and the portion size is generous. The waiter is good at recommending food and really knows his stuff. Although he didn’t realise what a wimp I am when it comes to spice!

For our mains we have the Javanese Nasi Goreng: Wok-fried rice with prawns, chilli, spring onions and Sambal Belachan, topped with a fried egg, served with two chicken satay skewers and prawn crackers and the Bakmi Goreng: Udon noodles with chicken, prawns, bean sprouts, cabbage, pak choi, eggs and a sweet chilli ginger sauce, garnished with spring onions and fried banana shallots. For our sides we have the Broccoli: Tenderstem broccoli with oyster sauce and Fried Jasmine Rice: Wok-fried jasmine rice with chicken, prawns, bean sprouts, eggs, chilli and Thai basil.

The Javanese Nasi Goreng is something to behold. It has absolutely everything in it and a fried egg on top. The chicken satay skewers are tasty, as are the prawn crackers, the fried egg, the whole shebang. This is also spicy although there are plenty of things you can order at the Noodle House which are not spicy. The Bakmi Goreng is a great noodle dish which also has a generous amount of ingredients. It is amazing. Really great.

I also loved the Fried Jasmine Rice we have for our side and the broccoli is also good. If we thought the starters were a decent size, the mains and the sides were even more generous. We could just have had those and nothing else. We end up taking what we don’t eat away in a doggy bag.

We order more cocktails. The amazing Bayside Bellini: Kamm & sons, spiced Asian pear, orgeat & prosecco. and Spice Island Iced Tea: Gin, spiced tea gin, lemon, abbots bitters & ginger ale. The Bayside Bellini is absolutely brilliant. All you need to know is that it is a champagne cocktail with an Asian twist. Wonderful.

For dessert we have the Sweet Sharing Plate: a sample of the Lime & Ginger Cheescake, mango coconut pudding and banana spring rolls. Each one is amazing and unique. Just incredibly good and comes with a brilliant ice-cream.

We then finished with some tea. Fruity Fresh Hibiscus: an infusion made from a blend of Hibiscus, orange flowers, rosehip, sea buckthorn berries & lemon verbena. A pink brew that is sweet, fresh and hydrating. A mix of flowers and fruit. This is great tea, I could drink it everyday. Downstairs there is more seating and a bar and you can see all of the Noodle House’s amazing tea in large jars.

The Noodle House is a great restaurant. The service is amazing, the waiters are friendly and knowledgeable, the food is amazing and unique as is their cocktails and tea. Prices are reasonable, from low to high. I highly recommend The Noodle House and will be going back.

The Noodle House, 117 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8AD / 0203 725 5777

Top Schools ‘Too Dominant’ In Acting

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Frostie

Sir Peter Bazalgette, the chairman of Arts Council England, has said that the British film and TV industries are ‘too dominated’ by actors who have gone to private schools and that state school pupils have too few opportunities to have a career in the arts.

He told the Sheffield Doc/Fest: “I personally don’t see why all the male actors getting Baftas should come from Eton, Good for them, and great actors, but why should they all come from Eton?”

Damien Lewis went to Eton.

Actors who went to Eton include Damian Lewis, Dominic West, Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne. Actors who went to other private schools include Rory Kinnear, who went to St Paul’s, Benedict Cumberbatch, who went to Harrow and Hugh Bonneville, who attended Sherborne.

12 Years A Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor went to Dulwich College – where Sir Peter went to school.

“Seven per cent of the population go to private schools, and in those private schools they get an absolutely, crackingly good education in the performing and visual arts. Ninety-three per cent don’t go to those private schools and, in some state schools, people get a wonderful education in visual and performing arts as well. But in quite a lot of them they don’t.

Visual performing arts have been marginalised in some areas in the curriculum as the curriculum becomes more instrumentalist and focused on what’s known as the Stem agenda – science, technology, engineering and maths. If there is one message, we say Steam, not Stem – put the ‘a’ for arts in.”

Dame Helen Mirren also recently warned that acting was becoming the “prerogative only of kids who have money”.

Check out Frost editor, Catherine Balavage’s, new book, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming An Actorprenur, which tells you how to become an actor, no matter what your background.

What do you think?

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