What's on in London – January 2016

The Hateful Eight – Cinema Londonwide

Quentin Tarantino is well known as master of the movie setup. He’ll put his characters through all manner of unlikely hoops in order for them to be in a situation that requires his razor sharp dialogue. In The Hateful Eight, Tarantino uses a snowstorm to corner eight spaghetti western-type individuals in the same log cabin and then proceeds to ratchet up the tension before the inevitable shoot out.

In his usual quest for genre references, he has enlisted the help of legendary film composer Ennio Morricone. This is a departure for Tarantino who usually taps into his vast store of pop culture knowledge in order to come up with a defining soundtrack. This may be the most rounded and mature work of a career that has come to redefine action cinema. Samuel Jackson, Kurt Russell and Tim Roth star.
www.viewlondon.co.uk

Chick ‘n’ Sours – Dalston

The restaurant mashup concept shows no signs of slowing down in London as it taps into the twin preoccupation of all hipsters: irony and street culture. The idea is a devastatingly simple one. Take two seemingly incompatible culinary components and slap them together – preferably in a venue with an East London postcode – and you’ll have a foodie favourite before you can say “dirty burger”.

Chick ‘n’ Sour takes that most ghetto of food staples, fried chicken and combines it with a cocktail list worthy of a midtown Manhattan bistro. Of course the chicken is several levels above the usual high street health risk and the cocktails are expertly mixed by knowledgable staff. The Dalston location ensures that a steady clientele of techpreneurs and design students drop by to refuel and network.
www.chicknsours.co.uk

NBA Global Games: Orlando Magic v Toronto Raptors – O2 Arena

Stateside basketball seeks to emulate the success of American Football in staging regular season games in the U.K. The general public may well view U.S. sporting heroes as overgrown and overpaid but cosmopolitan London has a basketball fan base that is both knowledgable and dedicated to spreading the message that their sport makes for an exciting experience.

The Florida based Magic and the Canadian Raptors have similar records leading up to this January clash which will mean that the result could go either way. It’s in tight contests like this that basketball really shines as the tension tends to last, quite literally, to the very last shot of the game.
www.theo2.co.uk

The Corrs – O2 Arena

Irish folk rockers, The Corrs always had the edge over similar bands in the late 90s in that they were made up of a trio of stunningly beautiful sisters singing catchy melodic songs augmented by their guitarist brother. They did more than just sing and look pretty though. All the girls were expert players in their own right which was an unusual thing in that period. Lead vocalist Andrea also played the tin whistle while Sharon was a talented violinist. Caroline played drums and piano.

Hits like “Runaway” and “What Do I Do” ensured international success until the demands of raising their respective families brought about semi-retirement. Now they’re back with a new album to promote and a rockier sounding stage show. The cover of “White Light” shows that the Corrs have lost none of the attractiveness that once had Andrea voted as one of the world’s most beautiful women.
www.theo2.co.uk

Bill Bailey: Limboland – Vaudeville Theatre

Bill Bailey brings his own peculiar mixture of whimsy and virtuosity to the Vaudeville Theatre for a five week residency before he embarks on a nationwide tour. Bailey has got his trademark routine of instrumental mashups and politically charged observational comedy down to a fine art these days but London audiences will have the pleasure of seeing him try out numerous variations on this theme.

Concentrating on our perceptions of the future, Bailey draws from childhood memories of science in the media and how it sometimes hilariously missed the mark. He also gently scolds his audiences for settling for the instant gratification of the Internet, but soften the sting with a series of brilliantly worked musical pieces.
www.billbailey.co.uk

In the Heart of the Sea – Cinemas Londonwide

Based on the true facts that inspired the classic novel Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea attempts to get behind the myth by explaining the motives of the crew as a whole. While the Herman Melville tale portrayed a captain driven by obsession, the film by Ron Howard draws on other masculine stories such as Jaws and Platoon by exploring the tension between two alpha personalities in charge of a doomed mission.

Psychotic sea monster legends are as old as writing itself and the vengeful whale is often used as allegory for mankind’s destruction when he foolishly gives in to greed. In the Heart of the Sea suggests that it’s the drastic steps that the crew of the whaling ship Essex took to survive that led them to exaggerate the size and power of their nemesis. Or did they? One old survivor gives his account to a young Herman Melville and we are not so sure.
www.viewlondon.co.uk