‘Was I cast because you couldn’t get anyone else?’ Cate Blanchett discusses Rumours
At last, a film about the G7. There have been more movies than you can shake a stick at set…
For God or Allah: the savage wars between Christians and Muslims over the ages
It’s impossible to say which side excelled in imaginative barbarism in this blood-soaked history spanning 1,300 years
The must-have novelties nobody needed
Richard Loncraine and Peter Broxton, designers of surreal ‘executive toys’ in the 1960s, reveal the frailty and vanity of a time when ‘poets, pop stars and miniskirts were everywhere’
Guadagnino is a true master of erotic desire: Queer reviewed
Queer, which is based on the novella by William S. Burroughs, is the latest film directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call…
Leavisites should stay away: Sky’s Bad Tidings reviewed
Reviewing Sky’s The Heist before Christmas last year, I suggested that all feature-length festive television dramas begin with credits announcing…
Why 4,000 pages of T.S. Eliot’s literary criticism is not enough
Faber’s text-only, strictly chronological four-volume edition of the prose is fatally purist – though admittedly cheaper than the eight-volume Johns Hopkins version
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains terrible art – but is filled with magic
For a press tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – the Church of the Resurrection, the…
Celebrating Miss Marple, expert on the wickedness of village life
The elderly spinster with a fine sense of evil was a creation Agatha Christie never tired of – unlike the ‘tiresome, egocentric’ Hercule Poirot
How to turn eggnog into a superfood
Recently, scientists were baffled by the discovery that ice cream is a superfood. Yes, that’s right, people who eat ice…
The Andrew problem: a short story by Andrew O’Hagan
People offended by name-dropping are absolutely no fun. I’ve experimented with this concept on five continents – OK, four: Antarctica’s…
What’s really killing business
Late in the evening six months ago, my wife and I were driving back to our hotel in the dark…
My bottles of the year
This has been the most fascinating political year I can remember. I have even found myself dreaming about politics –…
The best (and worst) of this year’s sport
It was quite a year for some of the worst of sport – America’s golfers, already among the richest and…
Could I limit myself to 100 bottles of wine in a year?
Back in January, I wrote about my new year’s resolution to cut down on my drinking. The thought of total…
Dear Mary, from Michael Caine: Should cricketers be paid like footballers?
From Tina Brown Q. I have been dogged all my career as ‘the Queen of Buzz’, which makes people assume…
Something out of a Spectator reader’s dreams: The Guinea Grill reviewed
Back to the past: it’s safer there. There is a themed restaurant dedicated to George VI of all people, near…
Why there will be no Christmas truce in Ukraine
On Christmas Eve 1914, British and German soldiers laid down their arms and crossed trenches to exchange gifts, bury the…
