culture
latest & greatest
Streaming series
Forget Luther and the James Bond rumours – Idris Elba’s new gig is playing ‘manny’ to his famous best friend's problem-child daughter, while trying to make it as a club DJ in the Netflix Original Turn Up Charlie. Starring alongside him are Covert Affairs’ Piper Perabo as Sara and young actor Frankie Hervey as ‘problem child’ Gabrielle. Sara is a superstar DJ, feminist icon and vivacious trendsetter, who abandons the exciting life she lived in America to put down roots in London, in an attempt to give Gabrielle more stability and normality. Spoiled and savvy, Gabrielle is wise beyond her years. Neglected by her career-driven parents, she pushes the boundaries – and the sanity of her nannies – to the extreme, in order to get her mom and dad's attention. Her spiky retorts, mischievous adventures and epic tantrums hide a lonely young girl with a distorted view of reality.
Book
Perdita Lee and her mother Harriet may appear to be just an average British schoolgirl and working-class mom, but they're not as normal as they appear to be. Apart from sharing their gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with verbal vegetation, they also make gingerbread their fellow Londoners aren’t particularly wild about but is hugely popular in faraway Druhástrana, the (potentially imaginary) land of Harriet’s early youth. Harriet’s charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval, is their biggest fan – and also seems to have had a hand in everything, good or bad, that has happened to Harriet since they met. Decades later, when a teenage Perdita sets out to track down her mother’s long-lost friend, Harriet’s story is retold in a new light, including encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate as the headlines – though gingerbread seems to be the constant.
Gadget
Motoring
Film
Captain Marvel finally gets her own stand-alone film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film tells the story of hot-shot US Air Force officer Carol Danvers who signs up for a deep space mission with Starforce and finds herself up against her toughest-ever adversary, the Kree empire. In the process of joining Starforce, Danvers’ biology melds with Kree DNA, turning her into a hybrid, erasing her memory and setting her on a path to rediscover her true self. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brie Larson stars as Danvers and is supported by, among others, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening and Jude Law. After Captain Marvel, Brie Larson will reprise her role in Avengers: Endgame, out in April.
Film
Hotel Mumbai is based on the gripping true story of humanity and heroism which played out when a group of terrorists laid siege to the famed Taj Hotel in Mumbai in 2008. Among the dedicated hotel staff is the renowned chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) and a waiter (Dev Patel) who choose to risk their lives to protect their guests. As the world watches on, a desperate couple (played by Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi) is forced to make unthinkable sacrifices to protect their newborn child.
Game
In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, players assume the role of the ‘one-armed wolf’, a disgraced warrior rescued from the brink of death. Duty-bound to protect a young lord, descended from an ancient bloodline, Sekiro becomes the target for scores of vicious enemies. When the young lord is captured, nothing can stand in the way of Sekiro’s perilous quest to regain honour and save the life of his liege. Set in the late 1500s Sengoku Japan, the game gives players the chance to unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities in visceral head-to-head combat that can only end in a bloody confrontation.
Available for Playstation 4, XBOX One & PC, from R799 via www.store.steampowered.com
By Trevor Crighton
Latest & Greatest: March edition
Learn more about the latest releases in tech, literature, motoring and entertainment.
From intelligent ovens that make cooking a breeze, to VW’s new monster Golf R, here’s what’s dropping this month.Turn Up Charlie
(Netflix, 15 March)Forget Luther and the James Bond rumours – Idris Elba’s new gig is playing ‘manny’ to his famous best friend's problem-child daughter, while trying to make it as a club DJ in the Netflix Original Turn Up Charlie. Starring alongside him are Covert Affairs’ Piper Perabo as Sara and young actor Frankie Hervey as ‘problem child’ Gabrielle. Sara is a superstar DJ, feminist icon and vivacious trendsetter, who abandons the exciting life she lived in America to put down roots in London, in an attempt to give Gabrielle more stability and normality. Spoiled and savvy, Gabrielle is wise beyond her years. Neglected by her career-driven parents, she pushes the boundaries – and the sanity of her nannies – to the extreme, in order to get her mom and dad's attention. Her spiky retorts, mischievous adventures and epic tantrums hide a lonely young girl with a distorted view of reality.
Book
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
(5 March)Perdita Lee and her mother Harriet may appear to be just an average British schoolgirl and working-class mom, but they're not as normal as they appear to be. Apart from sharing their gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with verbal vegetation, they also make gingerbread their fellow Londoners aren’t particularly wild about but is hugely popular in faraway Druhástrana, the (potentially imaginary) land of Harriet’s early youth. Harriet’s charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval, is their biggest fan – and also seems to have had a hand in everything, good or bad, that has happened to Harriet since they met. Decades later, when a teenage Perdita sets out to track down her mother’s long-lost friend, Harriet’s story is retold in a new light, including encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate as the headlines – though gingerbread seems to be the constant.
Gadget
Intelligent Oven
We’ve heard of smart ovens before, with one-touch cooking for set dishes – but we’ve never seen anything like Whirlpool’s Connected Hub Wall Oven Concept, which uses augmented reality to teach you how to cook. A transparent 27-inch LCD screen replaces the traditional glass on the door, and becomes the interface which gives the user the chance to discover, learn and control the cooking process from a central hub. It integrates family calendars and analyses schedules to suggest the ideal family dinner time – then also prompts a quick recipe suggestion, based on the time and ingredients available, as well as learned family food preferences. Connected to the Yummly platform, the screen displays step-by step video instructions on how to prepare each meal, while Coordinated Cooking schedules the cooking of different dishes to ensure that everything is ready at the same time. The Whirlpool Connected Hub Wall Oven Concept debuted at CES2019, with production details, a release date and costs not yet announced.Motoring
SuperGolf on Steroids!
Golf’s monster R model just got more aggressive, thanks to the addition of 15 extra kilowatts and new exterior design highlights. The revised model sees the power output rise from 213kW to 228kW, propelling it to 100km/h in just 4.6 seconds in conjunction with the snappy 7-speed DSG and standard Launch Control. On the exterior, optional R Performance Titanium exhaust and optional R Performance brakes with brake calipers painted black with the ‘R’ logo add extra sports appeal. Standard features include the ‘R’ designed bumpers, LED headlights and taillights. Exterior mirror housing caps come in matte chrome or optional carbon, with various 19-inch wheel choices. The revised 2.0 TSI 228kW DSG Golf R retails from R676 000 and includes a standard five-year/90 000km service plan, three-year/120 000km warranty and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.Captain Marvel
(8 March)Captain Marvel finally gets her own stand-alone film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film tells the story of hot-shot US Air Force officer Carol Danvers who signs up for a deep space mission with Starforce and finds herself up against her toughest-ever adversary, the Kree empire. In the process of joining Starforce, Danvers’ biology melds with Kree DNA, turning her into a hybrid, erasing her memory and setting her on a path to rediscover her true self. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brie Larson stars as Danvers and is supported by, among others, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening and Jude Law. After Captain Marvel, Brie Larson will reprise her role in Avengers: Endgame, out in April.
Hotel Mumbai
(29 March)Hotel Mumbai is based on the gripping true story of humanity and heroism which played out when a group of terrorists laid siege to the famed Taj Hotel in Mumbai in 2008. Among the dedicated hotel staff is the renowned chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) and a waiter (Dev Patel) who choose to risk their lives to protect their guests. As the world watches on, a desperate couple (played by Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi) is forced to make unthinkable sacrifices to protect their newborn child.
Catch all the latest movies!
If you're an Edgars Club VIP or Club Life member you save on two movie tickets every day at Ster-Kinekor – get 2D movie tickets from R27 - R48* each, 3D movie tickets from R30 - R60* each, IMAX for R93* per ticket and Cine Prestige for R96*! You bring a friend, we bring the entertainment. See the latest movies and prices at edgarsclub.co.za. Ts and Cs apply.
*Prices & dates were correct at the time of publication.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
(22 March)In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, players assume the role of the ‘one-armed wolf’, a disgraced warrior rescued from the brink of death. Duty-bound to protect a young lord, descended from an ancient bloodline, Sekiro becomes the target for scores of vicious enemies. When the young lord is captured, nothing can stand in the way of Sekiro’s perilous quest to regain honour and save the life of his liege. Set in the late 1500s Sengoku Japan, the game gives players the chance to unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities in visceral head-to-head combat that can only end in a bloody confrontation.
Available for Playstation 4, XBOX One & PC, from R799 via www.store.steampowered.com
By Trevor Crighton