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Day: 5 March 2013

Top 5: Recurring film couples

Written by Parizad Mangi on . Posted in Film.

5. Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore

They warmed our hearts in 1998’s The Wedding Singer and floored us again in 2004’s equally syrupy 50 First Dates. Sandler’s gauche charm and Barrymore’s debonair spirit brews a perfect chemistry for these bouncy rom-coms.

 

4. Richard Gere & Julia Roberts

The story of unexpected love between a callous businessman and a vulnerable prostitute in Pretty Woman (1990) was an instant hit thanks to its captivating leads. With another successful collaboration under their belts in the form of quirky and loveable Runaway Bride nearly a decade later, Gere and Roberts definitely go down as one of Hollywood’s most coveted pairs.

                                                              

3. Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor

These two timeless cinema legends earned themselves a reputation as tempestuous lovers not only on-screen but off-screen as well. They have shared fiery chemistry in as many as eleven movies, including Cleopatra and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 

2. Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham Carter

Eccentric film-maker Tim Burton loves bringing his life partner and best friend together on celluloid which is fortunate because we love seeing what strange and twisted affair they portray next, from the bittersweet Corpse Bride to the sinister Sweeney Todd. Who doesn’t love this team?

 

1.  Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet

These two didn’t leave a single dry eye in the house as the ill-fated lovers Jack and Rose that meet on board the Titanic, creating an iconic romantic pairing that we have cherished for many years. So when Sam Mendes reunited them in 2009’s Revolutionary Road it was bound to make buzz. Poles apart from their former venture, this twosome still managed to break our hearts a second time. We’re still waiting for a third collaboration, perhaps a more cheerful one this time?

How To: Colour pop

Written by Halee Wells on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Just about every bold makeup colour under the sun graced the Spring 2013 catwalks last year. From bright blue smudged eyeliner to brave magenta mascaras, a spectrum of colour swept across backstage at almost every show. But how can we incorporate this trend into our typical neutral palettes, and pull this look off without appearing too Lil Kim/90s Xtina?

Let’s start with eyes. I absolutely loved the Moschino Spring 2013 look, a swipe of aqua on the eyes and a sun kissed nude complexion. But can we make this look wearable for the Wednesday afternoon beer garden this Spring or should it stay on the catwalks? To recreate this look, I used Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon in Matte Turquoise, which is the perfect match to the Moschino shade. I drew a line along my lash line, water line and one below the lower lashes, blending it in with an eye shadow brush. I then used a shimmery eye shadow in the inner corner to flatter the eyes, before adding two coats of mascara.

picture: Halee Wells

Donna Karan models wore hot pink eyeliner and bright fuchsia mascara. Even as a pink obsessive, this look was a little too ‘child-let-loose-with-crayons’ for me. Can we tone this down to everyday wear or is it just too much for the girl next door type? I chose Barry M Dazzle Dust in Neon Pink to brush across Sophie’s lids and under the lower lash line. This eye shadow is very pigmented so only a small amount is needed. I added highlight to the inner corners of the eyes and applied two coats of mascara.

picture: Halee Wells
model: Sophie Thomas

And now for the perfect neon pout. Yes, this lipstick is by Nicki Minaj who is infamous for her clown-esque brights, but you can achieve an on-trend look with a minimal eye and this gorgeous shade of pink. MAC Viva Glam Nicki, with its satin formula, provides the perfect coral pink shade to glide you through the sunny months. Tan optional.

picture: Halee Wells

Verdict: Attempting these looks was fun to say the least. I think this trend can be beautifully achieved with a strong eye and nude lip, or bare eyes and a bold pout. Resist adding harsh dark colours and keep the eye products to a minimum to avoid looking too drag queen. I for one cannot wait to experiment with more colours as the season commences – now let’s just pray for some sun!

Spring 2013 makeup trends

Written by Halee Wells on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Never have I ever been so excited about a season’s makeup trends. It’s that time of year again where I throw my plums and browns into my bottom drawer and proudly leave them to gather dust until autumn. Although it’s not quite time to channel a bronzed goddess just yet, expect to see a spectrum of bold brights and bare-faced beauty this spring. Whether you are a minimal makeup wearer or you love to make a statement, there is definitely plenty of gorgeous looks to try this season. Here are some of my catwalk favourites:

Swingin’ Sixties

Marc Jacobs
Picture: makeupforlife.net

Big eyeliner flicks and defined bottom lashes are back this spring. This look is all about the eyes, with a flash of nude lipstick. Think Brigitte Bardot and Twiggy makeup, complete with big beehive hair. The girls at Fendi even rocked bottom lash colour strips on the catwalk, but maybe we will leave that one to the models.

Big Brows are back

Zac Posen.
Picture: adabellesblog.com

Put down your tweezers girls, bushy-chic has made a comeback. Unfortunately we can’t all pull off Ms. Delevingne eyebrows like Cara herself, but keep your brows looking full with a swipe of eyebrow pencil this spring, fixing strays into place with a clear eyebrow gel. Zac Posen perfected this look on the catwalk, taming thick eyebrows into the perfect arch.

50 Shades of Red

Missoni
Picture: fusionstyle.wordpress.com

Everybody loves a red lip; it’s classy, sophisticated and makes a great statement. But this evening-only trend for most will become an everyday look by spring. From bright corals to at Missoni to matte crimsons at Prada, your favourite shade will fit right in this season. Wear your colour with minimal eyes for a wearable daytime look or pair it with statement eyes to take you into the night.

Colour Pop

 

Moschino
Picture: nicolettesblog.wordpress.com

I have to say this trend is going to be my absolute guilty pleasure this spring. Whether it’s the cringe-worthy comeback of the bright blue eye shadow or the in-your-face neon lips, nostalgic memories of the ’80s and ’90s come flooding back. Think coloured mascara and eyeliner, focusing specifically on blues, greens and pinks. Moschino models sported stunning flashes of blue whilst the girls at Giles wowed with bright pink lips. Now where did I put that scrunchie?

Croatia: the ‘it’ destination for summer 2013

Written by Faye Parr on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Croatia is fast becoming the ‘it’ place for summer getaways. This beautiful island is perfect for students who are looking for something more than the standard drunken holiday to Kavos or Ayia Napa.  Playing host to numerous festivals and with music to suit every taste, Croatia gives travellers a taste of the party atmosphere, but is also a cultural hotspot too. Why not treat yourself once your exams have finished? Here are two of this summer’s up and coming events:

In-Music Festival: 24th – 26th June

The In-Music festival offers the perfect opportunity to combine a cultural city break with a European music festival. It is located at the idyllic Lake Juran, with the Croatian capital of Zagreb easily reachable by public transport, and past artists have included Jamiroquai, Arcade Fire, The Streets and Franz Ferdinand. What’s not to like? A win-win situation, I am sure you will agree.

Flights from London to Zagreb take just two hour and cost about £130. You can camp on site at the festival for a bargain at £65 a ticket. If you would prefer to take advantage of some of the accommodation Zagreb boasts, a ticket will cost just £48 and hostels can be booked for as little as £15 a night and can be found on booking.com.

Hideout Festival: 3rd – 5th July

Located on the Island of Pag, which is well known for its lively night life, this festival has been a huge success since its launch in 2011. With boat parties galore and plenty of stunning beaches to choose from, you won’t be disappointed.

There are no camping facilities at this festival, but this is not a problem, as the island offers plenty of accommodation options. Those looking for a 24 hour party should head to Novalja on Zrce beach. Novalja is the liveliest part of the island and is just a short bus ride to the festival location. If you fancy something a little quieter, try the quaint fishing village of Madre, which has been voted the most beautiful place in Croatia.

The best bit of news yet? Croatia is cheaper than a lot of its European neighbours, so this little trip will fit in nicely with your student budget.  Flights take around two and a half hours from London and cost £250. Tickets for Hideout Festival cost £109 for three days, with headlining acts including Chase and Status, Pendulum, Rudimental and Jamie Jones.  Hostels or budget hotels in both Novalja and Madre are reasonably priced at around £45 per night, and can be found on booking.com.

Gears of War: Judgement

Written by Sam Dumitriu on . Posted in Games.

Gears of War is back, two years after the trilogy concluded with Gears of War 3, Epic Games are revisiting the Gears universe with Judgement. Judgement takes place before Gears of War 1 and for the first time the story follows Baird and Cole of Kilo Squad rather than Marcus and Dom of Delta Squad.

The squad is on trial for treason for stealing COG technology after the Battle in Halvo Bay. Judgement has you playing through the testimonies, taking on hordes of Locust as you argue for your innocence.

One interesting mechanic is the ability to alter your testimony and get a higher end of level rating by taking on additional challenges, like only using certain weapons for the duration of the combat. This should be popular with achievement hunters, looking for more to do than just complete the game on Insane difficulty.

Judgement looks to expand the popular multiplayer with Overrun mode. Similar to Beast mode in Gears of War 3, Overrun allows you to play as all the different locust, from the lowly Ticker to the powerful Corpser. You can play as either the COG or the Locust. As the COG you’ve got to hold your ground against the Locust as they try to open up Emergence Holes and destroy generators. As the Locust, you start off small, building up and attack with Tickers, but as the game goes on you build in strength and are eventually able to call upon Corpsers and tear the COG up.

Not content with offering chainsaw bayoneted assault rifles, Judgement expands the Gears of War arsenal with two new weapons, the Booshka and the Markza. The Booshka is a grenade launcher that fires small shells that ricochet around the map, detonating on impact with an enemy. The Markza on the other hand is a semi-automatic rifle with a sniper scope, that’s deadly at a distance. Gears of War: Judgement is set to be a worthy installment in the Gears franchise.

Never-fail cocoa bars

Written by Joanna Fox on . Posted in Food & Drink.

I feel a bit guilty offering this as an actual recipe since, let’s face it, it’s not exactly rocket science. However, I will justify doing so by the fact that cocoa bars represent ideal student cuisine: they are cheap, easy, require no specialist equipment and – perhaps most importantly – create very little washing-up.

If you don’t get the quantities right, they simply don’t work (or at least they didn’t when we convinced ourselves we could make them from memory in halls!)

Ingredients:

140g Milky Way bars
15ml golden syrup
50g butter
125g cocoa puffs
50g raisins (optional)
150g chocolate

Method:

Melt the Milky Way bars, golden syrup and butter together. You can either do this in the microwave or on the hob (in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.)

Mix in the cocoa puffs and the raisins if you are using them. Pour into a 20cm cake tin lined with cling-film and gently press the mixture against the edges. Leave to set in the fridge.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate (again, either in the microwave or on the hob) and then pour on top of the base. Put back into the fridge to set.

When ready, cut into bars.

Adapted from a recipe by Tesco.

Manchester University gamers win $1000 prize

Written by Sam Dumitriu on . Posted in Games.

 

Manchester University students have finished as runners-up in the European bracket of the Collegiate Starleague in both League of Legends and StarCraft 2. For their performance in the competition, the teams both won a $1000 cash prize.

The Collegiate Starleague is an online gaming competition comprised of universities and colleges from all over the world. The competition is divided into three brackets, North America, Asia and Europe, which Manchester took part in. The European bracket covers around 40 different universities. Only two games are played in the Starleague, StarCraft 2 and League of Legends.

I spoke with University of Manchester Gaming Society eSports manager Maris Doniks about the team’s success, the popularity of eSports and the challenges of making Manchester the best eSports university in Europe.

Maris became the eSports manager of the Gaming Society in November, he’d heard about the Starleague before, but he hadn’t considered putting together a team and actually competing. It was only when Jacob Harrison (now Assistant eSports manager) took the initiative to gather people and compete in the Starleague that things started to fall in place.

At first it was a challenge to put a team together, being part of such a big university might mean a bigger pool of talent, but it’s a lot harder to get the word out and reach the right people when people are so far apart. While interest in League of Legends was strong and lots of people wanted to get involved, Starcraft 2 was a bit more of a challenge to gather a team for. But with events, like regular BarCrafts, where gamers watch the big StarCraft 2 matches, being held in Kyoto Lounge Maris was able to assemble a team. One team member was found when Maris’ friend spotted him playing StarCraft 2 on his laptop in the pub.

To start with, the team were very disorganised. Maris told me of being ringing players up ten minutes before the match only to find that they were still in bed. However, as the competition went on and they started to rack up the wins in the group stages the players became more and more serious. By the end of the group stage the StarCraft 2 team had qualified for the playoffs on 5-0.

This was the turning point; they saw that they had a chance of winning the whole thing. Now they had beaten teams with ex-professional gamers, gone where the days of Maris having to ring players up before the match to check where they were. Everyone was putting in the time and arriving online 15 minutes before each game.

The team continued to rack up the wins beating three other teams before making it to the European final where they lost to Aarhus University from Denmark 4 – 2.  Aarhus went on to the grand finals where they lost to the eventual Winners University of California Berkeley. While both the StarCraft 2 and the League of Legends teams got a $1000 prize, if they had made it through to the grand finals, they would have been looking at prize money of around $5000. Still Maris tells me “$1000 is not bad for a hobby.”

I asked Maris about the rising popularity of eSports, he told me that over the past few years, with the release of League of Legends the popularity had really expanded. Still, he told me, a lot more people would be taking part if they knew more about it.

He told me that Manchester was looking to expand its eSports team to include players of Halo and Fifa. In particular he found that Manchester had some very good Halo players.

eSports are a global phenomenon, with Starcraft matches being shown live to millions of viewers in Korea and prize pools at major competitions reaching over £2,000,000, If it continues to grow at such a rapid pace, we could soon be living in a world where the back pages of newspapers are dedicated to League of Legends matches,  and top StarCraft 2 players are household names.

Playstation 4: What you need to know

Written by Jack Crutcher on . Posted in Games.

 

Playstation 4 will be in US stores as early as Christmas 2013, with it expecting movement in the first quarter of 2014. But will the PS4 offer the features required to top the Xbox?

In terms of Hardware the PS4 will run on a single-chip custom processor and use eight X86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU stores. Sony have also committed to using a next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine. All in all the PS4 will be powerful, but questions will remain over how innovative this system will look a couple of years after release. Here’s to hoping the ability of the console to devote more processing power to the gaming-side of things will see Sony get plenty out of this system. It is worth noting that the 18 processing clusters, each with 64 cores should pack a greater punch than what Microsoft have currently indicated they will put in the rival Xbox console.

Looking past the boring technical stuff the PS4 will have 8 GB of memory, Blu-ray and DVD compatibility and HDMI output, making it a good all round device. The console will also offer Ultra HD video quality as a playback function, but the in game quality will come just shy of this. Some more exciting features will be on offer as well, including the PS4 eye. Ultimately a built-in camera device, the PS4 eye will differentiate between images of a player from the back and foreground as well as allowing users to log in via facial or voice recognition. Alongside the Play Station Move in game body interactions will add an interesting aspect to the PS4’s attractive repertoire.

The controllers will don the classic Play Station skin but the Dual Shock 4 will have majorly upgraded vibration and enhanced motion sensors, as well as a touchpad on the front much like the Vita. Disappointingly for some the PS4 will not be compatible with PS3 titles, but gamers will be able to purchase classic titles on the Sony Entertainment network. At around £299 RRP and with Bungie and Ubisoft both committing titles on release the PS4 promises to be an exciting bit of kit.

Retro Corner: Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

Written by Alasdair Preston on . Posted in Games.

I love Sonic. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was the first game I ever loved, and the first I ever broke (turns out you can’t put a Megadrive cartridge into a VCR).  I love the 3D Sonic Adventure games. I even love the poorly received spinoff Shadow the Hedgehog. But Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, I do not love.

The game was an early release on the 360 and PS3, and aimed to bring the spiky blue hero into the next generation. The story was bigger in scope than anything Sonic fans had seen before, and the levels were more realistic than ever before. The plot involved a time travelling silver hedgehog, a human princess and, inevitably, Dr Eggman. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

The fast paced, fluid action Sonic is famous for was all but missing in this game. There was hardly a stage that wasn’t jarringly punctuated with stops/starts as you wrestled with the camera and controls. Nothing is as frustrating as Sonic plummeting to his doom without really doing anything wrong, apart from getting caught up in another dodgy camera angle. The stages as Silver were marginally better, only because of his ability to hurl stuff around with his mind, which made a satisfying change of pace from the boss fight against him which was nigh-on impossible.

For a title that was supposed to be leading the way into the new generation, Sonic 06 was surprisingly bad graphically, barely an improvement over past-gen games from the series. It was also riddled with game-breaking glitches that, at best, lead to the scientific improbability of being able to stroll through a loop at a nice, leisurely pace. At worst, they caused spontaneous, rage-inducing death.

I knew exactly how hated this game was before I bought it, and yet it still somehow was worse than I expected. I’d talk about the final boss, but I simply do not have the insane perseverance it would have taken to get there.

Blind Date: Debbie and Jonathan

Written by Oliver Taylor on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Debbie

What were you initial thoughts when you arrived? Yes I thought he seemed nice and sort of relatively good looking. He had quite a clear mind so I was quite happy to get to know him. He didn’t have any initial prejudgments or anything.

Excellent, how did the date go? I thought it went well; we had a really nice time. We got on really well, the conversation flowed really well and I thought we agreed on a lot of things. You know, it was nice. If anything it was more of a friendly vibe than a date.

Why did you think it was more of a friendly vibe? Maybe because it was almost a bit formal, I’m not saying that’s his fault, just I think it just had quite a formal vibe; maybe it was because we were on a blind date so it was more of an official thing, but it was really nice and I thought he was a lovely guy.

Would you say then that there wasn’t much flirting? A bit but not a lot, I’m not sure why. Maybe that was my fault, I don’t know.

What did you chat about? We had interesting conversation actually, very interesting… We spoke about ourselves, our hobbies. I told him about my swimming, he told me about his skydiving.

Did he make you laugh? He made me laugh a couple of times but not a lot. He had some interesting stories though. He told me about his travels in Vietnam which I found really interesting. He mentioned he had eaten some interesting things such as tarantula which was, I suppose, intriguing to hear about.

So you said it was formal, were there any awkward moments? Not at all, the conversation flowed very well. I though we got on very, very well and I had a really nice time, I really enjoyed his company.

Did he tell you anything weird? Definitely the eating the tarantula thing, that was weird.

What happened after the meal? We stayed for quite a while, we had a nice chat and we finished our wine. We shared a bottle. He likes red wine which is good because I also like red wine.

How did you part ways? That was kind of weird. We walked to the main street and he was like, “Thank you I look forward to reading the article”. I was like, “Oh, okay.” It was sort of a bit weird as the parting was very formal.

Do you think you’ll be seeing him in future? I would definitely be up for seeing him again and if he had asked me, I would have definitely said yes.

So you didn’t swap numbers? Not really, he kept saying, “Thank you” and, “I’ll see you.” I just don’t think he was that interested in dating me.

Snog, marry or avoid? That’s a difficult one. I wouldn’t avoid.  It would either be snog or marry. I suppose I’d go with snog as I don’t know him well enough to marry, though he did seem like a lovely guy.

If he were a meal what would he be? I don’t know! He was interested in different types of food so I would say a chicken and chorizo risotto, as he seemed quite sophisticated but also interesting and down to earth. Pleasant to eat, not that I’m saying he was pleasant to eat but that the meal would be pleasant to eat.

Jonathan

How did your date go? Yeah it was great, very nice, not too many awkward moments. We were both chatty and outgoing so overall, a good date.

What was your first impression of Debbie? My first impression was that we would probably make very attractive babies, as she was very good looking and so am I. She reminded me of Natalie Portman.

What was her best feature? Probably her lips.

What did you chat about? Cockroaches, she found one in her Weetos once. We also bonded over wine.

So how did you part ways? A nice kiss on the cheek with a parting hug, then she gave me the, “So I’ll see you around…” and I was like, “Yeah, bye.” So that might have been awkward.

So were you not interested in seeing her around? I’d consider it.

So did you get her number? No.

Why not? It sounded like you were quite into her. I was, but the right moment just wasn’t there. It never came up.

So snog, marry or avoid? Marry as she had the whole package. She had beauty and brains.

So no potential future plans? No, it was nice but I don’t think that there was enough chemistry there.

As always a special thanks to Trof Fallowfield. If you would like to take part please email Beth Currall at [email protected], or Lauren Arthur at [email protected] with your name, age and degree.

Live: I Am Kloot

Written by Lowell Clarke on . Posted in Music.

15th February 2013

The Ritz

9/10

Jesca Hoop kicked off proceedings (I say kicked, though perhaps nudged would be more accurate), but her set was overshadowed by a murmuring crowd anxious to see Kloot and shockingly poor sound quality, perhaps a testament to a technical crew underwhelmed by Hoop’s relatively minor status. It certainly wasn’t, however, a testament to the quality of the musician – and anyone doubting her Friday night performance should first take a listen her Snowglobe EP before casting judgement.

Kloot finally appear at around 9 to the roar of a restless, drunken, Friday night crowd. So restless, in fact, that during some songs lead singer Johnny Bramwell has to tell them all to shut up. Not that there was any atmosphere of contempt; “set my compass North, circumscribe the earth and go” sings Bramwell, an homage to the band’s Manchester roots and a furtherance of the nostalgic revelry Kloot bathed in that night.

The night reaches its peaks with performances of ‘Twist’ and ‘Proof’, where the increasingly intoxicated crowd sway to Bramwell’s melodic repeats of “without you, without you”. ‘Hold Back the Night’ is met with a buzz of excitement, as well as a half-hearted attempt at an initial singalong that only made it as far as “hold back the night, these streets are filled with laughter” before descending into drunken ramblings. There was a fair balance between classic and more recent work, and it was frankly a joy to see the same level of energy and excitement for both the old and the new. The session musicians fleshing out the live band  were on top form, although the level of depth Kloot manage as a three piece remains much more impressive. A superb homecoming performance, marred only slightly by the boisterous crowd.