Director: Phil Traill
Starring: Felicity Jones, Ed Westwick, Bill Nighy, Brooke Shields
***
The rising star Felicity Jones gets her first lead in this romantic British comedy. She plays Kim, a former skateboarder who takes a job at a ski resort and is thrust into a world of wealth and decadence. At first overwhelmed, tomboy Kim soon holds her own. A new-found love for snowboarding sees her excel at the resort's competition, but first she must overcome a dark moment from her past. At first glance, Chalet Girl seems like the worst kind of superficial teenage fluff.
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Yet, as the snowbound antics progress, there's an energy and uplifting sentiment to the film that makes it far more entertaining than you might expect. Giving a sassy spin on the Cinderella formula, the film has an abundance of charm, even if it offers little in the way of surprises. Jones deserves credit for creating a loveable protagonist, and although the same can't be said for her love interest Johnny (Westwick, who is little more than a walking smirk for most of the film), you begin to cheer for her as she clashes with the upper crust. The always reliable Nighy and Shields also appear in hilarious supporting roles as Johnny's rich parents. Unashamedly aiming at a teenage audience, the film's lack of pretension is oddly refreshing and eases you through low points, in particular the rather limp and saccharine finale. Jones proves she can carry a movie, and one would imagine given the right scripts, her star will continue to rise.
England squads for Test and T20 series against New Zealand
Test squad: Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
