The image of a woman being held captive by a beast of some description is common one in cinema. More common still, in film posters. A collection entitled 'Monsters & Maidens: A Film Poster Collection' which features 150 works is being auctioned by Swann in New York on December 18. Some are expected to receive bids of around $20,000 or more, while others will go for mere hundreds of dollars. ...read
Art big picture gallery
Tjalf Sparnaay has used his style of 'mega-realism' to create incredibly life-like pictures of chips, cheeseburgers and desserts.
Art Headlines
Artist may sue Olympics organisers claiming Danny Boyle stole his 'grassy mound' idea for Opening Ceremony
Lee Sendall, from Hull, entered an arts competition held by Olympic chiefs with drawings of a spiral mound in the middle of the countryside, top. He didn't win but the 42-year-old thought no more of it until he saw the Slumdog Millionaire director's memorable opening ceremony in July this year. Mr Sendall noticed that the spiral-shaped, verdant hill that formed the centrepiece of the spectacular set, bottom, looked remarkably similar to the one he entered into the 2009 competition. ...read
Guerilla gardener plants beautiful miniature flowerbeds in potholes blighting London's streets
London pothole gardener Steve Wheen, 34, has created over 150 little gardens so far, the smallest was just one-inch-square. Steve has been pothole gardening for three-years, mainly around the streets of London, to give people an unexpected moment of pleasure. ...read
MUST READS...Art stories from around the world
War on Christmas: Children's toys destroyed by artist who refuses to play nice
Serial object destroyer Alan Sailer, from Camarillo, California, has turned his twisted attention to exploding much-loved toys. The high-speed photography fanatic has selected children's favourites and destroyed them with firecrackers.
Incredible photos show dancers striking acrobatic poses across cities, beaches... and even in the shower!
New York City photographer Jordan Matter has managed to capture dancers across the nation striking complex poses in scenes of their everyday life.
Hilarious 'extreme' family photographs make you do a double take with eye-popping poses that defy the laws of gravity
The compositions are created by capturing families at different angles and by piecing together various snaps of family members to create an outlandish final product.
FANCY THAT
Scroll through for the most amazing stories from around the globe
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THAT CAKE LOOKS SEW TASTY...
Incredible dessert designs that make everyday objects look good enough to eat -
I SINK THEREFORE EYE AM...
Amazing image of a draining sink that looks just like an eye -
TWINKLE TWINKLE TERRACED RICE
Japanese rice paddies glisten in the darkness after 20,000 pink LEDs are spread across terraced fields -
OIL PAINTINGS GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT
Dutch artist Tjalf Sparnaay uses 'mega-realism' to create incredibly life-like pictures of chips, cheeseburgers and desserts -
POTHOLES TURNED INTO MINI GARDENS
London pothole gardener Steve Wheen, 34, has created over 150 little gardens so far, the smallest being just one-inch-square -
THAT LOOKS A LITTLE FIDDLY
Musician gives up his cello to make the smallest violins in the world... and they're yours for £1,000 -
WHAT A VERY SCAREDY CAT
Tiny kitten is terrified by its own reflection in hilarious video -
WHO ORDERED SWEET AND SOUR MOGGIES?
Moment truck crammed with FIVE HUNDRED cats was stopped en route to restaurants in China -
'HOUSE' MOUSE... WITH BUILT-IN WINDOW
They were stitched to their bellies so scientists can watch tumours grow inside -
THAT CAKE LOOKS SEW TASTY...
Incredible dessert designs that make everyday objects look good enough to eat -
I SINK THEREFORE EYE AM...
Amazing image of a draining sink that looks just like an eye
The Day In Pictures
The best pictures from around the world today
REVIEWS
IN BOOKS TODAY
- We will fight them in our front rooms! How an army of ordinary British men, women and children helped win the war by secretly tuning in to German signals: The Secret Listeners, by Sinclair McKay
- His life doesn't get much tougher than this: Life On A Plate, by Gregg Wallace
- The daddy of all action heroes: The Black Count, by Tom Reiss
- Deliciously dark satire about foodyism, celebrity chefs and aspiring consumerism: The Cook, by Wayne Macauley
- Suspicion and fear on the streets of Bogota: The Sound Of Things Falling, by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
MUSIC REVIEWS
- A jailhouse Pilgrim? It really rocks
- Dinosaurs? We're not extinct yet! Aerosmith's Toxic Twins on how they survived drink, drugs and reality TV
- Back in the limelight, but Robbie's crown is slipping
- Irish eyes are smiling at a Russian star in this unjustly neglected opera
- Why Gwen Stefani's back on the road - with EIGHT children in tow...
THEATRE
- The Seagull: Charity shop clothes make this Chekhov look shabby An occasionally sparky new version written by Anya Reiss and featuring Matthew Kelly
- The Dark Earth and the Light Sky Do not be deterred, this tale of sacrifice is one to remember
- Uncle Vanya: This dacha is all too wooden Carmichael’s plaintive, plain Sonya is one of the strengths of Posner’s starry but disappointingly lacklustre revival.
- The Merry Wives of Windsor: Shakespeare's wives lead a merry dance Modern revival of the classic farce
- People: Hardly landmark comedy Overacting wrecks Alan Bennett's heartfelt satire on the National Trust
LATEST ALBUM RELEASES
Scroll through for the latest new album releases
Cello Concertos (Capriccio C5139)
From a young Dutch cellist comes spick-and-span performances of Haydn's perennially popular Cello Concertos. Backed by the Vienna Chamber Philharmonic under Claudius Traunfellner, Harriet Krijgh seems to have all the time in the world to make her musical points, even in the fast sections.
★★
The Evolution Of Man (Ministry of Sound)
Elliot Gleave(aka Example) is an ambitious British rapper taking his music out of the clubs and into arenas. His fourth album doesn't quite live up to its lofty title, but his sharply observed lyrics are still bolstered by a sing-along mix of rock and rave. Blur's Graham Coxon guests on the rockier tracks.
★★
Take Me Home (SyCo Music)
This second album could have been a difficult hurdle, but Harry, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Louis stick to the catchy pop of their debut smash Up All Night — strong vocals, chiming guitars and forceful choruses. They can hold a tune, and star songwriters — including fellow boy-band McFly and solo singer Ed Sheeran — make for material of a high standard. Live While We’re Young sets a buoyant tone, and the Sheeran-penned Little Things, a folky ballad, has the makings of another big hit. They stumble in rockier numbers Last First Kiss and Rock Me. But for One Direction, the only way is still up.
★★★★
Amy Winehouse At The BBC (Island)
An erratic stage performer, Winehouse was at her brilliant best in a recording booth, so this CD and DVD box of live takes, TV shows and radio sessions is aimed mostly at true believers. There are stunning moments, with Amy showing her jazz chops on Lullaby Of Birdland. But only diehard fans will want four versions of Rehab.
★★★
Grrr! (Universal)
The Stones celebrate their 50th anniversary with a retrospective that comes in an array of formats. But the basic model — three CDs and 50 key songs — should suffice for most. The hits are all here, sequenced chronologically from 1963’s Come On, and the two new numbers stand up well: neither the gritty Doom And Gloom nor One More Shot would have been out of place on Exile On Main Street.
★★★★★
Dos! (Warner bros, out now)
Is releasing three albums in as many months masochistic? Singer Billie Joe Armstrong’s public crack-up tends to bear that out. Asked to wrap up a Green Day gig recently, he let go a salty tirade, smashed his guitar and has been in rehab since. Still, the music keeps coming in his absence. Ersatz power-chord thrash ¡Uno! could be from 1977, while ¡Dos! channels garage rock of a decade earlier. No ground is broken, but the sullen energy and dark melody keep at bay Green Day’s cartoon leanings. With ¡Tre! to come next month, this sounds like a band plugging itself back in the mains.
★★★
Now (H&I; Music)
It’s never a bad time to celebrate the bright, suave sound of Hal David and Burt Bacharach; only The Beatles did more to define Sixties pop. It’s even more fitting now, weeks after David’s death at 91, and half a century since Don’t Make Me Over, their first hit with muse Dionne Warwick. The title was her angry reaction after they gave Make It Easy On Yourself to another singer; both are re-recorded here with I Say A Little Prayer and Reach Out. They sound comfier than you recall (slightly colourless in fact), but at 71, Warwick retains the grit and tenderness that made her Burt and Hal’s interpreter of choice.
★★★
Evolution (Epic)
Like the bus in Speed that will blow up if it goes below 50mph, a boy band must keep furiously moving, or end up a wreck on the pop highway. Likeable JLS have kept up an impressive clip since coming second on The X Factor in 2008: five No 1 singles, sold-out tours and more O2 shows than any British band bar Take That and the Spice Girls. Facing the One Direction juggernaut, the fourth-album gambit is to discard most of their poppier inclinations and launch into lusty, club-ready R&B;, with an eye on the US. The music is a pro job, as always, but doggedly sparky, not inspired. Hold Me Down, a nothing-can-stop-me ballad, stands out amid the sleek lady-praising and single-entendre come-ons.
★★