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Gimme The Loot (15) Verdict: Wilfully inconsequential Rating: Weirdly overpraised by U.S. critics, Gimme The Loot unwisely assumes its audience will care about a pair of black teenage graffiti artists in New York who steal without remorse, sell drugs and swear incessantly.  The film is almost totally lacking in plot, and, even at 81 minutes, too many moments drag. SCROLL DOWN FOR TRAILER Gimme The Loot is almost totally lacking in plot says reviewer Chris Tookey Tashiana Washington and Ty Hickson have good looks and charm to spare as the less than dynamic duo. &

Deadfall (15)Verdict: Falls apart Rating: Stefan Ruzowitzky’s follow-up to his World War II drama The Counterfeiters is a snowy film noir that resembles Fargo in its geography and atmosphere, but fatally lacks its sense of humour. It’s about brother-and-sister robbers (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) who split up in blizzard conditions to avoid the police.  He goes on a rampage of murder. She finds love with a boxer just out of prison (Charlie Hunnam). Scroll down for trailer Fatally lacks Fargo's sense of humour: Charlie Hunnam and Olivia Wilde in Deadfall They converge on the home of the boxer’s parents (Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek), for a lurid and bloody Thanksgiving Night climax. It’s all decently acted but thinly characterised, and voyeuristically graphic in its violence.  The plot becomes so dark in its view of family that it borders on Grand Guignol. The Oedipal and incestuous contrivances become especially ridiculous. Ultimately, it’s impossible to car

Turkey's contemporary art scene is buzzing. Collectors pay millions for the hottest works at exclusive auctions, high-end galleries are springing up by the dozen, and more and more Turkish artists are holding exhibitions abroad. The clients are the usual family magnates and super-rich - Istanbul ranks fifth in the world on the Forbes list of billionaires. But they also include an expanding class of young professionals looking for investment opportunities and a touch of prestige.   The boom in Turkey's modern art market has coincided with a decade of steady economic growth. Since a financial meltdown brought the Turkish banking sector to its knees in 2001, the economy has more than doubled in size and per capita income has tripled in nominal terms. "There are many young professionals who make good money and really want to have a piece of art in their home," said painter Yigit Yazici as he sipped an espresso at his studio in Istanbul's upmarket Nisantasi distri

In December James Cleaveland made an unusual New Year's resolution: to do all he could to keep police in the city of Keene, New Hampshire, from issuing parking tickets. Cleaveland and a group of friends took to the streets with pocketfuls of change and began shadowing the city's three parking enforcement officers, stuffing coins in expired meters before they could issue $5 tickets. They call their practice "Robin Hooding," and in just over four months, the group claims to have spared motorists more than 2,000 tickets in the city of some 23,000.   "It's my philosophy," said Cleaveland, 26, a member of a group called Free Keene, which subscribes to the libertarian principle of smaller government. "I could go talk to the city council at every meeting but to me, actions speak louder than words. I can go out and try to save people and reduce the number of tickets." The southern New Hampshire city's government does not share Cleaveland'

  The Great Gatsby (12A) Rating: Baz Luhrmann was precisely the wrong director to shoot F.  Scott Fitzgerald’s small but perfectly formed American novel. With the opposite of the Midas touch, he has transformed a book of class, subtlety and sophistication into a frenzied folly, with the heartfelt emotion of a Las Vegas floorshow. Luhrmann lovingly titivates the fake and superficial, and never gets round to serving the meat of the novel, which involves  cutting into sham and heartlessness. It’s not all terrible. Luhrmann is in his element at Long Island parties of the Roaring Twenties, and invests them with glitz, glamour and more than a hint of decadence. He and his designer wife, Catherine Martin, are connoisseurs of kitsch. Louche living: Gatsby stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan It’s too bad he is tone-deaf when dealing with nuanced human emotions or tragedy. Too much of the film goes for over-the-top, operatic effect when it needs to go for the intimate. The

An encyclopedia of Italian political slang has shone a light on a colorful and Byzantine world where lawmakers and journalists speak a language you won't find in any ordinary dictionary. The confusing nature of Italian politics has come to the fore in recent months, with an electoral result in which the leading party won the lower house but not the senate, a resulting two-month stalemate, and the final formation of a government led by none of the candidates who campaigned.   Here is a selection of the words that best sum it all up in the encyclopaedia 'Il Crollo' ('The Downfall'), compiled by journalist Lorenzo Pregliasco: BUNGA BUNGA The term for a "mysterious sexual ritual" supposedly enjoyed by guests at Silvio Berlusconi's parties. It originated from testimony from the Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, or 'Ruby the Heartstealer', in October 2010. The phrase became synonymous with Italy's then prime minister, and its vi

As Doctor Who comes to the end of its latest series, there are concerns within the BBC about a ‘creative nosedive’ and ‘dodgy storylines’ in the last 14 episodes. Some fans are questioning whether executive producer Steven Moffat has run out of ideas and should hand the reins to someone new. Hollywood-bound: Matt Smith with Jenna-Louise Coleman Only 4.6 million people have tuned in to some episodes, and though the BBC insists the resurrected drama has eight million viewers, even this is well down from the ten million when the show was revived in 2005. Tomorrow’s episode, The Name Of The Doctor,  will set up November’s movie-length 50th anniversary episode, which sees the return of popular Doctor David Tennant and his companion Billie Piper. However, Tennant’s appearance will be a one-off, and existing Doctor Matt Smith, who is highly regarded, is expected to leave to launch a film career. A Beeb source says: ‘The 50th anniversary episode seems a good opportunity for him [Moffat