Cocktail of the week: Bar des Prés' margarithai – recipe
Serves 1
For the infusion
15g lemongrass, chopped into 1cm pieces
750ml tequila blanco – we use Volcan
For the drink40ml lemongrass-infused tequila (see above and method)20ml mezcal – we use Casamigos10ml agave syrup
20ml fresh lime juice
5 fresh coriander leavesHawaiian black salt, to rim the glass (optional)1 stick lemongrass, to garnish
Put the chopped lemongrass in a clean jar, add the tequila, seal tightly and leave to infuse for 24 hours (if you prefer, make it with less tequila, in which case reduce the amount of lemongrass accordingly). Fine strain into a clean jar, then seal and store.
To build the drink, measure all the liquids into a shaker filled with ice, add the coriander leaves and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass – rim it with black salt first, if you like – garnish with a stick of lemongrass and serve.
Sascha Angelucci, bar manager, Bar des Prés, London W1
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Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
Dave Franco and Alison Brie had to 'take stock' of co-dependency for Together
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Married co-stars Alison Brie and Dave Franco have admitted that making new horror film Together made them 'take stock of our own co-dependency'. The Hollywood duo, who married in 2017 and have worked together before on movies including The Rental and Somebody I Used to Know, are also producing their fifth collaboration together. It's only the second time they've acted opposite one another following 2017 black comedy The Little Hours. 'It might be the first ever feel-good body horror,' Franco suggests when I ask him to describe Together to the uninitiated – which seems increasingly unlikely given the exhausting press tour the couple have embarked upon, seemingly happy to play every quiz, take part in every social media concept built to go viral and talk to every outlet with undimmed enthusiasm. 'Plot-wise it's a about co-dependent couple who gets infected with something that makes it so that when they're apart from each other they start to feel sick, so they need to be near each other at all times, but it starts escalating to the point where their bodies start fusing together,' the 40-year-old adds, summing up the film's beats with practiced aplomb. To add some more colour, he plays struggling musician Tim, who reluctantly agrees to move out of the city for his long-term girlfriend Millie (Brie) to accept a teaching position in a smaller school she's passionate about. Their relationship is clearly in crisis after a decade together, with the pair out of step with one another – and nowhere is this more obvious than a toe-curlingly awful proposal scene. While Together's marketing has homed in on the gory and scary aspects of the film, hanging it off a realistically dysfunctional couple offers more nuance than just thrills and chills. 'I like to call it a gateway horror. It's a movie whose feet are definitively planted in the horror genre and horror fans will love it, but for people who think they don't like horror, I think they also would really enjoy it because there's a bit of romance, there's a bit of comedy. At the heart of it, it's just an entertaining movie, it's a really fun experience in the theatre,' explains Brie, 42. 'So we may have created a new genre?' she suggests as to their squishing fun vibes and gags together with genuine creepy moments and gruesome body bits. She also admits that her and Franco's co-dependency is 'on the higher end, I would say' when asked how the film saw them reframe their real-life relationship after embodying characters where it's all going wrong (and most memorably in a painful public toilet sex scene which will have you crossing your legs). 'More so, I think we left the set every day feeling really grateful that we are not like the couple in the movie! They don't have great communications skills. They've grown apart a little bit and yet are tragically suck together emotionally,' Brie shares. 'So, not much about our own relationship except just reinforcing that we're very happy!' laughs Franco as he chimes in. It's not a surprise to hear that either due to the couple's natural and relaxed rhythm with one another. It's very unlikely that you'd sign up to put your own relationship through the stress of playing a challenged couple unless you're feeling very secure. The two finish each other's sentences, developing answers and recollections between themselves as they bounce thoughts around. This is evident when they reveal their 'unbinding' ritual for the end of a day during shooting, a large amount of which they spent physically stuck to each other courtesy of various prosthetics. 'We binged the TV show One Day to kind of unwind from the day, a very sweet, romantic series,' Franco reveals, as Brie describes it as their 'big unwinding ritual'. 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The Guardian
30-07-2025
- The Guardian
The DJ who united the warring tribes of French rap and dance – and died tragically young
The late DJ Mehdi had a talent for bridging divides. At the height of the musician's fame, Mehdi's cousin Myriam Essadi recalls in a new documentary, he had to jet straight from a nightclub in Ibiza to his grandfather's funeral in Tunisia. 'He was wearing red glasses, white jeans and a jacket with a cross. In Tunisia! For our grandfather's funeral!' Essadi laughs. 'We didn't get it. And in Tunisia you don't mess with religion.' DJ Mehdi: Made in France, a six-part documentary now available with English subtitles on Franco-German broadcaster Arte, revisits the life and tragic death of one of the most fascinating, influential and misunderstood French musicians of his generation. International audiences largely know Mehdi, who died in 2011 at the age of 34, for his work with Parisian label Ed Banger in the 2000s, spearheading a new wave of French dance music alongside artists such as Justice – they of the cross logo on Mehdi's jacket – and SebastiAn. In France, however, his legacy is more complicated, opening up questions about the rift between hip-hop and dance music, as well as underlying divisions in French society. Born to a French-Tunisian family in the north-west suburbs of Paris in 1977, Mehdi Favéris-Essadi rose to prominence for his production work with rap group Ideal J and hip-hop collective Mafia K-1 Fry. His first big hits came with 113, a rap trio whose 1999 album Les Princes de la Ville is considered one of the most important albums of the decade in France. When Les Princes was released, dance music had already entered Mehdi's life via Cassius duo Philippe Zdar and Boombass, whom he worked with on MC Solaar's 1997 album Paradisiaque. Several of the leading producers of French house music had roots in hip-hop, including Pépé Bradock and Cassius themselves. But none were as well known within the rap world as Mehdi, and his pivot was not always warmly received. 'You couldn't switch from rap to electro or vice versa. 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The tension between two types of music and their various associations – Parisian elite v working class, city v suburbs – was palpable. 'In 1997, if 47 guys and girls from [Paris suburb] Bobigny wanted to get into the Queen club [a Paris club known for house music] they couldn't,' Boombass says in the documentary. 'To them we were just guys who smoked weed, only good for a bank robbery or to deal drugs to them,' Essadi adds. ''You're from the suburbs.' That meant many different things to people from central Paris who went to the Palace club or to Bains Douche to listen to dance music.' When Mehdi tried to bridge this gap – for example, with the Kraftwerk-sampling beat for 113's Ouais Gros – the response was often negative. 'When people heard it they thought: 'Who are these guys hardcore rapping to music like this? I don't get it,'' 113's AP says in the documentary. 'I remember people stopping me in the streets, people from the rap world saying: 'What's Mehdi doing? Talk to him! What's this new music, this crazy music,'' Essadi recounts. Mehdi would go on to have huge success in electronic music off the back of the release of Signatune in 2007. 'Signatune was soon being played by the most well-known DJs all across the globe and promoters all wanted to book DJ Mehdi for their events,' former Daft Punk manager Pedro Winter explains in Made in France. The final part of the documentary shows footage of Mehdi's international success, DJing at huge clubs and festivals alongside the Ed Banger crew to adoring, hedonistic crowds. It comes in sharp contrast to scenes of poverty and crime, burnt cars and drab suburban tower blocks, that mark the documentary's first two episodes, examining Mehdi's roots in hip-hop and the unfashionable outskirts of Paris. Mehdi died on 13 September 2011 at the height of his international fame, when the skylight on the roof of his Paris home collapsed as he was celebrating the birthday of British producer Riton. 'Four of them were sat on this … glass, sort of, roof,' Riton says in the documentary. 'They just got to stand up, that's when it like … made the roof collapse through. Then the next thing, we were just looking through this hole at this horrific scene.' Tributes to Mehdi came in from the elite of the global dance music world, including US dubstep artist Skrillex and Ed Simons from the Chemical Brothers. And yet, for people in France in particular, this was only half the story. 'Internationally [Mehdi's] probably best known as one of the frontrunners of the Ed Banger crew that defined an entire era,' Canadian DJ A-trak says at the end of the documentary. 'But, of course, he has a huge legacy as the king of French hip-hop production and even just someone who brought together these unlikely pairings of scenes.' 'He helped us evolve our music over time,' 113's Mokobé adds. 'It's thanks to him that there are no limits, no bars, no borders for us … This is what his music was all about; no bars, no barriers, no border.' DJ Mehdi: Made in France is available to watch on Arte from 1 August
Daily Mirror
26-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
'Mesmerising masterpiece' film that fans love now free to stream for free
The film been dubbed an absolute must for fans of Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings enthusiasts are being encouraged to watch "one of the best fantasy films ever made", now available for free streaming online. Pan's Labyrinth transports viewers back to 1944, where a young girl is sent to live with her "ruthless stepfather". Desperate to escape her grim reality, she finds herself drawn into a fantastical parallel world that brings its own terrors. After encountering a fairy who leads her to an ancient Faun, the girl learns she is a princess and her real father is a king. However, she must demonstrate her worth through several challenging tasks - and fans can now tune in on BBC. The film, presented in Spanish with English subtitles, has been hailed as a must-see for Lord of the Rings devotees. It is now available for streaming on BBC iPlayer for free from today (July 26). A BBC synopsis states: "Franco's Spain, 1944. Bookish young Ofelia, stuck in her sadistic new stepfather's army outpost, where her ailing mother is to give birth, gets drawn to a fantastical alternate world – one just as disturbing and violent as the reality around her.", reports the Manchester Evening News. The film, which debuted in 2006, was so well-received it was eventually adapted into a book. With an impressive rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the reviews continue to flood in. One viewer commented: "A classic, master class film making and storytelling. Up there with The Lord of The Rings as one of the best fantasy movies ever made." Another said: "Beautiful film that should have won more Oscars!". A third added: "A child's dreamworld and the horror of the civil war collide and entangle in an adult fantasy . A mesmerizing masterpiece." A fourth commented: "I love this movie since the first time I watched it. It has a special place in my memory and in my heart." Another simply said: "A masterpiece in every aspect!". One fan wrote: "This is my all time favorite movie, what a masterpiece. Check it out, you won't be disappointed." Featuring Ivana Baquero as Ofelia and Doug Jones as Pale Man, Fauno, viewers will also witness Ariadna Gil as Carmen and Sergi López as Vidal.
