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Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kidman's perfectly brilliant as an obsessive, drugged-up therapist: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV
Nine Perfect Strangers (Amazon Prime Video) Rating: Brace yourself for scandalous gossip. You'll be gobsmacked. The sublime Christine Baranski slips this line into Nine Perfect Strangers, as she greets a celebrity nun. 'Sister Agnes, I've met you before,' she purrs. 'Rome, wasn't it? I think Elton played, but he couldn't have, not for a benefit for the Catholic Church.' And explaining herself to the bemused other guests, she drops her bombshell: ' Elton John is gay.' This second series, based on Liane Moriarty's bestseller, overflows with sharp dialogue, crammed with so many clever asides that in places it has the archness and pacing of a sitcom. Baranski plays an oversexed septuagenarian called Victoria O'Clair, treating her toyboy lover Matteo to a therapy retreat in the Bavarian Alps. She introduces her petulant offspring Imogen (Annie Murphy) with delicious spite: 'You must excuse my daughter — 35 is such a difficult age. It's when the panic really sets in.' Sister Agnes (Dolly de Leon) has come in search of 'absolution — but only She can grant that'. Who is the mysterious 'She'? Why, God, of course. You'd be excused for thinking the nun is talking about the show's resident deity, Nicole Kidman, wearing an ice-blonde wig and a face so flawless yet immobile, it appears to be a porcelain mask. Kidman is perfectly brilliant as the fragile, obsessive therapist Masha, part visionary and part insane control freak. Masha has devised a 'psychedelic drug delivery system' that enables her clients to 'experience memories as if for the first time, in a highly neuroplastic state'. In other words, she doses their drinks with magic mushrooms, and watches on a network of hidden CCTV cameras as they lose their minds. Her obsequious pet scientist Martin (Lucas Englander) lays down some ground rules: 'No imperfect dosage, no dosage without consent, and no dosing yourself.' But Masha has already broken that last rule, with the result that she is followed everywhere by the ghost of her young daughter, Tatiana. When Masha is being feted on stage, as a psychotherapy superstar, the little girl is sitting in the wings with her arms wrapped round her knees. And at night, Tatiana stands beside her mother's bed, whispering, 'I can't sleep. I never sleep.' Like that other murder-and-meditation thriller, The White Lotus, this series demands concentration. We have to get to grips with a dozen characters, all with their own neuroses. Wolfie and Tina (Maisie Richardson-Sellers and King Princess) are a lesbian couple with a thing about pianos. Super-rich idler Peter (Henry Golding) has daddy issues, a problem made worse by the fact that Daddy (Mark Strong) is an evil billionaire and one of Masha's ex-lovers. Murray Bartlett, a former White Lotus star himself, is a TV entertainer and puppeteer with a very short fuse. It's enough to make your head spin. Nurse — more drugs please!
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Ultimate Itinerary for a German Road Trip from Bavaria to Cologne
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." When you get invited to fly business class to Germany and then hotel-hop around the country, you immediately RSVP yes, pack your luggage, and practice how to say guten tag in the mirror a million times. And that's exactly what I did last spring, when Condor Airlines and Altoff Hotels brought me on a road trip that started in the resort town of Tegernsee, took me into Schwangau (in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps), and ended in the bustling city of Cologne, enjoying all there is to see and do along the way. It was, in a word, incredible. And because I believe that I experienced Germany in the absolute best way (in my humble opinion), I put together this travel itinerary for you, with tips on where to stay, play, and eat while you're cruising through the country. Scroll down and follow my lead for an unforgettable road trip through the mountains and into the city. Ich verspreche, dass Sie Spaß haben werden! (That's "Promise you'll have fun!" in German.) (P.S. The writer received free transportation, stays, meals, and experiences to write this story.) I flew Condor's Airbus A33neo from New York (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA), and felt so fancy flying business class. Not only did the new, modern design make the almost nine-hour flight go by like a breeze—shoutout to the lie-flat seats, mood lighting, and exceptionally good food—but the new plane is also a more sustainable model thanks to enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, which I love. In addition to their business class seats, the Airbus A33neo also offers four "Prime" seats, which are comparable to first-class suites on other airlines, which all have extra-large 4K TVs, large ottomans, and a ton of extra space. But if you're flying on a budget, you'll be happy to hear that the Airbus A33neo also has both premium economy and economy seats, which I thought looked more spacious than competing airlines. Shop Now Only a 45-minute drive from Munich, along the shores of a crystal-clear lake, lies the quaint spa town of Tegernsee. Here, you'll find the five-star hotel Althoff Seehotel Überfahrt, which offers some of Germany's prettiest views, according to me. The rooms are very spacious—surprisingly so for Europe—and many have private balconies and soaking tubs. My favorite touch? The tasty welcome Pilsners at check-in. But I also loved the on-site Michelin-starred restaurant, Überfahrt, and the amazing spa, 4 Elements, which had lovely indoor and outdoor pools. Shop Now Enjoy a picturesque carriage ride: Trust me, you want to hop on a horse-drawn carriage and trot along the shores of Tegernsee, and the guest relations manager at the Althoff Seehotel Überfahrt can help set you up with a local company that prioritizes humane horse conditions. During the ride, I learned all about the history of the area and experienced the Bavarian countryside, which consists of adorable neighborhoods, mountain views, and cute attractions. Shop through the charming town: My favorite part about Tegernsee is how walkable and charming it is. Exit out the front doors of the Althoff hotel and follow the shoreline, and you'll find both modern boutiques (with designer clothes and accessories) as well as traditional Bavarian shops. See below where I tried on the most stunning handmade dirndl (a traditional dress) at a local store called Trachten Greif. Drink an aperitif next to the lake: Whether you're out shopping, exploring the town, or looking for a quick drink, you're going to want to stop by one of the quaint cafés along the shoreline. My suggestions? Grab a waterfront seat at Franzl for a coffee or spritz, or pop on over to Café Lengmüller for a tasty slice of cake. Dine at Althoff Seehotel Überfahrt: The hotel I stayed at has five restaurants, and the Michelin-starred restaurant Überfahrt—run by celebrity chef, Alexander Herrmann—was certainly the fanciest of the bunch. My favorite experience, though, was at Bayerstube, the traditional Bavarian restaurant where we dined in a private room and had never-ending fondue. Just 90 minutes from Munich, the little village of Schwangau in Southern Bavaria is home to the Ameron Neuschwanstein Alpsee Resort and Spa, where you get views of the Alps and gorgeous green forests. The hotel alone is a good enough reason to visit the area, but you'll also find two castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, the latter of which is said to have inspired Disney's Cinderella castle. I loved exploring the castles as well as the hotel's five buildings, four of which are ultra-modern. My fave was the oldest building, Jägerhaus, complete with 11 swanky rooms featuring canopy beds, elaborate wallpaper, and antiques. It plays into the whole fairytale aesthetic, and I highly suggest booking this building during your stay if you want an authentic experience. BOOK A STAY AT AMERON NEUSCHWANSTEIN ALPSEE Peep the castles: As I mentioned, Schwangau's hotspots—and the reason travelers visit from all over the world—are Lord Ludwig's two fairytale castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, perched up in the hills. Neuschwanstein is gorgeous and grand, but I actually preferred visiting Ludwig's smaller, summer residence, Hohenschwangau. It's filled with 19th-century art and furnishings and is rich in Bavarian history. Check it out to learn about the interesting life of Lord Ludwig—trust me, he's got quite the story. Take a gondola trip to the summit of Mount Tegelberg: When you're surrounded by mountains all day long, you're going to want to get to the top of 'em at some point. The best way? Via a ten-minute gondola ride up Mount Tegelberg, at TegelbergBahn. Once you've reached the summit, you can see both castles and a bird's eye view of the region. Oh, and I'd be remiss not to mention that if you're there in the warmer months, on the way down you'll notice a mountainside toboggan ride that you one million percent need to go on. It's as fun as it looks, and it's not just for kids. Eat a traditional Bavarian meal at a beer garden: You can't visit Germany without going to a beer garden. Luckily, the Ameron hotel has one on-site: Bräustüberl and Alpseestube Biergarten. Grab a casual bite to eat (I recommend the spaetzle and schnitzel), and wash it down with a cold lager. The Summer Shandy was also incredibly refreshing. Dine at : If you're looking for more of an elevated dining experience—whether that be for date night or a special celebration—the resort's restaurant is the perfect vibe. It serves farm-to-table meals based on seasonal availability, so you're truly getting the freshest food. The view isn't half bad either, considering you can see both castles while chowing down. After soaking up all the traditional Bavarian customs and gorgeous landscapes, I embarked on a five-hour drive to the city of Cologne, one of Germany's most vibrant cities. I stayed just outside of the city at the incredible Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg. This bright white, 18th-century palace has a marble-floored lobby, grand furnishings, a cobblestone driveway, and perfectly manicured gardens. My room was equally as lavish, and the dining experience at their two-Michelin-star restaurant, Vendôme, made for a once-in-a-lifetime stay. Shop Now Take on the Cologne streets: Because Cologne is one of Germany's oldest cities, it's rich in history, so I suggest dedicating a full day to exploring, like I did. If you're only there for a day or so, you won't have enough time to see it all, so try to prioritize the top, must-see attractions. I recommend checking out the iconic Gothic Kölner Dom Cathedral (which's one of the largest in Europe and took over 600 years to finish!); Old Town, which is filled with historic buildings, cobblestones, and fun homes; and Glockengasse, a street in the center of the city, and the birthplace of 4711 Eau de Cologne. There's a house on the street that has been turned into a museum and store where you can learn about one of the oldest and most famous colognes in the world, and why the city was named after it. Visit during Carnival: If you're looking for a wild and wonderful experience, visit Cologne during Carnival (aka Kölner Karneval), which kicks off in November. The city comes alive with costumes, parades, parties, music, and food. I visited in the spring, and leftover confetti still lined the streets. Locals made me promise to come back for the "best party of the year". Lunch at a traditional brewery: For a bite to eat and a beer to drink, check out the famous Peters Brauhaus brewery, which is one of the oldest breweries in the city. There, order some German delicacies like bratwurst, sauerkraut, or schnitzel and pair them with Cologne's signature beer, Kölsch, which is unique to the city. It's super refreshing and light, and tastes perfect paired with German food. After a few glasses of Kölsch, I was inspired to hit up a few of the local bars, where I had just a few more. Try the tasting menu at : If you're staying at the lavish Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg, you need to have at least one meal that's equally as fancy. The hotel's multi-Michelin-star restaurant, Vendôme, led by the famous Chef Joachim Wissler, has one of the most unique menus I've ever experienced. We enjoyed one of the tasting menus, complete with a wine pairing, and I felt like I could quite literally taste each and every ingredient in the dishes. It was truly a one-of-a-kind experience. You Might Also Like Here's What NOT to Wear to a Wedding Meet the Laziest, Easiest Acne Routine You'll Ever Try
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Nine Perfect Strangers review: The only people likely to be traumatised by this moribund thriller are the viewers
Nicole Kidman has worked hard over the past decade to parlay her Hollywood fame into a parallel career as a force in prestige television. She hasn't given up on the big screen, and was recently to be found steaming it up in a romp about a brief but intense affair with a much younger man, Babygirl . But it is with shows such as Big Little Lies that she has had the most success – a track record that comes to a tumultuous halt with the appalling second series of Nine Perfect Strangers (Prime Video from Thursday). Season one was an undercooked tale of paranoia and skulduggery set amidst a retreat for the mega-wealthy. It had the bad luck to launch in the same summer as White Lotus – a tale of paranoia and skulduggery set amidst a retreat for the mega-wealthy. One became a phenomenon, the other did not - despite top mugging by Kidman as gurning guru Masha Dmitrichenko in her unsettling statement wig. Four years later, Masha is somehow still in business, despite the previous season culminating in an orgy of paranoia and violence. True, several massive lawsuits and 'multiple Federal investigations' are looming. No matter. A billionaire in the Bavarian Alps wants to whisk Masha – and her new wig – away from her legal woes, on the proviso she runs another retreat with another nine volunteers. Kidman does her best, but her performance is 90 per cent iffy Russian accent. Meanwhile, this year's cast of dysfunctional one-per-centers make for a threadbare bunch – the quality of guest cameos low to non-existent. Series one featured Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon and Luke Evans – the best the follow-up can muster is White Lotus's Murray Bartlett (as a disgraced kids' TV presenter) and indie singer King Princess, playing a tortured piano prodigy. The biggest star aside from Kidman is Mark Strong, a mega-bucks baddie who shares a dark history with Masha. READ MORE The White Lotus-ness of it all is hard to get past. The difference is that the HBO hit had the pretence of social satire (that satire was, in fact, just hipster nihilism, but it did string you along convincingly). Nine Perfect Strangers, by contrast, has nothing to say, and while it knows what it wants to be – Agatha Christie for audiences weaned on Succession – it has no idea how to get there. Masha's big gimmick is using psychedelic drugs to both unlock one's inner trauma and, so she claims, communicate with the dead. However, the only people likely to be traumatised by this moribund thriller are the viewers. Unlike the characters corralled in Nine Perfect Strangers, they have the choice of running for the hills – an option many will find all too tempting. Nine Perfect Strangers season two is on Prime Video now
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Nine Perfect Strangers, season 2, review: Nicole Kidman's psychobabble drama is one insufferable mess
Actors playing drunk always make me giggle, they so rarely get it right. But actors playing high on psychedelic drugs raises the hysteria bar to a whole other level. As performed on the returning Nine Perfect Strangers (Amazon Prime Video), it's excruciating. In its first run, Nine Perfect Strangers, based on a Liane Moriarty bestseller, introduced us to glacial psychotherapist Masha, played by Nicole Kidman with an enigmatic cool that's practically cryogenic, whose specialty is gathering a disparate group at a wellness retreat and sorting out their assorted issues. Masha is dealing with her own grief, her young daughter having died in suspicious circumstances. She uses psychedelic drugs to unlock repressed memories and, in a stretch you really have to bend to go with, she uses the drugs to connect with the dead. I did say bend. First time around Masha's guinea pigs were tolerable enough. But in its second run, the discordant nonet she's gathered at a new location, a towering sanatorium high in the Bavarian Alps, really are a piece of work. Apparently, they are all Jungian archetypes, but I'll leave that to the psychology graduates. To the non-shrink specialists, what they are is a supremely irritating bunch of indulged stereotypes with Mummy and Daddy issues. A TV puppeteer, a celebrity nun, a piano prodigy… put those in a joke and you might get a punchline, but open up their issues for drama and all you get is a feast of trippy over-acting. The set-up is very Agatha Christie, the ties which bind Masha's inmates loosely together gradually revealed over eight episodes in which her own cunning revenge plan – luring a big-shot billionaire into her spider's web of intrigue – are gradually revealed. It's that central storyline, Nicole Kidman's Masha shadow-boxing with Mark Strong 's media magnate David Shark, where Nine Perfect Strangers really sticks in the craw. Every time they cross swords and dig into their dark history – spoiler: she blames him for the death of her daughter – they somehow end up having a snog. Yeah, I can see how that would happen. Full of lazy dated references (we get characters doing Spice Girls repartee, like it's the 1990s all over again) and dreary psychobabble that's meant to sound to sound meaningful but just comes across as cringe – 'Are you afraid to go deeper?' – this really is a career low for Kidman, Strong and a supporting cast including Christine Baranski, Murray Bartlett and Annie Murphy, none of whom convince that their characters are anything more than cyphers from a psychology textbook. We've had a lot of rich folk trauma dramas lately and Nine Perfect Strangers adds very little to the party with its uninspired rehash of Philip Larkin's This Be The Verse ('They f--k you up, your mum and dad'). It looks glamorous and talks the prestige TV talk, but it's a hollow, self-indulgent emotional vacuum. As Strong's bad billionaire faced his supposed comeuppance at the closing episode's Poirot-style dénouement, his exasperated outburst took the words right out of my keyboard: 'Just f---king kill me, I can't take any more!'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
In the Bavarian Alps, Waltzing My Way Into Family History
Schloss Elmau 'Look into your partner's eyes. Make the connection. Helen, put your hand on your man's shoulder. Bruce, put your hand on Helen's waist. Get closer, so you can almost feel the other person's heart beating. Then gently grasp your other hands with flat palms. Don't interlace your fingers, or you will be unable to twirl her.' I want to be twirled, so we do as Erik says. We are in a ballroom in a recently refurbished castle in the Bavarian Alps, learning how to waltz. I'm 63, my husband is 66. Erik Dietrich, who moves like water over stones, is our instructor. As a teenager, he says, dancing saved his life. Now, at 27, he works as a dance teacher in a high school in Munich. He wants his pupils to enjoy the experience, to feel the joy that comes from moving to music, to have conversations with our bodies. To 'make the connection.' The ballroom (which doubles as a concert hall) is part of a hotel, spa, and cultural center called Schloss Elmau. There are many reasons why one might choose to vacation here: the views; the hiking; the Pilates and yoga classes; the eight swimming pools, most outdoors and heated even in the winter (I swam in the salt water pool with steam rising during a magical March snowfall); the concerts and lectures; the eight restaurants, one with two Michelin stars and another devoted to fondue. The G7 met here, twice. You might remember a famous alfresco photo of Angela Merkel, standing with her arms outstretched in animated conversation with a rapt Barack Obama lounging on a bench. But none of that has brought me and my husband to Schloss Elmau. The resort periodically offers weekend-long dance intensives and we have come to twirl! And, as Erik says, to make a connection—in my case, to some family history. You see, this isn't my first waltz lesson. Five decades ago, my grandmother, a Jewish refugee from this part of Middle Europe, taught me the dance. After my grandfather died, she moved into a studio apartment in the same Greenwich Village building where my family was subletting a one-bedroom apartment. Later, when we moved to the Upper East Side, she moved in with us. She had no money of her own and she was lonely. We ended up sharing a bedroom for much of my childhood, and well into my teenage years, until my sister went to college, and Grandma got her little maid's room behind the kitchen. I remember one afternoon in the early years when Grandma was lying on her twin bed with her eyes closed, as I read a book sitting up on mine. The book's main character had been to a party. I asked her, 'Grandma, what's a waltz?' Her life had been hard. She had lost so much: her mother to cholera, a brother stolen by the Russian army when soldiers invaded in what was then Austro-Hungary during World War I. When she was 18, her father sent her alone to a brother in America and she never saw any of her relatives again—most were murdered in the Holocaust, except her youngest brother who escaped to Palestine as a teenager. She met and married my grandfather, a Russian refugee, and they owned a laundry. He washed the clothes and she did the mending and ironing. By the time she and I ended up as roommates, Grandma, now in her seventies, had lived a life she'd never expected as a child. To cheer herself up, she liked to talk about her youth—climbing a cherry tree in her white graduation dress because she just had to have this one gorgeous cherry, ripping the dress her mother had hand-sewn for her on the way down. She sounded so high-spirited to me; her life seemed so magical before the wars swept her whole world away. She was educated, too, which was unusual for a girl in those times, and a Jewish one at that. She could read and write in seven languages. She was an expert seamstress and embroiderer, and she took dance lessons, which she loved. I was a dancer, too! Not social dancing, like her, but ballet and modern. As I read my book, I fantasized about the parties she must have attended at school. The muscle memory was still encoded in her body. She had rhythm and grace. Her grief and loss had not stolen this from her. Now, she was heavy-set, you could even say lumbering. But when I asked my question, she got up and began to slowly demonstrate by circling around my bedroom. One-two-three, one-two-three…her arms orbiting a phantom partner. I laughed when I saw her—she wasn't exactly an active senior, and she had neither a bra nor girdle on under her house dress. But then I recognized she could really move. The muscle memory was still encoded in her body. She had rhythm and grace. Her grief and loss had not stolen this from her. 'Pussycat,' she said, 'Come try.' I walked over and she put her arms around my waist and shoulder and began to hum, some waltz-y type music from her memory that I didn't know, as she spun me around our bedroom. We were both so happy. I have continued to dance ever since, taking ballet and jazz classes well into my forties and since then barre class every day and a lot of yoga. Dance has sustained me my entire life. But before we'd met Erik, that brief lesson from my grandmother was the only moment that I'd ever truly experienced ballroom dancing. Now, I am going to be twirled again. Eric first puts on 'The Blue Danube' by Johann Strauss and then 'The Second Waltz by Dmitri Shostakovich'. He tells us to hold each other and move naturally, so Bruce and I sway side-to-side. He teaches us a two-step first and then the box step. Fun, but not what we'd come for. 'I want to swirl her around the room,' Bruce had said, when Erik had originally asked us for our goals. We keep knocking into one another. We laugh at our own clumsiness, and Erik laughs too. He is so glad that we are enjoying ourselves. Erik teaches us 'the lady turn,' where Bruce spins me under his arm, and then we two-step away from each other and he spins me back to him. Maybe it is the altitude, maybe it is the romance of it all, but by the time Eric puts on Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love With You'—also in ¾ time!—we are both breathless. And we are waltzing. After waltz class, we retreat to Schloss Elmo's luxurious hamam, the largest one outside of Turkey. Two lovely masseuses, both wearing bathing suits, introduce themselves, the man assigned to Bruce and the woman to me. Soon we are naked, scrubbed, and massaged in foam on the same heated stone. My attendant even washes my long hair. Bundled up in towels, we are brought into a lounge area where we are poured tea and fed dates and Turkish Delight. Our limbs are butter. I have never felt so relaxed and blissful. Maybe it is the altitude, maybe it is the romance of it all, but by the time Eric puts on Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love With You' we are both breathless. And we are waltzing. The next day, Bruce and I continue our dancing intensive. This time Erik partners Bruce, to show him how to lead. Then he takes me in his arms, teaching me to step forward when he steps backwards, and that if I angle my body some, and step between his legs, we can begin to make those big giant turns Bruce was aiming for. Faster and faster we twirl, in great big sweeping circles, the smile on my face so big it hurts. 'This is what it felt like with my grandmother,' I say. Bruce breaks in and we try it together, cracking up as we go. Erik is delighted. He says, 'If I am still dancing when I am 70, I know I will have lived a good life.' I tear up at that, because that is around the age my grandmother was when she and I danced together. It's my hope, too. To never stop dancing. Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler The Latest Stories from Condé Nast Traveler Want to be the first to know? Sign up to our newsletters for travel inspiration and tips 45 Abandoned Places Around the World That You Can Visit The Cheapest Nicest Hotels in Paris The Women Who Travel Power List 2025
