Latest news with #Mythica
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Mythica: Stormbound review – new chunk of swords and sorcery tale ripe for avid franchise audience
This low-budget but reasonably competent swords and sorcery yarn is the sixth instalment in a series of Mythica films that goes back to 2014. It seems they were first bankrolled partly by crowdfunding, and then presumably kept going by the production's low overheads and straight-to-retail distribution to an audience that clearly grooves to quasi-Tolkienian, Dungeons and Dragons-style quests featuring a motley band (there is usually an elf or dwarf). If you like your necromancy tales spiked with huge chunks of nattering as the characters endeavour to bulk out the running time with lots of banter and exposition, this may be just the ticket. Don't worry too much about not having seen the other five films because this is reasonably watchable, especially as so much time is devoted to filling newbies in on the backstory via dialogue and voiceover. In any case, this is a bit of reboot with the meagre plot unfolding about 15 years after events in the last film. The ensemble is made of up all-new characters who allude to such figures as Marek the slave girl-cum-magician who led the franchise earlier. This go-round, our protagonist is The Stranger (Will Kemp), known just as Stranger to his friends; he is an apothecary/bounty hunter (clearly in this medieval economy everyone has two or three jobs) travelling with a mysterious cargo in his wagon. Stranger finds Erid (Nate Morley), an injured young man, on the road and brings him to an inn run by Irish-accented dwarf Giblock (Joe Abraham). The inn just happens to be where Erid had been living as a one of Giblock's slaves along with comely Arlin (Ryann Bailey), but Erid recently got caught up in a catastrophe when the local witch, who goes by the delightful moniker Mahitable Crow (Barta Heiner), murdered everyone in the nearby village, making Erid the sole survivor. As a terrible storm is raging outside, other travellers keep fetching up at the inn, including a loudmouth local marshal and his elven sidekick, a hulking hunter, a mysterious vampy woman, and so on. It's like The Hateful Eight but with slightly less ponderous dialogue and crisper editing. The nocturnal time-frame means the darkness can disguise the shonkiness of the visual effects during the sequence when a human character turns into a CGI bear. In the final scenes – in daytime – the purple smoke and CGI lightning looks even cheaper and shonkier, which is in its way sort of endearing. But credit is due to the cast and director Jake Stormoen (who played a character in the earlier films) for serving this up with a surprisingly persuasive gravity and straight faces. You can tell it comes from a place of respect for the franchise's audience. Mythica: Stormbound is on digital platforms from 16 June
Times
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Alice Roberts: REM saved me when I had nowhere to live
I've got two. The wonderful Richard Fortey's Dry Store Room No 1, which takes you on a tour round the Natural History Museum, and George Eliot's Middlemarch, which I think is a perfect novel. I've just started Emily Hauser's Mythica. It's really got me enthralled. She starts off talking about being 15 and the joy of being able to read Greek, which resonated with me because I did GCSE Greek and absolutely loved it. I'm such a huge admirer of all of Stephen Jay Gould's writing, but I would like to have written Wonderful Life, which is about the Burgess Shale and all those amazing creatures that exploded into existence 500 million years ago. The Great Gatsby. I've watched the
The Guardian
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
In brief: The Homemade God; Mythica; There Are Rivers in the Sky
Rachel JoyceDoubleday, £20, pp384 When commercially successful but critically derided artist Vic Kemp dies suddenly, his four adult children are left reeling. Vic's recent marriage to a much younger woman – the elusive Bella-Mae – fuels speculation about his death and the whereabouts of his final painting. As the children gather at Vic's Italian villa, tensions rise and long-buried truths can no longer be ignored. Joyce employs her considerable emotional acuity and deft characterisation to portray the complexities of sibling relationships and the burden of patriarchal dominance in a masterly and deeply satisfying exploration of art, grief and familial bonds. Emily HauserDoubleday, £25, pp496 Hauser's fascinating book goes in search of the women who inspired characters in the Iliad and the Odyssey, from Helen and Hecuba to Cassandra and Calypso. Blending archaeology, literature, history and myth, she surveys bronze age evidence to uncover clues as to the identities and often surprising biographies of historical figures who have been largely ignored by classical scholarship. Elif ShafakPenguin, £9.99, pp496 (paperback) Shafak's latest multi-perspective novel travels from 19th-century London to 2018, from the Thames to the Tigris, with protagonists including a poverty-stricken young prodigy, a girl who is going deaf, and a hydrologist who has fled her marriage. As these narratives converge, Shafak poses questions about identity, inequality and the significance of water in our lives. To order The Homemade God, Mythica or There Are Rivers in the Sky go to Delivery charges may apply
CairoScene
10-03-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
From London to Cairo: Sanderson's Return to Egypt With Design Emporium
From London to Cairo: Sanderson's Return to Egypt With Design Emporium Like poetry woven in silk and thread, fabrics tell stories of time, place and craft. When fabric meets furniture, a simple wooden chair becomes a storyteller, a sofa transforms into a sanctuary. In the world of interiors, textiles are more than materials - they are echoes of artistry, draped in history and elegance. With Design Emporium recently acquiring the British Sanderson Design Group, Egypt's interior design scene gains a new narrative; one of majesty and timeless elegance. 'In 1992, when my mother Aziza Al-Tanani - may her soul rest in peace - founded Design Emporium, Sanderson Design Group was one of the brands we proudly represented,' Karim Molyneux-Berry, Managing director at Design Emporium, tells SceneHome. 'Sadly, they left us in 2015, but bringing them back now is not just a great milestone; it's a deeply personal one.' Sanderson Design Group, a Royal Warrant holder, is home to six quintessentially British luxury interior brands: Sanderson, Morris & Co., Zoffany, Harlequin, Clarke & Clarke, and Scion. Each brand carries its own distinct character, and tells its own tale of craftsmanship, and design. 'Previously, we didn't have Morris & Co. with us, but with this heartfelt reunion - welcoming the Sanderson family back - we're thrilled to embrace Morris & Co. as part of our own Design Emporium family here in Egypt,' Molyneux-Berry explains. Honouring the legacy of English master of textiles and Poet William Morris, Morris & Co. brings the warmth of English country houses to the Egyptian home. Picture a dark olive-green velvet sofa, nestled against the iconic 'Strawberry Thief' wallpaper, its cushions echoing the same storied print. Or envision yourself in a quiet corner, gently swaying on a wooden chair upholstered in the lush green leaves of 'Willow Boughs Weave', reading your book with a nice warm cup of tea. These fabrics are fragments of poetry, transforming a house into a haven where the dwelling itself is an art of its own. If Harry Potter and Narnia are your midnight escapes, then Clarke & Clarke's Mythica collection is your portal. Quetzals soaring through emerald canopies, mythical beasts prowling in golden hues, and underwater utopias unfolding in deep, cerulean blues - each fabric and wallpaper tells a tale of wonder. With phoenixes rising, tigers lurking, and unicorns wandering through an enchanted dreamscape, Mythica transforms any space into a cabinet of curiosities, where every glance feels like turning the page of a forgotten myth. Beyond the enchanted and fabled, Clarke & Clarke's Metropolitan collection takes a strikingly different turn - one that echoes the bold rhythms of the urban landscape. Here, modern fabrics and wallpapers embrace dramatic noir tones, capturing the sleek energy of a penthouse in the heart of London or the sculptural fluidity of Frank Gehry's Beekman Tower in Manhattan. Silver blues and deep greys weave through abstract, sometimes geometric patterns, set against warm beige and sandy backdrops, turning walls into canvases of contemporary artistry. With a soft, plastered twist, Harlequin embraces hues that dance like mist. Less bold yet full of cheer, its colours shine both bright and clear. The Prism Plains collection bursts with vibrant delight, radiating plain yet lively hues. Meanwhile, the Kasuri Fabrics collection evokes Japanese artistry through subtle, woven textures. Then comes Salinas, elegance untold, where nature meets the glamour of 1920s gold, with nine exquisite wallpaper designs evoking quiet, timeless charm. Sanderson's Indoor Outdoor collection weaves a botanical haven, blurring the lines between home and garden. Greens, blues, and oranges entwine in a fresh, sunlit palette, where nature lingers, and spaces breathe. Meanwhile, the Disney Home x Sanderson wallpapers bring childhood classics to life. From the whimsy of 'Alice in Wonderland' to the quiet charm of 'Bambi' and the magic of 'Peter Pan', every wall becomes a storybook. And for those with a soft spot for honey, 'Winnie the Pooh' arrives in serene greens and blues, transporting you into the Hundred Acre Wood. 'Re-acquiring the Sanderson Design Group is a pivotal step, not only strengthening our market presence but also ensuring that we continue to bring exceptional, high-quality products to our valued clients and design enthusiasts,' Molyneux-Berry says. Photography Credit: Sanderson Design Group
