Culture,Music,Video clips

Martin Solveig plays to the crowd

Click to playMartin Solveig plays to the crowd

Though you might not know the name, you’ll know the tunes of Martin Solveig (his last single, “Hello”, was all over Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday, er, apparently). You also may know the videos  — his last one, which you can watch here, has had just shy of 23 million views already. His latest, for new single “Ready 2 Go”, which features the vocal talents of Kele from Bloc Party, has some catching up to do, but with an impressive set-up — it was shot during an international friendly at the Stade de France, no less — we’re sure it won’t take long.

Film,Video clips

First look – The Fighter

Click to playFirst look – The Fighter

The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg as struggling Boston boxer ‘Irish’ Micky Ward and Christian Bale as his crack-addicted step brother and trainer Dicky Ecklund, is rightly being tipped as a major Oscar contender. [Read more...]

Comedy,Video clips

Don’t call me Leslie

Click to playDon’t call me Leslie

As if a freezing cold Monday morning isn’t bad enough – news from LA that the one and only Leslie Nielsen has died aged 84. The tributes will be plentiful and his legacy as the man with the straightest face in comedy will be hard to match, as this clip from Police Squad aptly demonstrates.

Gaming,Motoring,Video clips

It’s time to start your engines

It’s time to start your engines

After a not inconsiderable wait, we are mere hours away from the launch of Gran Turismo 5 – and we’re happy to say it delivers on every count. Obsessive attention to detail? Check. Over 1,000 cars to earn, customise and race? Check. An excellent Stereoscopic 3D mode for even more realistic handling? Check. Go-carts and VW camper vans? Check. Still the ultimate driving simulator? Let’s just say it laps the competition. For a taster of what you can expect from tomorrow, the game’s epic intro is after the jump. [Read more...]

Sport,Video clips

They call him Mega Skill

Click to playThey call him Mega Skill

Danny “Mega Skill” MacAskill can do things with a trials bike that make the laws of physics weep. This week Esquire sat down with the man from the Isle of Skye and chatted about what he’s been up to — since his first YouTube video went viral (21 million hits and counting) things have been very busy indeed. We’ll have more on Danny in our March issue, and in the meantime enjoy his latest video, “The Way Back Home”, featuring yet more gravity-mocking insanity as Danny journeys from Edinburgh back to Skye. Get the full story at www.redbull.co.uk/waybackhome

Comedy,Video clips

Brand new Alan

Click to playBrand new Alan

Ordinarily, sponsored collaborations with long-treasured TV characters are a recipe for disaster, but if the first of 12 weekly episodes of Foster’s Mid Morning Matters series is anything to go by, we’re in for another haul of classic comedy from DJ and Rover Vitesse aficionado, Alan Partridge. (And, yes, his new talkshow sidekick is indeed Esquire regular, Tim Key). www.fostersfunny.co.uk

Words by Henry Farrar-Hockley

Gaming,Video clips

A game worth waiting for

Click to playA game worth waiting for

The Gears of War series has (in our humble, button-bashing opinion) been one of the Xbox 360′s great achievements – a sprawling, bloody bromance with big guns and great hordes of antagonistic aliens. Annoyingly, the third and final installment will not see the light of day until the end of 2011, but in the meantime here’s an atmospheric reminder of what to expect this time next year. (FYI, the excellent soundtrack is Heron Blue, by folk rock balladeers Sun Kil Moon.)

Words by Henry Farrar-Hockley

Culture,Film,Video clips

Angelina and Johnny’s canal desires

Angelina and Johnny’s canal desires

Ever since his masterful 2006 debut The Lives Of Others, we’ve been wondering what Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck — a brilliant director with a name to match — has been up to. It turns out he’s been cooped up in Venice with some budding thesps called Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, working on a film called The Tourist. [Read more...]