Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
A review of the 1939 classic French film “La Grande Illusion”
July 18th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This is famous war, actually anti-war, film that has no battle scenes in it. Instead, most of the action is set in two prisoner of war camps in 1914, the first year of what was then known as the Great War or the war to end wars. The prisoners are French and the film is […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review of the classic 1953 western “Shane”
July 13th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This iconic western is based on a novel which, in turn, was inspired by the Johnson County War, a conflict between ranchers and homesteaders which took place in Northern Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The film begins with the eponymous hero, clad in white buckskin, riding into view and it concludes with him riding into […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review of the novel “Precipice” by Robert Harris
June 22nd, 2025 by Roger Darlington
Can you imagine a sitting British Prime Minister – on his second marriage and father to seven children – taking time off from affairs of state, on the edge of the greatest war the world had ever seen, to write these words to a society woman some half his age: “thinking & remembering & longing & […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review of the classic British film “Darling” (1965)
June 1st, 2025 by Roger Darlington
For many, Britain in the sixties was an exciting place, full of love and liberation, Bond and the Beatles. This film, however, presents a dark view (it was even made in black & white) of the upper middle class of the time and it is a biting satire of the vapid and vacuous lifestyles of […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review of a fascinating book on the challenge of artificial intelligence: “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman
February 13th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
Suleyman is a British entrepreneur specialising in artificial intelligence (AI). He co-founded two pioneering AI companies, Deepmind and Inflection AI, before working for Google and then Microsoft. His book on AI has been an international bestseller which has been recommended reading by Bill Gates. I was afraid that it might be technical, but it is […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “Triangle Of Sadness”
November 5th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
The title is obscure if not downright confusing. It is a term referring to the area above the nose and between the eyebrows which is most prone to wrinkles. The title starts to make sense when the term is used very early in the story and becomes more relevant when it becomes apparent that the […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review of the 1931 classic German film “M”
September 30th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
German cinema in the 1930s gave the world some striking and innovative work and this thriller directed by Austria-born Fritz Lang is one of those classics. It is notable both for the unusual subject matter and the humanistic approach to that subject and for the original use of sound in its storytelling. Loosely inspired by […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Holiday in Central Asia (18): Shakhrisabz in Uzbekistan
September 19th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Today (Day 17) was technically a day at leisure but, although I had been there in 2006, I had previously signed up for an optional excursion to Shakhrisabz for an extra £50. In fact, but one of the group decided to make the trip (the odd one out had been before) and we made the […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Holiday in Central Asia (11): Bishkek to Osh to Fergana
September 12th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
It was Day 10 and we are one third into our tour. In Bishkek, we were up at 4 am and out at 5 am for an early morning flight to Osh in the very west of Kyrgyzstan. On the minibus to the airport, it sounded as if another challenge was on the horizon when […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Holiday in Central Asia (7): travel to Lake Issyk-Kol in Kyrgyzstan
September 8th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Now in another country: Kyrgyzstan is a thinly-populated nation bisected by mountain ranges and the north-south divide has always bedevilled the country’s politics. Since independence, there have been three revolutions (2005, 2010, 2020) and six presidents. The Kyrgyz language has two dialects, one in the north influenced by Russian and the other to the south […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)