Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
A review of “Jews Don’t Count” by David Baddiel
February 18th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
I read this book because, in his own review of it, a good Jewish friend encouraged all his non-Jewish friends to do so. I’m glad that I did and I would endorse his recommendation. It is a short work (just 123 pages) but compelling and important. Baddiel, who is a Jew best known for his comedy, […]
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A review of the new film “Greenland”
February 18th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
In the middle of a global pandemic which has killed millions, here comes a movie featuring an extinction event that wipes out some 75% of all life on Earth. Cheery, eh? Of course, there is something of a sub-genre of films involving threats to Earth from cosmic objects. Think of “Meteor” (1979), “Armageddon” and “Deep […]
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A review of the new film “News Of The World”
February 17th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
I’m a huge fan of Tom Hanks (who isn’t?) and I would watch him reading a telephone directory; here we view him as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd reading items in a newspaper to illiterate folk in post-civil war northern Texas. This poorly-paying itinerant role brings him unexpectedly into contact with a 10 year old girl […]
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Word of the day: metonym
February 16th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
A ‘metonym’ is: ‘a word or phrase used in metonymy, a figure of speech in which the name of one object or concept is used for that of another to which it is related. As an example, “the crown” is a metonym for “royalty”.
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A review of the new film “The White Tiger”
February 3rd, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Inevitably, this film will be compared with “Slumdog Millionaire”. Both tell the story of a young man’s rise in urban India; both are based on novels by Indian writers: both have Western directors. But “Slumdog” – while including some tough elements – was ultimately a feel-good rom-com with a message of redemption, while “Tiger” is […]
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A review of the new film “The Dig”
February 2nd, 2021 by Roger Darlington
It’s 1939 and war clouds are gathering over Europe and fighter aircraft – from RAF Martlesham (incidentally now the site of BT’s research centre) – are in the skies over Suffolk. Wealthy landowner and widower Lady Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) engages local excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to investigate the mounds on her land, leading […]
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The BIGGEST mistake of President Barack Obama
January 30th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Regular readers of this blog with know both that I’m a huge admirer of Barack Obama and that I’m currently reading the first volume of his political memoirs “A Promised Land”. I’m enjoying the 700-page book enormously – I have read his two previous works – not least because he is a fine writer. BUT […]
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A review of the new action movie “Ava”
January 28th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Jessica Chastain is a fine actor, but she clearly wanted an action hero outing because she takes both the eponymous role as a super assassin and a producer credit in this action-filled drama. If male actors have such tough-guy roles as James Bond, Jason Bourne and John Wick, I for one like to see woman […]
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What is a fronted adverbial?
January 23rd, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Apparently this is something that kids are learning at schools these days as discovered by parents who are having to homeschool in lockdown. I confess that I’d never heard of the term until I read an article in today’s “Guardian” newspaper. Even then, I had no idea what it was and I’m a reasonably well-educated […]
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A review of the 2017 film “The Circle”
January 22nd, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Based on Dave Eggers’ best-selling novel, this movie explains how a powerful information technology company with a huge worldwide customer base – the Circle of the title – plans to introduce a series of clever innovations that seem to solve a social or political ill and introduce transparency and accountability but massively undermine personal space […]
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