Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
A review of the novel “American Spy” by Lauren Wilkinson
December 16th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Two things attracted me to this novel. First, it was a Barack Obama summer reading pick which is quite a recommendation. Second, it features the real-life West African revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara after whom my second granddaughter Kara is named. The work is in the form of an extended account by black female FBI agent […]
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A review of the new musical movie “The Prom”
December 14th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
I confess that musicals are not my thing, whether on the stage or in the movies, but the year of the global pandemic has meant that there have been so few new films released that I was ready to give this a go. I further confess that I’d never heard of the Broadway musical of […]
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A review of the new movie “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
December 6th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
This is a superb Netflix movie that I was fortunate enough to see at the cinema – such a visit being a rare occurrence in the year of the coronavirus. It tells the story of a recording session in Chicago in 1927 of the legendary African-American Gertrude “Ma’ Rainey who sang from 1899–1933 and was […]
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A review of the new film “Hillbilly Elegy”
November 30th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
‘Hillbilly’ is a term (often derogatory) for people who live in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks and this film is set in such a community in Kentucky. It does not examine why such Americans are so poor and disadvantaged but tells the (true life) story of […]
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Word of the day: semiquincentennial
November 25th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Semiquincentennial (also called sestercentennial or quarter millennial) is the 250th anniversary of an event. I find it really difficult these days to find semiquincentennial birthday cards. On the other hand, I’m looking forward to the semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary of the 1776 establishment of the United States of America which will fall on 4 July 2026.
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A review of the novel “Winter In Madrid” by C J Sansom
November 21st, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Christopher John Sansom is a British writer of historical crime novels best-known for his Matthew Shardlake series set in Tudor England. He has written two standalone novels: “Dominion” (2012) which I read first and “Winter In Madrid” (2006) which I read rather later. While “Dominion” is set in a fictional Britain of winter 1952 when […]
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A review of the 2019 film “Dark Waters”
November 20th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
There is a sub-genre of drama movies that tell true-life stories of how powerful private corporations produced products that seriously harmed consumers and/or citizens, covering up the information and denying responsibility in the face of brave and tenacious individuals who sought to reveal the truth and hold them accountable. I think, for instance, of “Silkwood” […]
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A review of the new Italian film “The Life Ahead”
November 19th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Like my mother, Sophia Loren is an Italian who grew up in Naples. However, Loren has lived longer (she is now 86), she has had a rather more illustrious career (she has won two Academy Awards), and her son Edoardo Ponti has been more successsful than me (he directed this Italian-language film). Although based on […]
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A review of the 2017 film “Mother!”
November 13th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
I should have done my homework but, in the middle of the second lockdown of a global pandemic, I was struggling to find an interesting film that I hadn’t already seen. Then I found this movie with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead and I’ve been a huge fan of hers since “Winter’s Bone” a decade […]
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A review of the new film “The Trial Of The Chicago 7”
November 11th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
The late 1960s was a terrible time in the United States with race riots and anti-war demonstrations. The film “Detroit” powerfully depicted the outcome of a riot in that city in 1967 and this movie looks at the aftermath of a demonstration in Chicago in 1968. Eight activists – one was severed from the case […]
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