Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
A review of “Born A Crime”, the childhood memoir of Trevor Noah
September 10th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I have been a massive fan of South African born Trevor Noah since in 2015 he took over the hosting of “The Daily Show”, an American satirical look at current affairs that I view religiously. This memoir covers the first two decades of his life before he became a professional comedian and it is written […]
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A review of the art house film “The Souvenir”
September 3rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Art house films always have limited appeal and, even though this one had rave reviews from critics, some people walked out of the screening that I attended of this British work written and directed by Joanna Hogg. It is terribly slow and exceedingly opaque, yet oddly compelling, and it certainly provokes thought and discussion. It […]
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A review of the Spanish film “Pain And Glory”
August 30th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Described as the third part of an “unplanned trilogy” which began with “Law Of Desire” (1987) and continued through “Bad Education” (2004), it is not necessary to have seen the earlier films (I haven’t) to enjoy the final part of this triptych written and directed by the Spanish Pedro Almodóvar, but it helps if you’re […]
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A review of the novel “Fear Of Dying” by Erica Jong
August 29th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
American author Erica Jong wrote the mega best-selling novel “Fear Of Flying” in 1973 and the non-fiction “Fear Of Fifty” in 1994 and now she comes up with her 11th novel “Fear Of Dying” which was published in 2015. Although a novel, it is clearly inspired by the author’s loss of her two aged parents […]
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A review of the new Tarantino movie “Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood”
August 28th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Quentin Tarrantino’s ninth movie – while much lauded – is not my favourite (I think that would be “Kill Bill”), but it is classic material from the idiosyncratic director with all his usual quirks and playfulness that so delight us fans of his. A recurrent theme of his work is his wish to revisist and […]
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A review of the 1941 Hitchcock movie “Suspicion”
August 25th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
There is a sense in which any film directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a classic but this is one of his lesser-known works. Set in upper-class, rural England, it stars the beautiful Joan Fontaine as Lina, an unworldly young woman who falls immediately and madly in love with a known scoundrel and manipulator called Johnny, […]
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A review of “Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw”
August 11th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Since the first film in 2001, the “Fast & Furious” series has become Universal’s biggest franchise, currently ranking as the tenth-highest-grossing film series of all time with a combined take of over $5 billion. Now I am not in the demographic at which these films is aimed, but this is the second time that I […]
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UK becomes a nation of streamers… but traditional broadcast TV leads the way on UK content.
August 9th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
UAround half of all UK homes now subscribe to TV streaming services, according to a major Ofcom report revealing rapid shifts in the nation’s viewing habits. Ofcom’s Media Nations report, a comprehensive study of major trends in UK television, radio and audio, published recently finds: The number of UK households signed up to the most […]
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A review of the novel “China Dream” by Ma Jian
August 5th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Ma Jian was born in the Chinese city of Qingdao in 1953, the same year as Xi Jinping who is now President of China without term limits. Both men were caught up in the horrific events of Mao’s Cultural Revolution which killed anything up to three miliion and ruined the lives of many millions more. […]
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A review of the new version of “The Lion King”
July 28th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I’ve never seen the original 1994 animated movie musical – my son was too old and I didn’t have grandchildren then. But I decided to catch this 2019 remake even though the granddaughters were away on holiday. Clearly the main reason for a new version is the advance in technology and it has to be […]
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