Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
A review of the novel “Nutshell” by Ian McEwan
November 26th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“Nutshell” (2016) is McEwan’s latest and 14th novel in a distinguished writing career and it is the sixth that I have read (“Atonement” was the most impressive). The word of the title never appears in the text but only in a preliminary quote from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” which makes it clear that this story is a […]
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A review of the new super-hero film “Justice League”
November 25th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This is a movie which has divided the professional critics and the general public with the former being hard on the work but the latter generally enjoying it. I confess that my feelings fall somewhere between the two. It seems that DC Comics just cannot replicate the success of Marvel Universe’s Avengers. Superman is dead […]
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Word of the day: decimation
November 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
In current usage, the word decimation has come to mean something approaching annihilation achieved by one force against an opposing force. In fact, the term originally meant the death of ‘only’ one in ten of a group and was actually a punishment imposed by the Roman army on its own soldiers for an assumed lack […]
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A review of the new film “Paddington 2”
November 15th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I loved “Paddington” and – to my delight – I loved “Paddington 2” too. Of course, we start with the adorable character created by Michael Bond (who died between the release of the two films), the brilliant CGI representation of our furry friend, and the purr-fect voicing by Ben Wishaw. This is such a British […]
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A review of the new version of “Murder On The Orient Express”
November 10th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I saw the star-stunned 1974 film version of Agatha Christie’s famous 1934 novel, so I knew the outcome of the equally star-stunned 2017 remake, but I still found it an enjoyable ride through the snow. It has to be said that the plot is massively contrived and the whole thing sags somewhat in the middle, […]
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A review of the new life-affirming film “Breathe”
November 7th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Breathing is the most natural thing on earth, right? But when British tea broker Robin Cavendish contracted polio in Kenya in 1958, he found that he was paralysed from the neck down and could not breathe without the constant support of a mechanical ventilator. This true story is told with Andrew Garfield as Robin and […]
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Not the film I was expecting (1): a review of “Thor: Ragnarok”
November 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This is the not the film I was expecting. As the third entry in the “Thor” franchise, I anticipated a traditional super-hero movie like the previous two: lots of drama and threat and the occasional humorous one-liner. But this is actually the funniest by far of all the works in the Marvel canon (now 17 […]
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Not the film I was expecting (2): a review of “The Death Of Stalin”
November 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This is not the film I was expecting. Knowing that it was both written and directed by the British Armando Iannucci who gave us the outrageous delights of “In The Loop”, “The Thick of It” and Veep”, I thought that I was going to encounter a full-blown, satirical comedy (and the trailer had confirmed this […]
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A review of the under-known and under-appreciated 1971 film “The Last Valley”
October 29th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Over my many years of cinema-going, I’ve viewed a whole range of movies with titles beginning “The Last ..” including “The Last Emperor” (1987) and “The Last Samurai” (2003). “The Last Valley’ may not be the best-known film with this kind of title, but it made an impression on me when I first saw it […]
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A review of “The Girl From Venice” by Martin Cruz Smith
October 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This is the third novel that I have read by prolific American author MCS, folowing “Gorky Park” and “Havana Bay”. I guess that the title has been chosen to encourage sales because the feminine noun seems to everywhere. The trend was probably started by the spectatular success of the English-language translations of the three Millennium […]
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