Archive for January, 2018
A review of the new film “All The Money In The World”
January 19th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
This is an oddity of a film for at least three reasons. First, it tells an incredible story – except that it is true – of how the world’s richest man J Paul Getty refused to pay the ransom after his 16 year old grandson was kidnapped by the ‘Ndrangheta in Italy in 1973. Second, […]
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Ever wanted to catch up on some classic earlier movies?
January 17th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Regular readers of NightHawk will know that I’m a massive film fan and review all the films I see for this blog and my web site. Most of the movies in question are current releases but, over the years, I’ve seen some classics and reviewed them too. If you wanted to buy, rent, or stream […]
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Contemporary cinema (2): “Dunkirk”
January 16th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Last week I began another of the many courses that I’ve attended over the years at the City Literary Institute in central London. It is called “Contemporary Cinema: The Best Films Of The Year” and the lecturer is the American John Wischmeyer. The plan is that most weeks we will see and discuss clips from […]
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Michael Wolff on Donald Trump in “Guardian” interview
January 15th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“I don’t know if the president is clinically off his rocker. I do know, from what I saw and what I heard from people around him, that Donald Trump is deeply unpredictable, irrational, at times bordering on incoherent, self-obsessed in a disconcerting way, and displays all those kinds of traits that anyone would reasonably say, […]
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What do the British think of America’s president Donald Trump?
January 14th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
An opinion poll conducted for the “Observer” newspaper by Opinium has found that: 71% believe that he is untrustworthy 44% believe that he is less intelligent than the average person 18% believe he is a friend of Britain 72% believe that he is a risk to international stability The newspaper has major leader column assessing […]
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How the Conservative Cabinet is dominated by MPs from the south of England
January 13th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“Theresa May’s cabinet has the most members from the home counties in more than two decades, with more than two-thirds of the most senior ministers representing seats in southern England. Only seven of the 22 full cabinet ministers represent constituencies in the Midlands or north of England. Those seven hold safe Tory shire seats that […]
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What would really help consumers of essential services?
January 11th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
This is the title of a conference which I am putting together and which I will chair in my capacity as Chair of the Essential Services Access Network (ESAN). At its heart and as its name implies, ESAN is a unique network bringing together regulators and ombudsmen on the one hand and consumer and voluntary […]
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Contemporary cinema (1): “Detroit”
January 10th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
This week I began another of the many courses that I’ve attended over the years at the City Literary Institute in central London. It is called “Contemporary Cinema: The Best Films Of The Year” and the lecturer is the American John Wischmeyer. It is an evening course with one session each week for 10 weeks. […]
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The wonderful work of the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani
January 9th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Currently London’s Tate Modern art gallery is hosting a special exhibition of around 100 portraits by the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920). I first saw this over the Christmas period with my brother and I visited it again today with my sister. Our mother was Italian and we had a reproduction of one of Modigliani’s work […]
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How do you impeach a president of the United States?
January 8th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Who’s asking? Well, almost everyone after the fierce controversy stimulated by the book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff. The short answer is: it’s not easy (and I guess it shouldn’t be). The longer answer is: The House of Representatives has the sole power of initiating impeachment charges, while the […]
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