Archive for May, 2020
A review of the recent movie “Knives Out”
May 15th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
When “Knives Out’ was released at the cinema, it was both a commercial and a critical success, but I was not sure that it was the film for me. However, when I was subject to lockdown in the coronavirus crisis, I wanted something light and entertaining and decided to have a stab at this old-fashioned […]
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Al Capone was finally brought down because of his tax affairs. Could the same thing happen to Donald Trump?
May 14th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
This is an extract from the Wikipedia page on American gangster Al Capone: “The federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone, and prosecuted him in 1931 for tax evasion. During a highly publicized case, the judge admitted as evidence Capone’s admissions of his income and unpaid taxes, made during prior (and ultimately abortive) negotiations to pay […]
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In the UK, it’s Day 50 of lockdown and Mass Observation would like to know about your day.
May 12th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
This year, the Mass Observation Archive will be repeating its annual call for day diaries, capturing the everyday lives of people across the UK. The written diaries will be stored in the Archive at The Keep and be used by a wide range of people for research, teaching and learning. This is the 10thAnniversary of […]
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Covid rules cleared up
May 11th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
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A review the 1948 classic western “Red River”
May 10th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, this classic western – shot in black and white – is the story of a cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail and includes a series of memorable scenes created with Hawks’ famous eye-level shooting including the river crossing, the stampede, and the Indian attack. More than 5,000 head of […]
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VE Day – we need to remember ALL who died and suffered
May 8th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
For those who lived through the Second World War, when it started and when it ended depended on where you lived. For Europeans, we date the commencement of the war as 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland and we date the conclusion of the war as 8 May 1945 with the surrender of […]
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A review of the 2012 film “The Company You Keep”
May 8th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
The Weather Underground was a radical left militant organisation active in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s. It was a revolutionary body that was responsible for a series of riots, bombings and jailbreaks. As a subject for a mainstream film, therefore, it is not obvious that this is a sympathetic proposition for […]
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Who should presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden choose as his running mate? (1)
May 7th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Assuming that Joe Biden survives the allegations of sexual harassment – which is not certain – he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party in the election for the next President of the United States. His first big decision is to choose a running mate. Traditionally this decision – somewhat particular to US politics […]
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How often are British general elections?
May 5th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
In theory, they are held every five years but, in practice, they tend to be held after about four years. The longest interval was occasioned by the Second World War: 1935-1945. Sometimes, however, general elections have been held with surprising frequency. I was reminded of this from my current lockdown reading of the 900 page […]
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A review of the 2018 film “The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society”
May 4th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
I literally knew nothing about this film except its quirky title when I sat down to watch it during the lockdown period of the coronavirus crisis. I imagined that it was some sort of romantic comedy, but found that, while there was romance, it was a much more substantive story about life on the Channel […]
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