Archive for July, 2022
A review of the new movie “Thor: Love And Thunder”
July 31st, 2022 by Roger Darlington
As a fan of superhero movies, I’ve religiously seen every contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it was released which is how I found myself at the 27th MCU offering – the fourth devoted to the Norse god and the second directed by New Zealander Taika Waititi. It has an impressive cast: Chris Hemsworth […]
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A review of the new film “Where The Crawdads Sing”
July 30th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
The word crawdad is a regional term for crayfish. Of course, they cannot sing, but the strange title of this film is an expression meaning an isolated or safe place. The central character of the story, Kya Clark, needs such a space, initially because of child abuse and then because of community hostility (locals call […]
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A review of the new Netflix movie “The Gray Man”
July 23rd, 2022 by Roger Darlington
This is a film adaptation of a best-selling novel of the same name by Mark Greaney and, since the book is the opening salvo of a (so far) 11-work series, we could well be seeing the start of a new spy film franchise to rival James Bond or Ethan Hunt or Jason Bourne. The CIA […]
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A review of “The Age Of The Strongman” by Gideon Rachman (2022)
July 20th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Rachman is the chief foreign affairs columnist for the British newspaper the “Financial Times”. He has written a well-researched, immensely informative, very readable and – at least for my liberal sensibilities – insightful and balanced review of the rise over the past two decades of a series of political figures whom he calls the strongmen […]
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Like movies? Interested in aviation? I have just the films for you.
July 20th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
There are many hundreds for film reviews on my website. But, as someone who is a massive movie fan and has a lifelong passion for aircraft, I have a special section with reviews of 68 aviation films. Check them out here.
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We don’t just need a new Prime Minister or even a new Government. We need a new constitutional settlement.
July 13th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
The Conservative Party is in the process of electing a new leader who will become Britain’s new Prime Minister. The outcome will result in a new personality and perhaps a new style of governance but fundamentally it will be the same set of policies. This is why people like me – a life-long member of […]
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When will Britain have a new Prime Minister? It might be sooner than you think.
July 11th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
The new Prime Minister will, of course, be the person who wins the election for the new leader of the Conservative Party. We probably know the list of candidates and we now know the rules of the election. There are no less than 11 declared candidates, all you might expect (and more) except Ben Wallace […]
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The tragedy of Sri Lanka
July 9th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
For months now, Sri Lanka has been in the grip of an economic crisis that has devastated the country and utterly impoverished most of its citizens. The latest news is that the Presidential Palace has been stormed and the Prime Minister’s home has been burned down. It is something of a joke among my family […]
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So what exactly does the name of the rock band Steely Dan mean?
July 8th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Since just before the global pandemic, I have been a volunteer on the Older Person’s Unit of St Thomas’ Hospital in central London. Every week, I talk to people between 65 and 100 about their lives and I can tell you that everyone has a story and I learn a lot about life. So this […]
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A review of the new Australian film “Nitram”
July 7th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Sadly mass shootings are a common occurrence in the United States, but fortunately Down Under they are rare. This Australian film is based on the worst such incident in the country’s history. It happened in Port Arthur in Tasmania on 28-29 April 1996 when a mentally disturbed loner called Martin Bryant, aged 28 at the […]
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