Archive for July, 2026


A review of “Odyssey” by Stephen Fry

July 13th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

As I anticipated the 2026 blockbuster movie “The Odyssey” by Christopher Nolan, I thought that it was about time that I familiarised myself with Homer’s epic work of some 2,700 years ago. The original poem was recited from memory and eventually was set down as a work of 12,109 lines composed in ancient Greek in […]

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A review of the classic 1953 western “Shane” 

July 13th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

This iconic western is based on a novel which, in turn, was inspired by the Johnson County War, a conflict between ranchers and homesteaders which took place in Northern Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The film begins with the eponymous hero, clad in white buckskin, riding into view and it concludes with him riding into […]

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A ninth five-star review for “Everyone Has A Story”

July 8th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

My latest book – available on Amazon – has just received a short but positive review: “Mr. Darlington has created a set of intriguing biographies about people he has met, by interviewing them. They are all different, but all are interesting. Superbly written.” If you haven’t already bought a copy of the book, please consider […]

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A review of the 1976 classic movie “Taxi Driver”

July 8th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

Following “Mean Streets” (1973), this is another collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, both still at the beginning of their careers and both of whom went on to have stellar achievements for half a century. In this case, they had a strong script, courtesy of Paul Schrader who presents the descent […]

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A review of the classic 1961 movie “West Side Story”

July 8th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

“West Side Story” was a spectacular theatre musical (when I was in Vienna, I saw a version in German!) and it was an enormous success as a film (when I first saw it at the cinema as a teenager, my girlfriend was repeatedly in tears) that won all but one of its 11 Academy Award […]

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A review of the 1939 classic movie “The Wizard Of Oz” 

July 4th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

Rarely can a movie have been so troubled in production but so successful in outcome. The work had 14 writers and four directors; casting was a problem and there were on-set accidents and drunkenness; it was over schedule and over budget. And yet “Oz” was a huge success and, according to the US Library of […]

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The USA is 250 years old today – but how did it start?

July 4th, 2026 by Roger Darlington

In 2000, I went to see the film “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson and I thought that the American revolution could not possibly have been that simplistic so, on a trip to Washington DC later that year, I bought a book at the National Museum of American History: “A Short History Of The American Revolution” by […]

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