Archive for July, 2026
A review of the 1977 classic movie “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind”
July 31st, 2026 by Roger Darlington
It is a great title but it is never explained. The first kind is a close visual sighting of a UFO, the second kind is a UFO event with a physical effect, and the eponymous third kind is a UFO encounter with an animated entity. The scale was devised by J. Allen Hynek who makes […]
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A brief review of a short book, “Narrative” by Amy Jones (2022)
July 31st, 2026 by Roger Darlington
I love storytelling which is why I read so much fiction and see so many films. I’ve even written a book of short stories (“The Rooms In My Mind”). So, I previously read “The Science Of Storytelling” by Will Storr [click here] and “How To Read Literature Like A Professor” by Thomas C Foster [click […]
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A review of the 1983 film “Educating Rita”
July 27th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
It took me over 60 years to catch up with this starring vehicle for Michael Caine, by which time he had retired at the age of 90 after a career involving over 130 cinematic appearances, this being one of his finest. His co-star, Julie Walters, has done much of her most memorable work on television, […]
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A review of the superb 1994 film “Leon”
July 22nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Following the success of “Nikita”, the French Luc Besson made this superb and stylish action-thriller in the English language as both writer and director. Set in New York City, it brings together the eponymous Italian-American ‘cleaner’ aka hitman (Jean Reno who played a similar character in “Nikita”), a grizzled, brilliantly efficient operator who loves milk […]
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A review of the summer blockbuster movie “The Odyssey”
July 22nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
A budget of $250 million, 50 boats, 5,000 extras, filming at 20 locations in Greece, Italy, Morocco, Scotland, Iceland and Malta. This was always going to be a massive movie. After the huge success of “Oppenheimer”, so excited was I in anticipation of the next film – his 13th – from Christopher Nolan, co-writer and […]
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A review of the 1937 classic French film “La Grande Illusion”
July 18th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This is famous war, actually anti-war, film that has no battle scenes in it. Instead, most of the action is set in two prisoner of war camps in 1914, the first year of what was then known as the Great War or the war to end wars. The prisoners are French and the film is […]
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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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