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Books Books Books
Autumn arrives, and a flurry of books to read. So here’s what are upcoming on my “to read” list. 1. White Teeth – making sure I read it before the Channel 4 series starts next week (it’s been on my bookshelf for about a year). 2. Dead Air – Always got to read the latest…
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The Man Who Broke Napoleon’s Codes
Finished reading this a couple of weeks ago and fascinating it was too. I’m a sucker for any stories about codes or ciphers so this is right up my street. I must admit that I know/knew absolutely nothing about the Napoleonic Wars either. Since reading this I went out and bought a book on the…
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The Godfather
Finally got around to watching the first of my Godfather DVDs. Got the trilogy a while back and hadn’t sat down and watched them. The combination of a twisted ankle and bad back afforded me the chance to watch the first film. It’ll be interesting to compare this masterpiece with the forthcoming Road to Perdition.
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Homicide: Life on the Street
Yes! I can hardly wait. How sad is all this? Tomorrow, Telewest Digital gets a new channel – the Hallmark Channel. And why am I so excited about this trivial development? Because they show Homicide on Hallmark weeknights at 10.00pm (and Hamish MacBeth). Obviously they have junk like Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman filling up large…
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The Response to Tragedy
Now this could be seen as quite contentious. Am I alone in thinking that the tragic events in Soham have been blown totally out of all proportion? The events are outdoubtedly sad, and one hopes that the guilty people will be prosecuted and imprisoned. But from the moment the girls were announced as missing, right…
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La R�gle du Jeu
So here’s another one that I haven’t seen. Some years ago, the film critic David Thomson wrote a piece in The Independent on Sunday Review section explaining why he loved this film so much. I tore out the article, but never read it, because the first line warned that I should watch the film first…
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Rio Bravo
Spurred on by the Top Ten List below, I decided it was time to get around to watching a couple of films that I’ve had on video for ages but unbelievably have never gotten around to watching. There’s a game in David Lodge novels where academics in English departments have to name works of literature…
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Sight and Sound Top Ten Movies
Sight and Sound magazine, published by the BFI, have just announced their Top Ten Poll 2002. This has been published every ten years since 1952, conducted by polling film critics around the world. An additional poll among directors has also taken place for the last couple of times. There has been some press comment (sorry…
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Sunshine State
What can I say – I love John Sayles films. He undoubtedly has his own style of movie (at least the ones he directs himself), but they’re masterpieces that show elements of real world America usually avoided. This film is much like Lone Star in it’s telling a story through several different families and groups…
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Nine Queens
Finally got around to seeing Nueve reinas yesterday, as London was being deluged by flash floods. I absolutely love the con-artist film sub-genre. The likes of David Mamet’s House of Games or Stephen Frears’ The Gifters. The sort of film where you know that there’s a scam behind the scam but you’re not sure what…
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�9.99 by Frederic Beigbeder
Wow. This book is pretty good. Translated from the French and reset in London (not totally convincingly since the protagonist is called Octave). Maybe it’s because I’m a total cynic, particularly where advertising is concerned – despite working in the industry – but I empaphised with the feelings expressed here a lot. The book is…
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Millar wins a stage
Must admit that I jumped out of my seat on Saturday, when David Millar crossed the line ahead of the other 4 riders in his break. Nice one. Of course Armstrong is amazing in the mountains at the moment, but Virenque did well yesterday to take the stage. Roll on the Alps this week!
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Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
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