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Thirteen Days
Spent yesterday afternoon convalescing with this Kevin Costner film. I missed it in the cinema and did mean to catch it since a trip to Cuba meant that I was interested in all things Cuban last year. Really well put together film about a period of which I knew little. The only thing that I…
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Tour de France
One of my favourite summer events is up and running again this year. I’m still annoyed at Channel 4’s jettisoning the event a couple of years ago, saying that that they could no longer cover it and cricket (this is the station that was putting out one-day cricket highlights at about one o’clock in the…
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American Beauty
I must admit to having picked this up after reading something about the excellent new (to Channel 4 at least) series Six Feet Under. Both were written/created by Alan Ball, and here’s another film I saw once at the cinema and not at all since. There are some wonderful lines in this film, and I…
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The Contender
Spent yesterday afternoon watching this ahead of an enormously predictable British Grand Prix and very poor Mens’ Final at Wimbledon. I’m disappointed with myself that I didn’t catch this at the cinema. The film takes a very cynical view of US politics, as Jeff Bridges’ President attempts to make Joan Allen Vice President, while Gary…
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Men In Black II
Not a bad little film, but nothing spectacular. I must admit that I haven’t seen the original since I saw it the first time at the cinema, and I can’t exactly see myself rushing out to buy the DVD of this one. Some good lines, and entertaining performances, but the CGI is not used with…
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The Natural by Joe Klein
A concise book detailing the Clinton presidency by the author of Primary Colors. I must admit to having only really having read his novels, but he does seem to have a good understanding of Bill and Hilliary – at least in so far as anyone can have an understanding. Must get around to reading Stephanopoulos’s…
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The Sum of All Our Fears
The new Jack Ryan film seems to take a James Bond approach to the character, in that you can introduce a new actor into the role, and totally reinvent his world. So following on from Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, suddenly we get a very junior Ben Affleck in the role. In actual fact I…
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Minority Report
Saw this on it’s UK opening night last night, and have got to say that I was quite impressed. I think that it’s possible that a few people may be disappointed when they see it – but Spielberg is grown up these days, and makes interesting and though provoking films. The plot, as explained in…
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BBC to Run DTT
Well, no-one can really claim to be too surprised about the BBC/Crown Castle/BSkyB consortium winning. This is probably the best that can be done with very limited spectrum, and I’ll explain why. There were two main problems with ITV Digital/OnDigital. 1) Reception was poor. By trying to squeeze as many channels as possible onto the…
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Brazil win the World Cup
Well they deserved to. They played the most impressive football of the tournament, and beat the stronger teams. Germany had way too easy a ride through to the final. I do have a couple of problems with the World Cup at the moment (sorry Fifa World Cup): 1) The winners do not automatically qualify next…
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The Rivals by James Naughtie
James (Today Programme) Naughtie’s The Rivals isn’t as easy a read as Andrew Rawnsley’s Servants of the People, but was well worth the read. It consider’s Blair and Brown’s relationship since Labour came to power in 1997, and despite being a little on the heavy side, definitely gets under the skin of the problem –…
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First entry
My very first weblog entry. Somehow I feel that this is a fancy way to allow me to ramble at random. Must get the hang of this interface, and I’ll soon have a professional weblog up and running. Just read a great book called The 25th Hour which I can heartily recommend. Read it in…
Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
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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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