Recent polls have put JC ahead in the race to be the new leader of the Labour party, a prospect that has many talking about the death of hope for Labour in any subsequent general election with him at the helm. People have spoken of Michael Foot's disaster in 1983 as being about to be re-enacted. Party stalwarts like Margaret Beckett have voiced their regret at having nominated him to "expand the debate", only to find him now a kind of dreadful Frankenstein's monster now he might actually win. Meanwhile, ultra-left wing militants have been joining up by the drove (allegedly) in order to push the vote through.
But this race will not be decided by the latest incarnation of the "militant tendency" or whatever they call themselves today. It will be decided by Labour party members who have been dismayed by Ed Miliband's woeful performance when it really mattered and who want someone of genuine conviction; someone who really wants to push forward with a new brand of democratic socialism. I note that the nearest equivalent to a Blairite, namely Liz Kendall has all but pulled out of the race due to lack of interest, which is another indicator of the fact that Labour members don't want to go back to a time when it was hard to tell the difference between the policies of Labour and Conservative in all the areas that count.
I don't believe Jeremy Corbyn represents the death of hope to Labour's chances of winning the next election. I believe a lot of people are deeply opposed to austerity in a world where Osborne and his ilk allow rampant capitalism to make a tiny number of people fabulously rich while millions struggle to make ends meet. I believe a lot of people care a great deal more about the environment and stemming the worst effects of global warming than do the Tories. His arguments are thoughtful and well reasoned and could strike a chord with many, even in "middle England"- wherever that is. His arguments are not really that extreme: he doesn't want to nationalize the banks and the utilities- although I can't see how the state could do a worse job than the "we're here to make a profit for the shareholders" lot who currently run them.
You go, Jezza!
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Sunday, 19 July 2015
Tories on a roll, but don't tell me what to call IS
The decisive election victory of the Tories in May has left them free to enact many of the changes they were stymied from introducing by the Libdems. The latter paid heavily for their perceived duplicity (their U turn on tuition fees, for example) by having their 60-strong parliamentary showing whittled down to just 8. In hindsight the decision to abandon them wholesale might now seem a trifle disingenuous, as the Tries go full steam ahead into their ultra-right wing agenda.
We have seen George Osborne launch his new budget in triumph, his position immensely enhanced by the outright Tory majority and now apparently in pole position to take over from DC when he retires in 2020. Yesterday the end of subsidies for onshore wind farms was announced, and it can only be a matter of time before the green light is given to fracking projects around the country- doubtless with subsidies offered to them instead. So we can see how little the Tories care about the environment, if weren't sure already.
And last week David Cameron registered his objection to the BBC calling IS IS. "It isn't Islamic, and it isn't a state" is the gist of his comments, and seemed to imply the BBC were offering comfort to them by giving them that moniker. I see they have now started calling them "so called IS" which may or may not be what DC had in mind. Of course the Beeb has a lot more to worry about from the Tories than this little detail: there are some in their ranks who would disband the whole socialist project (as they see it) altogether, and even more benign elements say the BBC is too big and should be scaled down considerably.
But back to IS for a moment. The last time I checked IS is a state by any normal definition of the word. They control a huge swathe of Iraq and Syria, four times the size of Britain. They run the schools, the hospitals and much of the infrastructure. They are in charge in Mosul, Iraq's second city. That's like them being in control of Birmingham.
It's no good thinking you can change reality by changing a name. It doesn't work. I recall in the aftermath of 911 when Fox news started referring to suicide bombers as "homicide bombers", even though every bomb I've ever heard of humans making was designed to kill and maim. Truth was they didn't like to admit the frightening reality that certain people were so committed to their cause they were prepared to die for it. I don't know whether Fox still uses this "doublethink" strategy when discussing suicide bombers, but DC's insistence we don't call Islamic State Islamic State is very much in the same ridiculous vein. Hey, David? We're not stupid.
We have seen George Osborne launch his new budget in triumph, his position immensely enhanced by the outright Tory majority and now apparently in pole position to take over from DC when he retires in 2020. Yesterday the end of subsidies for onshore wind farms was announced, and it can only be a matter of time before the green light is given to fracking projects around the country- doubtless with subsidies offered to them instead. So we can see how little the Tories care about the environment, if weren't sure already.
And last week David Cameron registered his objection to the BBC calling IS IS. "It isn't Islamic, and it isn't a state" is the gist of his comments, and seemed to imply the BBC were offering comfort to them by giving them that moniker. I see they have now started calling them "so called IS" which may or may not be what DC had in mind. Of course the Beeb has a lot more to worry about from the Tories than this little detail: there are some in their ranks who would disband the whole socialist project (as they see it) altogether, and even more benign elements say the BBC is too big and should be scaled down considerably.
But back to IS for a moment. The last time I checked IS is a state by any normal definition of the word. They control a huge swathe of Iraq and Syria, four times the size of Britain. They run the schools, the hospitals and much of the infrastructure. They are in charge in Mosul, Iraq's second city. That's like them being in control of Birmingham.
It's no good thinking you can change reality by changing a name. It doesn't work. I recall in the aftermath of 911 when Fox news started referring to suicide bombers as "homicide bombers", even though every bomb I've ever heard of humans making was designed to kill and maim. Truth was they didn't like to admit the frightening reality that certain people were so committed to their cause they were prepared to die for it. I don't know whether Fox still uses this "doublethink" strategy when discussing suicide bombers, but DC's insistence we don't call Islamic State Islamic State is very much in the same ridiculous vein. Hey, David? We're not stupid.
Sunday, 12 July 2015
Adverts between sets at Wimbledon? Whatever next!
I was watching the ladies singles final yesterday, where Serena won her "calendar" Grand Slam (don't mention it to her, whatever you do, she doesn't want to be jinxed, or something) when at the end of the first set the BBC chose to put a promotional ad for the Great British Bakeoff, I think it was.
I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time this has ever happened on the BBC. I also think that if I know anything about the average British tennis fan, the beeb will have received a slew of complaints about this unprecedented incursion into one of the most sacred of all TV cows- a Wimbledon final. We await 2 pm coming round to see if they do the same thing with the Men's final.
But what we may be looking at here is the first response to the government decision to make the BBC foot the bill for exempting the over 75s from paying their TV licence fee- a bill which I understand
will come in at over £700 million. And this in turn is a precursor to the government withdrawing the licence fee altogether, rendering the BBC just another commercial channel. This is what happens when you vote in a party that is never happier than when it is cutting public expenditure.
As someone who is well off, I find myself in the slightly embarrassing position of benefiting from George Osborne's ideological approach to the nation's economy, one that would fit well into the credo of the conservatives of the mid-19th century, when capital ruled everything and there were few if any benefits offered to the disadvantaged beyond the prospect of a life in the workhouse. It's where we're headed right now. My mum's house is worth nearly 300 grand, and her liquid reserves are also healthy, and we would have had to pay several thousand pounds in inheritance taxes upon her death- but not now, after Wednesday's budget. But this was money my brother and I could have afforded to pay fairly easily, taking away only a small fraction of the large bequest we will both enjoy. For some reason, Mr Osborne wishes to make our progress through life easier, rather than people at the bottom of the wages pyramid. Odd, that...
At this moment people in Cardiff are running a campaign to save our local libraries- another ideological target of the Tories. Where's the profit in libraries? they ask. And so councils, stricken by the cuts they are being forced to make, have perhaps understandably gone after the libraries, which are only bleeding money and offering no hope of any financial return. Unfortunately, this ignores the subtler benefits of libraries, like the fact that they are heavily used by immigrant populations who in them find their only access to the internet or indeed any opportunity to get a grip on the English language and culture, which is something I thought politicians of all parties would wish to encourage. It would seem that I am wrong about that, and that the Tories in particular don't really care about that at all.
I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time this has ever happened on the BBC. I also think that if I know anything about the average British tennis fan, the beeb will have received a slew of complaints about this unprecedented incursion into one of the most sacred of all TV cows- a Wimbledon final. We await 2 pm coming round to see if they do the same thing with the Men's final.
But what we may be looking at here is the first response to the government decision to make the BBC foot the bill for exempting the over 75s from paying their TV licence fee- a bill which I understand
will come in at over £700 million. And this in turn is a precursor to the government withdrawing the licence fee altogether, rendering the BBC just another commercial channel. This is what happens when you vote in a party that is never happier than when it is cutting public expenditure.
As someone who is well off, I find myself in the slightly embarrassing position of benefiting from George Osborne's ideological approach to the nation's economy, one that would fit well into the credo of the conservatives of the mid-19th century, when capital ruled everything and there were few if any benefits offered to the disadvantaged beyond the prospect of a life in the workhouse. It's where we're headed right now. My mum's house is worth nearly 300 grand, and her liquid reserves are also healthy, and we would have had to pay several thousand pounds in inheritance taxes upon her death- but not now, after Wednesday's budget. But this was money my brother and I could have afforded to pay fairly easily, taking away only a small fraction of the large bequest we will both enjoy. For some reason, Mr Osborne wishes to make our progress through life easier, rather than people at the bottom of the wages pyramid. Odd, that...
At this moment people in Cardiff are running a campaign to save our local libraries- another ideological target of the Tories. Where's the profit in libraries? they ask. And so councils, stricken by the cuts they are being forced to make, have perhaps understandably gone after the libraries, which are only bleeding money and offering no hope of any financial return. Unfortunately, this ignores the subtler benefits of libraries, like the fact that they are heavily used by immigrant populations who in them find their only access to the internet or indeed any opportunity to get a grip on the English language and culture, which is something I thought politicians of all parties would wish to encourage. It would seem that I am wrong about that, and that the Tories in particular don't really care about that at all.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
Riga dispatch
For some reason my wife wanted to visit Latvia, and despite certain reservations I went along with her idea. Tallinn has become a popular destination for stag parties; Lithuania is generally felt to be the most down-market and uninspired of the three Baltic states, so Latvia it was.
In latitude about the same as Orkney, in early July this part of Europe tends to enjoy warm, even hot, albeit brief summers, and we arrived to find temperatures in the high twenties. These clement conditions would not last long, we were warned, so make the most of it before the first chilly breezes of autumn arrive, usually in September. By October winter, or what we would call winter, has arrived, so like the Scandinavian countries, the summer holiday here is short.
But when you are basking in low humidity, high 20s temperatures it is hard to think about the snow and ice of their long winters. And so we did make the most of it, travelling up the coast of the Gulf of Riga to find the far point of land where the Gulf gives way to the chilly waters of the Baltic Sea. We found a lovely, near-deserted beach and braved a brief swim. The waters were, shall we say, bracing; certainly it was cold enough to have your feet going numb within five minutes of entering the water.
The next day we drove in the opposite direction, eastwards through lush green countryside to the ancient town of Cessis, which features one of the few medieval buildings not destroyed either by the Germans or the Russians in their various predations of this land which has been coveted by so many other countries for hundreds of years. Here is the old castle, which withstood a siege laid by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, having fallen to his predecessor some 70 years earlier, before extricating itself in a bloody war. I love a castle with real history behind it, and here was a fine example, only lightly restored and still showing scars from the huge cannonballs which were fired at it by Ivan's artillerymen.
The principle memory which will stay with me of Latvia, however, is Riga's famous Art Nouveau district, which features fifty or so of some of the most beautiful town buildings I have ever seen. Here Art Nouveau found its most spectacular flowering perhaps anywhere in Europe. You wander down Elizabeta Street with your mouth open in amazement as you pass one after another stunningly adorned building, each one more gorgeously appointed than the last. Seeing them at the "golden hour" which occurs around 6 pm in the summer offers an experience not to be matched by any other northern city- greater certainly than anything to be found in Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm. I recommend this wonderful city to anyone thinking of a northern European city break- oh, and it's considerably cheaper than the ones I just mentioned. The people are warm, friendly and many have a grasp on the English language, which is a requirement considering our lack of Latvian or Russian, the latter language remaining a lingua franca despite the passage of nearly thirty years since the Russians moved out. And even now you can still detect a palpable sense of relief among the people that they have been finally left to their own devices.
Finally, I feel I should mention the women. Here cut-off denims are de rigeur, and worn by young women who can get away with them: the obesity epidemic has not yet reached this part of the world- not yet, anyway...
In latitude about the same as Orkney, in early July this part of Europe tends to enjoy warm, even hot, albeit brief summers, and we arrived to find temperatures in the high twenties. These clement conditions would not last long, we were warned, so make the most of it before the first chilly breezes of autumn arrive, usually in September. By October winter, or what we would call winter, has arrived, so like the Scandinavian countries, the summer holiday here is short.
But when you are basking in low humidity, high 20s temperatures it is hard to think about the snow and ice of their long winters. And so we did make the most of it, travelling up the coast of the Gulf of Riga to find the far point of land where the Gulf gives way to the chilly waters of the Baltic Sea. We found a lovely, near-deserted beach and braved a brief swim. The waters were, shall we say, bracing; certainly it was cold enough to have your feet going numb within five minutes of entering the water.
The next day we drove in the opposite direction, eastwards through lush green countryside to the ancient town of Cessis, which features one of the few medieval buildings not destroyed either by the Germans or the Russians in their various predations of this land which has been coveted by so many other countries for hundreds of years. Here is the old castle, which withstood a siege laid by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, having fallen to his predecessor some 70 years earlier, before extricating itself in a bloody war. I love a castle with real history behind it, and here was a fine example, only lightly restored and still showing scars from the huge cannonballs which were fired at it by Ivan's artillerymen.
The principle memory which will stay with me of Latvia, however, is Riga's famous Art Nouveau district, which features fifty or so of some of the most beautiful town buildings I have ever seen. Here Art Nouveau found its most spectacular flowering perhaps anywhere in Europe. You wander down Elizabeta Street with your mouth open in amazement as you pass one after another stunningly adorned building, each one more gorgeously appointed than the last. Seeing them at the "golden hour" which occurs around 6 pm in the summer offers an experience not to be matched by any other northern city- greater certainly than anything to be found in Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm. I recommend this wonderful city to anyone thinking of a northern European city break- oh, and it's considerably cheaper than the ones I just mentioned. The people are warm, friendly and many have a grasp on the English language, which is a requirement considering our lack of Latvian or Russian, the latter language remaining a lingua franca despite the passage of nearly thirty years since the Russians moved out. And even now you can still detect a palpable sense of relief among the people that they have been finally left to their own devices.
Finally, I feel I should mention the women. Here cut-off denims are de rigeur, and worn by young women who can get away with them: the obesity epidemic has not yet reached this part of the world- not yet, anyway...
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
June 2015 book and film review
BOOKS
THE FLASHMAN PAPERS and ROYAL FLASH, by George Macdonald Frazer
The beastly bully of Tom Brown's Schooldays is expelled from Rugby School for drunkenness by an exasperated Dr Arnold, and pursues a career in the army. Can we expect him to become a reformed character and lead an unblemished adulthood? Not likely. In his first foreign assignment in the lawless and bloody Afghanistan of the 1840s we find him to be the well-bred lowlife we might have expected: cowardly, dishonest and not above raping women who don't say yes immediately to his lascivious advances, And having escaped the routing of British forces in Kabul he returns to the old country with a completely undeserved reputation as a hero. Later, in Royal Flash we find him ensnared in a plot to screw the Danes dreamed up by a certain Otto von Bismark, owing to his uncanny resemblance to a Danish prince.
Urged to give the Flashman books a try by my brother, I finally came across this two-in-one edition going for 50p in a charity shop and felt it was a sign. I have to say I was expecting it to be a case of "Trashy Flashy", but I soon discovered I was wrong. Frazer's "creation" turns out to be a complex and well drawn character, and the plots are fascinating. The author stays as close to historical fact as possible, introducing many real figures from history into his stories, like the celebrated Irish tart Lola Montez, who carved out a successful career as an exotic singer and dancer and even shacked up with Germany's mad king Ludwig, who built palaces in her honour. Truth is, I enjoyed these books and will probably read more. No problem there, there are plenty to choose from...
THE MAKIOKA SISTERS, by Junichiro Tanizaki
In the Japan of the 1930s, four sisters attempt to find happiness amidst a culture dominated by men, and where custom and tradition rules every step they take. Literally. As the book opens we find the eldest two sisters are already married and living in their own houses, one in Osaka, an ancient city 300 miles to the west of Tokyo, and the other in Ashiya, a small suburb just outside Osaka. It is the two younger sisters that are the problem. The youngest, Taeko, is something of a free spirit; she even ran off with her boyfriend while still a teenager, an act so chocking it made the papers. Her problem is that custom dictates that she cannot marry until her older sister, Yukiko, does, but she's so choosy that all the efforts of her family and friends to find a suitable spouse have come to nothing.
And there you have it. This book might be called "Marrying Yukiko", because it is around this central conundrum that all the characters orbit, in a quite marvellous book which offers a unique insight into the sense and sensibilities of pre-war Japan. In a gloriously relaxed style, the reader is immersed in Japanese culture as deeply as anything written by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens immerses us into the world of 19th century England. Quite simply, this is a masterpiece
FILMS
THE EQUALIZER (2014) D- Antoine Fuqua. A man (Denzel Washington) leads a quiet life working in an American version of B and Q. But there is something strange about him: he has a keen sense of right and wrong, and when he sees, for instance, a nearby restaurant being extorted by corrupt cops he displays extraordinary martial skills to put things right. Turns out he's an ex company man, and even when it comes to taking on the Russian mob he is equal (geddit?) to the task.
Based on the 80s TV series "The Equalizer" which was made in America but starred Edward Woodward as the Jaguar XJ6 driving righter-of-wrongs and sometimes criticised for its excessive violence, this film lives up to the spirit of its progenitor, and then some. When it comes, the violence is extreme and lifelike, but the fact is this is a very good film. I couldn't take my eyes off Denzel, in one of his best roles as the knight in shining denims fighting some of the nastiest villains ever seen. There's nothing like a Russian villain, am I right? Skillfully directed and tightly edited, this was a joy.
LUCY (2014) W/D- Luc Besson. Lucy (Scarlett Johannsen) is tricked by her scumbag BF into being a drug mule to carry some new super-speed which has been surgically implanted into her abdomen. The package bursts and she gets the high of her life. Astonishingly, she doesn't die; indeed, when she comes out of her coma she's 50,000 times more intelligent than she was. And she wants more stuff: lots more stuff. A neuroscientist (Morgan Freeman) examines her and concludes she is now using 90% of her brain as opposed to the 10% the rest of us have to cope with, resulting in her attaining not just intellectual, but paranormal excellence. As for Lucy, she is convinced that she only has to take a few more kilos of the stuff and she'll be using 100%.
This film is highly professional and went down well at the box office, making back more than five times what it cost to make, but it is based on false premise that I found it hard to get past, namely that human beings only use 10% of their brain capacity. I heard this factoid trotted out in my medical school days back in the 70s, but more modern research has shown that it simply isn't true. Never mind, eh? Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, I say.
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (animation) (2011) D- Barry Cook and Sarah Smith. Despite a super-high tech delivery system, Father Christmas and his army of Elves fail to deliver a present to one little girl, causing shock waves to resound across the North Pole. It falls to Arthur, Santa's grandson, to save the day.
With a massive cast of mainly British talent including such luminaries as James McEvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Lawrie, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Eva Longoria, and co-written by Peter Baynham, who often collaborates with people like Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci, this film definitely has a touch of class. Funny then, that I wasn't overly impressed at the time and find it hard now, only a couple of weeks later, to remember much about it. What is wrong with me these days?
I say, give me Elf any day.
BROKEN EMBRACES (2009) D- Pedro Almodovar. A Spanish auteur is making a film starring his lover Penelope Cruz (who has never looked more sultry) when he is involved in a car crash which leaves him blind. His lover happens to be married to the film's producer, who takes advantage of their absence to deliberately put out a dog of a version, using all the worst takes. Naturally the film is panned and the director swears revenge on his nemesis- not the easiest task now he has to rely on a white stick.
The film is a lot more complex than that, however. It dances back and forth between various time lines, creating a strange atmosphere reminiscent of Hitchcock and in particular one of his most famous offerings, Vertigo. Like that earlier classic, the colour is vivid and almost surreal at times, and also like Vertigo, one is never quite sure what is going on. Some have called it one of Almodovar's best films, though others have been less convinced. My view: watchable throughout,despite being perhaps 20 minutes too long.
THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971) D- Jerry Schatzberg. "God help Bobby and Helen" cried the posters for this film, addressing the plight of two young heroin addicts on the mean streets of Manhattan. Bobby, played by Al Pacino in his first leading role, is already an experienced junkie when he meets Helen (Kitty Winn in pretty much her only film) and they fall quickly and hopelessly in love. Before long the strait-laced Helen is on the stuff herself. The consequences of this disastrous relationship are horribly predictable. They will do anything to get their next hit, even sell their own friends and co-addicts down the river if they have to. And they have to...
Produced by Dominick Dunne, one of the scions of American culture in the latter half of the 20th century, and co-written by Joan Didion, renowned novelist and literary journalist, this film threatened to be a deeply insightful piece of work, which it definitely is, though with the perspective of over forty years what stands out most vividly is the performance of Al Pacino. His aura of irresistible charm combined with an inner tension like a pressure cooker about to explode is perhaps unique in modern cinema, and this film was the first in a series which would establish him as one of America's greatest actors.A deeply troubling film, but utterly compelling.
SUSPECT (1987) D- Peter Yates. A deaf-mute man (an early, but already charismatic Liam Neeson) is accused of murder, and public defender Cher is press-ganged in to defend him in what seems to be an open and shut case. As the case proceeds Cher gets the impression other, darker forces are conspiring against her client beyond the simple facts. She is not wrong...
Panned for its deus ex machina ending by some, this film does succeed in holding the attention as well as demonstrating that Cher can act. It was not Peter Yates's finest hour though. As everyone now knows, that honour is held by Bullitt, one of the finest films ever made about America by a non American, though Atlantic City would also be a contender for that accolade.
THE FLASHMAN PAPERS and ROYAL FLASH, by George Macdonald Frazer
The beastly bully of Tom Brown's Schooldays is expelled from Rugby School for drunkenness by an exasperated Dr Arnold, and pursues a career in the army. Can we expect him to become a reformed character and lead an unblemished adulthood? Not likely. In his first foreign assignment in the lawless and bloody Afghanistan of the 1840s we find him to be the well-bred lowlife we might have expected: cowardly, dishonest and not above raping women who don't say yes immediately to his lascivious advances, And having escaped the routing of British forces in Kabul he returns to the old country with a completely undeserved reputation as a hero. Later, in Royal Flash we find him ensnared in a plot to screw the Danes dreamed up by a certain Otto von Bismark, owing to his uncanny resemblance to a Danish prince.
Urged to give the Flashman books a try by my brother, I finally came across this two-in-one edition going for 50p in a charity shop and felt it was a sign. I have to say I was expecting it to be a case of "Trashy Flashy", but I soon discovered I was wrong. Frazer's "creation" turns out to be a complex and well drawn character, and the plots are fascinating. The author stays as close to historical fact as possible, introducing many real figures from history into his stories, like the celebrated Irish tart Lola Montez, who carved out a successful career as an exotic singer and dancer and even shacked up with Germany's mad king Ludwig, who built palaces in her honour. Truth is, I enjoyed these books and will probably read more. No problem there, there are plenty to choose from...
THE MAKIOKA SISTERS, by Junichiro Tanizaki
In the Japan of the 1930s, four sisters attempt to find happiness amidst a culture dominated by men, and where custom and tradition rules every step they take. Literally. As the book opens we find the eldest two sisters are already married and living in their own houses, one in Osaka, an ancient city 300 miles to the west of Tokyo, and the other in Ashiya, a small suburb just outside Osaka. It is the two younger sisters that are the problem. The youngest, Taeko, is something of a free spirit; she even ran off with her boyfriend while still a teenager, an act so chocking it made the papers. Her problem is that custom dictates that she cannot marry until her older sister, Yukiko, does, but she's so choosy that all the efforts of her family and friends to find a suitable spouse have come to nothing.
And there you have it. This book might be called "Marrying Yukiko", because it is around this central conundrum that all the characters orbit, in a quite marvellous book which offers a unique insight into the sense and sensibilities of pre-war Japan. In a gloriously relaxed style, the reader is immersed in Japanese culture as deeply as anything written by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens immerses us into the world of 19th century England. Quite simply, this is a masterpiece
FILMS
THE EQUALIZER (2014) D- Antoine Fuqua. A man (Denzel Washington) leads a quiet life working in an American version of B and Q. But there is something strange about him: he has a keen sense of right and wrong, and when he sees, for instance, a nearby restaurant being extorted by corrupt cops he displays extraordinary martial skills to put things right. Turns out he's an ex company man, and even when it comes to taking on the Russian mob he is equal (geddit?) to the task.
Based on the 80s TV series "The Equalizer" which was made in America but starred Edward Woodward as the Jaguar XJ6 driving righter-of-wrongs and sometimes criticised for its excessive violence, this film lives up to the spirit of its progenitor, and then some. When it comes, the violence is extreme and lifelike, but the fact is this is a very good film. I couldn't take my eyes off Denzel, in one of his best roles as the knight in shining denims fighting some of the nastiest villains ever seen. There's nothing like a Russian villain, am I right? Skillfully directed and tightly edited, this was a joy.
LUCY (2014) W/D- Luc Besson. Lucy (Scarlett Johannsen) is tricked by her scumbag BF into being a drug mule to carry some new super-speed which has been surgically implanted into her abdomen. The package bursts and she gets the high of her life. Astonishingly, she doesn't die; indeed, when she comes out of her coma she's 50,000 times more intelligent than she was. And she wants more stuff: lots more stuff. A neuroscientist (Morgan Freeman) examines her and concludes she is now using 90% of her brain as opposed to the 10% the rest of us have to cope with, resulting in her attaining not just intellectual, but paranormal excellence. As for Lucy, she is convinced that she only has to take a few more kilos of the stuff and she'll be using 100%.
This film is highly professional and went down well at the box office, making back more than five times what it cost to make, but it is based on false premise that I found it hard to get past, namely that human beings only use 10% of their brain capacity. I heard this factoid trotted out in my medical school days back in the 70s, but more modern research has shown that it simply isn't true. Never mind, eh? Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, I say.
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (animation) (2011) D- Barry Cook and Sarah Smith. Despite a super-high tech delivery system, Father Christmas and his army of Elves fail to deliver a present to one little girl, causing shock waves to resound across the North Pole. It falls to Arthur, Santa's grandson, to save the day.
With a massive cast of mainly British talent including such luminaries as James McEvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Lawrie, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Eva Longoria, and co-written by Peter Baynham, who often collaborates with people like Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci, this film definitely has a touch of class. Funny then, that I wasn't overly impressed at the time and find it hard now, only a couple of weeks later, to remember much about it. What is wrong with me these days?
I say, give me Elf any day.
BROKEN EMBRACES (2009) D- Pedro Almodovar. A Spanish auteur is making a film starring his lover Penelope Cruz (who has never looked more sultry) when he is involved in a car crash which leaves him blind. His lover happens to be married to the film's producer, who takes advantage of their absence to deliberately put out a dog of a version, using all the worst takes. Naturally the film is panned and the director swears revenge on his nemesis- not the easiest task now he has to rely on a white stick.
The film is a lot more complex than that, however. It dances back and forth between various time lines, creating a strange atmosphere reminiscent of Hitchcock and in particular one of his most famous offerings, Vertigo. Like that earlier classic, the colour is vivid and almost surreal at times, and also like Vertigo, one is never quite sure what is going on. Some have called it one of Almodovar's best films, though others have been less convinced. My view: watchable throughout,despite being perhaps 20 minutes too long.
THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971) D- Jerry Schatzberg. "God help Bobby and Helen" cried the posters for this film, addressing the plight of two young heroin addicts on the mean streets of Manhattan. Bobby, played by Al Pacino in his first leading role, is already an experienced junkie when he meets Helen (Kitty Winn in pretty much her only film) and they fall quickly and hopelessly in love. Before long the strait-laced Helen is on the stuff herself. The consequences of this disastrous relationship are horribly predictable. They will do anything to get their next hit, even sell their own friends and co-addicts down the river if they have to. And they have to...
Produced by Dominick Dunne, one of the scions of American culture in the latter half of the 20th century, and co-written by Joan Didion, renowned novelist and literary journalist, this film threatened to be a deeply insightful piece of work, which it definitely is, though with the perspective of over forty years what stands out most vividly is the performance of Al Pacino. His aura of irresistible charm combined with an inner tension like a pressure cooker about to explode is perhaps unique in modern cinema, and this film was the first in a series which would establish him as one of America's greatest actors.A deeply troubling film, but utterly compelling.
SUSPECT (1987) D- Peter Yates. A deaf-mute man (an early, but already charismatic Liam Neeson) is accused of murder, and public defender Cher is press-ganged in to defend him in what seems to be an open and shut case. As the case proceeds Cher gets the impression other, darker forces are conspiring against her client beyond the simple facts. She is not wrong...
Panned for its deus ex machina ending by some, this film does succeed in holding the attention as well as demonstrating that Cher can act. It was not Peter Yates's finest hour though. As everyone now knows, that honour is held by Bullitt, one of the finest films ever made about America by a non American, though Atlantic City would also be a contender for that accolade.
Thursday, 11 June 2015
Tourists disrespect sacred mountain- did they get what they deserved?
At the base of Ayer's Rock in central Australia, tourists line up every day to climb the rock, known to the local Aboriginal people as "Uluru". And every day those people try to dissuade the tourists from doing just that, arguing that Uluru is sacred to them, and has been for thousands of years, and that tramping up it for fun is disrespecting their spiritual traditions.
How many people take the advice on board and decide not to? My guess would be very few; certainly hundreds of people do climb it every day of the year. The fact that no action is ever taken against any of them should tell you all you need to know about the position of Aboriginal people in modern Australia.
However, the situation appears to be rather different in Malaysia, as we have seen today. Mt Kinabalu is held as sacred by the local tribespeople, and the tourists who streaked, or however you want to describe it, on its summit knew this perfectly well, as they had been warned against such an escapade by their local tour guide. But oh no, they knew better, didn't they? And now at least one of them is in jail, she is "scared" and "very upset". Boo hoo.
Having said that I don't think the Malaysian minister helped the situation very much when he actually ascribed an earthquake to the god's anger at such a desecration of the holy site. That kind of talk can get people lynched. I mean, it's Malaysia, not Westeros.
My suggested remedy is to deport the offenders quietly with a warning to behave with a little more respect next time they encounter a different culture. People from the West have a long tradition of riding roughshod over the culture and traditions of the world, but that's no reason to go on doing it forever.
How many people take the advice on board and decide not to? My guess would be very few; certainly hundreds of people do climb it every day of the year. The fact that no action is ever taken against any of them should tell you all you need to know about the position of Aboriginal people in modern Australia.
However, the situation appears to be rather different in Malaysia, as we have seen today. Mt Kinabalu is held as sacred by the local tribespeople, and the tourists who streaked, or however you want to describe it, on its summit knew this perfectly well, as they had been warned against such an escapade by their local tour guide. But oh no, they knew better, didn't they? And now at least one of them is in jail, she is "scared" and "very upset". Boo hoo.
Having said that I don't think the Malaysian minister helped the situation very much when he actually ascribed an earthquake to the god's anger at such a desecration of the holy site. That kind of talk can get people lynched. I mean, it's Malaysia, not Westeros.
My suggested remedy is to deport the offenders quietly with a warning to behave with a little more respect next time they encounter a different culture. People from the West have a long tradition of riding roughshod over the culture and traditions of the world, but that's no reason to go on doing it forever.
Thursday, 4 June 2015
Texas bans bans- look out- we're next
The city of Denton, Texas held a plebiscite on the issue of fracking last November. The people voted overwhelmingly to ban it. But then, two weeks ago, the Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into law a bill overturning that decision, allowing fracking to go ahead. In effect the state of Texas has "banned bans" on fracking. So much for the American constitution and its much lauded Bill of Rights, which are supposed to guarantee the rights of the individual. It seems that when it's about oil and gas, the citizen's rights don't count for very much.
Yesterday in the House of Commons David Cameron stated his intention of more or less doing the exact opposite, in this case on the issue of on-shore wind farms. He said that decisions about whether to build them should rest in the hands of local people. Clearly he has thought this out and, not being a fan of the new windmills, and also knowing that around the country there is a pervasive sense of nimbyism, he could safely leave it to the local populace to vote down most of the proposals to construct wind farms.
But what, I ask myself, is going to happen when it comes to fracking? Will he allow the local people to make those decisions then? I doubt it. The idea of fracking, with its attendant risks of subsidence and the pollution of the water table, is not going down well in the shire counties, and indeed elsewhere. But we know Cameron and his number 2, George Osborne, are big fans of fracking. My guess is that when it comes to this, we might well find ourselves travelling down the same road as our Texan cousins, and ban bans. You may think you control your destiny at a local level, but believe me, you don't.
Yesterday in the House of Commons David Cameron stated his intention of more or less doing the exact opposite, in this case on the issue of on-shore wind farms. He said that decisions about whether to build them should rest in the hands of local people. Clearly he has thought this out and, not being a fan of the new windmills, and also knowing that around the country there is a pervasive sense of nimbyism, he could safely leave it to the local populace to vote down most of the proposals to construct wind farms.
But what, I ask myself, is going to happen when it comes to fracking? Will he allow the local people to make those decisions then? I doubt it. The idea of fracking, with its attendant risks of subsidence and the pollution of the water table, is not going down well in the shire counties, and indeed elsewhere. But we know Cameron and his number 2, George Osborne, are big fans of fracking. My guess is that when it comes to this, we might well find ourselves travelling down the same road as our Texan cousins, and ban bans. You may think you control your destiny at a local level, but believe me, you don't.
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