Film

The Day of the Jackal (Sky Atlantic)

This mega-production by Sky starring Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Logan and Charles Dance inevitably invites comparison with the Frederick Forsyth best-selling novel and the 1973 Fred Zinnermann film with Edward Fox. Frederick Forsyth admitted that he was paid vast amounts of money to do nothing or [...]

December 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Art of Cinema/Sky Arts

Last week’s programme presented by Ian Nathan focussed on script supervisors, once called ‘continuity girls’. These provide an essential input by creating the illusion of reality in a film and avoiding ‘bloopers’. Clive James once presented a programme on Saturday mornings [...]

October 12, 2024 // 0 Comments

Lee movie (2023)

Yesterday I finally got to see Lee. Enjoyed would be the wrong word as her pictures of the campaign after the Normandy landings – and Dachau – were searing, but the film was impressive notably for the fine acting of Kate Winslet as Lee Miller. The film covers one year (1945) and one [...]

September 17, 2024 // 0 Comments

Cineworld

The heading above should have been Lee as I intended to see that film on its release date at the 5-00pm performance. However, on arrival at my local Cineworld, I was informed the projector had broken down and I had to go to another performance. It reminded me of the story about a reviewer who [...]

September 14, 2024 // 0 Comments

Classic Movies/Sky Arts

This series, presented by Ian Nathan, has returned. No Dr Bonnie Greer, but instead a young American critic and film historian Christina Newland. Neil Norman is also a regular but Steven Armstrong, the Sunday Times film critic, features only occasionally. The choice of movies is odd. The first [...]

September 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Third Man

The 75th anniversary of the launch of the classic movie The Third Man is being celebrated this month with a re-showing. What made this Alexander Korda/David Selznick collaboration, directed by Carol Reed – the illegitimate son of actor/producer Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree – so memorable? [...]

September 4, 2024 // 0 Comments

Marriages (on film and TV)

Having been married to my Rosie – or Roz as she is known – for 45 years I do give a lot of thought to long term matrimony. The best portrayal of a long marriage is that of Horace Rumpole to Hilda. The Rumpole series are shown on Talking Pictures and, irony of ironies given that the [...]

August 23, 2024 // 0 Comments

Brief Encounter

In their Classic Movies series the Sky Arts film critics (Ian Nathan, Mel Norman and Steven Armstrong) reviewed Brief Encounter, a Noel Coward and David Lean joint production. It raises the question as to whether or not a film made in 1945 is dated , a period piece or a timeless classic. Clearly [...]

August 11, 2024 // 0 Comments

Film Noir

Tim Young, an old friend of mine, has written a comprehensive – though mercifully brief – study of film noir entitled A Black Pool Opened up at My Feet and I Dived In: Film Noir: The cinematic language of 1940s America. Probably the modern meaning is ‘dark’. It’s perhaps easier to [...]

May 31, 2024 // 0 Comments

Titanic lives/Richard Davenport-Hines

The Titanic sank 112 years and 1 month ago but it’s still an iconic event and I have often wondered why. It must be the sheer tragedy of the greatest liner of its age sinking on its maiden voyage and/or the film which launched the career of Kate Winslet and/or the horror of rich and poor [...]

May 11, 2024 // 0 Comments

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England 33 New Zealand 19

November 16, 2025 // 0 Comments

Although England won comfortably I was not sure about their team but I’m here to talk about the All Blacks who are in transition. the so called experts say thete had never [...]
Quilter autumn internationals

November 9, 2025 // 0 Comments

À friend of mine something of a rugby aficionado sent me a Guardian article forecasting this England side might provide expansive rugby. I had my doubts as over the years I [...]
Fiorentina sack Pioli

November 5, 2025 // 0 Comments

With Fiorentina bottom of Serie a, it came as no surprise that head coach Stefano Pioli was sacked yesterday. Results have been terrible and last Saturday we lost 0-1 at home [...]
Annabelle Croft

November 2, 2025 // 0 Comments

The highlight of my sporting weekend was not the ATP tennis, not the sports on offer, but Annabelle Croft’s appearance on Michael Berkeley’s Radio 3 programme [...]
The Premiership

November 2, 2025 // 0 Comments

Who would have thought that Sunderland promoted in the play-offs would stand just one point behind Liverpool with a game in hand? It’s surely Arsenal’s to lose with their [...]