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The pitfalls of cause and effect

As an unhealthily-devoted television watcher, my sphere of interest does not normally extend to police procedural drama series – still less those of the currently-fashionable, high-class, Danish and Scandinavian origin. In that sense, I happily bow to my superiors who contribute to the National [...]

March 3, 2014 // 0 Comments

Boccaccio 70

In my list of films set in Rome, I included Boccaccio 70 and I revisited it yesterday. It is in fact a quartet of films, three of which are by Italy’s foremost directors Vittorio de Sica, Lucchino Visconti and Federico Fellini and featuring two international stars, Anita Ekberg and Sophia [...]

February 27, 2014 // 0 Comments

A Good Read

A Good Read is one of my favourite book programmes. Originally Sue McGregor presented this. She is a consummate broadcaster. Now the more bookish Harriet Gilbert is at the helm. The idea is that 2 personalities make their suggestions of a Good Read alongside Harriet Gilbert. It’s a rich [...]

February 26, 2014 // 0 Comments

Another one bites the dust

This week came the news that Stephen Ward, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest musical offering at the Aldwych Theatre in the West End, is being taken off next month for the usual classic reason – lack of ticket sales. There’s little satisfaction to be had from the demise of a major creative [...]

February 26, 2014 // 0 Comments

Creative writing in Canary Wharf

An old school friend of mine who dabbles with book reviewing married, second time round, a banker from JP Morgan. Over dinner a few months ago I brought up one of my hobby horses – the distance from the written literary written word in the world of texting and tweeting. My argument is that [...]

February 22, 2014 // 0 Comments

Looking for the future

As die-hard rock and blues fans, my brothers and I like a bit of live music and so, on a half-recommendation picked up by one of us in Putney’s Half Moon pub, we congregated last night at The Borderline club off the Tottenham Court Road to watch some young bands strut their stuff. It’s been a [...]

February 19, 2014 // 0 Comments

An underwhelming BAFTAs evening

I’m scarcely one to talk, as these days I rarely watch films – the last two I have seen in the cinema have been Formula One-related (the outstanding 2010 documentary Senna and 2013’s drama-documentary Rush) and this despite the fact I don’t even like motor racing – but, having [...]

February 18, 2014 // 0 Comments

Student Services

Student Services is the type of film the French do better than anyone. It’s the story of a 19 year old Freshman, Laura ( Deborah Francois), in applied modern languages who gets into financial difficulties. Accordingly she responds to a sexual meeting with an older man Joe (Alain Lauchi) and [...]

February 18, 2014 // 0 Comments

Give me strength!

The newspapers today are full of the news that the BBC has received over 300 complaints about their commentators’ performance at the Women’s Slopestyle Final at the Sochi Olympic Games, during which Jenny Jones became Great Britain’s first-ever medallist on snow at a Winter Olympics. [...]

February 11, 2014 // 0 Comments

Waiting for the tide of political correctness to go out

This week we learn that the BBC Trust has ordered its programme commissioners and makers to increase female representation on comedy show panels and the like – see today here, on the website of THE GUARDIAN Please pardon me for being male, old and set in my ways, but this sort of [...]

February 9, 2014 // 0 Comments

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