Saw the updated movie version of Brighton Rock the other night. A MIFF preview. Love my MIFF membership! I have not seen the earlier film, nor read the Graham Greene novel so can't make comparisons. This film is set in the 1960s which is a point of difference but it worked well. Smart direction keeps the action moving along at a cracking pace with … [Read more...] about Brighton Rocks
Archives for 2011
Two Twentieth Century Sagas
I have taken to reading big sprawling family sagas, in response to my current disappointment with much modern fiction. Last year I discovered the Eitingons, forebears of Mary-Kay Wilmer, editor of The London Review of Books. What a family! What a story! Two sides of the Iron Curtain. Leonid, the KGB agent who oversaw the assassination of Trotsky … [Read more...] about Two Twentieth Century Sagas
Beware Bad Language
I was proud and disdainful of the use of swear words by my peers at school and (mostly) at Uni. Those who did displayed a sad lack of language skills and literary imagination was my pompous opinion. I became less precious about it as I got older but the rot really set in when I worked with the AMIEU (you will have to look that up if you don't know … [Read more...] about Beware Bad Language
Folk Finale
Well I have been off to my final Port Fairy Folk Festival. For a little while at least. We started when our son and his friend were in Year 7. They both completed their first year of university last year and mine is preparing for the Grand Tour of old Europe. So eight years later I am calling it quits. We camped the first year, but that was not … [Read more...] about Folk Finale
Stephen’s Wagner
Stephen Fry's Wagner And Me is a wonderful film. Check out the trailer. It's not just for committed Wagnerians as suggested by one reviewer, though it is hard me to say - given I am just such a one. And while there is plenty of swoon (another criticism) - that is the whole point. As it says in the title; this is all about Stephen's reactions: … [Read more...] about Stephen’s Wagner
Oscar
So who will it be? The old or the new? Who will be crowned King of the Oscars? King or Network? Enough cliches. I have been thinking about this for a while. I have seen both the main contenders. The King's Speech The Social Network I enjoyed both of these films very much. The King not unexpectedly. I love Colin Firth - what ladies of a certain … [Read more...] about Oscar