Movies about the apocalypse are commonplace. Late last year, audiences were “treated” to the latest in a long line of films which contemplated the end of the world, namely “2012”, which was based on a ridiculous misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar. Like many of its ilk, it was little more than a demonstration of advanced […]

Going to see a Harry Potter film bears a similarity to attending a family reunion, particularly if the relatives live far away. At each event, one expects changes, one sees changes: the kids grow up, the adults get older. There are interesting stories to tell about the intervening period and much to catch up on, […]

It’s atypical to write a review of a play after it closes: perhaps such an item bears closer resemblance to an epitaph. However, it’s impossible for me to let a production of Cyrano de Bergerac to pass unnoticed. I admit this is partially due to the fact that I am a Cyrano aficionado: this work […]

One of mankind’s principal preoccupations is predicting its own demise. The Mayans supposedly put together a calendar that dated the end of the world at some point in 2012. Nostradamus said that the planet would be consumed by nuclear war in 1999. People in London were extremely nervous in 1666, given the year’s numerical relationship […]

It’s uncommon to associate melancholy with either majesty or beauty, particularly in the English speaking world. It’s a widely-held belief, certainly in America, that lacking overt cheer is evidence of psychological dysfunction. Anyone who thinks otherwise should try the following experiment: find a group of Americans, ingratiate yourself into their midst, and then look purposefully, […]

Nostalgia for days gone by is nothing new. The statue of Richard the Lionheart in front of the Houses of Parliament is a testament to Victorian aspirations of medieval nobility. I remember back in the early 1990’s that my younger sister developed a penchant for tie dye clothing and Janis Joplin records. “The good old […]

Some movies are not intended to be high art. Before the invention of television, this was often the case: the thirties, forties and fifties were littered with throwaway films with forgettable characters and laughable story lines. The most extreme examples were the movies that were made to work with the traditional red lens / blue […]

Nihilism has been a feature of our culture for a while: this past weekend, I saw Cruel Intentions, a 1999 film which drove the point home. [AMAZONPRODUCT=B00001PE4D] This film recasts the 18th century French novel, “Les Liaisons dangereuses” (by Pierre Choderos de Laclos) in a modern setting. Perhaps predictably, the film is set among the […]

[AMAZONPRODUCT=B004XBOG48] “There Will Be Blood”,starring the Academy award winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis (as oil man Daniel Plainview) has recently been released on DVD in the United Kingdom. Given how the oil crisis has recently intensified, its re-emergence could not be more timely. The film is loosely based on the book “Oil!” by Upton Sinclair. This […]

Slavoj Zizek, the philosopher, supposedly said that visiting the cinema was rather like watching a toilet bowl in anticipation of it exploding excrement at the viewer. When I first heard this, I took this as just another provocative statement from him, one of his little ways to shock anyone listening into thinking about the world […]