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To Pordenone, a lovely town in the north-east region of Friuli Venezia Giulia for the 43rd edition of the Giornate del Cinema Muto, the annual festival of silent film. We had dipped a toe in the event two years ago, and enjoyed it so much that we decided to register for the whole week this… Continue reading Cinema Muto at Pordenone
It’s March already, and I haven’t posted since the end of last year. In the meantime, I’ve published a couple of reviews on Shiny New Books which I’ll link to here. The first was Cynthia Zarin’s little book of, well, essays I suppose one might call them, on aspects of Italy and Italian life. These… Continue reading Marching on
Shiny New Books is now updated more frequently, as the website posts reviews in smaller batches. My latest reviews are of Melissa Harrison’s charming Rain, and Thomas Dilworth’s monumental biography of the poet and artist David Jones. Harriet’s review of the new Helen Dunmore novel, Birdcage Walk has moved it high on my TBR list.… Continue reading Shiny New Books
Edward Petherbridge is probably best known now as the definitive Lord Peter Wimsey in the BBC adaptations of the late eighties, opposite Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. He brought a wounded sensitivity to the part, presenting a more complex figure than his predecessor Ian Carmichael, who remained largely in Bertie Wooster mode. Any casual viewer… Continue reading Edward Petherbridge and Bloomsbury
A new edition of Shiny New Books has hit the web, and there’s a review by me of the latest volume in the monumental series of TS Eliot letters. As ever, there’s lots more to look at, so have a browse.
My review of A.David Moody’s final volume in his massive Ezra Pound biography is now up at Shiny New Books.
For reasons over which we will draw a discreet veil, our soundtrack on a recent long drive was a CD of early Perry Como songs. The opening track, called ‘Dig You Later’ was a topical song of 1945, in which Perry and a vocal group, The Satisfiers, sing a lyric which tries to shoehorn as… Continue reading Hubba Hubba!
My latest review at the excellent Shiny New Books is now up. Go here for my thoughts on the latest volume of A David Moody’s magnum opus on old Stetson.
It used to be that ‘showing respect’ was something children were supposed to do to adults, or farm tenants to the inhabitants of the big house. In recent times, it’s become a catch-all phrase beloved of gangsters, sportsmen and bullies. Not ‘showing respect’ can mean anything from looking at someone in a bar in a… Continue reading Respect
Man and boy, I’ve seen a lot of Hamlets, and I’ve taught the play more times than I can remember. So I know it very well, probably as well as I know any work of art. What to expect then, from Maxine Peake’s Hamlet, given at the Royal Exchange this autumn? That la Peake is… Continue reading Maxine Peake’s Hamlet at the Royal Exchange