20th Century
From Then To Now
Late autumn 1962 was good to culture. The first James Bond film opened in London on 5 October. The French New Wave was at its height with the release of Cléo de 5 à 7 [more…]
Film
Arts
A Dazzlingly Ferocious Crime Film : Sexy Beast (2000)
Michael Caine was once quoted as saying he appeared in the gritty crime film “Get Carter”as an antithesis to the jokey caper “The Italian Job”. But to sufficiently compare Get Carter and Sexy Beast, one has to first understand the [more…]
Arts
From Tangible to Digital: The Shift from Physical to Virtual Media
In the past few decades, we’ve witnessed a profound transformation in how we create, share, and preserve our memories and communications. The digital revolution has reshaped the landscape of human expression, moving us from the [more…]
Literature
The cult of victimhood
It has recently emerged that Raynor Winn (NHRN), whose trip with her husband Moth (also NHRN) along the SW Coastal Path inspired her book ‘The Salt Path’ (followed by the film of the same name [more…]
Arts
Briefs Encounter – A reappraisal
After a chance meeting on a train platform, a married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) enter into a muted but passionate, and ultimately doomed, love affair. With its evocatively fog-enshrouded setting, [more…]
Arts
Film Review : The Leopard
Luchino Visconti’s masterpiece is his 1963 historical epic The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, which – pendant alert – actually refers to a smaller spotted wild cat, the serval – the heraldic animal of the Princes of [more…]
Arts
A true Beauty – The Depth and Limits of Alain Delon
Forgive me, Puffins. I know he’s French. And an Actor. But I’d like to talk about Alain Delon’s face for a minute. In truth, it’s hard not to. Certainly, in the early years of his [more…]
20th Century
About Little Women
We play a game at work with girls’ heights. There is a reason for this. Colleagues are going to build a tunnel to the shop next door and steal their toys. To confuse the local [more…]
Arts
Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
The ‘Flower Moon’ is the term the Osage Indians of Oklahoma use to describe that time of year with a full moon in May when the plains around them suddenly burst forth in millions of [more…]