‘Ordinary life can be pretty complex stuff’. So runs the tagline for Sundance audience winner American Splendour. No shit. You’ll be teelling me the pope wear a silly hat next.
What is remarkable about American Splendour is not that i[…]

efinK a ekiL stuC: So, in summary –
1) Jim DeRogatis utilizing the “I knew Jack Kennedy” routine to roast Ryan Adams – vaguely amusing, but not impressive. Don’t blame the kids, Jim – blame the parents (or the cor[…]

Hank Williams- I’m so Lonesome, I Could Cry
It is one of those songs that is so perfect that it cannot be talked about, a work of poetry that reminds us of our own mourning and sadness, not only with the plantive lyrics but those instrumental […]

I saw Kiss Of Life on Saturday afternoon. There were three other people in the cinema. Which may seem an indictment of the state of the British Film industry, until you guess how many people actually liked it. I don’t think I am assuming to muc[…]

There are several Turkish places called Mangal in Dalston, and my friend R characterises this one as “the one where they’re not incredibly rude to the customers” – I haven’t been to the others so I don’t know if th[…]

Seeing Waiting For Guffman at the NFT made me dwell upon the mockumentary form. It is clear that it is a subsection of parody, but what is often unclear is what is actually being parodied. Is it the overly referential tropes of documentary or the sub[…]

In light of Shelob in Lord Of The Ring: Return of The King, I am considering updating Six Legs Good, Eight Legs Bad. Finally a giant spider, albeit a fantasy one, that is actually unsettling and frightening. In the light of the Spider-Man 2 trailer I[…]

Spotted!! By a “homie” of this parish near the Wimpy Bar in West Ealing: a bed shop called – and he kids me not – Daniel Bedding Centre. Hilarity! Ensue! Ect!
Meanwhile, in what is undoubtedly the world of jazz, Kunto Hartono,[…]

The thing you notice driving into Paris is that you never see the word ‘Paris’; you just see more and more and bigger buildings with huger adverts glowing from their rooftops; more neon, more glow and gloss; each billboard a little more c[…]

Obv when v.small the key to survival – during sermons, lectures, recorder concerts, nativity plays and the like – is to find a way to teleport yr wee brain elsewhere: my game, which I recommend to one and all, was to gaze up into the vast[…]