The last ten minutes of The Return are very uneasy for the viewer. Up to this point the film has had one intention, ratchet up the suspense and tell the very simple story. Two brothers return home to find in place the father they never knew. He then […]

So I’d bought basil.
More to the point: for two dollars, I bought a grocery sack full of fresh basil; by comparison, a small plastic pack of basil with enough for pesto for two, or a dish of Thai basil chicken, costs between $1.50 and $4.00 at […]

Local vegetable gardens are high-maintenance right now. In the cool of the morning, it’s picking time: today might be the butterbeans and the corn, tomorrow the rattlesnake beans and the purple hull peas, then back to the beginning with the cor[…]

Some Fathers Do ‘Ave ‘Em or Troy.
So, I finally got round to seeing Troy, and the one thing that struck me was how much Paris came across as an ancient Frank Spencer. He was always getting things wrong, then trying to put them right and […]

It has romance (for my Mum). It has violence (for my Dad). And it does not have much swearing in it.
At least that is what I thought when I left. I enjoyed it too for what it is worth. But then i remembered that Alec Baldwin only really has one line,[…]

PUMPKIN AND GIN PIE!!!!
*faints*[…]

HURRAH!! I’m not last in the ILX Fantasy Euro2004 League. I’m sure “mymble” and “blueski” (whoever they could be) would agree that making no subs due to being at glastonbury was the major cause of our downfall (al[…]

Dracula (Part Two – Transylvania)
The fictional Dracula is a composite character drawn from diverse sources. One part Jack the Ripper, two parts Romanian folklore, but the name Bram Stoker borrowed for his creation belongs to a barbaric and ver[…]

Look on our works… This confirms all my prejudices. Creators of the idea (I refuse to say “brand”) of “world” music ‘fess up: every record made to fit into that genre has been pants (which is not to mean that good […]

FT Top 100 Films
70: THE FIFTH ELEMENT
Anthony Easton Says:
Its a beautiful film, one of those sound and furies that signify nothing, i am not even sure it has a plot or even that the plot matters–its a series of sci fi set pieces, some of them[…]