A day of shopping in Manchester city centre at the weekend always seems primed to boil over into violence but that is normally due to two girls tearing each other's hair out for the last size 10 on the rack or the battle for the last leather seat in Caffe Nero turning nasty as someone gets a wooden stirrer in the eye. On Saturday the mood around town was much darker and palpably tense as two rival demonstrations descended on Piccadilly Gardens. On one side there was the English Defence League who claim that their stance is anti-extremism not anti-Islamic, a claim that lost any credence when their banners demanding "no more mosques in England" were displayed. Their numbers were allegedly bolstered by visitors from France and Germany, which rather went against the ‘English’ part of their ethos, but maybe they were struggling for numbers. They certainly seemed to be in the minority to those on the other side of the police line. United Against Fascism, whose leanings are fairly self-explanatory, were certainly doing more chanting but they rather blotted their copybooks, if news reports are accurate, by trying to break through the police lines to instigate what skirmishes there were.
Not that I am criticising UAF. On the contrary the only part of the whole affair that gave me any pleasure was that there was enough of them to shout down and stand up to the EDL. I never really felt that the far right of this country posed a genuine threat when it came to winning seats in parliament and having a substantial say in how the UK is run. Despite small victories for the BNP in local and European elections I hope to be proved right come May. However, with news this morning that BBC Radio 1 gave air time to two significant members of that party in a news bulletin and the impending appearance of Nick Griffin on 'Question Time', British fascism has rarely been more visible. I only hope that increased scrutiny by the public eye will give them enough rope to hang themselves and the vile racist views of far right groups are dismissed as the ravings of the unenlightened.
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BBC1 has been suffering something of a lean spell of late. There isn't much quality on show from one end of the Radio Times to the other. Jonathan Ross continues to answer his own questions; most of their schedule is taken up by lifestyle shows, consumer complaints and variations on 'Casualty'. There is life in the old dog yet, however, as two new series have shown. From the safety the Britain's love affair with Jane Austen comes a new adaptation of 'Emma', a splendidly funny and well-acted Sunday night treat. That paled in comparison to the utterly absorbing 'Criminal Justice’ that aired every night last week. The story concerned the murder of a barrister by his seemingly unstable wife. The writing and direction was tight and the story was gripping. What really raised it above the norm, though, was the acting. Zoë Telford and Sophie Okonedo were particularly brilliant as the barrister and solicitor trying to eke the truth out of Maxine Peake, who was also excellent. It was a little bit 'boys vs. girls' - almost like a Dennis Potter adaptation of 'Adam's Rib' - but I can't remember the last time something non-factual on the television made such an impact on me... probably the episode of 'Pingu' when he gets drunk and pisses everywhere.
**********************************************************************
More familiar territory now and a quick rundown-and-rate of the movies I have enjoyed (and endured) this week. We start with an early Kubrick effort 'The Killing' (1956, ****) which I borrowed from a very generous work colleague months ago. For most film fans a Stanley Kubrick movie that inspired Tarantino probably sounds like movie pornography but as I find both directors to be completely overrated it took me a while to get around to this one. The film is about the planning and execution of a robbery at a racetrack and is told from the various angles of the members of the gang carrying out the heist. It did nothing to dispel my assertion that Stanley Kubrick was a much better director when he was young and had a studio keeping a close eye on him. It was very well made, had a good story and showed off the talents of a numbers of character actors whose faces you will recognise but whose names you will not. I you are a fan of 'Reservoir Dogs' you should watch this movie and see that Tarantino is a film fan not a groundbreaking, original genius.
From the overrated to the underrated and 'Pal Joey' (1957, ****) which I have waited years to see due to its poor reputation among Hollywood musicals. Quite why it is so poorly thought of is a mystery to me. The story was pretty good and Sinatra sings a selection of Rogers and Hart's best songs (and therefore some of the best songs ever written). Kim Novak is as rubbish as always but it's Rita Hayworth and Frank who make this a very entertaining movie. The scene where he sings 'The Lady is a Tramp' would already be pretty close to the top of my list of great movie moments.
'Mystic River' (2003, ***) can only have been directed by Clint Eastwood. There are shades of 'Unforgiven' and the later 'Changeling' and 'Gran Torino' in a powerful, long and remorselessly depressing movie that won acting Oscars for Sean Penn (undeserved) and Tim Robbins (deserved). I can understand why the movie is so well thought of but I would be interested to know how many people would watch it twice. I am not sure it is an experience I would wish to repeat anytime soon but maybe I will look back in three months and say 'wow!’
I certainly won't wish to watch 'The Ringer' (2005, *) again. The movie is not as offensive as I was expecting but it isn't funny and it has one of the worst endings to a movie ever. I haven't watched much of 'Grey's Anatomy' but what I have showed that Katharine Heigel is a talented actress. Unfortunately her looks will probably doom her to a succession of forgettable romantic comedies until she hits 45, gets a trout pout and vanishes off the face of the earth like Meg Ryan.
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The weekend saw the return of the World Cup qualifiers and Ireland's crunch home game against Italy. Going into the game on Saturday evening Ireland needed to beat the world champions and winless Montenegro on Wednesday whilst hoping that Cyprus could go to Italy next week and sneak an unlikely draw.
After events at Croke Park both midweek games are now dead rubbers but it could, and should, have been different. Italy should have been going into their game with the improving Cypriots under pressure to secure the expected win but thanks to a last gasp goal they can book their flights to South Africa whilst the 'Boys in Green' face a tricky play-off. Ireland twice lead but was twice pegged back in a style that all Irish fans have become familiar with. Ireland's biggest problem is their lack of belief. When they take the lead in a game it's almost as if they can't quite believe it and they start to sit deep, give the ball away and forget that winning by more than one goal is not a crime. Since my awareness of football began, Ireland have rarely beaten one of the major footballing nations in a competitive game (England '88, Spain '89, Italy '94 and Holland '01 are all that spring to mind) and this I feel has more to do with the player's belief rather than their talent. We are perfectly capable of dragging ourselves back into matches that seem lost (England '90, Holland '90, Northern Ireland '93, Germany '02 and Spain '02) but we never seem to have had that same passion and fight when we get into a winning position. Trappatoni is a vast improvement on the Kerr and Staunton eras but if he can clear the player’s minds of this fear of winning he could surpass Big Jack and McCarthy.
Not that I am criticising UAF. On the contrary the only part of the whole affair that gave me any pleasure was that there was enough of them to shout down and stand up to the EDL. I never really felt that the far right of this country posed a genuine threat when it came to winning seats in parliament and having a substantial say in how the UK is run. Despite small victories for the BNP in local and European elections I hope to be proved right come May. However, with news this morning that BBC Radio 1 gave air time to two significant members of that party in a news bulletin and the impending appearance of Nick Griffin on 'Question Time', British fascism has rarely been more visible. I only hope that increased scrutiny by the public eye will give them enough rope to hang themselves and the vile racist views of far right groups are dismissed as the ravings of the unenlightened.
************************************************************************
BBC1 has been suffering something of a lean spell of late. There isn't much quality on show from one end of the Radio Times to the other. Jonathan Ross continues to answer his own questions; most of their schedule is taken up by lifestyle shows, consumer complaints and variations on 'Casualty'. There is life in the old dog yet, however, as two new series have shown. From the safety the Britain's love affair with Jane Austen comes a new adaptation of 'Emma', a splendidly funny and well-acted Sunday night treat. That paled in comparison to the utterly absorbing 'Criminal Justice’ that aired every night last week. The story concerned the murder of a barrister by his seemingly unstable wife. The writing and direction was tight and the story was gripping. What really raised it above the norm, though, was the acting. Zoë Telford and Sophie Okonedo were particularly brilliant as the barrister and solicitor trying to eke the truth out of Maxine Peake, who was also excellent. It was a little bit 'boys vs. girls' - almost like a Dennis Potter adaptation of 'Adam's Rib' - but I can't remember the last time something non-factual on the television made such an impact on me... probably the episode of 'Pingu' when he gets drunk and pisses everywhere.
**********************************************************************
More familiar territory now and a quick rundown-and-rate of the movies I have enjoyed (and endured) this week. We start with an early Kubrick effort 'The Killing' (1956, ****) which I borrowed from a very generous work colleague months ago. For most film fans a Stanley Kubrick movie that inspired Tarantino probably sounds like movie pornography but as I find both directors to be completely overrated it took me a while to get around to this one. The film is about the planning and execution of a robbery at a racetrack and is told from the various angles of the members of the gang carrying out the heist. It did nothing to dispel my assertion that Stanley Kubrick was a much better director when he was young and had a studio keeping a close eye on him. It was very well made, had a good story and showed off the talents of a numbers of character actors whose faces you will recognise but whose names you will not. I you are a fan of 'Reservoir Dogs' you should watch this movie and see that Tarantino is a film fan not a groundbreaking, original genius.
From the overrated to the underrated and 'Pal Joey' (1957, ****) which I have waited years to see due to its poor reputation among Hollywood musicals. Quite why it is so poorly thought of is a mystery to me. The story was pretty good and Sinatra sings a selection of Rogers and Hart's best songs (and therefore some of the best songs ever written). Kim Novak is as rubbish as always but it's Rita Hayworth and Frank who make this a very entertaining movie. The scene where he sings 'The Lady is a Tramp' would already be pretty close to the top of my list of great movie moments.
'Mystic River' (2003, ***) can only have been directed by Clint Eastwood. There are shades of 'Unforgiven' and the later 'Changeling' and 'Gran Torino' in a powerful, long and remorselessly depressing movie that won acting Oscars for Sean Penn (undeserved) and Tim Robbins (deserved). I can understand why the movie is so well thought of but I would be interested to know how many people would watch it twice. I am not sure it is an experience I would wish to repeat anytime soon but maybe I will look back in three months and say 'wow!’
I certainly won't wish to watch 'The Ringer' (2005, *) again. The movie is not as offensive as I was expecting but it isn't funny and it has one of the worst endings to a movie ever. I haven't watched much of 'Grey's Anatomy' but what I have showed that Katharine Heigel is a talented actress. Unfortunately her looks will probably doom her to a succession of forgettable romantic comedies until she hits 45, gets a trout pout and vanishes off the face of the earth like Meg Ryan.
**********************************************************************
The weekend saw the return of the World Cup qualifiers and Ireland's crunch home game against Italy. Going into the game on Saturday evening Ireland needed to beat the world champions and winless Montenegro on Wednesday whilst hoping that Cyprus could go to Italy next week and sneak an unlikely draw.
After events at Croke Park both midweek games are now dead rubbers but it could, and should, have been different. Italy should have been going into their game with the improving Cypriots under pressure to secure the expected win but thanks to a last gasp goal they can book their flights to South Africa whilst the 'Boys in Green' face a tricky play-off. Ireland twice lead but was twice pegged back in a style that all Irish fans have become familiar with. Ireland's biggest problem is their lack of belief. When they take the lead in a game it's almost as if they can't quite believe it and they start to sit deep, give the ball away and forget that winning by more than one goal is not a crime. Since my awareness of football began, Ireland have rarely beaten one of the major footballing nations in a competitive game (England '88, Spain '89, Italy '94 and Holland '01 are all that spring to mind) and this I feel has more to do with the player's belief rather than their talent. We are perfectly capable of dragging ourselves back into matches that seem lost (England '90, Holland '90, Northern Ireland '93, Germany '02 and Spain '02) but we never seem to have had that same passion and fight when we get into a winning position. Trappatoni is a vast improvement on the Kerr and Staunton eras but if he can clear the player’s minds of this fear of winning he could surpass Big Jack and McCarthy.
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