Tag Archives: war

2019 Books Read

It’s been such a busy year for me as a writer. The busiest. I’ve had to “make time” for reading stuff that has nothing to do with anything writing-wise. I need to read for pleasure. Many of the books I … Continue reading

Posted in Books, James Joyce | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

In Film Comment: On Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life

I wrote about Terrence Malick’s new film – the overwhelming A Hidden Life – for the new issue of Film Comment. Print only. On stands now! And you should certainly see the film.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Tolkien (2019)

There’s so much that’s good here! Had some serious issues with aspects of it, but there’s a lot that is very good. Will be interested to hear from others their reactions, in particular Tolkien fans. My review of Tolkien is … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

R.I.P. Lyra McKee

Woke up yesterday to the absolutely devastating news that investigative journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed in Derry, during a police standoff with dissident republicans. She was there as a journalist, covering the events. A masked person fired a … Continue reading

Posted in RIP, writers | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Review: The Invisibles (2019)

I reviewed The Invisibles, a documentary about the Jews who hid in Berlin from 1943 until the end of the war, for Rogerebert.com.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Never Look Away (2018)

My review of Never Look Away, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (whose The Lives of Others won Best Foreign Film almost 10 years ago), is now up at Ebert. I knew nothing about it going in, and in the … Continue reading

Posted in Art/Photography, Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: City of Joy (2018)

My review of City of Joy – a new documentary about the rape epidemic in the Congo, and a couple of people who have banded together to combat the problem – is now up at Rogerebert.com.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Storming of the Bastille: “Let conflagration rage; of whatsoever is combustible!”

July 14, 1789 Thomas Carlyle, in his majestic, overwrought and intimidating The French Revolution, describes the Siege of the Bastille in frenzied and apocalyptic-doomsday prose. You can hear Carlyle’s primal fear of the Crowd. The Crowd is simultaneously abstract and … Continue reading

Posted in On This Day | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

May 2018 Viewing Diary

First Reformed (2018; d. Paul Schrader) The best film of the year thus far. This is not an exaggeration: I had trouble breathing during the final sequence (as in: I felt like I stopped breathing) – and once the film … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

For Holocaust Remembrance Day: Bear Witness

On May 27, 1942, a desperate and isolated Victor Klemperer, feeling the vice of Nazi terror closing in around him, helpless to stop it, declared in his journal: “I shall go on writing. That is my heroism. I will bear … Continue reading

Posted in On This Day | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments