martin luther king

And the Best Picture Award goes to… Let’s Just Go F**k Ourselves, Shall We?

Acclaim for The King’s Speech irks me for any number of reasons. It’s a nothing film that’s been done a thousand times before, but one that was nonetheless attracting Oscar buzz before anyone had even seen it. Now, inexplicably, it’s regarded as a shoo-in for Best Picture ahead of David Fincher’s far superior (and infinitely more relevant) The Social Network.

Does this sound familiar? In John Madden’s Mrs Brown (1997) an aloof monarch deigned to interact with an extremely helpful commoner. The viewer was expected to admire said monarch’s eventual magnanimity, rather than abhorring her initial imbecility. Read the rest of this entry »

On the Palestine Papers

A few years ago, a friend and I were discussing conspiracy theories. We both dismissed the vast majority of them out of hand. But I was willing to entertain the remote possibility that Diana, Princess of Wales, might have been assassinated by British intelligence officers.

I don’t for a second believe that she was murdered. I was merely acknowledging that this far-fetched plot, unlike the moon landings, or 9/11, would at least have had a coherent motive and required the complicity (and subsequent silence) of a managably small number of conspirators. Read the rest of this entry »

SUNDAY IN SAVANNAH (1968)

Recorded live in concert on April 7th 1968; three days after the assassination of her friend Martin Luther King.

THE TOP TEN SONGS PEOPLE WROTE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE

10. I’m Satisfied With You by Hank Williams

Although barely literate, and entirely degenerate, Hank Williams remains one of the most adroit lyricists in the history of popular music. He was, after all, the man who wrote masterpieces like You Win Again and Your Cheatin’ Heart. Its probably safe, therefore, to assume that he was aware of the tightrope he was walking with the song I’m Satisfied With You.. Read the rest of this entry »