Toy Story IV

Those of you who have been with me on this meander through the blogosphere will know that I hold to the far from original view that the Toy Story sequence is brilliant, every one of the three previous instalments without exception. So after a lengthy interval since Part III, I came to IV with some trepidation. You simply don't want to spoil a good thing. The news? No need to worry. This too is an exceptionally good film - nice to look at, funny, charming, moving, romantic and wise. 9/10. The Groupie liked it too.

The Highwaymen; The Red Violin; The Report; The Favourite

Four films to be reviewed. So far as I can recall I have never considered Bonnie and Clyde on these pages but it is a film I have seen several times. Estimable judges (Roger Ebert included) place that film in the pantheon of greats. I am wary of disagreeing with as great an opinion as Ebert's but I will reluctantly beg to differ. The film is undoubtedly enthrallling and uber-stylish and maybe it's me being prissy but does it not give the two eponymous murderers too easy a ride? No? Oh well it must be me. Anyway we now have a lesser film (though a good one) The Highwaymen which serves an antidote to Arhur Penn's film. Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson are reliably excellent as the two superannuated Texas Rangers who tracked down the Barrow Gang and administered their brutal execution. An aggregate of thirty-five thousand people attended the gangsters' funerals. I think all The Highwaymen is saying is, 'Go figure'. And as messages go that's a pretty good one. 7/10.

The Red Violin is a rather different kettle of fish. An ensemble piece it artfullly traces the history of a fabled and perfect musical instrument. We watched it on a Sunday afternoon and that feels like the right time to watch it. All sorts of stars flit across the screen - Greta Scacchi utterly predictably takes her clothes off, not that this is a demerit, merely old hat. In the end (and this I'm sure was the intention) it is the cultural artefact, the violin itself, that becomes the star of the piece. 7/10.

It was watching The Candidate with Dad the best part of fifty years ago that elicited from him the observation that America is at its best when washing its dirty laundry in public. This would become an even more salient analysis in the context of Watergate, the journalistic uncovering of which fuelled my desire to be a writer - oh well you can't win them all - for a writer I made a passably good lawyer. All of which brings me round slowly to The Report - a liberal telling of the shaming tale of American use of torture post 9/11 and the political conspiracy to cover it up. On the face of it this is not a cinematic story - we are subjected to some portrayals of the acts of political violence but most of the picture is about the process of investigation of those acts. Stick with it though, it's important. 7.5/10.

The Favourite worried me a little. At first I thought it was going to be a sort of souped-up version of The Draughtsman's Contract but after an initial infatuation with stylistic weirdness it picks up. However the ecstatic critical reaction to this film seems to me to have been all about the discovery by America that Olivia Colman is a superb actress. We have known this for years and this is not even her best work. A perfectly fine film but not deserving of all the ballyhoo. 7/10. 

Looking Forward

We gave Dad the send-off he deserved. The church was packed and the wake at Moor Hall was a joyous celebration of his life. Rugby, cricket and his various schools and universities were represented and we could forget for a while the degradations that dementia had visited upon him in the last years.

I had kept my grief under wraps until after the funeral but then unleashed myself on a self-destructive binge. On the agenda for this year is the tackling of my troubled relationship with alcohol. You will forgive me if I tackle that one in private. It's not big and it's not clever.

But what else looking forward? Well we are now out of the EU and so far as one can tell calamity has thus far been avoided. The Jeremiahs tell us that the catastrophe will come as we struggle to negotiate the terms to succeed those of the transitional period. We'll see. Anyway the remaining Union does not have its troubles to seek - even the economic behemoth that is Germany is experiencing some nationalistic political ructions. Meanwhile little Ireland has now cast its majority vote in favour of revolutionary socialists with a recent attachment to terrorists. Ireland is free to do as it pleases (or rather it will be allowed so far as its European paymasters permit) but please don't lecture us on the running of a sovereign state. We will make our own mistakes thank you.

Talking of mistakes, the political rumour-mill would have us believe that the Tories are considering a 'mansion tax' to help raise money for the infrastructure projects it intends. This is a tax on assets paid for out of already taxed resources. It was a favourite policy of St Vince of Twickenham - that should tell you all you need to know.

Joy of joys, the Six Nations tournament is upon us. I did not share my predictions with you this year but I can confirm that I had a small bet on France to win the title before the odds got too skinny. Some shrewdies were on at very nice prices. France has deep playing resources and they now have a sane head coach, not to mention a defence coach who may not be entirely sane but is very, very good.

What of England? Well, for a start I'm already pissed off with the Eddie Jones show. The pre-match psycho-babble is pathetic and I take it as a persoanl insult when a coach departs from the orthodoxy that No 8 is a specialist skill position. Tom Curry is a superb player but is not a No 8. England got away with it against Scotland but the Irish lie in wait and will be encouraged by the prospect of indecision at the base of English scrums. Jones' talk of a new philosophy for the position is merely bollocks.

It's good to be back.   

The Death Of Stalin

Now that the vaunted Clive James has shuffled off the proverbial, I suppose I ought to nominate a new incumbent for the post of my favourite living cultural commentator. Come on down .... Armando Iannucci.

Iannucci's The Death of Stalin is not for those of a delicate moral disposition. This is black comedy (very, very dark) about the death of, and subsequent rush to succeed, one of the twentieth century's great monsters - and let's face it, that century produced some considerable competition in the monster field. Bloody funny. 8/10.

So Begins The Task

I am still absorbing the hugeness of my father's death. There have been various administrative hurdles to negotiate - a reference to the coroner's office, a reference back from that office to the hospital (basically telling them to get on with it and not to pass the buck) and, at last being able to register the death. Registration took place this morning and then it hit me - I had in my hand certification that this moral giant is dead. Now we can start to plan a fitting memorial.

Dad, at his beloved School

So, private grief aside, what is the world up to as it faces a brave new year? Quite a lot actually. America took it upon itself to execute an Iranian alleged mass-murderer. The world thereby shivers in the shadow of war. It would be nice to have greater (no, any in fact) faith in the U.S. President who ordered the act. It is possible to do the right think for entirely the wrong reason. The defining story of 2020 will be America's response to the opportunity to eject Trump by the ballot box. The fabulously ill-judged impeachment of this wretched man will be the prelude to the democratic denouement.

South East Australia is ablaze and it is apparently my fault. And yours. What are we going to do about it? Should my next car be a hybrid?

Scotland worries me. Actually, scratch that - Scotland annoys me. You may remember that a matter of a few years ago we had a 'once in a generation' referendum on Scottish independence. The nationalists lost that vote 45/55. Those same nationalists have just (by an ironic fate) achieved 45% of the vote in Scotland in a national election. The remainder voted for various hues of unionism. According to La Sturgeon this gives her (please bear in mind that she was not even a candidate in these elections - at least Salmon took the fight to Westminster) 'an overwhelming mandate' for another referendum. Beam me up Scotty.

Let's finish on an optimistic note. Last Saturday prior to the two Aston Old Edwardians fixtures against Aldridge RFC, sixty plus players and officials and a large throng of spectators were whistled to attention and stood in a solemn silence in memory of Brian David Roberts. He would have loved that and, yet more, he would have smiled to see the old ground so full. Furthermore he would have allowed himself a brief triumphant glow in face of the results which saw Aston win on both pitches by a combined margin of just eight points. The sun shone and perhaps, just perhaps, God was in his heaven.   

Twelve Films At Christmas: 12

A good old-fashioned epic to finish us off this Yuletide. The Fall of the Roman Empire bankrupted its producer Samuel Bronston by all accounts, which is a pity because it's actually not bad. Conceived and delivered on the grand scale, it is rather intelligent in its fanciful treatment of the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. A thinking man's Cleopatra perhaps. And if there is no Elizabeth Taylor to distract us there is instead Sophia Loren, my liking for whom the Groupie can never understand - I know what I like and I like what I bloody well know. 6.5/10.

Twelve Films At Christmas: 11

Before we get to the film, a Happy New Year to all our readers.

Courtesy of Amazon Prime we discovered a gem of a film last night, one that belongs alongside other youthful rites of passage classics such as The Railway Children, Gregory's Girl and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The film is Lad: a Yorkshire Story. Made on a shoestring budget and shot beautifully in the Yorkshire Dales this film is moving without being cloying and funny without being silly. It has tragedy and redemption. Highly recommended. 8.5/10.