Taking A Rest From What Passes As Labour

It is fast approaching crunch time for my academic efforts. I have therefore been spending an unhealthy amount of time with my non-contemporaneous contemporaries, Messrs Shakespeare and Bagehot. After a decade (very much on and off) of being intimidated by the inadequacy of my word-count, I now find myself six thousand words over the top and I don't want to let any of my precious prose go. I'll get over it.

Having at last delivered a full draft of the thesis on Sunday (with all those offending extra words) I played golf with the lads yesterday evening and had my best round for  a year or so. Which was nice. I'm not geting carried away though - I was dependent on an outrageous slice of good fortune on my nemesis hole, the 13th at Royal Pype Hayes. I think that hole owed me mind. 

I have (undeservedly but hell, it's my life) granted myself a day away from Shakespeare and Bagehot today. Now such self-rewarding largesse can often be counter-productive as it induces a depressive tendency to guilt. But, lo, today has been fine, more than fine in fact. I went for a run this morning and both troublesome heels were in co-operative mood. Which was nice. Then this afternoon I watched a great film. More of that anon. But first my review of a lesser picture but one I nonetheless recommend.

Do you get what I mean when I say a film is a nice weekend film? Of course you do. Well, Dream Horse is just such a film. Yes, it is a tad soppy but it is based on a true story that rather defies belief. You don't have to have an interest in horse racing to enjoy it but bringing sucha predilection to the party will not do any harm. Its cast of familiar British support actors are joined by two rather grander stars, Toni Colette and Damian Lewis, who both do creditable Welsh accents. This does not masquerade as anything it is not - it is good old-fashioned entertainment. 60/100.

And now for something completely different. Nashville is not a film to be taken lightly. Insofar as it has a plot, it rambles all over the place. Characters weave in and out of shot and conversations intrude with, overlay and generally fragment each other. This is viewed by some as Robert Altman's masterpiece, by others as self-indulgent tosh. I love Altman. This is his masterpiece. 89/90.