“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.” So said Heinrich Heine, the 18thcentury German writer famous for his radical politics. Heine’s works were publicly burned by the German Student Union […]
TV | 24 – Live Another Day – Absurd but adored
It’s absurd, but we adore it. 24 was always ridiculous. In the space of 24 hours, none of the main characters went to the toilet, ate or drank. The show is action thriller interspersed (undeliberately) […]
TV | W1A – Does it live up to it's predecessor, Twenty Twelve?
From the makers of Twenty Twelve, W1A is the new BBC comedy show recycling the Twenty Twelve the main character, Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville). Fresh from screwing up his role as head of the Olympic […]
Comment | All quiet reigns supreme
When you’re a kid, things seem so innocent. You are given lots of toys by mummy and daddy which you can use to create your own little fantasy world. And in this fantasy world, heroes […]
Film | 300: Rise of an Empire – more parody than sequel
Image: Warner Bros. The first 300 movie was a camp but awesome film with Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas coming out with some of cinema’s coolest phrases while he and his men armed with big abs […]
TV | 37 Days – A wonderfully witty docu-drama
With Downton Abbey going from strength to strength, this drama about the period between Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and the declaration of war is quite like a costume drama mixed with politics. War buffs will enjoy this […]
Film | Non-Stop – an exciting thriller
Image: StudioCanal Some actors are remembered by a trademark line. Schwarzenegger’s is “I’ll be back.” Jack Nicholson’s is “You can’t handle the truth.” Liam Neeson’s is “We’re running out of time.” He seems to say […]
Film | The Armstrong Lie – not Gibney's finest
Image: Jigsaw Pictures 3/5 Stars Alex Gibney is a world-renowned documentary filmmaker, famous for excellent Oscar-nominated documentaries such as Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side. His productions are […]
TV | BBC vs ITV – The big debate
Late in 2013, a Chinese newspaper, the Global Times, ran an editorial saying that Britain was “no longer any kind of ‘big country’, but merely a country of old Europe suitable for tourism and overseas […]
Books | The Last Days of Detroit – All is not lost in the land of Motor City
Detroit is a city that has always had its problems, as this book from Mark Binelli notes. Even during the years when Henry Ford turned Detroit into an industrial mega-giant, racial segregation caused major ruckus […]
Books | Cheat's guide to the Millennium Trilogy
Valentine’s rejection left you feeling bitter? What better way to vent your rising hatred of Milk Trays and rose bouquets than by indulging in a hyper-violent Scandinavia saga? Here’s an essential primer to Stieg Larsson’s trilogy Who? Lisbeth […]
Debate | Should drugs be legalised?
Last week, in an interview on Channel 4, Russell Brand continued his rampage against the establishment, this time focusing on our current drug laws, the so-called ‘war on drugs’. He suggested that “people don’t want […]