Month: July 2002

  • �9.99 by Frederic Beigbeder

    Wow. This book is pretty good. Translated from the French and reset in London (not totally convincingly since the protagonist is called Octave). Maybe it’s because I’m a total cynic, particularly where advertising is concerned – despite working in the industry – but I empaphised with the feelings expressed here a lot. The book is…

  • Millar wins a stage

    Must admit that I jumped out of my seat on Saturday, when David Millar crossed the line ahead of the other 4 riders in his break. Nice one. Of course Armstrong is amazing in the mountains at the moment, but Virenque did well yesterday to take the stage. Roll on the Alps this week!

  • David Thomson’s Top Ten Films

    I read the Independent on Sunday this weekend for the first time in quite a while, and was very pleased to learn that David Thomson, the author of the awesome Biographical Dictionary of Film (new edition coming out I see) is compiling his Top Ten Films. If there is one reason to buy the Independent…

  • Thirteen Days

    Spent yesterday afternoon convalescing with this Kevin Costner film. I missed it in the cinema and did mean to catch it since a trip to Cuba meant that I was interested in all things Cuban last year. Really well put together film about a period of which I knew little. The only thing that I…

  • Tour de France

    One of my favourite summer events is up and running again this year. I’m still annoyed at Channel 4’s jettisoning the event a couple of years ago, saying that that they could no longer cover it and cricket (this is the station that was putting out one-day cricket highlights at about one o’clock in the…

  • American Beauty

    I must admit to having picked this up after reading something about the excellent new (to Channel 4 at least) series Six Feet Under. Both were written/created by Alan Ball, and here’s another film I saw once at the cinema and not at all since. There are some wonderful lines in this film, and I…

  • The Contender

    Spent yesterday afternoon watching this ahead of an enormously predictable British Grand Prix and very poor Mens’ Final at Wimbledon. I’m disappointed with myself that I didn’t catch this at the cinema. The film takes a very cynical view of US politics, as Jeff Bridges’ President attempts to make Joan Allen Vice President, while Gary…

  • Men In Black II

    Not a bad little film, but nothing spectacular. I must admit that I haven’t seen the original since I saw it the first time at the cinema, and I can’t exactly see myself rushing out to buy the DVD of this one. Some good lines, and entertaining performances, but the CGI is not used with…

  • The Natural by Joe Klein

    A concise book detailing the Clinton presidency by the author of Primary Colors. I must admit to having only really having read his novels, but he does seem to have a good understanding of Bill and Hilliary – at least in so far as anyone can have an understanding. Must get around to reading Stephanopoulos’s…

  • The Sum of All Our Fears

    The new Jack Ryan film seems to take a James Bond approach to the character, in that you can introduce a new actor into the role, and totally reinvent his world. So following on from Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, suddenly we get a very junior Ben Affleck in the role. In actual fact I…

  • Minority Report

    Saw this on it’s UK opening night last night, and have got to say that I was quite impressed. I think that it’s possible that a few people may be disappointed when they see it – but Spielberg is grown up these days, and makes interesting and though provoking films. The plot, as explained in…

  • BBC to Run DTT

    Well, no-one can really claim to be too surprised about the BBC/Crown Castle/BSkyB consortium winning. This is probably the best that can be done with very limited spectrum, and I’ll explain why. There were two main problems with ITV Digital/OnDigital. 1) Reception was poor. By trying to squeeze as many channels as possible onto the…