Derek Walcott - Collected Poems

I've been reading Derek Walcott again. I'm not a big fan of too much classical connection and allusion. Many of Derek's poems have this. I find his shorter poems more satifying. A liquid voice. His poems are greatly influenced by the Caribbean sea that surrounds his island home. A Nobel prizewinner - that's often enough to put people right off. Give the man a chance.

posted by Colin Saturday, February 12, 2005

Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young and Crazy Horse. An oldie but a goodie. "My My, Hey Hey" is a stunning opener in its acoustic version and a rockin' closer in its distorted electric jacket as "Hey Hey, My My". Powderfinger has you singin' along at your out of key best. The marvellously un-PC "Welfare Mothers", has you wondering if they really do "make better lovers." Sometimes it's good to revisit the old stuff and remember where the new stuff came from.

posted by Colin Saturday, February 12, 2005

Sweet Sixteen

A typical Ken Loach vignette of the gritty life of ordinary people in Britain's cities. But one of his best and up there with Kes. Set in Greenock, a town near Glasgow, the film shows the hard life of a soon to be sixteen year old boy, Liam. His driving desire is to protect his drug addicted mother, when she is released from prison, from falling back into her usual ways. Loach's portrayal of Liam and his friends in the drug soaked underbelly of "the schemes" is both sympathetic and non-judgemental. Our sympathies lie with Liam, no matter what he has to do to save his mother. Ultimately you fear he is trapped and will not escape being dragged under in the inevitable social whirlpool that is drowning all his friends. I felt his relationship with the character of Pinball, his best friend, was slightly underdeveloped but that is a minor criticism in a fine film. The strong Glasgow dialect will be a real challenge for the non-native speaker - I can understand some resorting to subtitles.

posted by Colin Saturday, February 12, 2005

Past Reviews

January 02
February 06
March 06
April 10
June 05
June 12
June 19
June 26