Showing 41 - 50 of 63
'No Escape' is a bit of a stinker
Published on 26/08/2015
» Not since Saigon in the 1970s has an American operation in Southeast Asia been as ill-conceived as No Escape, a taut, well-made and entirely dubious thriller.
Show me the motive
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 24/08/2015
» Motives for acts of violence range from crimes of passion to drive-by shootings -- that is from defending family honour to reducing the food chain indiscriminately. They aren't justifiable under law and are equally penalised. There are a myriad of motives, often the perpetrator unable to explain what made him or her do it ("maybe I drank too much").
The Rise and Fall
Life, Published on 17/08/2015
» Imperialism -- empire building -- is as old as civilisation. There have always been those who felt this system of government to be superior and should incorporate others less fortunate. And be paid handsomely for their good intentions. Protesting indicated that they were too ignorant to know what was good for them.
Extraordinary read
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 23/03/2015
» It is ironic that the fervent Catholic Henry VIII, on whom the Pope bestowed the title Defender of the Faith, should be the king who turned England away from Rome. It is also curious that he never converted to the Church of England, which he established. To this day, no Catholic can become monarch of Albion.
Court martial case
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 09/03/2015
» Military court martials tend to be short, their verdicts swiftly carried out. Unlike civilian courts, lawyers don't come up with reasons to delay or overturn sentences. The Code of Military Justice is more clear-cut, less filled with loopholes.
Cannes Day 8: Killing me softly
Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» Brad Pitt is here. He plays Jackie Cogan, the typically violent and fashionably cheeky hitman in "Killing Them Softly". The film is so stylised that you thought the director, Andrew Dominik, was actually trying to impress Jean-Paul Gaultier, who sits on Cannes' jury this year. Each murder, by Cogan mostly, is designed to its nano-second detail, with every shard of bullet-shattered glass visible in its fatal, mid-air flight. Amidst the killings and score-settling, Barack Obama, on TV, campaigns for new America and the soundbites constantly tell us how badly the economy is doing. "Killing Them Softly" is a film that's so conscious about its cleverness that it seems less clever eventually, and one of the clever messages it constantly reminds us is summed up in Cogan's last sentence: "America is not a country, it's a business." I wonder if Quentin Tarantino could've made it more subtle, and more comical.
An historical epic
Life, Published on 24/11/2014
» There is something to be said for every century, but for events and inventions nothing beats the 20th. Novelists and cinemoguls began writing and making film about what they consider its highlights even before the century ended. Its two World Wars and Cold War are the main focus.
Exhibition captures killer shots
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 19/11/2014
» At around 7pm on May 13, 2010, Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, or Seh Daeng (Red Commander), was shot in the head while giving an interview to foreign reporters. Photographer Steve Pace was there and took the key picture. His image of the collapsed and bloodied general being carried away, published in several major newspapers worldwide, is what people still remember about this still-unresolved political assassination.
It just happened
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 13/10/2014
» Exactly 100 years ago, World War I started. The spark that set it off was the assassination of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, on a visit to Serbia. The continent had had no major conflict since Napoleon Bonaparte's era, but Europe had since become an armed camp.
An enjoyable read
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 22/09/2014
» There’s no catching up with James Patterson, on his own and with a stable of co-authors, the prolific American novelist. While other writers turn out one or two works of fiction annually, it is close to one or two seasonally for the Yank scrivener. And they range from good to very good.