Ken Loach is The Old Oak of British cinema.
From the 1960s onwards, Loach has been a constant. He has survived numerous political slings and arrows, blacklisting and smear campaigns, let alone the various trends and fashions of cinemagoers. He has done so standing proud, possessing admirable strength and endurance as he tells his truth and advocates for fairness and justice, always with an unwavering commitment and an impressive, indefatigable stability. At 87, The Old Oak may be, if weโฆ
I never ever thought that any article I'd write would end up published on a site alongside articles by Chomsky and John Pilger yet here we are!
America's left leaning, leading libertarian news outlet ZNetwork have published my review of Nobody Loves You and You Don't Deserve to Exist in which I say that Brett Gregory's low budget, semi-autobiographical movie is a justified indictment of neoliberalism, a policy I argue is killing the working class.
Read it on ZNetwork.
Repulsion for people who can't bring themselves to watch Polanski nowadays.
I've put this one off for so long now. Partly because I was Ellie for so long, obsessed with the 60s, that I felt the nostalgia here wouldn't reach my expectations or that it would simply be too much for my neurodiverse brain, and partly because I haven't really rated Edgar Wright since Hot Fuzz. But there's another reason I put it off and that's the reviews that considerโฆ
As virtually everyone has said, including Nida Manzoor herself, this feature debut owes a debt to Edgar Wright in its decision to place its homage to genre cinema (in this case martial arts movies) in a defiantly everyday British (or in this case Anglo-Asian) setting. To that end, it's like Hot Fuzz meets Bend it Like Beckham.
One of the most pleasantly surprising movie experiences of the year, I watched Polite Society with a big grin on my face throughout.โฆ
St Helens Disability Advice and Welfare Network, St Helens Jobcentre, Ashton-In-Makerfield Jobcentre, Huyton Jobcentre, Apex Charitable Trust, Shaw Trust St Helens, Starting Point St Helens.
Just some of the places I've worked at that involve helping people into work, getting people 'job ready' or dealing with people's benefit claims.
Jobseekers allowance, Incapacity benefit, Employment and Support allowance, Carers allowance.
Just some of the benefits I've claimed since (and between) those jobs.
I've ran jobclubs, CV making courses and jobmatch programmes,โฆ
40 minutes.
18 killings.
3 lines of dialogue.
No structure, seemingly.
No rhyme or reason, seemingly.
Just the elephant in the room.
A brutal uncompromising look at Sectarian assassination that dramatises genuine events and forces you to consider the Troubles in a way that acres of news coverage cannot. Just what is your gut reaction at the end of it? Does the endless cadence of footfall and gunfire go some way to desensitise you or does it make you realiseโฆ
