THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS

I was directed to the work of Ambrose Bierce (1942 – 1913) after hearing Roald Dahl praise his short stories.

Both Dahl and Bierce are known for twisted tales with a thinly disguised bitterness towards straight society.

Bierce compiles a satirical lexicon The Devil’s Dictionary which is also known as The Cynic’s Word Book. In this he defines a novel as “a short story padded” which is presumably why he wrote only nonfiction and short stories.

The dictionary exposes Bierce as a politically incorrect misogynist. ‘Woman’ is defined as “An animal usually living in the vicinity of Man, and having a rudimentary susceptibility to domestication…………. is omnivorous and can be taught not to talk”

THE AVENGERS – A VICTORY FOR EXCESS

THE AVENGERS directed by Joss Whedon (USA, 2011)

I remember when I first saw James Cameron’s Terminator 2:Judgement Day  in 1991 I came out of the cinema thinking that there’s no way this can be topped for audacious effects and technical innovation. Obviously, I was wrong,  as a spate of movies since, not least Cameron’s Titanic and Avator have pushed the boundaries still further.

This is not to say movies have got better but they are certainly met audience’s insatiable demand for spectacles.

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers can be added to this lIst and after this two-hour  experience I felt like I’d been pummelled by Thor’s hammer or been roughed up by Hulk (and I didn’t even see it in 3D!).

As Oscar Wilde once wisely observed, “nothing succeeds like excess” and having a squad of superheroes is a bit like having a soccer team full of Messi clones.

The end result  is overwhelming but effective as they manage to save the planet once again.

It’s fun, fast and quite absurd but pushes all the buttons as a pure entertainment package albeit one that could be enjoyed with the brain on standby.

AGEING GRACEFULLY

Anna Magnani to makeup artist: “Please don’t retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long to earn them“.

WHAT MOST HETEROSEXUAL MEN WANT

Julie Burchill is always good value for money and it’s good to see that she hasn’t lost her acerbic wit and has retained her ability to call a spade a spade.

I laughed at this part her article in today’s Guardian ridiculing fashion magazines who push the idea that women must try to look as young as possible to pull the best men:

“Most heterosexual men merely want a woman above the age of consent to wash, show up, bring beer and strip naked. They are far from the harsh taskmasters, when it comes to female appearance, that they are routinely made out to be and the idea that they go about rejecting every woman who doesn’t resemble a small-eyed baby is very much belied by the number of men who are frankly desperate to get themselves a girlfriend”.

HOMELAND – TURN AND TURN AGAIN

Carrie and Brody lost in the maze on Homeland’s opening credits.

As the weeks have gone by, I’ve become more and more hooked on the TV series Homeland. and the final episode ,aired on Channel 4 on Sunday night , was so tense and gripping it left me drained.

What made (makes) this drama so absorbing is that all the main characters have secrets and issues with CIA agent Carrie and Sergeant Brody (Damian Lewis) having more than their fair share.

Carrie, brilliantly played by Claire Danes, is  a cocktail of positive and negative attributes – reckless, professional, brave, lonely, erratic, intuitive, manic, sexy and impulsive. Knowing that she’s a big fan of Jazz alerts us to the fact that she is no conventional heroine.