The Guardian Arts Blog analyses the motivation and themes behind film making this decade so far, ending the piece with a list of the films it feels best defines the 00s - in date order, not by preference. I may update this post when I have appreciated the list fully and have more analysis to […]

2008 Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism
2008 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music

The year in film to date marked a true highpoint around Oscar time and now has lulled into a world where ‘Meet the Spartans’ topped the US box office in the past few weeks. In the midst of any tacograph of creativity there is usually some talent worth watching but in an age of as […]

In the midst of a road trip over the weekend from Killarney to Dublin this poem popped into my head. Studied with scant regard for its meaning in secondary school, it is a nicely accessible poem, yet one you can absolutely filter ideas of choice and larger questions through.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And […]

I always like short stories but never really get to rid enough of them. Anyway I stumbled again across this one again. The first time I read it was when I must have been 13 or 14 and read it in my sisters English book. It just gripped me from the start and really highlighted […]

One of the best things about living in Dublin is the opportunity if offers you to get your culture freak on by going to the theatre. I’ve become something of an addict in the one year that I’ve lived here and I must have seen a good 3-4 plays in that time. Despite having seen […]

The Israeli Ambassador to the UK, on visiting a Beatles museum in Liverpool handed a letter of apology to the sister of John Lennon for the decision of an Israeli Education Committee to ban a performance by the foursome in Israel in 1965. The decision was made seemingly due to budgetary concerns and also fears the […]

In advance of tomorrows (Tuesday) Oscar nominations, the nominations for those responsible for some reprehensible work in film this past year were announced today. Now the people at the Golden Rasperry Award Foundation have guaranteed the event will go ahead, not being tied to the neessity of people turning up, in the same way the […]

I have written below on the poetry behind Cormac McCarthys writing and the excerpt below from the closing scene of ‘No Country for Old Men’ is a perfect portrayal of this simple yet lyrical style. ‘No Country for Old Men’ is a near on flawless film, an almost perfect counterpart to the Coen brothers debut ‘Blood […]

My reading is suffering hugely lately, with a collection of books sitting next to my bed, a few chapters of each read. The Christmas period, my new laptop and discovery of downloading TV and also my attention span having become worryingly short recently means I haven’t gotten into a book. The one exception to this is […]