Three by Powell and Pressburger

Three of Powell and Pressburger's World War II movies are especially dear to me because of their exploration of the Anglo-American Entente. The first, 49th Parallel (1942), is a very open appeal by the British to Americans to come in on the Allied side against the Axis. One of the most interesting scenes is set in a German Mennonite community in Canada. It underscores that the community of interest the British are appealing to is a community of values, not ethnicity.



The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1945), is the most British of the three. It both is sympathetic to Germans, led astray by Prussian and then Nazi militarism, but also seems to warn against loss of honor by adopting an enemy's values in defense of one's own values.





A Canterbury Tale (1949) suggests commonality of values between the British and American's.



All are good watches with fine character actors.

Scoop by Waugh

Although considered by the Observer as a near masterpiece, Scoop is a short, light and very broad satire of the British newspaper industry, british foreign policy and African kleptocracies that European nations compete for and maintain. The decline of the newspaper industry and European influence in Africa has lessened the force of Waugh's satire considerably. Lampooning the mighty has a fine tradition; send-ups of the once mighty pack lees force. In addition, sixty years of sad post-colonial history makes Waugh's satire of the government of Ishmealia (Waugh's fictional African state based losely on Abyssinia) less funny too. The characters are less well etched than those in Waugh's other novels, and its tough to care too much about most of the novel's parade of cartoons. in particular, many of the puns embedded in the characters names are easy to miss for the modern American reader. But it is a fun, light, short read if one is in the mood for something highly satirical.

WXPN Welcomes Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs: An Evening with Sid ‘n’ Susie

A fan of Power-Pop, I have always liked Matthew Sweet. "Under the Covers, Volume 1," was a nice homage to to some Sixties' classics. "Under the Covers, Volume 2," which covers a number of Seventies' pop songs is just as good. This should be a good show.

Ben Folds Coming to the Grand, October 5, 2009

Saw him last Septemeber at the Mann Center. Very entertaining.