Cinema
Unlikely auteur of mercy
Dan Hitchens makes the case for film director Shane Meadows as a genius of Christian art
Carry Ons: Phwoar! What a lovely set of hits
Grim, funny glimpses of a Britain in decline
Day of the junta
Political thrillers from South America
Martin Scorsese: rinse and repeat self-indulgence
The director of Goodfellas has debased his talent
A silent crook
The recent restoration of Erich von Stroheim’s Foolish Wives shows that the original movie is astonishingly modern
’Verse averse
The idea that there are multiple universes and that it might be possible to “‘versejump” is surely one way of explaining the cinematic urge
Tanks a lot
“War is the original human state,” Russian directors seem to say
Sob stories
Real men have grit in their eye
We have forgotten the titans of British cinema
It has fallen to Scorsese to rescue the reputation of Powell and Pressburger
We must punish the parents
How should France tackle the problem of repeat juvenile offenders?
A spy’s afterlife
John le Carré’s work and life still haunt British culture
The whores and mores of Hanoverian London
The (not so) gentlemen of 18th-century London were a libidinous lot
The Conservatives have been too soggy, not too harsh
Their voters expected them to cut taxes and immigration — they did the opposite
Are we being watched?
Secretive Covid-era “spy” agency repurposed to monitor social media during riots
Identity politics has undermined policing
Sir Mark Rowley should address the partiality of the police
The hollowness of postliberalism
Its vagueness and sentimentality encourage political opportunism
There is no human right to assisted suicide
Lady Hale is wrong about the existing laws
Messing with the master’s work
Beethoven: Emperor Concerto; Brett Dean: A Winter’s Journey (Orchid)
The best we can hope for
Brilliant psychologist Daniel Kahneman died this year
British politics is Gething worse and worse
Identity is being prioritised over competence and ambition
