Film
Horrors of war
Christopher Silvester on two extraordinary films from Eastern Europe shown at the London Film Festival
Breathtaking… and empty
The formidably long run-time of Dune leaves viewers with little world-building and a lack of colour
Juke it out
It’s Wes Anderson vs Edgar Wright in the battle for the coolest ever soundtrack
Dutch courage
Christopher Silvester on a war movie with no rousing patriotic music or violence, but nevertheless filled with unexpected delights and discoveries
Female strength on film
Is Sir Ridley Scott a surprising feminist?
Long-form television it is, then
The home of mid-budgeted literate films aimed at adults is no longer at the cinema
The Day of the Jackal: fifty years on
Alexander Larman remembers one of the most exciting, page-turning novels ever written
Out of Africa
To get a handle on African cinema, watch Mandabi
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at 30
Is this 1991 blockbuster an underrated masterpiece or kitsch nonsense?
Richard Donner: an underrated director
Suggestions that Donner was a director-for-hire rather than a true auteur are harsh and inaccurate
Truss alone
Young Liz was accidentally left in charge of the country, only to be menaced by the worst sort of criminals: Tory MPs
Laid-back Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Württemburg sonatas (ECM)
Healers who harm
Bad Therapy: Why The Kids Aren’t Growing Up by Abigail Shrier
Open season
I’m trying to stick to wild game, venison and native beef— and monogamy too
Why we don’t police anti-Christian hate
Jewish and Muslim communities rightly get protections and attention from the government — but Christians are routinely overlooked
A festival for women — and men?
You cannot address the underrepresentation of women by including men
Portugal must be more than an EU vassal
As elections approach, can Portugal break the stultifying hold of a progressive, big state worldview?
Slavery did not create Britain’s wealth
A bogus narrative is obscuring history and diminishing our national pride
Ironic fascism
Taboo-breaking counterculture paved the way for the return of the very fascism it claimed to subvert
The Conservatives can still reform our cultural institutions
The Tories should cut the Blob down to size before Keir Starmer comes to power
A matter of National concern
This year’s race will come close to destroying its magic
