miscellany, kind of

# 1: Movies; TV; Liam Neeson; Politics; Julia; More Orwell; Tariffs; Other countries; Food; Podcast

I ran a poll recently saying

So I’ll go for it - about once a week or so.

I might be a bit parochial on occasion, but I hope that’s OK.

This edition:

Movies - Black Bag

TV - The Residence

Liam Neeson is a dead-pan comic genius

Politics - Conor MacGregor will not be President of Ireland - Uachtarán na hÉireann

Julia by Sandra Newman (a retelling of Orwell’s 1984)

More Orwell

Conclave - Movie

Tariffs - bizarro world vs. reality (timestamp, Monday 7 April 2025)

Other countries have agency, too (part 4010002303)

Food - Dosa Dosa

Podcast - the New Yorker Radio Hour on dishwashing robots (what?)

Movies - Black Bag

Black Bag - OK, a quick 3.69 out of 5. Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett star, as does Pierce Brosnan. The Guardian review describes it as a ‘spy comedy’ - if it is, I missed every single laugh, as did my wife, and the rest of audience in the cinema. No, it’s not funny. There’s an occasional bit of extra dry, mordant humour. But, no, a comedy it is not.

It’s good, but not great - you feel the movie version of ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ breathing over its shoulder, because it’s basically a mole hunt in a spy agency - but in a sleek and glorious London, where the spooks are all in tailored clothes, and a spymaster is picked up after a soft day’s sleuthing in Zurich in what looks like a Maybach.

Goddamit, haven’t they heard that ‘Brexterity Britain’ is the order of the day? Not even the PM will get a Maybach.

Overall, give it a whirl if you’re at a lose end.

TV - The Residence