E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

The modern idea of America - perhaps the post-modern idea is a better way of putting it - was born in 1945. Or, as historians have been reminding us, 80 years ago. This America had won the biggest war in history, from their perspective (the rest of the Allied powers know better) and now, could set the rules of the international systems that would rebuild world order from the chaos. The Germans were crushed, the British empire was gone or going, and in debt, and only Russia could arguably pose a growing threat (with China eventually kept in check by Nixon 's triangulation). So the Cold War began. During that time - 80 years - the West was basically America, plus its allies. And as such, the world system, built to suit America, allowed the USA to prosper as never before.  Yesterday, Liberation Day for Donald Trump , the seemingly unstable, worst president in US history - the convicted felon no less, with mysterious empathy for the Kremlin - announced the end of the global system, bui...

It's been 12 days since I posted about the growing menace of the Trump government. It is worse, sadly, since then. Threats to bomb Iran. Flights to Greenland, and ongoing threats to seize it any which way. Ludicrously lax security and lying vilification of journalists; amateur hour at the Pentagon from the telegenic crusader with the menacing messages inked to his white skin. Tariffs to crush Canada, and other nations. Threats to law firms. Threats to museums. Detentions and forced expatriation of PhD students on proper visas. Crushing of dissent, of opposing views of history, and, shockingly, the near-constant crumpling of opposition, as media, universities, law firms, and politicians bow down under threat. Measles and Avian fu spreading. Denial of the globe warming. No alliances. No secure promises. Litigation and bullying.  The general actions of authoritarian take-over - more destruction of the "Cathedral" - more work to make the CEO-king the unquestioned ruler. Dark ...

 The Grand Minima (7 x 6) for William Empson   Totting it up a plethora of minuscule debris fields, eon by inch, the daily granular fractures, chipped bits and bobs, dust bunnies that don’t ever quit, the towering trivial pizza box style of personal architecture –   love lies, business crops wilt, soar, the whole a broken abacus possessed by a stammering Ouija board whose misspelt detritus inspires poetry in the super-rich or bored, the rising tide lifts all quotes, all toffs step off yachts to sleep between sheets   when the port appears like a murdered ghost – we host what we love most, we live in a blackhole inside a blackhole, like mice are denizens of a tinier Manhattan project, the nuclearism is unclear, but here it goes, small into smaller, like faller into fall or inside the deep dive is the pool looping   around its Ouroboros dream of self – we’re colliding with the sun that grows us, as dancers sw...

  Much that is menacing is left hidden (a reference to this film still for film fans) but the current strategy from the Trump revolution is to do so much, so often, and have so many outrageously controversial balls in the air at the same time, it is nearly impossible to comment on, let alone oppose, them. It was bad March 1st, but two and a half weeks later, it seems worse, not least because the crisis whereby the Executive branch defies the Judiciary seems to be starting, with rulings defied and judges threatened (signalling the attempted end of American democracy as a system of checks and balances, on, in other words, a coup); war is breaking out again in the Middle East, and threats against Iran, attacks on Yemen and Gaza, are commencing; the new peace negotiations regarding Ukraine seem designed to support the aggressor; and threats to the sovereignty of Canada, and Greenland, continue. Biden 's pardons are questioned; visiting professors refused entry; students threatened; tr...

  The sickening fact is, like frat boys unafraid to phone-film some vile pile-on, the bully-gang of Vance and Trump did what they did in front of the entire world, via media they had invited in to the Oval Office. In a sort of pre-Easter enactment of ritual sacrifice, they delivered up  President Zelensky of Ukraine - a supposedly-invited guest, and then "tore him a new one" in the parlance of their type of dude. Many newspaper editorials, from the FT , to the New York Times , and media, from CNN to the BBC, have described the event that ensued as "bullying", an "ambush", and one of the worst moments in American diplomacy, ever. It has also been called, by some world leaders, and other major commentators, the end of the current world order, as the US president seemed to clearly signal his total disdain for an ally, and utterly defended, to the point of rage, a long-time enemy of the West. There were so many ironies in the fire, it is hard to know where t...

  Poem for the appeaser   It’s okay to let the bad guy win if the guy has a thing you want to trade - this is how the West was won - ignorance of newly dead - sign the paper, wave it high - this is how the losers get to die - an agreement is safe and lawful if the liars never lie; for on good TV the act of being king is king, not the thing in itself, or being as being - there’s only what we see now, not even that when blinded by defiance of decency; Munich used to be the name for giving in to the enemy side – replaced in our time by televised Gethsemane showing how power picks insane channels in which to defenestrate the weak, the dutiful, fighting true, even when other states are truly sick.   London, March 1, 2025

James Bond was, up until a day ago, always produced by the Broccoli family - all of the many canonical films since the early 1960s... for better and worse. Their control was legendary, and often, usually, yielded good or superior results. Their choices for Bond have been a few times inspired, and their attempts to select villains who had won Oscars was notable. They also tended to be loyal to British writers, directors, and actors, and kept the franchise stable, ongoing, and reliable. The worst James Bond is still worth a telly rewatch on a lazy Sunday afternoon; the greatest are some of the best action movies ever made. Now, it is in the hands of Amazon MGM - an American company not known for its quality control... it has hits and misses, but plenty of cash. Fans are anxious; I am, as a fan, very concerned. I am unsure the new films will remain firmly-rooted in the canon, or be as British - with all the eccentricities and potential flaws that entails. Lee Child has gone on record as...

  The other day I thought it could not get worse, when this blog commented on Trump's almost-first-month in office for 2.0. Then, he apparently sided with Russia, claimed Ukraine had started the war (it hadn't), that its leader was a dictator (he isn't), and later that evening, called himself THE KING on social media. Since then, he has continued to berate the Ukrainians, discuss the idea of getting rid of income tax entirely, and numerous other unsettling things. The main concern for the world, now, is that we have a totally ignorant madman at the helm, who feels comfortable lying about the most momentous historical facts, insulting allies, and allying himself with dangerous enemies. It is, to say the least, bleak. At least Canada won the hockey game against the USA, eh?

Everyone can google IMDB and Metacritic, in about a second, or Variety or Den of Geek or Sight and Sound , and find other lists of the best movies of 2024. The films  listed below were on many end of year lists. At least four have a good chance of winning the Oscar for Best Picture - an asterix indicates the three I currently believe have the best shot. A COMPLETE UNKNOWN - charming, well-acted tale of a young genius growing up *ANORA - heartachingly sad, side-splittingly funny, sometimes scary, often sexy, it's uniquely potent A REAL PAIN - some will find it slight, but this Holocaust tour/buddy film has heart and soul and wit BLITZ - a beautifully filmed revisionist take on the Blitz Spirit by Steve McQueen CHALLENGERS - a witty, erotic highly stylised play on the tennis as love theme CIVIL WAR - Jesse Plemons steals the show as a MAGA-like madman *CONCLAVE - Ralph Fiennes never better in a clever Christie-adjacent thriller with big twist ending DUNE 2 - I still prefer L...

In the ten days since the last post here, the world has only gotten more chaotic, and the political climate worsened, in the US and globally, due to the Trump regime. The bizarrely authoritarian speeches and statements in Munich of all places, from top US officials, like the VP and Secretary of Defence, have managed to essentially dismantle the entire "rules-based order" established after WW2. As former British PM John Major observed today on the BBC, hundreds of thousands of Americans died to keep Europe free from fascism, but Mr Vance ignored the democratically-elected leader of Germany, in Germany, to seek out, meet and support, the leader of an extreme far-right party with ideological roots in the Hitler era. Meanwhile, Ukraine, an ally, was thrown under the bus, when Trump appeared to side with the Russians, in terms of negotiating an end to the war against Ukraine. VP Vance also attacked European nations for their lack of freedoms, while failing to mention or critici...

It isn't funny, and it hasn't really happened since the 1930-1945 period (so 80 years ago), and really one needs to go back to Napoleon to get a better flavour of the arrogance, swagger, and sheer vast enterprise of the imperial vision, that sense of divine purpose... but really, it's never happened before, because the US Constitution was supposedly designed to stop tyrants from taking power... and because the US in 2025 is the single strongest nation that has ever existed, economically, and militarily; and, given the dominance of its language and technology, probably culturally and technologically. Geographically, it is also probably the most various and widespread, from Hawaii to Alaska, touching on tropical storms and Arctic blizzards. So, whoever is King of America, is truly the most powerful person alive. And this time, for the first time, that person is insane, seemingly either stupid or evil or both, or worse, simply very very venal and dishonest and corrupt, without...

I am incredibly inspired by Canada's governments for coming together to oppose the entirely unfriendly and aggressive Trump Tariffs, an economic warlike attack on their closest ally, neighbour, and friend for 150 years of peace and prosperous co-operation. Trump's sociopathic transactionalism has shown total disregard for anything like civility, diplomacy or mutual respect. This action is even more serious as a cultural signal - America is currently turning back the clock - there are no real friends, just those to be used, crushed, intimidated, forced. It's ugly, and shameful. The impact on tens of thousands of cross-border friendships and community alliances will be large. Canadians are already boycotting American goods. Make no mistake, this Trump war on Canada will put our country into recession, cost tens of thousands of jobs, and cause immense anxiety and sorrow. The way this president was behaving you'd think he'd been hired to destroy the global community of ...

David Lynch has died. Perhaps the last time an American death of a cultural icon was so massive was the loss of Warhol . This blog is of the opinion that David Lynch was probably the most significant global artist of the past 45 years; perhaps only David Bowie  approaches his immense contribution to multiple senses of art forms and identity in this period, and had such ubiquitous impact. But Lynch, more even than Warhol or Bowie, or any other film-maker of the period, was consistently and openly also an artist, musician, painter, and writer/visionary. To call him a "surrealist" barely does him justice, and is in many ways misleading. Lynch's transgressive visions were sometimes dreamlike, but controlled evacuations from the underbelly of the conscious/unconscious divide in the psyche/soul - demonic expulsions, like solar flares, or toxins released in the bloodstream; his dreams are never entirely merely random or absurd (like Dylan Thomas serving string in tea cups). Wh...

Canada stands on guard Nothing in Trump's previous playbook prepared me for his recent threats to take Greenland from Denmark, and indeed, its own citizens, by economic or military force; to potentially invade Panama and take back control of the Canal Zone, and his threats to use economic force to make Canada a "51st state' and erase its "artificial border". Time Magazine yesterday said Trump was playing Monopoly with the world as his board. The USA has been the strongest, sometimes only, superpower, since 1945. It has the world's strongest army, and numerous weapons that can destroy the planet. It has the world's strongest economy. It arguably also has the world's key language, and control of the largest part of the online world. From a completely amoral, ruthless and Machiavellian perspective, it could be far more dominant, and dominating, than it has been - though it has killed millions in wars since 1945, and invaded, bombed or attacked a handful...