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

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 ...

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. Here are 18 out of 20ish I will post eventually, though the final ones may only come in a few months, since in the UK many of the releases are due later in the year (or I have yet to see the movies). Of the films I expect may appear later, some you will have heard of -  A Complete Unknown,    and  The Nickel Boys. Still - each of these 18 listed below is already on many end of year lists, and is, in their own right, a very good or great movie. At least five of the films listed below have a good chance of winning the Oscar for Best Picture in a few months (their list is ten films long) - an asterix indicates the four I currently believe have the best shot. *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...

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...

I usually write a brief report on the year, from my perspective, at the end of each 12-month cycle - sometimes closer to Christmas, or after. Of late, they've been relatively solemn, and the main message has been gratitude. I have been grateful for the medical care and treatment that has allowed my failing heart to recover somewhat, at least temporarily, and for the chance to live a few more years. I was hospitalised in the summer with Sepsis and was in for many days and it was terrifying, but made it through. I have also been grateful for the love and support of my partner, the hard work and talent of my publishing team, my friends, and those authors and investors that have miraculously helped stave off collapse of BSPG. So it is, this year, that message remains the same. I wish to add a few more things, though -  this past year has been very painful, sad, and filled with some brief good moments of shared memories. I spent several weeks with someone very closely related to me who ...