Michael Brooke
@marbleicehook.bsky.social
Freelance writer, editor and DVD/Blu-ray producer/commentator specialising in British and central/eastern European cinema. Indexes to my regular posts celebrating the latter (9am daily, 9pm most days) can be found at http://www.michaelbrooke.com/bluesky
Paul Newman not only didn't signal his six-figure contribution to Live Aid, but he was apparently quite annoyed that it went public against his wishes.
Although by then his extreme personal generosity was a matter of extensive public record, so it wouldn't have made much difference either way.
Although by then his extreme personal generosity was a matter of extensive public record, so it wouldn't have made much difference either way.
November 27, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Paul Newman not only didn't signal his six-figure contribution to Live Aid, but he was apparently quite annoyed that it went public against his wishes.
Although by then his extreme personal generosity was a matter of extensive public record, so it wouldn't have made much difference either way.
Although by then his extreme personal generosity was a matter of extensive public record, so it wouldn't have made much difference either way.
Oh well, you do you.
November 27, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Oh well, you do you.
To quote your good self, "For me, 'passionate' views beat any attempted objectivity, every time."
And I'm passionate about Stalker in a way that I've never been about Solaris (understatement), so why do you now appear to be arguing in favour of "attempted objectivity"?
And I'm passionate about Stalker in a way that I've never been about Solaris (understatement), so why do you now appear to be arguing in favour of "attempted objectivity"?
November 27, 2025 at 4:11 PM
To quote your good self, "For me, 'passionate' views beat any attempted objectivity, every time."
And I'm passionate about Stalker in a way that I've never been about Solaris (understatement), so why do you now appear to be arguing in favour of "attempted objectivity"?
And I'm passionate about Stalker in a way that I've never been about Solaris (understatement), so why do you now appear to be arguing in favour of "attempted objectivity"?
But if you combine both, which is something that I try to do, what's the problem?
And I'd struggle to be particularly passionate about Solaris, a film I admire more than like—and Tarkovsky didn't like it much himself (and neither did Stanisław Lem). Omitting it was one of my easier decisions!
And I'd struggle to be particularly passionate about Solaris, a film I admire more than like—and Tarkovsky didn't like it much himself (and neither did Stanisław Lem). Omitting it was one of my easier decisions!
November 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
But if you combine both, which is something that I try to do, what's the problem?
And I'd struggle to be particularly passionate about Solaris, a film I admire more than like—and Tarkovsky didn't like it much himself (and neither did Stanisław Lem). Omitting it was one of my easier decisions!
And I'd struggle to be particularly passionate about Solaris, a film I admire more than like—and Tarkovsky didn't like it much himself (and neither did Stanisław Lem). Omitting it was one of my easier decisions!
Any excuse to link to one of my favourite obituaries. I particularly like the way that the very first line both explains and justifies the approach taken throughout.
Norman Stone obituary
Historian and controversial media commentator who taught at Cambridge, Oxford and in Turkey
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Any excuse to link to one of my favourite obituaries. I particularly like the way that the very first line both explains and justifies the approach taken throughout.
I'd defend every single one of those titles, in most cases passionately. And if you have a choice between two excellent titles, one of which adds something fresh to the list while the other merely reprises a similar quality found elsewhere, why wouldn't you go for the first option every time?
November 27, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I'd defend every single one of those titles, in most cases passionately. And if you have a choice between two excellent titles, one of which adds something fresh to the list while the other merely reprises a similar quality found elsewhere, why wouldn't you go for the first option every time?
The late Dennis Potter named his cancerous pancreas Rupert, after Murdoch.
Soberingly, since this was 31 years ago, that hasn't dated.
Soberingly, since this was 31 years ago, that hasn't dated.
November 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The late Dennis Potter named his cancerous pancreas Rupert, after Murdoch.
Soberingly, since this was 31 years ago, that hasn't dated.
Soberingly, since this was 31 years ago, that hasn't dated.
Oh, and everything had to be relatively easily available in English-friendly form, which can be a complicating factor with these pieces (especially considering the niches that I typically inhabit), although I had a fair amount of leeway here.
Re-reading it, I'm still pretty happy with it.
Re-reading it, I'm still pretty happy with it.
10 great Eastern European sci-fi films
From Stalker to Hard to Be a God: as a wild Czech New Wave sci-fi farce surfaces on Blu-ray, we survey the unhinged dystopias and mind-bending metaphysics of the best science fiction films from Easter...
www.bfi.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Oh, and everything had to be relatively easily available in English-friendly form, which can be a complicating factor with these pieces (especially considering the niches that I typically inhabit), although I had a fair amount of leeway here.
Re-reading it, I'm still pretty happy with it.
Re-reading it, I'm still pretty happy with it.
In the case of the eastern European sci-fi one, my priority was to showcase as wide a range as possible. Hence one film per director, three films maximum per country, and a proactive effort to include things like animation and comedy as well as the more obvious stuff.
November 27, 2025 at 3:21 PM
In the case of the eastern European sci-fi one, my priority was to showcase as wide a range as possible. Hence one film per director, three films maximum per country, and a proactive effort to include things like animation and comedy as well as the more obvious stuff.
But that's no reason for calling it "utterly ridiculous". Most of it is very solid indeed, and the format inevitably means that favourites get ditched. For instance, when I did an eastern European sci-fi films top ten recently, someone complained that I didn't devote a full fifth of it to Tarkovsky.
November 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
But that's no reason for calling it "utterly ridiculous". Most of it is very solid indeed, and the format inevitably means that favourites get ditched. For instance, when I did an eastern European sci-fi films top ten recently, someone complained that I didn't devote a full fifth of it to Tarkovsky.
There is no way on God's green earth that Trump is going to actually sue over that particular allegation. Quite aside from it obviously having rock-solid substance behind it, is he really going to stand up in court and be cross-examined under oath on that topic above all?
November 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
There is no way on God's green earth that Trump is going to actually sue over that particular allegation. Quite aside from it obviously having rock-solid substance behind it, is he really going to stand up in court and be cross-examined under oath on that topic above all?
I didn't find it the least bit ridiculous, utterly or otherwise. In particular, I'm not minded to quibble with any of the top seven choices.
November 27, 2025 at 2:46 PM
I didn't find it the least bit ridiculous, utterly or otherwise. In particular, I'm not minded to quibble with any of the top seven choices.
But "Jules" is short for "Julius" and "Dassin" is ancestrally eastern European, so it's pronounced literally as written: Dzhoolz Dassin. Although the Frenchified version is so universally recognised that the correct one just sounds plain wrong!
November 27, 2025 at 2:41 PM
But "Jules" is short for "Julius" and "Dassin" is ancestrally eastern European, so it's pronounced literally as written: Dzhoolz Dassin. Although the Frenchified version is so universally recognised that the correct one just sounds plain wrong!
I've just thought of another one: Jules Dassin, director of French crime classic 'Rififi'.
I deliberately mentioned his best-known film, because the immediate assumption must be that it's a French name, i.e. Zhool Dassan.
I deliberately mentioned his best-known film, because the immediate assumption must be that it's a French name, i.e. Zhool Dassan.
November 27, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I've just thought of another one: Jules Dassin, director of French crime classic 'Rififi'.
I deliberately mentioned his best-known film, because the immediate assumption must be that it's a French name, i.e. Zhool Dassan.
I deliberately mentioned his best-known film, because the immediate assumption must be that it's a French name, i.e. Zhool Dassan.
Hence this load of old cobblers from a few hours ago.
November 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Hence this load of old cobblers from a few hours ago.
I'm just staggered that Allister Heath didn't go away and hide in a cave after treating us to this gem three years ago. But for some reason he's still being allowed to edit a national newspaper
November 27, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I'm just staggered that Allister Heath didn't go away and hide in a cave after treating us to this gem three years ago. But for some reason he's still being allowed to edit a national newspaper
A very distinguished and commendable exception being Patrick Magee in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne', slightly undermined by everyone else pronouncing it incorrectly, so he just sounds bonkers.
Mind you, that fits Magee's character.
Mind you, that fits Magee's character.
November 27, 2025 at 10:56 AM
A very distinguished and commendable exception being Patrick Magee in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne', slightly undermined by everyone else pronouncing it incorrectly, so he just sounds bonkers.
Mind you, that fits Magee's character.
Mind you, that fits Magee's character.
See also Dr Jekyll—there's an actual recording of Robert Louis Stevenson pronouncing it "JEEkill" (as in rhyming with "treacle"), but this cuts no ice with dozens of actors who've either played the part or addressed the character by name.
November 27, 2025 at 10:55 AM
See also Dr Jekyll—there's an actual recording of Robert Louis Stevenson pronouncing it "JEEkill" (as in rhyming with "treacle"), but this cuts no ice with dozens of actors who've either played the part or addressed the character by name.
(I'd never heard any Partch before, another thing that my kids would find baffling as they can just go online for a quick sampling. All I knew was that he built his own instruments and that both György Ligeti and Tom Waits seriously rated him, which could hardly have been a stronger endorsement.)
November 27, 2025 at 10:20 AM
(I'd never heard any Partch before, another thing that my kids would find baffling as they can just go online for a quick sampling. All I knew was that he built his own instruments and that both György Ligeti and Tom Waits seriously rated him, which could hardly have been a stronger endorsement.)
Trawling through record shops looking for something that might not even exist is something our kids will never experience. I once found a Harry Partch compilation filed under "easy listening" in Tower Records, which I daresay would have amused him immensely.
November 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Trawling through record shops looking for something that might not even exist is something our kids will never experience. I once found a Harry Partch compilation filed under "easy listening" in Tower Records, which I daresay would have amused him immensely.
Although he misspelled my name, which mildly annoyed me at the time, but I now interpret it as a much-needed warning against complacency: "OK, you did well just this once, but I'd never heard of you before."
November 27, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Although he misspelled my name, which mildly annoyed me at the time, but I now interpret it as a much-needed warning against complacency: "OK, you did well just this once, but I'd never heard of you before."
I finally cured my Blu-ray commentary impostor syndrome when Jonathan Rosenbaum, a writer I've admired for four decades, said that one of mine "displays so much expertise that it made me dizzy at times, ready with my pause button to declare 'Enough!' yet still too entranced to press it."
November 27, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I finally cured my Blu-ray commentary impostor syndrome when Jonathan Rosenbaum, a writer I've admired for four decades, said that one of mine "displays so much expertise that it made me dizzy at times, ready with my pause button to declare 'Enough!' yet still too entranced to press it."
Compare and contrast with the Utopian paradise of just over three years ago.
November 27, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Compare and contrast with the Utopian paradise of just over three years ago.
Feel free! I was a tiny bit worried that he’d actually died when I took it, but the image was so hilarious that I had to photograph him before making sure he was OK. But happily he was, and still is.
November 27, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Feel free! I was a tiny bit worried that he’d actually died when I took it, but the image was so hilarious that I had to photograph him before making sure he was OK. But happily he was, and still is.