Category Archives: music

Stop! Look! Listen! my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house…

Watch…The King of Comedy (1983) One Of Martin Scorsese’s finest films, although it was not one of his most successful when it came out in 1983. A mixture of fantasy and real life it features Robert DeNiro as Rupert Pupkin, … Continue reading

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Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch…The Good Companions (DVD) The TV series was made in 1980. It is Alan Plater’s adaptation of the J.B.Priestley’s book of the same name. I loved the book, which is the story of a struggling concert party, set in 1929, … Continue reading

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Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch…Caramel, (2007) set in Beirut in a beauty salon, this film concentrates on women’s lives, rather than the politics of the Middle East. In beauty salons across the world women gather together to chat, exchange secrets and seek support from … Continue reading

Posted in films, interesting blog, labour history, Manchester, Middle East, music, poetry, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch…..Las Acacias (2011 Argentina) A lorry driver, a road journey from Paraguay to Buenos Aires and a woman with a child who joins him on the trip. There is little script and the baby plays a big role in bringing … Continue reading

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Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch… Le Havre a film by Aki Kaurismaki. Set in Le Havre in 2012, the film is about a man who shines shoes for a living and helps save a refugee African boy from the French police. It’s more than … Continue reading

Posted in book review, Communism, drama, films, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, music, North of Ireland, Socialism, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch….35 Shots of Rum (DVD), a film  made by one of my favourite directors, Frenchwoman Claire Denis. It’s about  a side of Paris that most tourists (and maybe many Parisians) never notice; African workers. The main character is an African … Continue reading

Posted in art exhibition, book review, films, Ireland, music, novels, Socialist Feminism, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch… Happy People (2010) A year in the Taiga by Dmitry Vasyukov. Siberia extends from the Urals to the Pacific and is one and a half times the size of the USA. 38 million people live in this area, but … Continue reading

Posted in biography, Communism, education, films, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, music, Socialism, trade unions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch… Ken Loach at the BBC. During the 60’s and 70’s at the BBC he directed some of his most innovative work with Tony Garnett and Jim Allen which is now collected on this excellent DVD. It includes Cathy Come … Continue reading

Posted in biography, book review, drama, films, labour history, music, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, TV drama, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch… Passion Fish(1992). A film by John Sayles (US equivalent of Ken Loach). The story of the relationship between a soap star, who is paralysed and returns home to rural Louisiana, and her care assistant. Not just the story of … Continue reading

Posted in biography, education, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, music, Socialism, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Watch… Shabby Tiger. Made by Granada TV in 1973 it’s the adaptation of  a novel by Howard Spring. Set in 1930’s Manchester,  it’s the love story between an artist and an Irish waitress,  and  the story of how the depression … Continue reading

Posted in Communism, drama, films, labour history, Manchester, music, novels, radio drama, Socialism, TV drama, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment