Q and you (and me)

Someone liked my piece on the Video Recordings Act 1984, calling it "an excellent and comprehensive article". In a thematically connected development - and despite this slipping through on his watch - my editorial colleague Michael Benton is not impressed with Tarantino and his new war movie. I've yet to see it - although Michael has seen it twice already - so I will be witholding comment for now. (Apparently US fans of Inglourious Basterds make two busloads of English footballers look like discerning cineastes. Interesting.)

For now, it's worth noting that a) the Italian pulp movie of (almost) the same name is pretty good; b) Death Proof was pretty rubbish and c) whereas Michael is uneasy with Tarantino's negative effects on audiences, at least one author - another colleague, Paul Gormley - has praised Tarantino for his "cinema of affect" where producing visceral movements was the name of the game. More on this later (when I've seen the film).

Straight to Video

Over at Spiked, I'm taking a chainsaw to the Video Recordings Act 1984. Enjoy!

Bristol University

... said it had introduced "disappointment training" for admissions officers to help them cope with distraught teenagers.

Perhaps this could be expanded beyond clearing, extending the training to cover students at all stages of the "student experience" across the entire HE sector. Heaven forbid anyone should spontaneously make sense of life's disappointments on their own.