Thursday, May 07, 2009

In the Loop -- Kindle

Michael Portillo was exactly right in his Newsnight review of "In the Loop", the film spin-off from TV's 'The thick of it' (mentioned here).


The plot was overfamiliar, linear and tired; the characterisation one-dimensional and the whole thing sustained by the conceit that 107 minutes of foul-mouthed aggression constitutes humour.

It was not without laughs: I chuckled (horrible word!) twice.

"In the Loop" was shown at Salisbury, clearly being considered too erudite for the Andover demographic. I am semi-looking-forwards to "Angels and Demons" more locally next week.

Evidently plotting to blow up the Vatican with CERN-derived antimatter is considered to be of central interest to the Ds and Es of my current hometown.

+++

I am, of course, fascinated by the new Kindle devices from Amazon, due to be released in the UK shortly I believe. Three concerns, nevertheless, present themselves.

1. It's kinda nice to have a library you can walk around in your own home, with bookshelves giving you immediate feedback as to what you've got. When it's all sitting in flash, the home looks ... well, barer, somehow.

2. So I finish this book and pass it along to you while I read something else. Oops, it's on my Kindle. So everyone has to have one until we're back to good ol' book sharing?

3. Someone's gonna nick it for sure. But then, they said the same about mobiles and iPods. Still, in its mode of use, the Kindle must be easier to grab.