Bohemian Rhapsody deserved all its Oscars
BOHEMIAN Rhapsody has won four Oscars, not to mention Golden Globes and Baftas, so you would imagine the film critics would be magnanimous and admit they got it wrong when they slated the movie.
Not a bit of it! Disgruntled reviewers are still venting their spleen. When will they realise they are blind to what the paying public actually wants from a film?
My wife and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody with a degree of trepidation, having read several negative reviews, but we came away delighted.
Is it time for reviewers to recognise films for their entertainment value and not expect them all to be a tour de force of avant-garde philosophical clap-trap?
There have been complaints about timeline inaccuracies in Bohemian Rhapsody but I think the spirit of the subject is more important than pinpointing which year an event occurred.
As for the lack of salacious details about Freddie Mercury, obviously the decision was taken to respect his private life.
WILLIAM BROWN, by email. …I COMPLETELY ignored the Oscars this year. They seem so irrelevant nowadays.
The real creative energy now goes into TV shows and television has entered a new golden age, thanks largely to Netflix.
Cinema suddenly feels tired and out of date.
MAEVE O’DEA, Mayo. …THE Oscars prove yet again that film-making is one of the few areas in these dumbed-down times that has maintained its standards.
JOHN EVANS, Berkshire. …WHAT a ghastly, back-slapping orgy the Oscars are!
GRAHAM ANDREWS, Devon.
Tone it down, Taoiseach
I AM consistently bemused by the way Leo Varadkar is dealing with Britain, resorting to constant goading and thinly veiled insults.
On Friday, he said: ‘Westminster might be the mother of all parliaments but it’s not the boss of other parliaments and I know the European Parliament will not vote for a withdrawal agreement that does not do right by Ireland.’
On Sunday, the Taoiseach said his Government was ‘not playing chicken’ over Brexit, suggesting that that was exactly what Theresa May was doing.
He was at it again on Monday with a different subject, strongly criticising UK home secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to strip Isis bride Shamima Begum of her citizenship.
I happen to agree with him on this, but such comments should be made privately, through diplomatic channels, not blurted out in public interviews.
Why speak in this way? However Brexit turns out, our relationship with the UK is crucial. Unnecessary insults will make it hard for us to maintain civil relations and would give the UK grounds for giving us a hard time.
The Taoiseach seems delighted with himself to be allied with the bigwigs of the EU. He needs to watch his words. Better still, he should keep his mouth shut about Brexit in public and do all of his negotiating behind closed doors.
SHEILA BURNS, Wicklow.
A crime beyond belief
MY heart goes out to the Hawe family after seeing their agonising description of how Alan Hawe murdered his wife Clodagh and their three children.
The brutality he showed beyond comprehension.
DAVID O’NEILL, by email.
Smear test failure
IT is unbelievable that people who have had smear tests in this country have to wait for so long to get their results!!
In some cases this delay may be the cause of a woman dying due to not getting treated quick enough to prevent cervical cancer from spreading, which is not acceptable as like with any form of cancer quick action needs to be taken. Cancer is a disease that if left for too long, spreads like wildfire.
It is about time this Government started realising how serious this problem is and gets its act together! This is not something that anyone would like their family is members or friends to have to go through.
Come on, Minister Simon Harris: time to take immediate action to prevent further deaths and stress to all women worried about their smear test results. SHEREEN DENT, Killeagh Co. Cork.
Sarri I asked…
TRYING to explain to my wife what happened in the Chelsea vs Manchester City League Cup Final proved challenging.
‘Who was Chelsea’s keeper?’ she asked. ‘Kepa,’ I said.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘What was his name?’ I explained the keeper’s name is Kepa. ‘And who is their manager?’
‘Sarri,’ I said. She asked again: ‘Who is the manager?’ ‘Sarri,’ I repeated. ‘Stop saying sorry and tell me who the manager is!’ she complained.
I said the manager’s name is Sarri. ‘So what was the problem?’ she asked.
‘Sarri wanted to replace Kepa with another keeper, but Kepa kept keeping and Sarri was sorry.’
‘And I’m very sorry I asked,’ she groaned. CHARLES HOUGHTON,
Clwyd, Wales.