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Screenwriter

Donald Clarke

Whingeing about cinema and real life since 2009

Rock ‘n’ pop.

Who do you always see in Punk documentaries?

Well, BBC Four has finally got round to making Punk Britannia. Old idiots such as this one have greatly enjoyed previous efforts such as Folk Britannia (Ah, The Incredible String Band), Jazz Britannia  (Ah, Joe Harriott), Heavy Metal Britannia (Ah, …

Kraftwerk and the Blue Mask effect

All sensible people will, of course, rejoice at the news that Kraftwerk, one of the five greatest music acts of the last half-century, are set to release a new album. It’s been nearly 10 years since the well-dressed Germans gave …

Who cares what Screenwriter’s favourite albums are?

Nobody. That’s who. Nonetheless, every year, I make an effort to compile a list of 10 squeaky, obscure recordings (and that year’s Keith Jarrett release). Not doing this for a living, I don’t pretend that this is any sort of …

I hate the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame

Oh Lord, is there anything quite so irritating as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame? This outburst is prompted by the news that poodle-barband Guns N’ Roses and pop-goths The Cure have been nominated for — such a pompous …

“That’s right, the Mascara Snake. Fast and bulbous.”

“Bulbous also tapered.” “Yeah, but you’ve got to wait till I say: ‘Also a tinned teardrop’”. “Oh, Christ!” “Alright, again. Beginning.” “Fast and bulbous.” “That’s right, the Mascara Snake. Fast and bulbous. Also a tinned teardrop.” “Bulbous also tapered.” “That’s …

Screenwriter’s albums of the year

Not that you care, here are my favourite albums of 2010. As ever, the list is a reflection of an elitist, pretentious and generally sod-you sensibility. Then again, there is some evidence of unreconstructed post-punk conservatism in here. What are …

On the Guardian’s list and lists in general.

One of the selling points of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity was the author’s investigation of the contemporaneous urban male’s obsession with best-of lists . Fifteen years after that book emerged, the observation seems so banal it is hardly worth articulating. …

Excellent poem from The New Yorker.

When I started this “blog” I never thought I’d end up recommending a poem in The New Yorker. Have I gone fey? Do I now care that, after encountering a dead hedgehog, some middle-aged academic has set to contemplating eternity? Not …