Move over, Kevin Maher. There’s a new film critic in town. Jeremy Corbyn has joined Letterboxd, a movie-reviewing site, and knocked off six films on his first day. Three were directed by his old comrade Ken Loach. The former Labour leader wrote that The Old Oak “gave us a sense of empowerment and hope in a kinder world”; I, Daniel Blake was a “moving masterpiece”; and praised Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Corbyn also reviewed Pride (“Solidarity at its best”); 2001: A Space Odyssey, predicting “AI would win” if it were made today, and The Great Gatsby, starring Robert Redford, which “shows the barrenness of greed and wealth” but still got five stars, as did all the rest. “I’m hoping for some one-star reviews,” his spokesman said, clarifying that Corbyn did not watch all six in one sitting. “Three Ken Loach films in a day is too much even for Jeremy.”
Perhaps Corbyn will review the documentary that Loach made about him in 2016. The script needed work, especially the final line. Rather than copying a classic like “Well, nobody’s perfect”, or “The horror, the horror”, Corbyn: The Movie ended with “It’s been really great to see the hashtag ‘#LezzasForJezza’ on Facebook.” Fin.
Meet the Sackses
It can be intimidating to meet your girlfriend’s parents for the first time, especially when her father is a distinguished faith leader. Gila Sacks, daughter of Jonathan, told a King’s College London event in memory of her father that she had asked her parents to invite others to break the ice. Come the day, the nervous lad was introduced by the Sackses to their friend, Rowan Williams. “Elliott had his first meet-the-parents with not only the Chief Rabbi but also the Archbishop of Canterbury,” Gila said. “If he could survive that, he was probably a keeper.” Twenty years and four children later, he clearly was.
Next station? North Korea
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill finds it strange that after years of running the railways, he is now asked as transport minister to approve train timetables. “There are probably only two other countries where ministers decide the times of trains,” he told peers. “North Korea and Russia.” I bet the Nampo to Pyongyang Express is more reliable than the East Coast Main Line.
The King was shown how to save someone from choking when he visited the Royal College of Nursing on Tuesday. His grandmother had a close call with a fish bone in 1982 but was unflappable. Once it was removed, the keen angler quipped: “The salmon got their own back.”
Second best
At the launch of this week’s Women in Westminster power list, Yvette Cooper spoke of when her husband, Ed Balls, was Gordon Brown’s special adviser and The Economist selected its top political figures. Brown was furious at being fourth. It was bad enough to be one behind Tony Blair but Balls was at No 2. “Er… it’s alphabetical, Gordon,” Balls observed. This soothed the chancellor. “Ah,” Brown said. “That explains why Gerry Adams is first.”
