Crypto justice

March 29, 2024 by Leave a comment

I’m not sure whether Sam Bankman-Fried will be feeling that his 25 year sentence for authoring the FTX debacle means he has got off relatively lightly; it was suggested at one point that he might be looking at something closer to a full century, but with time off for good behaviour he might yet be out before he turns 50.

Bleeding-heart liberal that I am, I can’t really see the point in locking him up at all; there must surely be some way he could be obliged to work in the service of the community, though I guess it would take a lot of highway litter-picking to pay off a debt to society that runs into the billions. Perhaps it is for the best that he serves as a cautionary example to those tempted to accumulate wealth by any means, but, given that the financial world is otherwise entirely organised to incentivise such behaviour, I suspect the only lesson aspiring SBFs may learn is “Don’t get caught”.

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Oscar predictions 2024 revisited

March 12, 2024 by Leave a comment

So, the Academy agreed with two of my Oscar picks, which reassures me that I’m not entirely out of touch with popular cultural opinion, but, as expected, Oppenheimer was the big winner on the night. Anatomy of a Fall, my favourite film of the year, did at least pick up the award for Best Original Screenplay, and its canine star Messi was undoubtedly the star of the red carpet, so I’ll take that as further confirmation of my critical acumen.

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Oscar predictions 2024

March 8, 2024 by Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again; here’s how I would vote were I a member of the august Academy:

  • Best Actor
    • Jeffrey Wright
  • Best Actress
    • Emma Stone
  • Best Supporting Actor
    • Ryan Gosling
  • Best Supporting Actress
    • Da’Vine Joy Randolph
  • Best Director
    • Justine Triet
  • Best International Feature
    • Perfect Days
  • Best Picture
    • Anatomy of a Fall

Do I think any of my choices will actually win? Judging by what the critics are saying, and how the Golden Globes and BAFTAs turned out, I reckon Emma Stone and Da’Vine Joy Randolph have a pretty solid chance of picking up a statuette, and Ryan Gosling might just sneak in too, but otherwise it looks like Oppenheimer will sweep the board, with The Zone of Interest favourite for Best International Feature.

I have to say that I wasn’t that taken with Oppenheimer; I thought it was too long, and not as profound as it seemed to think it was. In my opinion Anatomy of a Fall, Perfect Days, and American Fiction were all much better, exploring universal themes while staying rooted in individual experience. That said, Oppenheimer does have the combination of grand spectacle and well-drawn characters that made it a genuine cultural phenomenon, so I guess Christopher Nolan deserves the accolades that seem likely to rain down on him come Sunday.

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Supreme Tuesday

March 5, 2024 by Leave a comment

I’ve been writing this blog for long enough to have covered four previous US Presidential campaigns, and while the 2024 edition of the contest is arguably the one with the highest stakes, it is also by some way the least intriguing.

Back in 2008, Super Tuesday saw the Democratic primary still finely balanced between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton; 2012 was a bit less interesting, since even in March it was obvious that whoever ended up as the GOP nominee would have no chance in November, but the squabbling among the candidates was amusing; in 2016 the Republican race was wide open, though Trump had put his stamp upon it; and in 2020 progressives were split on whether to go with leftist Bernie or centrist Joe.

This time around though there is no suspense at all; it’s going to be Biden versus Trump. There was a slight hope that the Supreme Court might inject some excitement into the matter by barring Trump from the ballot, but, predictably enough, they dodged the opportunity to get involved, and let him off on a technicality.

So the fate of the free world will be entrusted to one of two old white guys. What could go wrong?

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