Demonstrations over housing rights and crumbling schools are a sign the younger generation is withdrawing political consent
In Spain, tens of thousands of people in 50 cities have taken to the streets amid mounting fury over the country’s housing crisis, their feelings made plain on a banner at the burgeoning protest camp in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol plaza: “You can speculate on watches, jewels, crypto-bros and Ferraris. But not on our fucking homes.”
In France, as high school pupils clash with police in often violent protests over long hours, missing teachers, crumbling classrooms and an opaque university admissions system, the angry slogans include: “More hours in class than for sleep”, “Fund study, not repression” and “I’d like to be worrying about my maths exam, not my future.”
Continue reading...The latest in our series of writers’ favorite comfort films is a tribute to the lovably quirky 80s musical
The key to a feelgood movie, beyond the necessary rewatchability, is familiarity – the real kind that lets you look away or fall asleep without doubting your affection. Musicals are perfectly suited to this particular subgenre since the majority of them, especially the classic ones adapted for film, atrophy with second-act problems. That’s where writers suddenly remember the plot they’d introduced and drop all that singing and dancing to arrive at some type of conclusion.
The first act of Funny Girl? A near-flawless parade of showstoppers, Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice having the time of her life falling in love. I’ve probably seen it 200 times. The second act … well, who ever cared about her husband’s gambling addiction?
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After working hard taking away the civil rights of people and granting more powers to our Mob Boss President, Chief Justice John Roberts retreats to a Maine island for the summer. But lately, neighbors are protesting his presence there. Good! No peace!