RIP Christopher Lee

While there's never a good time for a person to die, I think it's safe to say that Christopher Lee led a considerably longer, fuller and more varied life than most. As such, rather than be too sad at his passing, I'm more than happy to celebrate his legacy. I feel a rewatch of THE DEVIL RIDES OUT coming on. I've had the Blu-ray on my shelf for months now unviewed, and now seems like the ideal time to crack open the cellophane.

RIP H.R. Giger

The demented genius behind the creature from ALIEN died yesterday, aged 74. Both he and his uniquely twisted vision will be sorely missed.

Full story at the Guardian.

RIP Bob Hoskins

Very saddened and more than a little shocked to learn of the death of the great Bob Hoskins. I knew he was suffering from Parkinson's disease and had retired from the acting world, but I hadn't expected him to go so soon.

As a child, I associated him first and foremost with WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, but as an adult I got a chance to appreciate the real diversity of his body of work. I'd be hard pressed to choose a favourite role of his, given the sheer number of movies in which he starred, but he was always one of those actors who was such a class act that, even when he was appearing in something that was complete nonsense, he always succeeded in raising the bar a few notches.

Case in point: for sheer insanity (plus the fact that it was shot in my home town), I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for DANNY THE DOG (a.k.a. UNLEASHED), a martial arts action film shot in Glasgow and starring Jet Li, Kerry Condon and Morgan Freeman. That's a combination of elements you don't see every day, but it somehow it made perfect sense for Bob Hoskins to be at the heart of all the insanity, hamming it up as only he could in the role of  the film's main villain: a foul-mouthed, ill-tempered Cockney gangster.

Rest in peace, Bob.

RIP Margo MacDonald

I'm very sad to learn that Margo MacDonald, independent MSP for Lothian, has died today, aged 70.

Long committed to the cause of Scottish Independence, her first major political victory was winning the Glasgow Govan seat in a 1973 by-election for the SNP. She became deputy leader of the party from 1974 to 1979, and was subsequently elected to represent the Lothians as an MSP in the first Scottish Parliament election of 1999. She later stood as an independent MSP in the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections, leading to her expulsion from the party. She went on to be re-elected as an independent in the 2007 and 2011 elections.

She lived with Parkinson's Disease for the better part of two decades and was a strong advocate for assisted suicide, protecting the rights of sex workers and the homeless, and justice for Palestine, among other important causes. She stood up passionately for the issues she believed in, even if this meant going "off-message" and putting her at odds with her party. She was also an extremely entertaining public speaker and provided a very human face to a profession that often appears to consist exclusively of identikit career politicians.

She will be sorely missed, and it's a crying shame that she so narrowly missed out on the opportunity to cast her vote for the cause she fought for throughout her political career.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/margo-macdonald-the-politician-who-transcended-politics-is-dead.1396619753