8-400: Rancid Aluminium is a 1999 film based on the 1998 novel of the same name by James Hawes . It was released on January 21, 2000. Reviews of Rancid Aluminium were strongly negative. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said: "This film succeeds in getting its cast - some of the brightest and best of British character actors, young and old - to give the worst performances imaginable... The plot
16-517: Is Tara Fitzgerald talking about Exeter ? And how in hell did we get to this cricket pavilion? Director Ed Thomas appears to have been aiming for the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels crowd, but misses by several billion miles." Some years later, Hawes himself described his own adaptation as "a terrible screenplay". Discussing Rancid Aluminium in an article on British cinema, Jacques Peretti gave an equally harsh assessment: "In many ways, Rancid Aluminium
24-611: Is a British novelist and popular historian who has been an official bestseller in both genres. He has also written theatrically released screen adaptations of two of his works. He teaches creative writing at Oxford University. In 2022 he was Series Story Consultant/key on-screen contributor for BBCTV's 8-part documentary, Art That Made Us and sole author of the accompanying book, Brilliant Isles . Hawes grew up in Gloucestershire , Edinburgh and Shropshire. As an undergraduate, he studied German at Hertford College, Oxford . In 1985–1986 he
32-505: Is all over the place, eventually incomprehensible, and very, very boring." Cosmo Landesman , writing in The Sunday Times also gave the film a negative review, describing the film as "a stupid, unfunny and self-satisfied film that should be avoided at all costs". Anne Billson of The Sunday Telegraph found the film confusing and derivative: "I couldn't even work out where the film is supposed to be set. Isn't that Portobello Road ? Why
40-524: Is beyond criticism because it is very hard, even after several viewings, to work out what the hell is going on" and that it was "incomprehensible and deeply lacklustre in all departments." Noting the film's negative reception, Peretti went on to argue: "By universal consent, it is the worst film ever made in the UK." This 1990s crime film–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . James Hawes (author) James Hawes (born 1960)
48-746: The Observer later declared "it deserves some kind of prescience prize" (Observer 23.4.2017). His Kafka biography, Excavating Kafka (2008), was adapted as a BBCTV documentary, Kafka Uncovered (2009). Englanders and Huns , a detailed history of Anglo-German relationships from 1864 to 1914, was shortlisted in the Paddy Power Political Books of the Year 2015. He has taught on the Oxford University MSt. in Creative Writing since 2005. In 2008, he
56-738: Was also appointed Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University . In 2012 he was promoted to Reader. Among his former students there are Kit de Waal ( My Name is Leon ) Catherine Chanter ( The Well ) and Anne Youngson ( Meet me at the Museum ). His book The Shortest History of Germany (Old St.) was published in May 2017. It reached #2 in the Sunday Times non-fiction pb bestsellers (May 2018). The Shortest History of England (2020) reached #4 in The Times non-fiction pb bestsellers. His latest book
64-740: Was in charge of CADW excavations at Blaenavon Ironworks, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. He went on to study for a Ph.D. on Nietzsche and German literature 1900–1914 at University College, London in 1987–89, before lecturing in German at Maynooth University (Ollscoil Mhá Nuad), Sheffield University and Swansea University . Hawes has published six novels, two of which he has adapted as films, starring Rhys Ifans and Michael Sheen respectively. The first two, A White Merc with Fins (1996) and Rancid Aluminium (1997) were both Sunday Times bestsellers. In 2005 Random House published his novel Speak for England , which predicted Brexit so accurately that
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