Bush feels the heat

SPENDING IT

A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE is a very dangerous thing. The truth of this aphorism was amply revealed at screenings of Michael Moore's latest polemical documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, where pseudo-intellectuals with only a half-baked understanding of the complexities of US politics, applaud heartily each time Moore shows up his nemesis George W Bush as either a bumbling fool or a dangerous criminal.

Many of us have serious disagreements with the Bush administration. But face it, the Bushies are a soft target, the kind Moore loves taking potshots at.

Cinematically, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a treat in many ways; the director has an unerring talent for audience manipulation, and for topping an effective build-up with an even more potent payoff.

However, most people are seeing this movie not for its technical brilliance but for the "revelations" it makes about the Bush family's links with the Saudis and the general shadiness of the inner coterie of the Republican administration. And that's where one has to be careful not to blindly fall in with Moore's prejudices.

See Fahrenheit 9/11 by all means (apart from everything else, it's very funny; don't miss the shot of Paul Wolfowitz moistening his comb with saliva before combing his hair) but supplement it with information from other sources.

Otherwise you'll be like those readers who treat The Da Vinci Code like a historical thesis.

And a historical thesis is precisely what King Arthur is not. If you aren't too well versed with the tale of the Round Table of the legendary Excalibur-wielder, you'll enjoy this well-choreographed action tale.

However, it's way too simplified to be even remotely considered an epic. The storyline encapsulates a very interesting period, but the expanse of the journey is summed up in skirmish moments here and there, punctuated by two absolutely stunning battle sequences.

This Jerry Bruckheimer production keeps you on the edge of your seat with characteristic panache displayed in the encounter between the knights and the barbaric Saxons. But character development is something director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) should have focused more on. Keira Knightley is far more impressive here than in Pirates of the Caribbean, but sadly her range as Guinevere is pitted against a rigid-for-the-sake-of-intensity Clive Owen.

Enjoyable as the film might be, one can't help wonder what it would have been if the legendary Excalibur was wielded by a Mortensen, Crowe or Neeson (instead of a man who looks like cricketer Atul Wassan's Anglo Saxon cousin).

What does it sound like when Ray Charles covers everything from RnB to Frank Sinatra, and that too with a bevy of today's voices? In possibly the soul genius' last recording, Genius Loves Company, everybody from Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, B B King and even Norah Jones, stand by the great man to come up with an album that's an absolute smasher.

While the stalwarts do chip in with their presence, it's the understated fluid smoothness of Ray's voice that stays in your mind after the 12 tracks are done.

His opening drawl on "Here We Go Again" is the stuff of goosebumps, and when he glides up the orchestration on "It Was A Very Good Year", you almost wonder if his take surpasses the original Sinatra masterpiece.

The duet album, one of the best of its genre, should be on every discerning listener's shelves. Ray may have left us on June 10 this year, but his voice and soul will continue to shine for ever.

Meanwhile, EMI's release of Frank Sinatra "" The Platinum Collection [triple CD Rs 620], is a splendid collection of the master's recordings at Capitol Records between years 1953 and 1961, considered by many as the period during which he sang his finest numbers.

The treasure chest of songs has the usual gems in the form of "I've Got You Under My Skin", "The Lady Is A Tramp" and "All of Me" as well as countless lesser well-known melodies, replete with the arrangement that would make your single malt or Bourbon all the more memorable.