It's 80's Cinema All Over again

Two things put me in mind of 1980's British cinema this weekend.
First, they did a profile of Hanif Kureishi in the New York Times Magazine. Kureishi is probably best known as the screenwriter who brought us My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). Actually the piece was a little bit of tease since it the headline seemed to promise a visit to London with the writer, whereas it was mostly a typical -- albeit well executed profile.

Much bigger news during the past couple of days, of course, is the John Edwards Affair. These sexual scandals put me in mind of the Profumo Affair and the film that made that incident even more famous, Scandal (1989). That Joanne Whaley sure was something, eh. Anyway, the difference between the scandals are vast -- Profumo was sharing a mistress with a Russian spy. Edwards's indiscretions were purely private and affected no one. Profumo ended up bringing down PM Harold Macmillan. I doubt Edwards will bring down anybody but himself (and our chances for having a kick-ass Attorney General).