It's a shame that the UK's only left wing Sunday newspaper isn't really that left wing, it's more centrist, even right wing at times, witness dull, safe commentators like Will Hutton and Andrew Rawnsley, the polemical, perennial Corbyn-basher Nick Cohen, while others like Barbara Ellen only seem to write about trivial things. (It's sister paper, The Guardian, while a great crusading newspaper, is also more often centre-left rather than genuine left wing and has been consistently hostile to Jeremy Corbyn (who we need more than ever in this age of the demagogue Trump), with the notable exceptions of George Monbiot, Gary Younge, Owen Jones, and sometimes Zoe Heller. And while their G2 section sometimes carries interesting pieces, it's often silly and infantile). BUT...The Observer's New Review arts section is rarely less than excellent. Last Sunday's edition (Nov 13), for example, contained an interesting discussion with Elton John about photography and his personal collection, currently on exhibit at London's Tate Modern. I'm no big fan of his music (though there are a handful of decent early rock'n'roll songs that I like), but he obviously loves his photography and has insightful and thoughtful opinions about the genre. There is also a fine, short article about Leonard Cohen by Neil Spencer, with a great vintage photo by Michael Ochs (brother of late folk singer Phil, an underrated talent due rediscovery), with contributions by Paul Muldoon, Martha Wainwright, and Ezra Furman, and also a fascinating article by Andrew Anthony about filmmaker Paul Schrader, best known for writing the seminal Scorcese films Taxi Driver (which, he laments, will surely be the first line of his obituary) and Raging Bull, and directing the obscure gem Blue Collar, and the underrated Cat People. It's full of Schrader's stories and anecdotes about the industry and his relationships with such actors as Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Willem Dafoe, Nicholas cage, and especially Nastassja Kinski, who apparently told Schrader, who was having an affair with her, "Paul, I always fuck my directors. And with you it was difficult" Then there's a regular column by David Mitchell which I never read (I could never figure out if I actually like Peep Show or not, for while it's occasionally funny and amusing, on the whole I find it too annoying and full of itself), plus excellent film reviews by Mark Kermode, and the usual book, music and theatre reviews, no better or worse than what you might find in any quality paper. But their feature articles are consistently superb and of interest, so kudos to them for that.