Best Of

BTW for all Colonel Blimp fans/detractors, I saw today that it’s on iPlayer.

It is a brilliant film, well worth a watch, not just in its technique but also for its positive depiction of the Germans in a wartime film. General Winstanley comes over as out dated, but always as likeable, loyal and kind hearted.

It’s definitely one of my all time top films. “Blimp” always reminds me of one of my grandfathers and old school headmasters with the combination of discipline, good heart and no-nonsense.

It’s actually quite a sad film when you think about the evolution of the characters, youth to age, superiority to being broken, useful to mocked as useless.

Blimp is a great film, but isn’t the end quite philosophical, the arc of a life with all that entails, and some wisdom gained?

Absolutely. It touches on the disdain for experience where he is seen as a crackpot and mocked by the younger soldiers but it’s sad in how it compresses the life of a young thrusting chap with all ahead of him and friendships and relationships damaged or disrupted by war and time. The arc of his German adversary, friend is particularly profound in his change from utter Prussian confidence to being broken and relying on the kindness and hospitality of former enemies is wonderful but tragic.

I’d say moving rather than sad, but yeah. It adds a certain piquancy that Anton Walbrook who played the Prussian friend was also a refugee from the Nazis, though I guess that applies to all the cast who were more or less living through the events portrayed.

Statement from 20 countries including UK and UAE on the Straight of Hormuz.

https://x.com/mofauae/status/2035326341596446810

TL:DR F*** off Iran and allow free passage of vessels.

Yes, but what are they going to do about it?

"…to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait."

Now that the incoming drones and missiles have reduced significantly in recent days, expect the GCC nations to move towards a more offensive phase of their operation. They have navies specifically built towards this problem, and if the US can keep the Apaches and Warthogs flying over the Hormuz area it shouldn’t be massively difficult.

More important is the insurance issue for civil vessels, AIUI Scott Bessent is working on this at the moment, with presumably Lloyd’s of London also involved.

I presume the GCC nations would rather the US and Israel just fucked off now and a peace deal was done?

A peace deal with who exactly?

Because it definitely won’t be anyone to do with the Iranian regime that’s been bombing them for the past 22 days.

US and Israel are saving the GCC countries a lot of ammo at the moment.

They only need that ammo because the US and Israel started bombing Iran!

I’m sure the GCC are happy to see Iran being taken down a notch, but the war isn’t exactly unfolding to their advantage. A quick end to the war, Iran damaged, the straits of Hormuz open again, that seems like a good result for them. Ongoing war with no clear war aims, is that what they want?

They’re been waiting and preparing for this month for the past 47 years. A little disruption is worth it to see Iran finally defeated once and for all.

US and Israel are very much the good guys, and Iran is very much the bad guy.

100%.

It is quite depressing how many people here have an inverted sense of who is good and who is bad here.

The Iranian regime have killed thousands of civilians, the Israeli regime have killed thousands of civilians.

As @Foxy said, it's Alien v. Predator...

Iran killed unarmed civilians.

Israel fought armed terrorists in Hamas.

Two completely different things.

And those pesky civilians in Gaza were just collateral damage

Hurrah for the IDF. Even the rapists in their midst

Absolutely, there is a huge difference between targeting enemies and civilians getting caught as collateral damage, and targeting civilians.

One is acceptable, one is not.

If he sacks Reeves he’s done.

Really?

There's plenty of evidence of Prime Ministers getting rid of Chancellors and carrying on - MacMillan sacked Selwyn Lloyd, Thatcher got rid of both Howe and Lawson. Major sacked Lamont and that's before we get to more recent times.

Unless you have a technocratic Chancellor, the occupant of No.11 will always be seen as a potential rival or alternative to the resident of No.10 so the tension will always exist however superficially friendly the outward relationship may appear - I'm sure the relationships between Blair and Brown and in their turn Cameron and Osborne suffered because of this.

Macmillan - out less than 18 months after sacking Lloyd.

Thatcher - out less than three months after Lawson resigning (Howe was a different case as he was moved to another role which he wanted more).

Major I will give you but his authority never recovered.

BTW for all Colonel Blimp fans/detractors, I saw today that it’s on iPlayer.

It is a brilliant film, well worth a watch, not just in its technique but also for its positive depiction of the Germans in a wartime film. General Winstanley comes over as out dated, but always as likeable, loyal and kind hearted.

It’s definitely one of my all time top films. “Blimp” always reminds me of one of my grandfathers and old school headmasters with the combination of discipline, good heart and no-nonsense.

It’s actually quite a sad film when you think about the evolution of the characters, youth to age, superiority to being broken, useful to mocked as useless.

Roger Livesey is an underrated actor.
(It's impossible I think to imagine Olivier, who was first choice for the role, producing so human a performance

I do wonder if it is something as different as their faces. Olivier was an alright actor… but Livesy’s face and demeanour was probably more friendly and softer and so a more hard faced actor might not have created the same empathy for the character.

I'd say he was a bit better than 'alright.'

Hence my full stops, didn’t know how else to signify sarcasm.

BTW for all Colonel Blimp fans/detractors, I saw today that it’s on iPlayer.

It is a brilliant film, well worth a watch, not just in its technique but also for its positive depiction of the Germans in a wartime film. General Winstanley comes over as out dated, but always as likeable, loyal and kind hearted.

It’s definitely one of my all time top films. “Blimp” always reminds me of one of my grandfathers and old school headmasters with the combination of discipline, good heart and no-nonsense.

It’s actually quite a sad film when you think about the evolution of the characters, youth to age, superiority to being broken, useful to mocked as useless.

Roger Livesey is an underrated actor.
(It's impossible I think to imagine Olivier, who was first choice for the role, producing so human a performance

I do wonder if it is something as different as their faces. Olivier was an alright actor… but Livesy’s face and demeanour was probably more friendly and softer and so a more hard faced actor might not have created the same empathy for the character.

I'd say he was a bit better than 'alright.'

BTW for all Colonel Blimp fans/detractors, I saw today that it’s on iPlayer.

It is a brilliant film, well worth a watch, not just in its technique but also for its positive depiction of the Germans in a wartime film. General Winstanley comes over as out dated, but always as likeable, loyal and kind hearted.

It’s definitely one of my all time top films. “Blimp” always reminds me of one of my grandfathers and old school headmasters with the combination of discipline, good heart and no-nonsense.

It’s actually quite a sad film when you think about the evolution of the characters, youth to age, superiority to being broken, useful to mocked as useless.

Blimp is a great film, but isn’t the end quite philosophical, the arc of a life with all that entails, and some wisdom gained?

Absolutely. It touches on the disdain for experience where he is seen as a crackpot and mocked by the younger soldiers but it’s sad in how it compresses the life of a young thrusting chap with all ahead of him and friendships and relationships damaged or disrupted by war and time. The arc of his German adversary, friend is particularly profound in his change from utter Prussian confidence to being broken and relying on the kindness and hospitality of former enemies is wonderful but tragic.