The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
Er, do you come from Thurso? Mr Gove is an Aberdonian by birth and schooling, though I don't know how he has presented himself in recent decades (Scottish independence matters aside), so it's interesting you call him a southerner.
MY FAIR LADY OLIVER GUYS AND DOLLS ALL THAT JAZZ WEST SIDE STORY CABARET BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SINGING IN THE RAIN BUGSY MALONE
Dunno about Bohemian Rhapsody. It's a plodding biopic with a great finale which is more-or-less a shot-for-shot remake of Live Aid.
The guy's got a billion points in the bag for correctly identifying the best ever musical, and you're quibbling about some detail of the undercard? (Not seen Bohemian Rhapsody)
My Fair Lady the best musical of all time? This is a betting site and you like a film that has horses racing *left-handed* at Royal Ascot? Away with you.
I'm all in. I simply love that film. The most beautiful girl ever (Hepburn), the most amusing character ever (Harrison), and the best man ever (Hyde-White). And then you have the father played so magnificently by... can't remember his name.
And amazing costumes (Cecil Beaton?) and amazing songs. What’s not to love?
It was highly misleading as to precipitation patterns in Iberia. Otherwise, nothing much wrong with it.
Could you class Saturday Night Fever as a musical? I know it became an official one, but that should obviously be ignored.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The woman who helped write the Con 2019 Manifesto says Boris is relying on a "Hanging Baskets" strategy - as long as people see their towns looking a bit better than they did in 2019, that is enough. So 40 New Hospitals" might not be true, but if the local hospital has been refurbished, that's a win. Labour can say "But you said there'd be 40 new hospitals" and the Tories will just point to the the local improvements, is the theory. A bit like "we send £350m a week to the EU"
Sorry but I now can't get this out of my head - 12 Angry Men as PB argument cum jury deliberation. I picture a man called Boris on trial and the charge is "Putting a Border in the Irish Sea". It looks a slam dunk - he did it - and when the jury retire they agree. However it's not quite unanimous. It's 11 to 1 for Guilty. But that one is the indefatigable Philip Thompson - played not by Henry Fonda but by Christian Bale - and he sees it differently. Cue an interminable debate, back & forth, forth & back, as he first refuses to concede and then, slowly, relentlessly, grinds the others down, forces them to say everything 10 times, then rebuts it 10 times, till they are faced with the choice of killing him, which is a world of trouble, or caving in and agreeing. Which they do, they change their vote and Boris goes free.
LOL!
Considering I put all 3 Dark Knight movies in my top 10, I'm quite honoured to be played by Christian Bale.
A man who put superglue on the lock of a Covid-19 vaccination centre, preventing 504 people from getting jabs, has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Hayden Brown, 53, of Burgh Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, squirted glue into the keyhole of the centre's door on 26 November.
It meant the premises in Lowestoft Road, Gorleston, could not be opened.
Brown admitted criminal damage and causing a public nuisance at Norwich Magistrates' Court.
He was arrested on Tuesday after being identified in footage from cameras that had been installed following two previous incidents earlier in November.
Supt Nathan Clark said that a "large number" of the 504 people who were affected were elderly.
"This disruption will have caused great anxiety to those who have chosen to be vaccinated and then not able to attend," he said.
No Trainspotting love? Or The Usual Suspects? Or The Third Man?
And if we have to have a Wes Anderson movie in there, then it should probably be The Royal Tenanbaums.
Not enough full on comedies on these lists either. Superbad and Hangover both instant classics of American comedy from recent years. Hot Fuzz I think is the best British comedy since 2000, although I do have a soft spot for Yesterday.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The big 3 offices of state are Foreign, Home and Chancellor, it was a demotion for Nandy with Starmer just giving her the levelling up job as a consolation prize. The fact Nandy, who accepted the Brexit result, was replaced with a People's Vote campaigner in Lammy was a clear shift to a more Remain stance by the Labour leadership. That suggests Brexit is far from over, if Starmer becomes PM with SNP and LD support it would be a much more diluted Brexit with the UK closely aligned to both the SM and CU.
The Truman Show is a great film imo. Also one I watched ages ago, only on TV and only once, a Dutch psycho-chiller called The Golden Egg, which if the test of a film is how long it stays on your mind is easily the best I've ever seen.
Not doing a Top 10 (as I'm rubbish at remembering lists - I'd make a list and then amend it every time someome mentioned a good film I'd forgotten).
But in niche but good films, not necessarily top ten, but worth a watch: - End of Sentence (recentish, I think - father-son road trip after death of mother, but much better than that suggests) - Head On (English title)/ Gegen die Wand (German - 'Against the wall') from ealry 2000s, I think. Random late night watch on telly, but a fascinating piece of work
Oh and The Lives of Others and Goodbye Lenin (not mentioned by others?). Starting to think I'm just a sucker for German cinema....
Yes, the Lives of Others is a cracking film, as well as an exemplar portrayal of a remarkable piece of history.
As it’s Xmas, surely Great Escape has to be in the mix.
I’d also add:
Dances with Wolves Black Book Shooting Dogs Enemy at the Gates Fury Zelary Closely Observed Trains Il Divo
Not that those are particularly Christmassy, although no less so than Die Hard.
Films that used to be great but now aren't, top 1.
Taxi Driver.
I rewatched this classic recently and all the glitter has worn off. It has more-or-less the same plot as Joker, and the lone vigilante is almost a film cliche. You're left with one memorable line and Jodie Foster as an underage pro. Too influential for its own good, perhaps? Oh, and there is an election campaign in the background so good for pb.
Difficult, as it is a film that has become so well known that it becomes a cliche rather than recognised as the pioneer that it was.
The King of Comedy is much the better Scorsese film, I think, from only a couple of years later, but much the lesser known. I only came it across it again recently because I saw it on the MUBI subscription service, which I hugely recommend to anyone interested in international as well as less commercial cinema, along with the BFI's streaming service.
Yes MUBI is fantastic, a real education. I like BFI player too, but the streams on MUBI seem more robust. Both are far better than Netflix or Amazon Prime, though Netflix does do an interesting range of Nollywood films.
No Trainspotting love? Or The Usual Suspects? Or The Third Man?
And if we have to have a Wes Anderson movie in there, then it should probably be The Royal Tenanbaums.
Not enough full on comedies on these lists either. Superbad and Hangover both instant classics of American comedy from recent years. Hot Fuzz I think is the best British comedy since 2000, although I do have a soft spot for Yesterday.
There's Something About Mary would be my Desert Island Film if I could only watch one. A love story, hilariously funny, where the good guy gets the gal
Astounding that more people would put Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in their top ten than would put Rear Window.
You people.
My list is favourite films not already done, and I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t seen Rear Window; I will rectify the error this evening.
On that subject, has anyone mentioned Twelve Angry Men yet?
Oh my goodness, Twelve Angry Men is even better than Rear Window.
But seriously, Rear Window is magical. Everything is spot on. Hitchcock could make magnificent films in incredibly limited settings. See also Rope. I believe both are the same in the way that they're set almost entirely in a single room (or looking out from it).
Re "Twelve Angry Men" for years have sought backing for a fresh take combining two proven winners: >>> Twelve Angry Muppets
With Kermit as foreman, and Ms Piggy as a fellow juror AND old flame. Critical triumph AND box office boffo!
On slightly more serious note, if not yet mentioned check out another Hitchcockian classic -"North by Northwest"
Bladerunner 2049 The Godfather (Parts I and II) The Shawshank Redemption The Constant Gardener The Road Fight Club Aliens Apocalypse Now! Pulp Fiction Road to Perdition
Glad to see Fight Club has made it to someones list.
Pulp Fiction is another cracker.
Bladerunner 2049 is one of the few films I own on DVD - pretty slooooow going on the the re-watch.
Which, on reflection, would be my choice. Well, I'm not sure about best, but perhaps 'most archetypal'. It also has the most Carry On title.
I'm struggling to think of 10 films I'd have in my top 10. My top 2 would be:
24 Hour Party People Local Hero
and the other 8 might include:
Whisky Galore Sleuth The Railway Children Shallow Grave The Royal Tenenbaums 2001 Airplane LA Story
Hmm, which WG and which RC?
There are more than one? I think I mean the originals of each. The only WG I've seen was so primitively shot it was quite hard to make out what was going on; I can't imagine that was a remake. And the RC I know dates from well before I was born. "Daddy, my Daddy!". Welling up now just thinking about it.
Awwww!
There's actually a Gregor Fisher/Eddie Izzard remake of WG which I have not seen; ditto of RC with Jenny Agutter as mother this time (had bought it for our niece without looking further than her name, and was very cheesed to discover it wasn't the original).
I've seen the WG remake (think it was on iplayer maybe). Not great, not terrible. I don't need to see it again. Izzard was pretty good. I haven't seen the original, but have read the book, which was fun (while staying on Barra - it was one of those left in the holiday let).
I need to reread it - long time - but as TUD remarked recently here the author Compton Mackenzie who knew his locals so it will be interesting to see how he approached the book; certainly more sensitive than at least one contemporary I can think of.
Films that used to be great but now aren't, top 1.
Taxi Driver.
I rewatched this classic recently and all the glitter has worn off. It has more-or-less the same plot as Joker, and the lone vigilante is almost a film cliche. You're left with one memorable line and Jodie Foster as an underage pro. Too influential for its own good, perhaps? Oh, and there is an election campaign in the background so good for pb.
Difficult, as it is a film that has become so well known that it becomes a cliche rather than recognised as the pioneer that it was.
The King of Comedy is much the better Scorsese film, I think, from only a couple of years later, but much the lesser known. I only came it across it again recently because I saw it on the MUBI subscription service, which I hugely recommend to anyone interested in international as well as less commercial cinema, along with the BFI's streaming service.
Yes MUBI is fantastic, a real education. I like BFI player too, but the streams on MUBI seem more robust. Both are far better than Netflix or Amazon Prime, though Netflix does do an interesting range of Nollywood films.
I got fed up with some very formulaic dramas on Netflix, and so searched for more interesting streaming services, and found MUBI. It does indeed show a great range of newer and older films.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
Unlike the last time this was brilliant from Starmer.
He's managed to get as much wisdom as he can around the table. The left has been hugely weakened, but they'll not point to why.
Starmer's pointless dig at Angela Rayner was an own goal. Labour needs people who can hammer the Tories and whether you like her or not, Rayner has been cutting through. And she is not even that left-wing.
Ah yes, I totally agree that his handling of Rayner is a bit odd. I suspect that there's something we don't know there.
Rayner is a capable politician.
She seems a loose cannon who is more comfortable preaching to the choir (against "Tory scum" etc) than winning converts.
As well as the fact he pretty clearly distrusts her, I don't think she and Starmer agree on fundamental approach. What he wants to do is detoxify ("not Corbyn's party"), convey competence ("ready to govern"), and separate Tory voters from Tory politicians in quite a targeted way (a "lions led by donkeys" message). Rayner is more of a tub-thumper - generate a wave of righteous rage in order to win.
Coincidentally I was chatting to my wife earlier today - which we still do even though we've been together a while - about which we thought were the best CHRISTMAS movies. I said the usual, she added in the usual, but then she really took me aback with her last one, which was Die Hard. First I've heard of that being considered a Christmas movie but she's adamant it is. People can surprise you sometimes, even those you think you know well.
That's something that PC types have been flapping about for years. It's a perennial on the Guardian's kronky outrage bus.
Up there with Winterval.
It's not Christmas until someone has thrown Alan Rickman off a building....
Astounding that more people would put Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in their top ten than would put Rear Window.
You people.
My list is favourite films not already done, and I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t seen Rear Window; I will rectify the error this evening.
On that subject, has anyone mentioned Twelve Angry Men yet?
Oh my goodness, Twelve Angry Men is even better than Rear Window.
But seriously, Rear Window is magical. Everything is spot on. Hitchcock could make magnificent films in incredibly limited settings. See also Rope. I believe both are the same in the way that they're set almost entirely in a single room (or looking out from it).
Re "Twelve Angry Men" for years have sought backing for a fresh take combining two proven winners: >>> Twelve Angry Muppets
With Kermit as foreman, and Ms Piggy as a fellow juror AND old flame. Critical triumph AND box office boffo!
On slightly more serious note, if not yet mentioned check out another Hitchcockian classic -"North by Northwest"
On that subject, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best Christmas movie ever!
No Trainspotting love? Or The Usual Suspects? Or The Third Man?
And if we have to have a Wes Anderson movie in there, then it should probably be The Royal Tenanbaums.
Trainspotting 1 for me.
I walked out after 10 minutes when I realised it didn't do exactly what it says on the tin. Not a Platform 5 book in sight.
(Actually, I've never seen it.)
The name comes from the local slang for shooting up in a local derelict building - which happened to be Leith Central passenger railway station I think (but IMDB would confirm: the railway network and interconnections of the NBR and Caley are extremely confusing in that airt).
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The big 3 offices of state are Foreign, Home and Chancellor, it was a demotion for Nandy with Starmer just giving her the levelling up job as a consolation prize. The fact Nandy, who accepted the Brexit result, was replaced with a People's Vote campaigner in Lammy was a clear shift to a more Remain stance by the Labour leadership. That suggests Brexit is far from over, if Starmer becomes PM with SNP and LD support it would be a much more diluted Brexit with the UK closely aligned to both the SM and CU.
Shad Foreign was a daft job to give Nandy in the first place. She's much better placed now. Queen of the North.
Two famous comedies, the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" and Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" were first shown during trying years, 1935 and 1940, respectively.
Perhaps we could use some more comedies, now.
(I am not enough of a movie buff to list ten favorites, but I do suggest that those who are include a few more comedies in their lists.)
I have seen it many times, but Borat gets me laughing every time!
Personally I would love to see an Isis or Taliban version of The Producers.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
Unlike the last time this was brilliant from Starmer.
He's managed to get as much wisdom as he can around the table. The left has been hugely weakened, but they'll not point to why.
Starmer's pointless dig at Angela Rayner was an own goal. Labour needs people who can hammer the Tories and whether you like her or not, Rayner has been cutting through. And she is not even that left-wing.
Ah yes, I totally agree that his handling of Rayner is a bit odd. I suspect that there's something we don't know there.
Rayner is a capable politician.
She seems a loose cannon who is more comfortable preaching to the choir (against "Tory scum" etc) than winning converts.
As well as the fact he pretty clearly distrusts her, I don't think she and Starmer agree on fundamental approach. What he wants to do is detoxify, convey competence, and separate Tory voters from Tory politicians in quite a targeted way (a "lions led by donkeys" message). Rayner is more of a tub-thumper - generate rage in order to win.
If he can't work out the way to mend fences with Rayner then he's not over the first hurdle of potentially being PM.
Two famous comedies, the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" and Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" were first shown during trying years, 1935 and 1940, respectively.
Perhaps we could use some more comedies, now.
(I am not enough of a movie buff to list ten favorites, but I do suggest that those who are include a few more comedies in their lists.)
I have seen it many times, but Borat gets me laughing every time!
I think he is an unpleasant bully. It's funny, mind, just as fear and loathing in Las Vegas is funny (the book, not seen the film) but is about 2 unpleasant bullies
Mind you the nude wrestling in Borat is the greatest 3 minutes in the whole of cinema
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
Unlike the last time this was brilliant from Starmer.
He's managed to get as much wisdom as he can around the table. The left has been hugely weakened, but they'll not point to why.
Starmer's pointless dig at Angela Rayner was an own goal. Labour needs people who can hammer the Tories and whether you like her or not, Rayner has been cutting through. And she is not even that left-wing.
Ah yes, I totally agree that his handling of Rayner is a bit odd. I suspect that there's something we don't know there.
Rayner is a capable politician.
She seems a loose cannon who is more comfortable preaching to the choir (against "Tory scum" etc) than winning converts.
As well as the fact he pretty clearly distrusts her, I don't think she and Starmer agree on fundamental approach. What he wants to do is detoxify ("not Corbyn's party"), convey competence ("ready to govern"), and separate Tory voters from Tory politicians in quite a targeted way (a "lions led by donkeys" message). Rayner is more of a tub-thumper - generate a wave of righteous rage in order to win.
Rayner is Starmer's John Prescott, a token sop to the left and working class and unions, having a grand position as Deputy Leader and Shadow First Secretary of State but little actual power. Prescott of course even in the New Labour years ended every Labour conference with a tub thumping speech ranting at the Tories to the party activists delight, much as Rayner will do
The Truman Show is a great film imo. Also one I watched ages ago, only on TV and only once, a Dutch psycho-chiller called The Golden Egg, which if the test of a film is how long it stays on your mind is easily the best I've ever seen.
Not doing a Top 10 (as I'm rubbish at remembering lists - I'd make a list and then amend it every time someome mentioned a good film I'd forgotten).
But in niche but good films, not necessarily top ten, but worth a watch: - End of Sentence (recentish, I think - father-son road trip after death of mother, but much better than that suggests) - Head On (English title)/ Gegen die Wand (German - 'Against the wall') from ealry 2000s, I think. Random late night watch on telly, but a fascinating piece of work
Oh and The Lives of Others and Goodbye Lenin (not mentioned by others?). Starting to think I'm just a sucker for German cinema....
Yes, the Lives of Others is a cracking film, as well as an exemplar portrayal of a remarkable piece of history.
As it’s Xmas, surely Great Escape has to be in the mix.
I’d also add:
Dances with Wolves Black Book Shooting Dogs Enemy at the Gates Fury Zelary Closely Observed Trains Il Divo
Not that those are particularly Christmassy, although no less so than Die Hard.
The best Christmas movie is (and always will be) Muppet Christmas Carol.
A man who put superglue on the lock of a Covid-19 vaccination centre, preventing 504 people from getting jabs, has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Hayden Brown, 53, of Burgh Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, squirted glue into the keyhole of the centre's door on 26 November.
It meant the premises in Lowestoft Road, Gorleston, could not be opened.
Brown admitted criminal damage and causing a public nuisance at Norwich Magistrates' Court.
He was arrested on Tuesday after being identified in footage from cameras that had been installed following two previous incidents earlier in November.
Supt Nathan Clark said that a "large number" of the 504 people who were affected were elderly.
"This disruption will have caused great anxiety to those who have chosen to be vaccinated and then not able to attend," he said.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The woman who helped write the Con 2019 Manifesto says Boris is relying on a "Hanging Baskets" strategy - as long as people see their towns looking a bit better than they did in 2019, that is enough. So 40 New Hospitals" might not be true, but if the local hospital has been refurbished, that's a win. Labour can say "But you said there'd be 40 new hospitals" and the Tories will just point to the the local improvements, is the theory. A bit like "we send £350m a week to the EU"
It's been clear for a while that Levelling Up would come down to a Hanging Baskets Fund. Maybe that will work out for them, undoing a thousand years of structural regional inequalities is hard, and people like flowers.
Two famous comedies, the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" and Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" were first shown during trying years, 1935 and 1940, respectively.
Perhaps we could use some more comedies, now.
(I am not enough of a movie buff to list ten favorites, but I do suggest that those who are include a few more comedies in their lists.)
I have seen it many times, but Borat gets me laughing every time!
Personally I would love to see an Isis or Taliban version of The Producers.
It is definitely required.
The original The Producers is also amongst the funniest films ever made.
The Truman Show is a great film imo. Also one I watched ages ago, only on TV and only once, a Dutch psycho-chiller called The Golden Egg, which if the test of a film is how long it stays on your mind is easily the best I've ever seen.
Not doing a Top 10 (as I'm rubbish at remembering lists - I'd make a list and then amend it every time someome mentioned a good film I'd forgotten).
But in niche but good films, not necessarily top ten, but worth a watch: - End of Sentence (recentish, I think - father-son road trip after death of mother, but much better than that suggests) - Head On (English title)/ Gegen die Wand (German - 'Against the wall') from ealry 2000s, I think. Random late night watch on telly, but a fascinating piece of work
Oh and The Lives of Others and Goodbye Lenin (not mentioned by others?). Starting to think I'm just a sucker for German cinema....
Yes, the Lives of Others is a cracking film, as well as an exemplar portrayal of a remarkable piece of history.
As it’s Xmas, surely Great Escape has to be in the mix.
I’d also add:
Dances with Wolves Black Book Shooting Dogs Enemy at the Gates Fury Zelary Closely Observed Trains Il Divo
Not that those are particularly Christmassy, although no less so than Die Hard.
The best Christmas movie is (and always will be) Muppet Christmas Carol.
I prefer It's A Wonderful Life, but the Muppet Christmas Carol is certainly the best screen adaptation of Dickens.
WITHNAIL AND I SPINAL TAP INSIDE OUT THE EXORCIST LA LA LAND SOUND OF MUSIC THE WICKER MAN 1917 ANDREI RUBLYEV RATATOUILLE
ANDREI RUBLYEV Well done Leon! not only passions and struggles of an artist, but concerns of the whole nation during times of political change and upheaval. This is where art can improve the lives of people living in the same time, so fart can be compared with religion, serving similar goals. Art and faith can provide solace to people, giving them hope and strength. Art exists to help us deal with the world’s imperfections. 👍🏻
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Part of the fun in watching Hot Fuzz is trying to identify the great variety of rifles, pistols, revolvers, sub machine guns and mines which have supporting roles.
Two famous comedies, the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" and Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" were first shown during trying years, 1935 and 1940, respectively.
Perhaps we could use some more comedies, now.
(I am not enough of a movie buff to list ten favorites, but I do suggest that those who are include a few more comedies in their lists.)
I have seen it many times, but Borat gets me laughing every time!
Personally I would love to see an Isis or Taliban version of The Producers.
It is definitely required.
The original The Producers is also amongst the funniest films ever made.
On fillums I enjoyed the original version of Rififi though not quite "great".
I was refused a booster for being too young' A 34-year-old woman says she is "livid" after being turned away from a booster jab walk-in centre for being too young.
Heidi Bird, a nutrition scientist in London, tells the BBC she had queued at a pharmacy in Hampstead, North London with other young people who also got turned away.
"I asked the pharmacist why and he said the system is not set up to handle these at the moment," she says.
The UK has been dragging its heels on this. All my friends in Europe have been vaccinated.
----
The head of NHS made it absolutely clear yesterday that is not how it works. It going in age grouping. Your friends been vaccinated, but I doubt boostered.
Astounding that more people would put Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in their top ten than would put Rear Window.
You people.
My list is favourite films not already done, and I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t seen Rear Window; I will rectify the error this evening.
On that subject, has anyone mentioned Twelve Angry Men yet?
Oh my goodness, Twelve Angry Men is even better than Rear Window.
But seriously, Rear Window is magical. Everything is spot on. Hitchcock could make magnificent films in incredibly limited settings. See also Rope. I believe both are the same in the way that they're set almost entirely in a single room (or looking out from it).
Re "Twelve Angry Men" for years have sought backing for a fresh take combining two proven winners: >>> Twelve Angry Muppets
With Kermit as foreman, and Ms Piggy as a fellow juror AND old flame. Critical triumph AND box office boffo!
On slightly more serious note, if not yet mentioned check out another Hitchcockian classic -"North by Northwest"
On that subject, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best Christmas movie ever!
Certainly one of the best adaptations of the book.
On the subject of sequels that are better than the originals, I'd nominate Toy Story 3 and the Empire Strikes Back. Manon des Sources too (Emanuelle Beart occupied my fevered teenage imagination for some time).
Coincidentally I was chatting to my wife earlier today - which we still do even though we've been together a while - about which we thought were the best CHRISTMAS movies. I said the usual, she added in the usual, but then she really took me aback with her last one, which was Die Hard. First I've heard of that being considered a Christmas movie but she's adamant it is. People can surprise you sometimes, even those you think you know well.
Die Hard is absolute rubbish. Compare it to the four Brothers. No comparison. One is a proper action movie, the other a waste of time. Better still read the die hard book, you realise in the first few paragraphs of this all American hero, former quarterback etc, that it’s complete waste of time.
Whenever it’s on it’s rubbish.
No Bruce Willis, no stickups, no terrorists and no pat happy endings! Thank you. 😄
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The woman who helped write the Con 2019 Manifesto says Boris is relying on a "Hanging Baskets" strategy - as long as people see their towns looking a bit better than they did in 2019, that is enough. So 40 New Hospitals" might not be true, but if the local hospital has been refurbished, that's a win. Labour can say "But you said there'd be 40 new hospitals" and the Tories will just point to the the local improvements, is the theory. A bit like "we send £350m a week to the EU"
It's been clear for a while that Levelling Up would come down to a Hanging Baskets Fund. Maybe that will work out for them, undoing a thousand years of structural regional inequalities is hard, and people like flowers.
My town has I think 62m under the Towns' Fund, which is substantial and way more than 'hanging baskets', but tactics not strategy.
HS2 is still required, and significant rebalancing of the tax system.
And we need the Govt to stop pissing away the future key sectors of our economy, and build them instead.
I was refused a booster for being too young' A 34-year-old woman says she is "livid" after being turned away from a booster jab walk-in centre for being too young.
Heidi Bird, a nutrition scientist in London, tells the BBC she had queued at a pharmacy in Hampstead, North London with other young people who also got turned away.
"I asked the pharmacist why and he said the system is not set up to handle these at the moment," she says.
The UK has been dragging its heels on this. All my friends in Europe have been vaccinated.
----
The head of NHS made it absolutely clear yesterday that is not how it works. It going in age grouping. Your friends been vaccinated, but I doubt boostered.
Why are the BBC even reporting this ranty lady?
On that one she needs to go home and punch herself in the head for being stupid.
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Oh yes, I'll add Groundhog Day to my list too. Brilliant concept, brilliantly acted by Bill Murray. Slightly let down by Andy McDowell who I just don't get as a leading lady - she is always at least slightly annoying - but only slightly. And while I'm about it, Lost in Translation. Though I've not seen it for years, and I'm now worried it might not age well.
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Groundhog Day is one of those films you could watch every single day. There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
WITHNAIL AND I SPINAL TAP INSIDE OUT THE EXORCIST LA LA LAND SOUND OF MUSIC THE WICKER MAN 1917 ANDREI RUBLYEV RATATOUILLE
ANDREI RUBLYEV Well done Leon! not only passions and struggles of an artist, but concerns of the whole nation during times of political change and upheaval. This is where art can improve the lives of people living in the same time, so fart can be compared with religion, serving similar goals. Art and faith can provide solace to people, giving them hope and strength. Art exists to help us deal with the world’s imperfections. 👍🏻
Typical. I done a fart in the middle of my most profoundest thinking. 🤦♀️
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Groundhog Day is one of those films you could watch every single day. There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
I hated Love Actually, but not as much as I expected to. Whereas my then girlfriend, who expected to love it, really, really hated it. I suspect coming at it cold she would have liked it more than me, but it's the old difference between expectation and reality.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
Unlike the last time this was brilliant from Starmer.
He's managed to get as much wisdom as he can around the table. The left has been hugely weakened, but they'll not point to why.
Starmer's pointless dig at Angela Rayner was an own goal. Labour needs people who can hammer the Tories and whether you like her or not, Rayner has been cutting through. And she is not even that left-wing.
Ah yes, I totally agree that his handling of Rayner is a bit odd. I suspect that there's something we don't know there.
Rayner is a capable politician.
She seems a loose cannon who is more comfortable preaching to the choir (against "Tory scum" etc) than winning converts.
As well as the fact he pretty clearly distrusts her, I don't think she and Starmer agree on fundamental approach. What he wants to do is detoxify ("not Corbyn's party"), convey competence ("ready to govern"), and separate Tory voters from Tory politicians in quite a targeted way (a "lions led by donkeys" message). Rayner is more of a tub-thumper - generate a wave of righteous rage in order to win.
Rayner is Starmer's John Prescott, a token sop to the left and working class and unions, having a grand position as Deputy Leader and Shadow First Secretary of State but little actual power. Prescott of course even in the New Labour years ended every Labour conference with a tub thumping speech ranting at the Tories to the party activists delight, much as Rayner will do
(John) "Prescott" and "tub thumping" in the same sentence without reference in either case to Chumbawamba is genius, respect!
Part of the fun in watching Hot Fuzz is trying to identify the great variety of rifles, pistols, revolvers, sub machine guns and mines which have supporting roles.
I was refused a booster for being too young' A 34-year-old woman says she is "livid" after being turned away from a booster jab walk-in centre for being too young.
Heidi Bird, a nutrition scientist in London, tells the BBC she had queued at a pharmacy in Hampstead, North London with other young people who also got turned away.
"I asked the pharmacist why and he said the system is not set up to handle these at the moment," she says.
The UK has been dragging its heels on this. All my friends in Europe have been vaccinated.
----
The head of NHS made it absolutely clear yesterday that is not how it works. It going in age grouping. Your friends been vaccinated, but I doubt boostered.
Why are the BBC even reporting this ranty lady?
Obviously, it is far from absolutely clear what the new plan is. The old plan (booster after six (or five) months) would naturally follow the original roll-out which was by clinical need and age. Headlines for the new plan were that all adults should be jabbed. I can't blame ranty lady or anyone else for missing the small print.
I was refused a booster for being too young' A 34-year-old woman says she is "livid" after being turned away from a booster jab walk-in centre for being too young.
Heidi Bird, a nutrition scientist in London, tells the BBC she had queued at a pharmacy in Hampstead, North London with other young people who also got turned away.
"I asked the pharmacist why and he said the system is not set up to handle these at the moment," she says.
The UK has been dragging its heels on this. All my friends in Europe have been vaccinated.
----
The head of NHS made it absolutely clear yesterday that is not how it works. It going in age grouping. Your friends been vaccinated, but I doubt boostered.
Why are the BBC even reporting this ranty lady?
Obviously, it is far from absolutely clear what the new plan is. The old plan (booster after six (or five) months) would naturally follow the original roll-out which was by clinical need and age. Headlines for the new plan were that all adults should be jabbed. I can't blame ranty lady or anyone else for missing the small print.
It was absolutely clear at the press conference, under 40, wait to be contacted, and on the NHS website. There is a huge yellow box....which she would have had to go on to find the walk in centre.
And again why are the BBC even reporting this. I am sure vaccination centres get idiots every day trying to get jabbed who don't have an appointment or aren't eligible. And they report the nonsense about well europe are doing loads of boosters, UK government are crap....which is just false.
On the subject of sequels that are better than the originals, I'd nominate Toy Story 3 and the Empire Strikes Back. Manon des Sources too (Emanuelle Beart occupied my fevered teenage imagination for some time).
Many probably wouldn’t say Raiders 2 but that fighting on two little train tracks through tunnels scene, how the hell did they film that?
The Truman Show is a great film imo. Also one I watched ages ago, only on TV and only once, a Dutch psycho-chiller called The Golden Egg, which if the test of a film is how long it stays on your mind is easily the best I've ever seen.
Not doing a Top 10 (as I'm rubbish at remembering lists - I'd make a list and then amend it every time someome mentioned a good film I'd forgotten).
But in niche but good films, not necessarily top ten, but worth a watch: - End of Sentence (recentish, I think - father-son road trip after death of mother, but much better than that suggests) - Head On (English title)/ Gegen die Wand (German - 'Against the wall') from ealry 2000s, I think. Random late night watch on telly, but a fascinating piece of work
Oh and The Lives of Others and Goodbye Lenin (not mentioned by others?). Starting to think I'm just a sucker for German cinema....
Yes, the Lives of Others is a cracking film, as well as an exemplar portrayal of a remarkable piece of history.
As it’s Xmas, surely Great Escape has to be in the mix.
I’d also add:
Dances with Wolves Black Book Shooting Dogs Enemy at the Gates Fury Zelary Closely Observed Trains Il Divo
Not that those are particularly Christmassy, although no less so than Die Hard.
Gladiator has to be up there, Braveheart , Rooster Cogburn, spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood , The Untouchables, Road to Perdition to name but a few , oh Tintin and the Lone ranger with Johnny Depp and all Pirates of the Caribbean, Kidnapped
PS: Inspector Closeau films. Will stop there or be here all night
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Groundhog Day is one of those films you could watch every single day. There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
DITTO !!!
Thanks for going first with that. Withnail a total no no.
But one the other way - I noted you had SLIH. That did not make me laugh very much. I know it's deemed a classic but, nope, not for me.
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Groundhog Day is one of those films you could watch every single day. There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
Same about Withnail. And same about Spinal Tap actually. Both could be rather dull documentaries about dull people.
Two famous comedies, the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" and Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" were first shown during trying years, 1935 and 1940, respectively.
Perhaps we could use some more comedies, now.
(I am not enough of a movie buff to list ten favorites, but I do suggest that those who are include a few more comedies in their lists.)
I have seen it many times, but Borat gets me laughing every time!
I think he is an unpleasant bully. It's funny, mind, just as fear and loathing in Las Vegas is funny (the book, not seen the film) but is about 2 unpleasant bullies
Mind you the nude wrestling in Borat is the greatest 3 minutes in the whole of cinema
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The big 3 offices of state are Foreign, Home and Chancellor, it was a demotion for Nandy with Starmer just giving her the levelling up job as a consolation prize. The fact Nandy, who accepted the Brexit result, was replaced with a People's Vote campaigner in Lammy was a clear shift to a more Remain stance by the Labour leadership. That suggests Brexit is far from over, if Starmer becomes PM with SNP and LD support it would be a much more diluted Brexit with the UK closely aligned to both the SM and CU.
Shad Foreign was a daft job to give Nandy in the first place. She's much better placed now. Queen of the North.
I like that. Andy and Lisa - King and Queen of the North. Get the spin doctors on it.
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Groundhog Day is one of those films you could watch every single day. There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
Same about Withnail. And same about Spinal Tap actually. Both could be rather dull documentaries about dull people.
+2 on Withnail. For Spinal Tap I think it helps if you are really into that period of music.
There are loads of famous "great" movies I haven't watched so my list is probably a bit odd. My list is the films I've watched the most times. I think I saw them all for the first time in my teens excepts Raiders.
Goodfellas Pulp Fiction Withnail & I Groundhog Day Dazed And Confused Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Blues Brothers White Men Can't Jump Good Morning, Vietnam Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
Groundhog Day is one of those films you could watch every single day. There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
Same about Withnail. And same about Spinal Tap actually. Both could be rather dull documentaries about dull people.
Re: movies, am nominating "Stagecoach" (1939) directed by John Ford, classic western staring John Wayne and other great actors, and featuring Yakima Canute doing some amazing, ground-breaking stunt work.
Also "UHF" (1989) from the wild mind of Weird Al Yankovic.
Have any actually useful new features come out in the last... decade. Updates now just seem to be security and making sure phones slow down enough to force people to buy new ones.
The Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was a clear further shift to isolate the Cobrynites and far left by Starmer with the appointment of the Blairite Lammy as Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Brownite Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary. That does suggest Starmer is making efforts to make Labour more centrist after its heavy defeat in 2019 under Corbyn.
However, it was also a clear promotion for Remainers. He replaced Nandy with a fervent People's Vote campaigner in Lammy and alongside Starmer and Reeves most of Labour's top team were diehard Remainers until the 2019 general election. Streeting, also a diehard Remainer, meanwhile came into the Shadow Cabinet as Education Secretary.
How that goes down in 63% Leave Bexley in the by election tomorrow remains to be seen
I broadly agree on centrist aspects, but I'm not really sure on the Remainer bit. Yes, a lot of Labour centrists backed Starmer's (and Corbyn's, but clearly Starmer was the architect) flawed policy of reopening the issue rather than settling Brexit on the best possible terms in 2019. But it's yesterday's debate.
On Nandy, I don't actually see it as a demotion. Foreign Secretary is one of the great offices of state, but Shadow Foreign Secretary isn't all that much of a thing - you criticise diplomatic missteps, but the big foreign affairs issues are all pinched by your boss, and the policy development issues aren't that huge.
Nandy is a good tactical choice to shadow Gove - she's a capable operator and does manage to convey a northern authenticity which is tricky for Gove, who is a good in terms of grip on his brief and policy generation ability (hence why he's been brought in to sort out the mess of levelling up, which has never really got beyond the level of Johnson slogan so far), but is a hard to like southerner.
The big 3 offices of state are Foreign, Home and Chancellor, it was a demotion for Nandy with Starmer just giving her the levelling up job as a consolation prize. The fact Nandy, who accepted the Brexit result, was replaced with a People's Vote campaigner in Lammy was a clear shift to a more Remain stance by the Labour leadership. That suggests Brexit is far from over, if Starmer becomes PM with SNP and LD support it would be a much more diluted Brexit with the UK closely aligned to both the SM and CU.
Shad Foreign was a daft job to give Nandy in the first place. She's much better placed now. Queen of the North.
I like that. Andy and Lisa - King and Queen of the North. Get the spin doctors on it.
Omicron was in the UK days before South Africa warned the world of the new Covid variant, it has emerged after the majority of cases in Scotland were linked to a single 'event' on November 20.
Omicron was in the UK days before South Africa warned the world of the new Covid variant, it has emerged after the majority of cases in Scotland were linked to a single 'event' on November 20.
Mail Online
Looks like it started in Scotland
The Israel earliest case came from somebody who attended a medical conference in London a couple of weeks ago.
Having said earlier that Goodfellas is the best film and soundtrack ever, how about favourite scene ever? Travolta and Thurman dancing to You Never Can Tell in Pulp Fiction.
Having said earlier that Goodfellas is the best film and soundtrack ever, how about favourite scene ever? Travolta and Thurman dancing to You Never Can Tell in Pulp Fiction.
Christopher Walken interrogating Dennis Hopper in True Romance.
Two famous comedies, the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" and Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" were first shown during trying years, 1935 and 1940, respectively.
Perhaps we could use some more comedies, now.
(I am not enough of a movie buff to list ten favorites, but I do suggest that those who are include a few more comedies in their lists.)
I have seen it many times, but Borat gets me laughing every time!
Personally I would love to see an Isis or Taliban version of The Producers.
It is definitely required.
The original The Producers is also amongst the funniest films ever made.
Omicron was in the UK days before South Africa warned the world of the new Covid variant, it has emerged after the majority of cases in Scotland were linked to a single 'event' on November 20.
Mail Online
Looks like it started in Scotland
The Israel earliest case came from somebody who attended a medical conference in London a couple of weeks ago.
Omicron was in the UK days before South Africa warned the world of the new Covid variant, it has emerged after the majority of cases in Scotland were linked to a single 'event' on November 20.
Sorry but I now can't get this out of my head - 12 Angry Men as PB argument cum jury deliberation. I picture a man called Boris on trial and the charge is "Putting a Border in the Irish Sea". It looks a slam dunk - he did it - and when the jury retire they agree. However it's not quite unanimous. It's 11 to 1 for Guilty. But that one is the indefatigable Philip Thompson - played not by Henry Fonda but by Christian Bale - and he sees it differently. Cue an interminable debate, back & forth, forth & back, as he first refuses to concede and then, slowly, relentlessly, grinds the others down, forces them to say everything 10 times, then rebuts it 10 times, till they are faced with the choice of killing him, which is a world of trouble, or caving in and agreeing. Which they do, they change their vote and Boris goes free.
But for PT, as he says repeatedly, dying is part of life. So maybe they take the choice of killing him, and stick with convicting Boris. PS: I do hope you weren't thinking of American Psycho in suggesting Christian Bale for the PT role.
The nervy yet oddly deadpan energy of Bale, plus I was going for affectionate send-up there, so I thought I'd pick an ok actor. Who I actually picture in the role is a slightly different matter but anyway ...
If Boris holds Old Bexley and Sidcup reasonably comfortably he can brush off even a loss in North Shropshire as a Paterson protest vote
I think that's right. Especially as close to xmas, so attention will be elsewhere, e.g. have we got the tree ordered, is there any stuffing left in the shops etc.
Having said earlier that Goodfellas is the best film and soundtrack ever, how about favourite scene ever? Travolta and Thurman dancing to You Never Can Tell in Pulp Fiction.
Stallone training by running though Philly in Rocky.
It was completely unstaged. They (I think Stallone and two others) drove around looking for places for him to run. They couldn't afford any extras, so the people in the market are just real people in a market, and the guy that throws him an orange just did that spontaneously.
When Stallone gets to the top of the steps and starts shadow boxing, they actually play the tape of him doing it in reverse.
Sorry but I now can't get this out of my head - 12 Angry Men as PB argument cum jury deliberation. I picture a man called Boris on trial and the charge is "Putting a Border in the Irish Sea". It looks a slam dunk - he did it - and when the jury retire they agree. However it's not quite unanimous. It's 11 to 1 for Guilty. But that one is the indefatigable Philip Thompson - played not by Henry Fonda but by Christian Bale - and he sees it differently. Cue an interminable debate, back & forth, forth & back, as he first refuses to concede and then, slowly, relentlessly, grinds the others down, forces them to say everything 10 times, then rebuts it 10 times, till they are faced with the choice of killing him, which is a world of trouble, or caving in and agreeing. Which they do, they change their vote and Boris goes free.
LOL!
Considering I put all 3 Dark Knight movies in my top 10, I'm quite honoured to be played by Christian Bale.
Yes, I saw your list. Very 'superhero' heavy. Quite strikingly so.
Comments
The scene with the fans of Ranger and their PINs and the scene in the nightclub are so fecking memorable.
'No more Catholics'
Could you class Saturday Night Fever as a musical? I know it became an official one, but that should obviously be ignored.
Considering I put all 3 Dark Knight movies in my top 10, I'm quite honoured to be played by Christian Bale.
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/health/coronavirus-covid19/2021/12/01/tory-candidate-in-north-shropshire-by-election-signs-up-to-help-booster-jab-effort/
"Dr Shastri-Hurst is a former NHS surgeon who trained locally at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Oswestry.
He previously returned to the NHS to help people at a Major trauma service as well as delivering jabs as a vaccinator."
As it’s Xmas, surely Great Escape has to be in the mix.
I’d also add:
Dances with Wolves
Black Book
Shooting Dogs
Enemy at the Gates
Fury
Zelary
Closely Observed Trains
Il Divo
Not that those are particularly Christmassy, although no less so than Die Hard.
>>> Twelve Angry Muppets
With Kermit as foreman, and Ms Piggy as a fellow juror AND old flame. Critical triumph AND box office boffo!
On slightly more serious note, if not yet mentioned check out another Hitchcockian classic -"North by Northwest"
As well as the fact he pretty clearly distrusts her, I don't think she and Starmer agree on fundamental approach. What he wants to do is detoxify ("not Corbyn's party"), convey competence ("ready to govern"), and separate Tory voters from Tory politicians in quite a targeted way (a "lions led by donkeys" message). Rayner is more of a tub-thumper - generate a wave of righteous rage in order to win.
(Actually, I've never seen it.)
It is definitely required.
Mind you the nude wrestling in Borat is the greatest 3 minutes in the whole of cinema
Does this cause him visa problems in the future?
Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
Withnail & I
Groundhog Day
Dazed And Confused
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
The Blues Brothers
White Men Can't Jump
Good Morning, Vietnam
Point Break
Culled from my original too long list were Life Of Brian, Forrest Gump and The Commitments
There are 32 omicron cases in the UK. On current trends there might be a few hundred by the time the works party season ends in a fortnight.
Thirty two.
Three two.
FFS.
I was refused a booster for being too young'
A 34-year-old woman says she is "livid" after being turned away from a booster jab walk-in centre for being too young.
Heidi Bird, a nutrition scientist in London, tells the BBC she had queued at a pharmacy in Hampstead, North London with other young people who also got turned away.
"I asked the pharmacist why and he said the system is not set up to handle these at the moment," she says.
The UK has been dragging its heels on this. All my friends in Europe have been vaccinated.
----
The head of NHS made it absolutely clear yesterday that is not how it works. It going in age grouping. Your friends been vaccinated, but I doubt boostered.
Why are the BBC even reporting this ranty lady?
Whenever it’s on it’s rubbish.
No Bruce Willis, no stickups, no terrorists and no pat happy endings! Thank you. 😄
HS2 is still required, and significant rebalancing of the tax system.
And we need the Govt to stop pissing away the future key sectors of our economy, and build them instead.
Unless she is Clinically Vulnerable, perhaps.
There's a film on your list and on others' though which I really couldn't get into. Withnail and I. I couldn't even finish watching it, I found it so utterly unfunny. I don't know what it is, lots of people seem to love itbut it left me totally cold. I also hate Love Actually but I think that's a more widely held view.
Would he have felt safe at a Christmas party were it held a week ago?
Fancy a bet?
15th Dec. Under/over 400 @ evens
I’ll take the overs. Stake up to £100
I suspect coming at it cold she would have liked it more than me, but it's the old difference between expectation and reality.
13,000 omicronians by 18 Dec, active and recovered.
Out of a population of 68 million.
Maths lessons required perhaps for Sage and iSage talking heads who feel “unsafe” at Christmas parties?
And again why are the BBC even reporting this. I am sure vaccination centres get idiots every day trying to get jabbed who don't have an appointment or aren't eligible. And they report the nonsense about well europe are doing loads of boosters, UK government are crap....which is just false.
PS: Inspector Closeau films.
Will stop there or be here all night
Thanks for going first with that. Withnail a total no no.
But one the other way - I noted you had SLIH. That did not make me laugh very much. I know it's deemed a classic but, nope, not for me.
Almost all voting, or already voted by post, for the Conservatives albeit many reluctantly.
Only 1 direct covert from Conservative but to RefUK not Labour
https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2021/12/vox-pub-in-sidcup-i-voted-tory-in-the-by-election-because-im-still-pissed-off-with-the-labour-party.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Wednesday 1st December 2021&utm_content=Wednesday 1st December 2021+CID_db551343cae59ca170444167443334cc&utm_source=Daily Email&utm_term=Vox Pub in Sidcup I think that Boris will get in and Labour will have to have a rethink
Should I be upgrading my IPhone to iOS 15?
Grimsby for me.
Was crying with laughter the whole way through many snorts as well the other passengers thought I was mad.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59497462
Also "UHF" (1989) from the wild mind of Weird Al Yankovic.
Queen of West Yorkshire, anyway.
Mail Online
Looks like it started in Scotland
Travolta and Thurman dancing to You Never Can Tell in Pulp Fiction.
It was completely unstaged. They (I think Stallone and two others) drove around looking for places for him to run. They couldn't afford any extras, so the people in the market are just real people in a market, and the guy that throws him an orange just did that spontaneously.
When Stallone gets to the top of the steps and starts shadow boxing, they actually play the tape of him doing it in reverse.
And it's got the Rocky theme.