#Errol Christie

[tonyrossmcmahon]

Coventry heroes escaping the Ghost Town

In 1981 - Coventry really was the Ghost Town but local heroes like Neville Staple and Errol Christie were trying to make a difference - as Tony McMahon reports

Coventry in 1981 was a tinderbox of a city primed to explode. Youth unemployment was skyrocketing as factories shut. The car industry was in terminal decline. Racial tensions were exacerbated by neo-Nazi groups fomenting division. Yet in the middle of all this, some young people were striving to create unity on the streets but also make their escape from the Ghost Town. A decade ago, I co-wrote…

[thetemplarknight]

Two Black Boxers born into Slavery!

Two black American boxers born into slavery became stars in early 19th century England but were brought down by endemic racism as Tony McMahon discovers

Two black men, born as slaves in north America, went on to become high-profile boxers and celebrities in Georgian England winning big cash prizes. But the fights were racially charged despite their popularity. And both men would die penniless. These are the forgotten black boxers who struggled but ultimately failed to become world champions. It’s the heart wrenching story of how one of them, Tom…

[jazzplusplus]

1953 - Festival of Modern American Jazz - Masonic Temple - Detroit

Stan Kenton and his Orchestra

Erroll Garner trio

June Christy

Dizzy Gillespie

Stan Getz

Slim Gaillard

Candido

[hotvintagepoll]

I am adoring all of these polls and gif sets and just being fed so many hot vintage people. As someone who really hasn’t watched very many classics, are there any movies you’d recommend for someone just starting to dip their toes in older media but unsure where to start?

Sure! I don't want to sway any voting, but I'll put an incomplete list of favorites that involve hot men not still in the bracket below the cut.

Something to note that applies to most of these old movies—older movies have different pacing than modern movies, so some of these might seem really slow or weird to start. There are also different ways of framing gender and agency, for better and for worse. I've italicized the ones that I think are the best for starting with, but go with whatever genre/aesthetic sounds best.

The Court Jester (Danny Kaye, Basil Rathbone)—a circus performer working for a quasi-Robin Hood infiltrates the royal court. Fun comedy that's incredibly accessible and still so light on its feet. Swordfighting, glamorous medieval costumes, court intrigues, and silly accents.

Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly)—fun polyamorous musical comedy. The dancing is incredible, but so is the sense of joy and camaraderie between Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. Genuinely captures the feeling of hanging out with your best friends. 1920s Hollywood, big movie studios, backstage drama, goofy hijinks.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone)—classic swashbuckler/romance. It could read a little slow to modern tastes but the action scenes are absolutely killer, as is the sentiment of seeing little guys pull down big capitalists evil monarchs. Swashbuckling, labor activists merry men hanging out in the woods, hot men in tights, social commentary swords, a Maid Marian who really holds her own and falls in love with the socialist

Charade (Cary Grant)—thriller/romantic comedy. Audrey Hepburn's husband dies and leaves her a hidden inheritance, and she's racing some skeevy characters to find it. A little bit scary but mostly charming and gorgeous, and you can find it high quality virtually anywhere because they fucked up the copyright trademark in the opening credits. Romance, murders, Paris, 1960s fashion, chases in the night.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Dick Van Dyke)—this movie is divisive for some reason—I personally like peace, love, and joy, so it makes the list. This is a James Bond movie if James Bond had two kids, lived in a windmill in the south of England, and was into cottagecore inventions more than martinis and racism. This is very much a kids' movie so go in with that expectation, but enjoy the gorgeous production design, the wonderfully silly performances, and Lionel Jeffries pulling out every stop as an insane old man. Dick Van Dyke has excellent DILF energy. Magical cars, big musical vibes, fun inventions, and romantic fantasy.

To Be Or Not To Be (Jack Benny)—comedy/drama. A ragtag Warsaw theatre troupe stands off against the Gestapo after the invasion of Poland. TW for Nazis, obviously, but overall this is a comedy with some heft, and kind of shocking to be this ballsy about fucking hating Hitler's guts in the 1940s. Hambone actors, Shakespeare, spies, 1930s gowns. It's been a minute since I watched it so I don't think there are any TWs here, but go forth with caution.

Witness for the Prosecution (Tyrone Power)—mystery/legal drama based off an Agatha Christie story. The performances are campy fun and the twist would be at home in something like Knives Out. Big dramatics, hambones, lots of talking, a bit of a mindbender.

The Lady Vanishes (Michael Redgrave)—mystery/suspense/romantic comedy. It's a little slow to start but roll with it—once the action moves to the train the pacing really picks up. This gets slotted as a thriller sometimes but it's much funnier and gentler than that. There's some period-typical snarkiness directed at anyone Foreign™ by some of the British characters; the British characters are also made fun of. Trains, British people, international shenanigans, mystery, and humor.

All About Eve (absolutely none of these hot men, lots of hot women though)—a legendary actress fights for her life against the rising star who supplants her. Big drama, big performances, lots of gasp! and dahling! and vicious little quips. New York, theatre pronounced theahhtah, drama queens and plotting.

The Philadelphia Story (James Stewart, Cary Grant)—talk-heavy comedy, lots of quick banter and period transatlantic accent fun. It's a bit shouty and conflict-heavy at times, but I don't think James or Cary have ever been hotter, and Katherine Hepburn is just wow. Very funny dialogue, relatable characters, incredibly hot across the board. There is one instance of a racial slur (not directed at anyone but still there) and one shove. Some people won't like the discussion of Hepburn's character's choices as a daughter and a wife. With all of these movies you'll see a a range of how female characters are presented and treated, and while some period movies fall hard for sexist tropes, I personally think the performances, direction, and subtext of many of these films actually prioritizes the experiences of the female characters and shows them as living, breathing people, even if they're not framed the way they would be today.

[world-of-wales]

CONFIRMED ATTENDEES TO THE CORONATION OF

♚♛ KING CHARLES III & QUEEN CAMILLA ♛♚

───────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────────────

♔ ┆ Foreign Royalty

King Felipe & Queen Letizia 🇪🇸

King Philippe & Queen Mathilde and Princess Elisabeth, The Duchess of Brabant 🇧🇪

King Jigme Khesar & Queen Jetsun Pema 🇧🇹

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah & Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku 🇲🇾

Kīngi Tūheitia & Makau Ariki Te Atawhai of the Māori

Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa 🇱🇺

King Carl Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria 🇸🇪

King Willem-Alexander & Queen Maxima, Princess Beatrix and Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia, The Princess of Orange 🇳🇱

Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette-Marit 🇳🇴

Crown Prince Fumihito & Crown Princess Kiko 🇯🇵

Crown Prince Frederick & Crown Princess Mary 🇩🇰

Prince Albert & Princess Charlene 🇲🇨

King Vajiralongkorn & Queen Suthida 🇹🇭

King Abdullah II & Queen Rania 🇯🇴

King Tupou & Queen Nanasipau’u 🇹🇴

Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie 🇱🇮

King Mswati III & Queen Sibonelo LaMbikiza 🇸🇿

Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah 🇰🇼

Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said 🇴🇲

Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani 🇶🇦

Princess Lalla Meryem 🇲🇦

Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd Minister of State 🇸🇦

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed 🇦🇪

King Letsie III & Queen Masenate 🇱🇸

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah 🇧🇳

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa 🇧🇭

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II & Lady Julia of the Ashanti

♔ ┆ Deposed Royalty & Distant Family Relations

Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos & Crown Princess Mary Chantal 🇬🇷

Margrave Bernhard & Margravine Stephanie of Baden

Landgrave Donatus of Hesse

Prince Philipp & Princess Saskia of Hohenlohe - Langenburg

Margareta (Custodian of the Crown) and Prince Radu 🇷🇴

Crown Prince Alexander & Crown Princess Katherine 🇷🇸

Tsar Simeon & Tsaritsa Margarita 🇧🇬

Annoying Ginger from Montecito

♔ ┆ Governor-Generals of Commonwealth Realms

Governor-General David Hurley & Linda Hurley 🇦🇺

Governor-General Sir Rodney Williams & Lady Williams 🇦🇬

Governor-General Sir Cornelius A. Smith & Lady Smith 🇧🇸

Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro & Richard Davies 🇳🇿

Governor-General Mary Simon & Whit Fraser 🇨🇦

Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen & Lady Allen 🇯🇲

Governor-General Dame Froyla Tzalam 🇧🇿

Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade 🇬🇩

King's Representative Sir Tom Marsters & Lady Tuaine Marsters 🇨🇰

Governor-General Sir David Vunagi & Lady Vunagi 🇸🇧

Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae 🇵🇬

Governor-General Dame Marcella Liburd 🇰🇳

Deputy Governor-General Hyleta Liburd of Nevis

Acting Governor-General Errol Charles 🇱🇨

Governor-General Dame Susan Dougan 🇻🇨

Governor-General Sir Tofiga Vaevalu Falani 🇹🇻

♔ ┆ Heads of Governments of Commonwealth Realms

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese & Jodie Haydon 🇦🇺

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau & Sophie Grégoire Trudeau 🇨🇦

Prime Minister Philip Davis 🇧🇸

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell 🇬🇩

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins 🇳🇿

Prime Minister Terrance Drew 🇰🇳

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves 🇻🇨

♔ ┆ Governmental Representatives of Commonwealth Realms

Margaret Beazley, Governor of New South Wales 🇦🇺

Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria 🇦🇺

Jeannette Young, Governor of Queensland 🇦🇺

Chris Dawson, Governor of Western Australia 🇦🇺

Frances Adamson, Governor of South Australia 🇦🇺

Barbara Baker, Governor of Tasmania 🇦🇺

Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham 🇧🇸

Former Prime Minister Perry Christie 🇧🇸

Michael Pintard, Leader of the Opposition 🇧🇸

Janice Charette, Clerk to the Privy Council of Canada and Secretary to the Cabinet 🇨🇦

High Commissioner Kisha Abba Grant 🇬🇩

High Commissioner Phil Goff 🇳🇿

Christopher Luxon, Leader of the Opposition 🇳🇿

Koni Iguan, Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament 🇵🇬

Justin Tkatchenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs 🇵🇬

Rainbo Paita, Minister for Finance and National Planning 🇵🇬

Taies Sansan, Secretary for the Department of Personnel Management 🇵🇬

Gisuwat Siniwin, former Member of the National Parliament 🇵🇬

Premier Mark Brantley of Nevis

High Commissioner Moses Kouni Mose 🇸🇧

Jeremiah Manele, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade 🇸🇧

♔ ┆ Foreign Heads of States + Governments

President Andrzej Duda & First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda 🇵🇱

President Petr Pavel and First Lady Eva Pavlová 🇨🇿

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos 🇵🇭

President Katalin Novák & First Gentleman István Attila Veres 🇭🇺

President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and First Lady Eliza Reid 🇮🇸

President Michael D. Higgins & First Lady Sabina Higgins and Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach 🇮🇪

President Herzog & First Lady Michal Herzog 🇮🇱

President Egils Levits & First Lady Andra Levite 🇱🇻

President Ali Bongo Ondimba & First Lady Sylvia Bongo Ondimba 🇬🇦

President Mario Abdo Benítez & First Lady Silvana López Moreira 🇵🇾

O le Ao o le Malo Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II & Masiofo Faʻamausili Leinafo 🇼🇸

President Paul Kagame & First Lady Jeannette Kagame 🇷🇼

President Wavel Ramkalawan, & First Lady Linda Ramkalawan 🇸🇨

President George Vella & First Lady Miriam Vella 🇲🇹

President Julius Maada Bio & First Lady Fatima Bio 🇸🇱

Hakainde Hichilema & First Lady Mutinta Hichilema 🇿🇲

President Sergio Mattarella 🇮🇹

President Ranil Wickremesinghe 🇱🇰

President Halimah Yacob 🇸🇬

President Faure Gnassingbé 🇹🇬

President Muhammadu Buhari 🇳🇬

President Filipe Nyusi 🇲🇿

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier 🇩🇪

President Vahagn Khachaturyan 🇦🇱

President Alar Karis 🇪🇪

President Sauli Niinistö 🇫🇮

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President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 🇧🇷

President Alexander Van der Bellen 🇦🇹

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President Katerina Sakellaropoulou 🇬🇷

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President George Weah 🇱🇷

President Gitanas Nausėda 🇱🇹

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President Maia Sandu 🇲🇩

President Stevo Pendarovski 🇲🇰

President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera 🇲🇼

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih 🇲🇻

President William Ruto 🇰🇪

President Irfaan Ali 🇬🇾

President Wiliame Katonivere 🇫🇯

President Paul Biya 🇨🇲

President Nikos Christodoulides 🇨🇾

President Mohamed Bazoum 🇳🇪

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa 🇵🇹

President Klaus Iohannis 🇷🇴

President Macky Sall 🇸🇳

President Zuzana Čaputová 🇸🇰

President Nataša Pirc Musar 🇸🇮

President Võ Văn Thưởng 🇻🇳

Emmerson Mnangagwa 🇿🇼

Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers Borjana Krišto 🇧🇦

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 🇧🇩

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo 🇰🇷

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif 🇵🇰

President Alain Berset of the Swiss Confederation & Muriel Zeender 🇨🇭

Prime Minister Galab Donev 🇧🇬

♔ ┆ Governmental Representatives

First Lady Jill Biden & Finnegan Biden and John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate 🇺🇸

First Lady Olena Zelenska 🇺🇦

First Lady Verónica Alcocer 🇨🇴

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar 🇮🇳

Vice President Fuat Oktay 🇹🇷

Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné 🇨🇮

Vice President Han Zeng 🇨🇳

Vice President Mohammed B.S Jallow 🇬🇲

Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly 🇦🇿

Christophe Mboso N'Kodia Pwanga, President of the National Assembly 🇨🇩

Arnoldo André, Minister of Foreign Affairs 🇨🇷

Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation 🇿🇦

Nabil Ammar, Minister of Foreign Affairs 🇹🇳

Narayan Prakash Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs 🇳🇵

Gustavo Manrique, Foreign Minister 🇪🇨

Ahmed Attaf, Foreign Minister 🇩🇿

Frederick Shava, Foreign Minister & Mthuli Ncube, Finance Minister 🇿🇼

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Secretary of State 🇻🇦

Ambassador José Alberto Briz Gutiérrez 🇬🇹

♔ ┆ Representatives from International Organizations

Amina Jane Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General 🇺🇳

Ursula von der Leyen, President of EU Commission 🇪🇺

Charles Michel, EU Council President 🇪🇺

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament 🇪🇺

[mariapais]

Errol Flynn as Bob Lansford

Rosalind Russell as Jean Christy

Four’s a Crowd (1938)

[teachingmycattoread]

Things We’ve Yelled About This Episode #3.5

Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

Who Let The Dogs Out, Baha Men (youtube)

Guards! Guards! official synopsis

Monty Python

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Baldrick; character from Blackadder (1983-1989)

Chris Evans (imdb)

Chris Evans is a dorito - Buzzfeed explains here s

I’m not mad i’m just disappointed (tvtropes)

Himbo (urban dictionary)

Drinking your respect women juice (urban dictionary) e

Blackadder (1983-1989)

Thin Blue Line (1995-1996)

Pixar

This scene from Shrek 2 (2004)

D&D

Rose Tyler; character from Doctor Who (2004-) - referencing this post specifically

Beowulf (our episode here)

Square-cube law (wiki)

How To Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Separating vortices (wiki)

Supersonic shockwaves (wiki)

Reynolds number (wiki)

Greebo, Tiffany Aching; Discworld characters, Terry Pratchett

“All witches are selfish, the Queen had said. But Tiffany’s Third Thoughts said: Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!

I have a duty!”,  The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett

Vimes as an urban witch courtesy of this post

Headology, Discworld (wiki)

Klatchian Foreign Legion, Discworld (wiki)

Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

Jingo, Terry Pratchett

"There was a clink as Vime's badge was set down neatly on the table.

"I don't have to take this," Vimes said calmly.

"Oh, so you'd rather be a civilian, would you?"

“A watchman is a civilian, you inbred streak of piss”.

Rust's brain erased the sounds that his ears could not possibly have heard." p. 169, Jingo, Terry Pratchett

Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

Rincewind the Wizzard; Discworld character, Terry Pratchett

Swords and sorcery (wiki)

The Mended Drum/The Broken Drum, Discworld (wiki)

Raymond Chandler

"Of all the gin joints in all the world," Casablanca (1942)

Disney

Unable to find the origins of the "x o'clock and all's well" formula but the wikipedia page for "Watchman (law enforcement)" mentions that part of their job was to call out the hour. Also see this scene from Disney's Robin Hood

Robin Hood (1973)

The Horse and His Boy, C. S. Lewis

Aladdin (1992)

Alas, there does not appear to have been a Carry On Robin Hood film (Carry On Robbin'! it practically writes itself!)

Robin Hood (2006-2009)

Errol Flynn (imdb)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie (our episode here)

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie (our episode here)

Language localisation (wiki)

" "One of nature's wonders, gentlemen. Mother and children dining upon mother and children. And that is when I first learned about evil. It is built into the very nature of the universe. Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being, I told myself, it is up to all of us to become his moral superior." " Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

Lady Sybil; Discworld character, Terry Pratchett

"And Susan was bright enough to know that the phrase 'Someone ought to do something' was not, by itself, a helpful one. People who used it never added the rider 'and that someone is me'. But someone ought to do something, and right now the whole pool of someones consisted of her, and no one else." , p.115, Hogfather, Terry Pratchett

Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett

Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett

Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Elon Musk Neuralink (wiki)

Mansplain, manipulate, malewife (meme)

You are like little baby, watch this (meme)

Temeraire, Naomi Novik

Star Wars

The Clone Wars (2008-2020)

Coruscant Guard (wiki)

Epistolary genre (wiki)

Kubernetes (official website)

Whine About It (youtube)

The Lion King (1994)

To Be Or Not To Be, Ryan North

Dinosaur Comics

Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus (wiki)

Our planning episode here

Cat Rating

8.75

What Else Are We Reading?

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

Daisy Jones and the Sixth, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones and the Sixth (2023)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Shadow and Bone (2021 - )

Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

Next Time On Teaching My Cat to Read

Hamlet, William Shakespeare

[adamwatchesmovies]

White Mischief (1987)

White Mischief is an atypical murder mystery because the first half feels like a completely different movie than the second. If you don’t know there’s a high-profile court case coming, you’d never guess it and since we don’t spend time setting up a bunch of Agatha Christie-style suspects, the person who had motive is most likely to have committed the crime. The reason to see this picture isn’t so you can feel clever about lining up all the clues; it’s to see what feels like a faithful adaptation of a true story from a period that feels very alien to us now.

In 1940, World War II rages but a group of bored British aristocrats are living it up in the Happy Valley region of the Kenya Colony. Late nights spent drinking, taking drugs and swapping sexual partners take them as far away from what’s happening in the motherland as possible. Diana (Greta Scacchi) is the beautiful wife of Sir Henry “Jock” Delves Broughton (Joss Ackland), who is 30 years her senior. When she begins having an affair with Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll (Charles Dance) and then falls in love with him, her prenuptial agreement is put to the test.

We often think of people from the past as stuffy and prudish so it’s a shock to see Nina Soames (Geraldine Chaplin) get out of her tub and turn to the men surrounding her - all of which are dressed in their wives’ clothes - and ask which of them is going to have sex with her tonight. Meanwhile, there’s a world war going on. The rich really do live in their own world. Normally, this makes them insufferable but this snippet of their lives that ultimately ends in tragedy is just the right amount of time spent on the other side of the fence. You wonder how long it will take for Sir Jock to find out about Diana and Josslyn. You wonder whether he is seducing her away from her husband because he thinks she has money he can claim for himself - she doesn’t. In fact, Sir Jock’s bank account is looking a little thin but he doesn’t want to admit that to his wife. You get the feeling his lack of money is troubling him more than the state of his marriage. It wouldn’t be surprising. Obviously, they didn’t marry out of love. She’s his arm candy. They both know it, which is why they’ve both previously agreed to dissolve their marriage if either of them falls in love.

Most of the film concerns the above drama. Then, there’s a murder. You know who did it and if you don’t know, it’s because you're incorrectly assuming the obvious culprit - Sir Jock - couldn’t have possibly done it. It wouldn’t make sense unless he was blinded by jealousy but that’s what most real-life murders are like, actually. This makes White Mischief a nice break from the usual.

Written and directed by Michael Radford (from the book by James Fox), this picture is most likely a one-and-done (unless you’re a teenager who wants to see a lot of nudity, then it’s got plenty of re-watch value) but that’s alright. The performances are good, the period-accurate costumes and sets are convincing and the fact that it’s based on true events adds some interest to this tale of decadence gone wrong. (On VHS, August 2, 2022)

[zehub]

La France raffole du gaz naturel liquéfié étasunien, un hydrocarbure climaticide et néfaste pour la santé. Des riverains du golfe du Mexique s’opposent à de nouveaux terminaux d’exportation soutenu...

La France raffole du gaz naturel liquéfié étasunien, un hydrocarbure climaticide et néfaste pour la santé. Des riverains du golfe du Mexique s’opposent à de nouveaux terminaux d’exportation soutenus par Engie, Total, et EDF. Corpus Christi, Arlington (Texas) et paroisse de Cameron (Louisiane, États-Unis), reportage « Ça ne s’arrête presque jamais », dit Errol Summerlin. Une flamme colossale — la torchère de la société Cheniere Energy — brûle à côté de sa maison au bord de la baie de Corpus Christi, au (...)

[miguelmarias]

Southern Comfort (Walter Hill, 1981)

El título original, Southern Comfort, es irónico. Y es una lástima que no se limite a parecerlo hasta los últimos veinte minutos, porque en ellos se juega la película, a mi modo de ver, su valía. Mientras se asemeja a una versión desorganizada e inexperta del avance de las tropas por Errol Flynn en Objetivo: Birmania (Raoul Walsh, 1945), La presa puede prescindir de cualquier alusión, por velada y tangencial que sea, a la guerra de Vietnam, porque da igual, no hace falta: si se suprimiese el rótulo, impreso en los primeros planos, que nos sitúa en «Louisiana, 1973», pensaríamos automáticamente que todo acontece donde realmente sucedieron hechos semejantes a los parabólicamente descritos —más que narrados— por Walter Hill.

La presa es, por tanto, durante cerca de ochenta minutos, una admirable explicación (complementaria de la ofrecida por Coppola en Apocalypse Now) de la «intervención» en Vietnam. La presentación —sumaria si se quiere, pero eficaz, y no tan simplista como se ha dado a entender— de los personajes y de la acción nos coloca, por supuesto, a favor de los indígenas cajun, habitantes residuales de los pantanos de Louisiana, descendientes francófonos de inmigrantes canadienses; de la patrulla intrusa de la Guardia Nacional, apenas dos integrantes —Keith Carradine y Powers Boothe— parecen salvables: el resto son unos chuletas belicosos de mala muerte, cuando no fanáticos o retrasados mentales que ocultan sus taras bajo un uniforme o que enarbolan la lucha por la supervivencia como pretexto para dar gusto al gatillo, probar no se sabe a quién su muy dudoso valor o satisfacer sus «instintos» adquiridos (fauna que en España conocemos mejor de lo que a muchos nos gustaría, pues abunda y cuenta con algunos ruidosos partidarios que actúan tan impunemente como sus patrocinados por el permanente acobardamiento de gente no muy convencida de la conveniencia de los derechos que dice propugnar o que tiene el deber de proteger). Así que, tal como se plantea la película, cuesta creer que algún espectador medianamente sensato se sienta demasiado apenado por la venganza —ciertamente excesiva, pero no del todo injustificada— de los cajuns, que van eliminando uno a uno, cuando no por parejas, a los miembros del comando, en una variante del viejo mecanismo de Agatha Christie en Diez negritos, consistente en aplicar la fórmula del cazador cazado.

Poco antes de que termine la película, los dos únicos supervivientes de la patrulla desembocan en una especie de Arcadia del pantano, una aldea cajun cuyos pobladores, felices y tranquilos, celebran una fiesta y les atienden, pese a las dificultades lingüísticas y a que van armados y con el uniforme hecho un asco, con amabilidad y deferencia. Parece entonces que la película va a revelar la paranoia que se vislumbra hasta en los dos personajes más apreciables, y que todo va a terminar, lógicamente, con el final de una pesadilla. Lástima — por lo menos para mí— que Walter Hill haya decidido, a última hora, demasiado tarde, sorprendernos con un final «no convencional» y que los simpáticos lugareños tengan que comportarse como criminales sedientos de sangre, porque entonces ya no me creo nada, y sospecho que, en el fondo, Hill tampoco: parece significativo que una película seca, fluida y desnuda, concisa y dominada durante casi hora y media caiga luego en una orgía de cámaras lentas, congelados de imagen y otros vulgares efectismos, para concluir con un clímax artificial que queda, por colmo, tramposamente «en suspenso» mediante detención en foto fija de tres series de imágenes.

Publicado en el nº 18 de Casablanca (junio de 1982)

[tonyrossmcmahon]

Two Black Boxers born into Slavery!

Two black American boxers born into slavery became stars in early 19th century England but were brought down by endemic racism as Tony McMahon discovers

Two black men, born as slaves in north America, went on to become high-profile boxers and celebrities in Georgian England winning big cash prizes. But the fights were racially charged despite their popularity. And both men would die penniless. These are the forgotten black boxers who struggled but ultimately failed to become world champions. It’s the heart wrenching story of how one of them, Tom…

[alexlacquemanne]

Novembre MMXXII "November Who"

Films

Jason et les Argonautes (Jason and the Argonauts) (1963) de Don Chaffey avec Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Nigel Green, Niall MacGinnis, Honor Blackman et Patrick Troughton

Le Magnifique (1973) de Philippe de Broca avec Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jacqueline Bisset, Vittorio Caprioli, Monique Tarbès, Mario David, Bruno Garcin, Raymond Gérôme et Jean Lefebvre

La Classe américaine : Le Grand Détournement (1993) de Michel Hazanavicius et Dominique Mézerette avec Christine Delaroche, Evelyne Grandjean, Marc Cassot, Patrick Guillemin, Raymond Loyer, Joël Martineau, Jean-Claude Montalban, Roger Rudel et Gérard Rouzier

Le Crime de l'Orient-Express (Murder on the Orient Express) (1974) de Sidney Lumet avec Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel et Sean Connery

Les Aventures de Robin des Bois (The Adventures of Robin Hood) (1938) de Michael Curtiz et William Keighley avec Errol Fllynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles et Eugene Pallette

Sans arme, ni haine, ni violence (2007) de Jean-Paul Rouve avec Jean-Paul Rouve, Alice Taglioni, Gilles Lellouche, Maxime Leroux, Patrick Bosso et Anne Marivin

Couleurs de l'incendie (2022) de Clovis Cornillac avec Léa Drucker, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alice Isaaz, Clovis Cornillac, Fanny Ardant et Alban Lenoir

La Rose et la Flèche (Robin and Marian) (1976) de Richard Lester avec Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris, Nicol Williamson, Denholm Elliott et Ronnie Barker

Le Viager (1972) de Pierre Tchernia avec Michel Serrault, Michel Galabru, Claude Brasseur, Jean-Pierre Darras, Rosy Varte et Odette Laure

Le Casse (1971) de Henri Verneuil avec Jean-Paul Belmondo, Omar Sharif, Robert Hossein, Nicole Calfan, Dyan Cannon et Renato Salvatori

Cul et Chemise (Io sto con gli ippopotami) (1979) d'Italo Zingarelli avec Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Joe Bugner, May Dlamini, Dawn Jürgens, Malcolm Kirk et Ben Masinga

Le Silencieux (1973) de Claude Pinoteau avec Lino Ventura, Léa Massari, Suzanne Flon, Leo Genn, Bernard Dhéran, Robert Party et Pierre-Michel Le Conte

Le ciel peut attendre (Heaven Can Wait) (1943) de Ernst Lubitsch avec Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn, Marjorie Main, Laird Cregar et Spring Byington

Séries

Doctor Who Saison 18 Series 11, 4

The Night of The Doctor - The Leisure Hive - Meglos - Full Circle - State of Decay - Warrior's Gate - The Keeper of Traken - Logopolis - Les chasseurs de sorcières - Brûle avec moi - The Ultimate Time Lord

Rex, Chien Flic Saison 2, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Les yeux bandés - Sous l'œil d'Anubis - Droits d'auteur - Suicides suspects - Jusqu'à la dernière balle - Lisa et Thomas - Les trafiquants - Le défi - En route pour la gloire - Vitamines mortelles - Le crocodile du Danube - Suivez le guide - Dopage - Destination Rome - Calibre 7.65 - Mort au delphinarium - Mascarade - Le pilleur de tombes - La dernière course - Combats clandestins - Hara-kiri - Un match meurtrier

Affaires sensibles

L'histoire du tournage des "Désaxés", film maudit de John Huston - 1926, Agatha disparaît : le secret de Mrs Christie - Loge P2 : francs-maçons, mafia et CIA - La catastrophe de Vaison-la-Romaine - Star Wars, la naissance d’un mythe - Le football, c'est la guerre - Rue d'Aubagne : chronique d'une catastrophe annoncée - Kim Kardashian et le gang des braqueurs - QatarGate : le scandale qui fait trembler la planète FIFA - Stade du Heysel, 29 mai 1985 : 39 victimes un soir de finale

Le Coffre à Catch

#88 : La dernière chance pour CM Punk! - #89 : Tommy et Colin vers le Graal? - #90 - Mr Okkin pousse la porte autorisée ! - #91 - Kane : la nouvelle ère de la ECW

Diane de Poitiers

Presque une reine - Plus qu'une reine

Inspecteur Barnaby Saison 22, 7, 9, 21

La mort n'est pas un jeu - Le Fantôme de Noël - La Mort en chantant - Le Point d'équilibre

Spectacles

Ils s'aiment (1997) de Muriel Robin et Pierre Palmade avec Pierre Palmade, Michèle Laroque et Guillaume Durand

Ils se sont aimés (2002) de Muriel Robin et Pierre Palmade avec Pierre Palmade et Michèle Laroque

Sting : My songs Chambord Live (2022)

Jerry Lee Lewis & Friends (1989)

Ils se re-aiment (2013) de Alex Lutz avec Pierre Palmade et Michèle Laroque

Livres

Les voyages extraordinaires de Doctor Who : Le pouvoir des histoires de David Torres

Doctor Who, Le douzième docteur, Tome 1 : Terreurformation de Dave Taylor, Mariano Laclaustra et Robbie Morrison

Doctor Who : Apollo 23 de Justin Richards

Doctor Who Tome 1 : Agent provocateur de Gary Russell

Doctor Who : La Roue de Glace de Stephen Baxter

Doctor Who Tome 2 : Les Oubliés de Gary Russell

[tajmutthall]

Following the lead of @cosmophaunt, who was tagged by @sunymar , ad infinitum— Except I’m not tagging anyone specifically. I would love to see people’s choices, though. So feel free to tag me back if you post something!

Share ten different favorite characters from ten different pieces of  media in no particular order

And tag 10 people to do the same

(Also I am cheating because certain characters would not be the characters they are without their partner/teammate, so I am counting them as one.)

1. Princes Laurent and Prince Damen, Captive Prince book series.

hard to believe after many many many many years and many many many many books, these two jumped to the top of my list. But, I suppose, Laurent in particular. Just… Just… Yeah, Laurent. But I’m pretty much deeply in love with Damen.

2. Batman, from the comics, particularly of the 60s and 70s, because that’s when I fell in love. Or the movies with Christian Bale

3. Butch and Sundance, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched that movie and read its script. So funny. So intense. So, well, emotional. (#major character death)

4. Prince Corwin, from the Nine Princes in Amber books.

5. Robin Hood, From any of the written retellings. In the early movies with Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks

6. Strider, Lord of the rings, from the books

7. Hercule Poirot, from Agatha Christie’s stories. Him and his moustaches And gray matter.

8. from the Marvel cinematic universe and beyond, I was swept off my feet. I could hardly wait for more of any of these as played by the specific actors and their interplay: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America,Loki, Black Panther, Wolverine. Don’t give me any other actors for those parts, please. Ever. They simply will not exist.

9. bah, i’ve gone way beyond 10. So it is OK for me to cheat, but not you.😜

[jazzplusplus]

1954 - Festival of Modern American Jazz - Stan Kenton presents Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Erroll Garner, Lee Konitz, June Christy, ...

[siena-sevenwits]

Thank you for the tag, @hollers-and-holmes! Sharing my ten favourite male fictional characters is no easy task - not at all, as you could ask me tomorrow and get a different batch of characters entirely! But here's the best some cursory thought can produce. I eliminated fictionalized versions of verifiably historical characters, as well as characters from media other than books (with one exception, just to chop down my options.

In no order:

Sydney Carton (A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens) - Sincere, supremely witty, human, daring, grapples with despair and terrible choices, leading to one of the most incredible redemption arc ever written. He's given me a lot of hope in my rock bottom moments. If I were a man, he'd be my dream role to play on stage.

Schmendrick the Magician (The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle) - I only read the book for the first time last year, but it's one of those books that immediately told my heart, "I am one of your kin; I am one of your clan." And Schmendrick - what a character. I mean - he's a sixty-year-old in the body of a twenty-year-old who wants nothing more than to break his curse so he can go on to be who he actually is. Merry and melancholy at once. Supremely hopeful and wise, yet so full of shame. Sweet and funny and lyrical, and with SO many quotable moments. I love his interactions both with Molly and the Unicorn.

Mr. Carpenter (The Emily of New Moon trilogy by Lucy Maud Montgomery) The acerbic yet somehow highly empathetic schoolmaster who zeroes in incredibly on the potential of each of his students and gives them the encouragement and tough love they need to actualize it. It's easy to forget what a revolutionary seeming pedagogical method he had in 1910's PEI - spending more time outside the schoolhouse than in, getting the kids to re-enact the battles and beheadings and adventures, making them invent imagination games to solidify their knowledge of poetry and history and myth - and yet also drilling them hard traditionally in things like math. He is tremendously funny and crotchety and sharp in every sense of the word. As a teacher myself, I didn't evolve into quite the same kind of educator, but I think some of his principles did rub off on me, at least in terms of intention.

Tommy Beresford (from the "Tommy and Tuppence" books by Agatha Christie) It feels slightly odd to talk of Tommy without talking of Tuppence, but here we are. Not only is he plucky, humourous, undyingly faithful, and - gosh, enthusiastic! - he's an awesome character to watch in terms of seeing the progression of his marriage, as one of the only characters Agatha Christie let age along with her youth to golden years. James Warwick's portrayal of him in the eighties series only increased my love for him.

Ebenezer Scrooge (from "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens) What can I say? Every Christmas Scrooge helps me aim for true humility and to turn over new leaves. We're all Scrooge.

Robin Hood (from the Robin Hood legendarium) Every single incarnation of him. From authentic ballads of high Middle Ages. From stories and retellings of those stories and retellings of THOSE stories. Howard Pyle and Roger Lancelyn Greene and Jane Yolen and Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn and Richard Greene. "He called the finest archers to a tavern on the green/ They vowed to help the people of the king / They settled all the trouble on the English country scene, / and still found plenty of time to sing!"

Evan MacIan & James Turnbull (from The Ball and the Cross by G. K. Chesterton) I have such a soft spot for these duelists, the one fighting for the honour of Mary and by extension literally everything he believes in, both religious and philosophical, the other fighting for the sake of being *able* to fight an idea out. Their dialogues are hilarious and brain-stretching/world-view-stretching. They are passionate and really two sides of the same coin. And oh, their shenanigans. Gold star for the time they've been imprisoned separately for months, and finally manage to knock something off the wall and find it leaves a tiny finger-sized hole in the concrete, and MacIan's first thought is literally whether they can find a way to duel each other through the hole.

Bilbo Baggins (the works of JRR Tolkien) I read this book eleven times before I was eleven. Frodo and Sam's story speaks to me more - but, what can I say? When I weighed things, it was Bilbo who had to go on this list.

Nick Bottom & Peter Quince (from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare) They made me love Shakespeare when I was six. So hilarious, and relatable and just incredibly well-written.

Nicholas Nickleby (from the eponymous book by Dickens) - OK, this one is a funny choice, because Nicholas admittedly is your typical Dickens young-handsome-protagonist - that is to say, he is the only type of Dickens character who rather than bursting with personality is essentially a blank slate. But I think I love him more for all he represents to me than what I must admit he is. He is the stick that beats Squeers. He is the compassionate hopeful who keeps looking no matter how much his plans fall through. He is the character I was in love with at fourteen when I locked myself in my room and wouldn't come out no matter who bade me because it was my first Dickens book I'd truly read on my own and the work as a whole was so superb. He's the main character of one of the books that helped me remember who I was and what I loved during a bad point in my life, that got me back into theatre and great books and joy and hope. He's the lynchpin of the book that helped me lead some of my dear students to a love of Dickens. He's Nicholas Nickleby.

Count Almaviva ("Il Barbiere di Siviglia" by Rossini) I am tired and want to finish this list. So just - go watch "The Barber of Seville", preferably the one with Cecilia Bartoli and Gino Quilico, and have a blast. David Keubler's Count Almaviva is tremendous fun.

Anyone who wants to, jump in!