Did anybody else watch Douglas Is Cancelled? I really disliked the first episode, but my wife wanted to persist with it and it was worth it. Really good.
Binge watched it with my (ahem) lady friend and after I woke up she told me how it ended. Genuinely. I thought it harmless fun up until I nodded off.
Currently watching Yesterday, the Danny Boyle fantasy about Beatles music, for the umpteenth time. Utterly daft, but I just love this film. The John Lennon moment still takes my breath away.
I see there is a third version of The Day of the Jackal, this one with Eddie Redmayne, due out soon. Think it’s a TV series on some streaming platform. The original Edward Fox version was so good I really can’t see the point of this, though hopefully it won’t be as awful as the bits I’ve seen of the Bruce Willis effort. The joy of the original is that everyone knows from the outset that the assassination failed, but that does not reduce the tension in the film at all.
I don’t know the ending of the Willis or Redmayne ones. I assume that they weren’t trying to kill real people, unlike Eddie Fox.
Going on a proper holiday tomorrow, a long weekend in Walton on the Naze with both of my daughters and all of my grandchildren. Walton was where we used to go when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it. Can't wait...
Just finished watching first episode of a travel documentary on Channel 4, Britains Most Beautiful Road...about the North Coast 500 around the top of Scotland. Found it quite interesting as I've driven round this more times than I can think of for work, normally stuck behind some tourist in a campervan...and normally in the pissing rain. Some beautiful scenary on the way round, especially the west coast. Worth a watch, just for the views!
Wicked Little Letters... Quintessentially and delightfully English, notwithstanding the Irish character played by the wonderful (and beautiful) Jessie Buckley. There's something about incongruous swearing that's just hilarious. Really enjoyable and recommended.
I've been meaning to watch this for a while. Isn't it based on a true story? We used to go to Littlehampton all the time when I was a kid - bet it's turned into another seaside ghost town now
I see Banksy has been out boosting his brand all over London, with his enigmatic (or is it meaningless?) street art. He’s quite witty sometimes, but I suspect that his street stuff is marketing for the stuff he sells to collectors. The latest batch is really quite weak, greeting card level. The odd obsession with him is testament to the power of commerce, he’s certainly not a great artist (in my opinion, it’s a personal thing). I prefer David Shrigley. It’s not beautiful but it’s funny and sometimes makes you think.
And these are ****sy.... He goes about Manchester drawing these around potholes so the council have to fix them
I hope I can do this justice because it's one of the funniest things I've ever heard..... We were in the pub today and one of my pals turned up particularly late. 'What happened to you then?' 'Ah, for ****'s sake, I had to go her nephew's third birthday party'. 'I was desperate to get get away, but she said we had to wait until after they'd cut the cake'. 'I didn't want any ****ing cake, but waited on anyway, and then the **** couldn't even blow the ****ing candles out!'
Maybe needs to be on the politics thread, but just finished watching first part of two part documentary on BBC2 about Saudi Arabia and the rise of Mohammed bin Salman The Kingdom: The World’s Most Powerful Prince, Series 1: 1. Game of Thrones: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001zprq via @bbciplayer
Slightly disappointed to learn that I have read 16 of the Times’ list of best selling books of the last 50 years. I thought my taste was far more esoteric, elevated, frankly elitist, to read popular stuff. Though I did include a couple of books that I started reading and stopped fairly sharpish when I realised they were utter garbage - The da Vinci Code being the prime example of that. The list has loads of cookery books, evenly balanced by diet guides. The top book is one that has been bought a lot (not by me) but read by a tiny % of its purchasers I suspect.
Pay wall. You’ll find a way round I’m sure, even halfway up a pylon https://www.thetimes.com/magazines/...0-sunday-times-bestsellers-50-years-ndnkjkp60
BESTSELLERS The 100 bestselling books of the past 50 years To celebrate 50 years of the Sunday Times bestseller list, we have calculated the nation’s most popular books over the past five decades — how many have you read? please log in to view this image ILLUSTRATION BY RUSSEL HERNEMAN Victoria Segal | Sarah Ditum | Laura Hackett Friday August 16 2024, 6.00am, The Sunday Times Just over 50 years ago, on April 14, 1974, a new feature appeared in The Sunday Times — the bestseller list. In it, the paper documented the most popular fiction, non-fiction and paperbacks, which in that first week included an autobiography by the Duchess of Bedford and Jaws by Peter Benchley. The list was the first of its kind in the UK, and not uncontroversial (some critics declared it “anti-literary” or even “unEnglish”) but no one could have guessed just how important it would go on to be. Today, becoming a Sunday Times bestseller is the ultimate benchmark of commercial success for authors and publishers alike. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bestseller list, we have calculated the top 100 bestselling books of the past five decades, according to how many weeks a title has spent in the Top Ten. The results are a fascinating insight into modern Britain: the topics we care about, the voices we enjoy most and, crucially, how we want to appear to others. Which is your favourite book on the list? And which book are you surprised hasn’t made the cut? Full article, no paywall below... https://archive.ph/2BQAW
