Film and TV review.

Very interesting series on BBC iplayer called The Troubles - A Secret History. It reveals a lot about the horror of the Troubles and what caused it and why and how it stopped (apart from a few dissident loonies).

Anyone see Channel 4's "The World according to Vladimir Putin"?
Excellent and highly entertaining insight into Russian TVs propaganda machine with some incredible insights into how they view the west in general and folk like Obama, Trump, May and Boris. Totally worth 45 minutes of anybody's time.

It's still got a week or so left on Channel 4 player here.

Did anyone watch the latest incarnation of Worzel Gummidge? Not caught up with it yet, but I've heard a lot of praise for it.

Saw bits of it and it was nothing like the Worzel that i remember as a kid. He didn't put his posh head on once 

Anybody watching the Christine Keeler series?

I've seen the first two, not sure if i'll continue, it's so tedious.

Cajunboy wrote:Anybody watching the Christine Keeler series?

I've seen the first two, not sure if i'll continue, it's so tedious.

Not really my thing. I'm busy watching some old favourites at the moment. Just coming to the final three episodes of Quatermass and the Pit, and I've got The Ghosts Of Motley Hall lined up for later in the week.

Just finished watching the second series of You on Netflix. Was enjoyable.

Cajunboy wrote:Anybody watching the Christine Keeler series?

I've seen the first two, not sure if i'll continue, it's so tedious.

I got bored with it halfway into the first episode and switched over to Netflix. I watched some Bojack Horseman (one of the best animations ever) and started watching a highly rated series called Call My Agent (which I would recommend).

Just watched a charming film on Prime Video called 'Is Anybody There'? It stars Michael Caine, and, to be honest, I'd never heard of it before, despite it being released in 2009.
Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.

Just seen 1917. Masterful film-making. Candidate for best picture Oscar.

Have seen Parasite now. Very good but not the sort of film I'd want to see again unlike some others I could name. (3 Billboards, Green Book, La La Land etc)

Interested to hear what people think of The Irishman and Uncut Gems.

I couldn't finish Uncut Gems and The Irishman was seriously flawed and way too long.

karlypants wrote:

boltonbonce wrote:Been watching my Early Doors dvd's over the weekend. I'd forgotten what a cracking little comedy it was.

Absolutely love Early Doors.

Me too but if you haven't seen this you should. Le diner de cons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvHkS4zbqZw

P.S. 'Aux chiottes L'OM' roughly translated means 'in the crapper L'OM' as a response to the chant 'allez L'OM', L'OM being the abbreviated name of Olympique de Marseille

Been watching some more oldies this week. Still Game is a particular favourite. The antics of Jack and Victor never fail to cheer me up.

Still Game's great once you attune to the Glasgow patter.

I confess that I pinched the line about Terrence Rigby's hair being 'Paul McCartney brown' from Still Game but I'm not sure anyone noticed.

I watched The Wizard of Lies again last night. I'd seen it twice before but it was worth watching again if only for the brilliant performance of Robert De Niro as Bernie Madoff.

It was a huge story, of course, that boiled to down to how easily folks are persuaded to believe what they want to believe and can't be bothered to check whether it adds up or not. In Bernie's eyes, they were the ones to blame not him

I couldn't help fantasising that if anyone thought about writing a book about Bolton Wanderers financial difficulties, as seen through the eyes of the Bolton News, they might call it The Wazzock of Iles.

Only just cottoned on to 'This Country'. Been binge watching it all week.

Nostalgia may not be what it used to be but I watched Bill Naughton's Spring and Port Wine last night bringing back memories of the construction of St Peter's Way and Deangsate as it was in 1969.

I always remembered the junction of Deansgate and Bradshawgate as being upscale, as our friends across the pond might put it. Preston's occupied one corner with the Swan Hotel diametrically opposite. A smart children's wear shop occupied the third corner and an equally smart shoe shop, Vernon Humpage, the fourth.

I remember Vernon Humpage for two reasons. My wife still has a boxed pair of high quality shoes made in Paris but bought from Vernon Humpage in the late sixties.

Quite a number of years later, I was tasked with enquiring of a smartly-dressed Mr Humpage as to the whereabouts of the missing accounts of Blackpool Boys Club, where he was Hon. Treas. His answers didn't convince me.

I took no part in later proceedings but it seems that his answers didn't convince the jury either.

boltonbonce wrote:Only just cottoned on to 'This Country'. Been binge watching it all week.

 Big fan of this! Not started watching series yet though.

I'm not a great one for living in the past.

Although I'm not a great one for some of the changes I've seen in my lifetime so far, I accept that change does need to take place in order to move forward but I don't need to cling on to the past for my comfort blanket.

After saying this though I stumbled upon an episode of 'Callan' the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though the programme was first broadcast in 1970 - fifty years ago!

Another little gem that I also like is 'Rumpole' that was initially aired in 1975 (although ran on and off until 1992).

To balance things though I do enjoy current stuff as well, for instance I've seen My Country, right from the start, the same too with Inside No 9.

One current and unheralded programme I would recommend people to watch is Win the Wilderness, which might not sound too promising from it's description - six couples fight it out to win a remote home in Alaska - but has me in awe at the couple who originally built the home - Duane and Rena Ose and their de facto assessor of the couples, CJ.

If anybody wants to give it a go the series is still running on the BBC and the early episodes can be seen here on iplayer -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000dt9d/win-the-wilderness-alaska-series-1-episode-1