Film

Operation Daybreak

Fred Trueman one made the cutting comment: there haven been many great bowlers from the Kitkstall Lane Emd but Neil Mallender is not one of them” the same or similar comment might be made of director Lewis Gilbert. He directed many niteable films like Alfie, Shirley Valentine , Educating Rita [...]

December 30, 2024 // 0 Comments

(WW2) Arctic convoys & opening a Second Front.

It did not take Hitler long to repudiate the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact and invade the Soviet Union. It was also not that long after – with Stalin’s ‘not one step back’ and ‘scorched earth’ strategy – that the Wehrmacht was in trouble. Stalin implored the Allies to open a [...]

December 25, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Critic (2023 movie)

I missed out on this film on general release and watched it yesterday on Amazon Prime. It’s based upon the Anthony Quinn novel Curtain Call but fell short of the book. It featured Ian McKellen as the acerbic Daily Chronicle theatre critic Jimmy Erskine modelled on James Agate. Set in the 1930s, [...]

December 24, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Day of the Jackal (Sky Atlantic)

This mega-production by Sky starring Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Logan and Charles Dance inevitably invites comparison with the Frederick Forsyth best-selling novel and the 1973 Fred Zinnermann film with Edward Fox. Frederick Forsyth admitted that he was paid vast amounts of money to do nothing or [...]

December 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Art of Cinema/Sky Arts

Last week’s programme presented by Ian Nathan focussed on script supervisors, once called ‘continuity girls’. These provide an essential input by creating the illusion of reality in a film and avoiding ‘bloopers’. Clive James once presented a programme on Saturday mornings [...]

October 12, 2024 // 0 Comments

Lee movie (2023)

Yesterday I finally got to see Lee. Enjoyed would be the wrong word as her pictures of the campaign after the Normandy landings – and Dachau – were searing, but the film was impressive notably for the fine acting of Kate Winslet as Lee Miller. The film covers one year (1945) and one [...]

September 17, 2024 // 0 Comments

Cineworld

The heading above should have been Lee as I intended to see that film on its release date at the 5-00pm performance. However, on arrival at my local Cineworld, I was informed the projector had broken down and I had to go to another performance. It reminded me of the story about a reviewer who [...]

September 14, 2024 // 0 Comments

Classic Movies/Sky Arts

This series, presented by Ian Nathan, has returned. No Dr Bonnie Greer, but instead a young American critic and film historian Christina Newland. Neil Norman is also a regular but Steven Armstrong, the Sunday Times film critic, features only occasionally. The choice of movies is odd. The first [...]

September 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Third Man

The 75th anniversary of the launch of the classic movie The Third Man is being celebrated this month with a re-showing. What made this Alexander Korda/David Selznick collaboration, directed by Carol Reed – the illegitimate son of actor/producer Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree – so memorable? [...]

September 4, 2024 // 0 Comments

Marriages (on film and TV)

Having been married to my Rosie – or Roz as she is known – for 45 years I do give a lot of thought to long term matrimony. The best portrayal of a long marriage is that of Horace Rumpole to Hilda. The Rumpole series are shown on Talking Pictures and, irony of ironies given that the [...]

August 23, 2024 // 0 Comments

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Sussex sport

January 20, 2026 // 0 Comments

Last night I watched Brighton HSFC draw 1-1 with south coast rivals Bournemouth in a game sometimes labelled El Coastico. The Seagulls strarted brightly but it was the [...]
THE ALFRISTON

January 19, 2026 // 0 Comments

in the many years ( I know – I don’t look it!!!) i’ve been reviewing English country hotels i’ve seen a massive change in such. 20 years ago they were [...]
Biographies

January 17, 2026 // 0 Comments

I recently moved from reading fiction to biography. Why do readers like biographies? The obvious explanation is to knoe more about the subject anf the times he/ she lived [...]
Manchester United 1 Brighton HAFC 2

January 12, 2026 // 0 Comments

Tom Hollingsworth called it right on giantkilling. . I’m old enough to remember Brighton in the old 4th division and buying Spurs double winner centre forward the burly [...]
FA CUP LIVES ON

January 11, 2026 // 0 Comments

That strange British eccentricity’ hss allowed the FA Cup to live on despite weakened teams, moved kick off times and even days and overseas players and head coaches [...]