Albert Quixall

Watched 'A Fistful of Dynamite' with Rod Steiger and James Coburn. Coburn plays an IRA explosives man who finds himself in Mexico at the time of the Mexican revolution. One of Sergio Leone's lesser-known films but a good one for all that. I should probably watch 'Once Upon A Time In The West' again just to see Henry Fonda playing the baddie.

Me too. I heard he was re-making The Dambusters, but that was a few years ago. I wonder who he would cast in the role of Guy Gibson? You just know that Jackson's aircrew would not reflect those of 619 Squadron. Hammer did some good stuff. Anything with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in it is normally a safe bet (with a cameo from Michael Ripper of course). Did you ever see Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter? It was a later offering written by Brian Clemens (who wrote The Avengers and The Professionals). It's on YouTube in its entirety and is worth it for Caroline Munro alone.

The Hobbit was awful. Three films out of a short-ish book was way over the top. I wonder what he'll do if he ever gets round to making a film of The Silmarillion. Bolg and Azog were mentioned in the appendices of LOTR which dealt with the war between Dwarves and Orcs. Azog was killed at Moria by (I think) Dain Ironfoot in the same battle that Thorin earned the name 'Oakenshield'. Bolg, his son, led the Orcs to the Lonely Mountain but was killed in battle by Beorn. There was no 'pale orc' as Jackson depicted. Legolas did not appear either but his father did. I understand that Jackson was trying to create a film that people would watch and that he is fixated with CGI battles and improbable mounts (a pig and a stag FFS), but you're right; he did go all PC. Watched 'The Big Sleep' last night. I hope nobody ever tries to re-make that. 'The Maltese Falcon' is on today (ditto) and, I think, the original 'Cape Fear.' After that, it's old Hammer films starting with Dracula.

@THE BASTARD recommended this.

Old Twilight Zone episodes. Borrowed a box set of the first few series. They don't make 'em like that any more. I'd forgotten how many big-name actors appeared in it.

The appendices to LOTR are another book entirely. Arwen's character gets expanded in The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen. She is certainly not a warrior and neither was Luthien, who married Beren and also forsook the immortal life. In The Fellowship, it is Glorfindel who is sent by Elrond to find Frodo in the wilderness because he is one of the few elves capable of taking on the Witch King. But Gandalf rejects him as a walker, taking Merry and Pippin instead when Elrond was against the idea.

Good movie that with two of my favourite actors: Shintaro Katsu and Tatsuya Nakadai. Check out Kill! which is very good and contains some dark humour. Also Adauchi (Revenge) with Kinnosuke Nakamura. Then there's 'The Sleepy Eyes of Death" series with Raizo Ichikawa as Nemuri Kyoshiro, the full-moon swordsman. If that isn't enough, you can watch him in the Shinobi no Mono Ninja series. There's all kinds of odd stuff out there. Tomisaburo Wakayama (Itto Ogami from the Lone Wolf and Cub films) playing a reprobate monk in Wicked Priest and his brother, Shintaro Katsu as 'The Hoodlum Soldier' set in China during the Japanese occupation.

Glorfindel put Frodo on his horse and commanded him bear him across the Ford of Bruinen. Glorfindel then joined Aragorn and the remaining Hobbits on the near side where they kindled fire to drive off any Nazgul that survived the flood. If you read the appendices, there's the story of Glorfindel and the Witch King and the prediction made by him that he would not be killed by man. I don't know about Bombadil and Goldberry. He is a figure from the past known by all by different names. I suppose Tolkien didn't really develop him as a major character but he did save the Hobbits in the Old Forest and later took care of the lost ponies from Bree. Perhaps he was there just to give us a glimpse in to the far past of ME but who knows. Arwen gets far too much of a role in Jackson's film and much of it superfluous. As for The Hobbit. That was largely a dud. Even Ian McKellen couldn't save it from mediocrity.

All good stuff. You should check out Kurosawa's non-samurai films too, Stray Dog, Drunken Angel, Ikiru, and High and Low are brilliant. The Bad Sleep Well is also a good thriller. You don't mention Kobayashi's works except for Hara Kiri but IMHO, he ranks alongside Kurosawa. The Human Condition trilogy is excellent. Kwaidan is his interpretation of four classic Japanese ghost stories (Hoichi the Earless being the pick of them) and the little-known Inn of Evil, which is badly translated from "At the Risk of my Life". Shintaro Katsu steals it with his portrayal of a drunk whose story, when finally revealed, is heartbreaking.

Helms Deep was too long. Moreover, Jackson took too many liberties with it. There were no elves there, Eomer and his men were amongst the defenders , and it was the Huorns with help from Gandalf and the survivors from the Fords of Isen who lifted the siege. The only other major point is why Jackson made Aragorn into a reluctant king who had to be coerced by the death of Boromir and by Elrond into agreeing to it. In the book, the broken sword was re-forged before the nine left Rivendell. Aragorn's whole mission was to defeat Sauron and take his seat in Minas Tirith. Oh, and Arwen. I get the love interest bit but she steals Glorfindel's glory at the ford of Bruinen. If they filmed the Scouring of the Shire, it would have to be four films. They could have at least put in Tom Bombadil, even as a cameo.

Memphis. Promised much, delivered little.

I have that edition too. It's enjoyable but, pedant that I am, I find myself picking up the inconsistencies with the book.

The Last Samurai, Kenji Misume's last epic from 1974 (the one with Tom Cruise was utter rubbish). Misumi died not long after completing the film which is set at the cusp of the Meiji Restoration in Japan and is about the lives of four men on opposing sides of the conflict seen through the eyes of one samurai - Toranosuke Sugi (played by Hideki Takahashi).

For your reading pleasure, Paul Pogba's lifestyle in pictures... https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9311685/man-utd-pogba-supercar-mansion-gucci/

Champions 2019-20. Team bus. Trophies