Tweet re culture, history, travel and whatever else catches my eye. Palace fan.
Manchester, England
Joined May 2012
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So sad that we’ve lost this wonderful man. I recommend his inspiring autobiography Making It So. One thing which impressed me about it was his humility and his acknowledgement of the many people who helped him along the way.
Patrick Stewart, 'Star Trek' Captain and 'X-Men' Superhero, Dies at 86 hollywoodreporter.com/movies…
Bob Hammond retweeted
Fantastic. But announcements are supposed to be made in Parliament to MPs, elected to represent voting constituents.
Every one of us - including Chancellors and Prime Ministers - accountable to every citizen we represent, not one or two famous people and influencers granted special access.
Been wanting to see this for years. Looking forward to finally catching it @HOME_mcr on Saturday.
I’m utterly knocked out by one of the boldest studio releases you’ll see this year. And guess what? It’s from 1971.
I’d seen Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS on a late-’90s UK VHS release, cut by the censors. Even in that muted form, it was still powerful.
Cut to 2026, and thanks to Mark Kermode (@KermodeMovie), the restoration wizards at Warners and the brand new team at @clockwork_wb, Russell’s uncut, formerly unreleased version finally comes to big screens on October 16. I urge any self-respecting film fan, save the faint-hearted, to see this wild piece of cinema while you can.
I was lucky enough to see the West Coast premiere as Beyond Fest’s closing film. The restoration is fantastic, and the film remains shocking. It’s a reminder of how daring Warner Bros could be: between 1970 and 1973, the studio released PERFORMANCE, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, DIRTY HARRY, DELIVERANCE, THE EXORCIST and THE DEVILS. To call the latter the most audacious of them all is no exaggeration.
To have THE DEVILS back in major distribution, after 55 years of being difficult to see in its intended form, feels like a miracle. Not only is it great to celebrate Ken Russell at his finest, but the film will no longer be a missing link in ’70s cinema: the outrageous imagery and astonishing design that anticipate so much of what followed. And if you love the cinema of Terry Gilliam or Alejandro Jodorowsky, you will be in heaven.
It’s extraordinary to see so many great British actors, not least Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed, in their absolute prime. Derek Jarman’s production design is utterly stunning, making every frame feel monumental. David Watkin’s photography is equally astonishing.
I feel like I saw something illicit tonight. That we can finally see Russell’s intended version in cinemas feels almost unreal. It’s a bold, auspicious start for the movie maniacs at @clockwork_wb.
Who knows when we’ll next get a theatrical release of a Ken Russell film, let alone this incredible piece of work, so do yourself a favour and buy a ticket. Apologies in advance if you have any fits of religious fervour.
I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks but I had a long journey today and listened to David Koepp’s sci-fi horror Cold Storage. Quite comical in places. Narrator Rupert Friend brings it to life brilliantly.
Hopefully at some point an enterprising journalist will ask Sally Rooney directly whether she thinks her situation is comparable with what Salman Rushdie has had to put up with over the years.
I'm enjoying reading the BBC's US Politics Unspun newsletter as we approach the mid-terms. The latest one covers early voting patterns plus the impact of immigration and deportations in Springfield, Ohio. Sign up here: bbc.co.uk/newsletters/zgmn46…
Bob Hammond retweeted
What this letter is really objecting to is prescription of Palestine Action, as is made quite clear in statement “ill-conceived and draconian anti terror legislation”. Signatories think Rooney should have right to fund organisation committed to violent acts to achieve political ends. They are anti democrats. It has nothing to do with free speech. They are calling for the voices of the democratic many to be drowned out by the wealth & violence of the few.
OPEN LETTER: Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public. Their withdrawal from sale, on the basis of ill-conceived and draconian anti terror legislation, is an affront to basic principles of free speech and expression so long taken for granted in this country. We categorically reject censorship - whether direct or indirect - and urge the government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity.
Interesting to see a clutch of top notch foreign films arrive on BBC iPlayer including Fanny and Alexander, Ran and Belle de Jour. Now I need to carve out some time to watch them!
Bob Hammond retweeted
Spent almost 50 years amassing an extraordinary record collection that I loved right up until I didn’t. My @scotonsunday column on selling my records.
scotsman.com/news/opinion/co…
The image in this post says “Stay connected”, @Starlink. Tell that to the Ukrainians who are being killed as a result of your recent actions.
Feeling a bit disconnected from Radio 2 these days, with all the comedians and TV personalities now populating the station. Too much narcissistic chat and not enough music.
Starting to explore alternatives.
Wow.
May 5, 1945. Hitler has been dead for five days. The war in Europe is almost over.
In a castle in the Austrian Alps, American soldiers, German soldiers, and a group of elderly French prisoners grab rifles and get ready to fight the SS.
Together.
The castle was called Schloss Itter. The Nazis had turned it into a prison for very important people. Not ordinary prisoners. Trophies.
Inside were two former prime ministers of France, Paul Reynaud and Édouard Daladier. Two of France's top generals, Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin. A famous tennis champion, Jean Borotra. And the older sister of Charles de Gaulle.
As the Reich collapsed in early May, the SS guards panicked and ran. The prisoners suddenly found themselves in charge of a castle, with weapons left behind, and a serious problem.
Waffen-SS units were still roaming the area. Fanatics who would gladly kill them all.
They needed help. Fast.
One of the castle's prisoners, a Yugoslav handyman, slipped out on a bicycle to find the Americans. Separately, a German army officer named Major Josef Gangl also went looking for them.
Gangl was a Wehrmacht officer who had turned against the Nazis and was secretly working with the Austrian resistance. He wanted to protect the prisoners too.
He found an American tank commander named Captain Jack Lee.
Lee was 27, tough, cigar chewing, and willing to do something insane. With a single Sherman tank and a handful of American soldiers, he drove up into the mountains alongside Gangl and a few of his German troops.
They reached the castle on May 4.
The French prisoners were not exactly thrilled to see a tiny rescue force. They had expected an army. Instead they got a few Americans, a few Germans, and one tank.
The next morning, the SS attacked.
Somewhere between 100 and 150 Waffen-SS troops hit the castle with machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank weapons. The defenders fought back from the walls and windows. Americans and Germans side by side.
The French prisoners refused to hide. Some of them, including Reynaud, picked up weapons and joined in.
The Sherman tank was knocked out. The defenders were running out of ammunition. It looked like the castle would fall.
Then Jean Borotra, the tennis star, volunteered to make a run for it. He jumped the wall, slipped past the SS, and sprinted through the countryside to find American reinforcements.
He found them. And he insisted on coming back with them to finish the fight.
During the battle, Major Gangl saw Paul Reynaud exposed to gunfire and moved to pull him to safety. A sniper shot Gangl dead.
He had survived the whole war as a German soldier, only to die defending French prisoners from the SS in its final days.
That afternoon, the American relief force arrived and broke the attack. The SS were scattered and captured. The prisoners were saved.
Jack Lee received the Distinguished Service Cross. In Austria, Josef Gangl is remembered as a hero, and a street is named after him.
It is believed to be the only battle of the war where American and German soldiers fought together on the same side.
Great news. Signing petitions does work - sometimes!
The Prince Charles Cinema Secures its Future
The Prince Charles Cinema is thrilled to announce that we have signed a new 25-year lease with no break clause, ensuring our projectors will keep rolling for years to come.
#YouSavedThePCC
Of course. And then Putin will be looking for his next country to swallow up.
Bob Hammond retweeted
In the dark hours of a freezing night in occupied France, a woman took off her clothes and squeezed through the narrow iron bars of a Gestapo prison cell. She held her dress between her teeth, dropped onto the street, and disappeared. Her name was Marie-Madeleine Fourcade.
Before the war she had lived a life of fast cars, airplanes, and classical music. When the Germans occupied France she joined a small secret network that gathered intelligence for the Allies. In 1941 its leader was arrested and handed control to her. She was thirty-one, the mother of two young children, and she accepted without hesitation.
Under her leadership the group grew into Alliance, the largest secret intelligence network in France. More than three thousand men and women joined. Nearly twenty percent were women. They used animal code names. The Gestapo called the organization Noah’s Ark. Marie-Madeleine chose Hedgehog for herself.
The Nazis spent years looking for a male general. They never imagined the person running the network was the fashionable young woman standing in front of them.
Many of her closest agents were captured, tortured, or killed. To protect her own children she sent them away. She could not even hug them goodbye. She stood behind a curtain and watched them walk down the street.
She was captured twice and escaped both times. Her agents gathered intelligence on German positions along the Normandy beaches that helped the Allies plan the invasion.
When the war ended, official recognition often favored men. She was left off many lists of national heroes. She never seemed interested in personal glory. For the rest of her life she helped surviving agents and the families of those who had been killed.
Near the end she said, “God gave me the strength to stand in the dark so that others could walk in the light.”
This looks promising. I hope Greta Gerwig pulls it off - her directorial track record to date has been brilliant.
The first trailer for Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew teases Meryl Streep's lion, Emma Mackey's witch, and a blockbuster fantasy epic set to bring us C.S. Lewis' world as it's never been seen before.
Watch it here: empireonline.com/movies/news…
