UK General election

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

No doubt it will be remade, this time set kansas staring a load of americans, to go along with the new "greats" as the italian job, alfie, get carter, sparticus amongst others. Is nothing sacred ?!?!?!?!?!


There go the hobnobs..............

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Occasional Fan

Interestingly, for a country which is home to loads of human rights organisations, Red Cross, UN, etc., they also haven't signed the European Convention on Human Rights. In Switzerland, when you are called up - which happens for two weeks every year from 16 to 65 for men, I believe - you go. Or they bung you in prison for six months. Now, that's civilised, isn't it?

I bet there are significant loop-holes in the system, but if that's what you're used to, I don't think that two weeks a year is the most tremendous hardship - perhaps slightly worse than an enforced two weeks at Butlins.
Besides where do they send their army? Certainly not to any world hot spots.
They are absolutely neutral, and always have been.

[Occasional Fan]

Don't know about the loopholes. The Swiss blokes I have worked with over the years just accept it as a price of citizenship and do their time in uniform each year. But the fact that no-one can stand up and say "I am a pacifist and will not bear arms against my fellow man" surely is a sad thing?

As to the army's purpose, it is defensive, not aggressive - but it's pretty aggressively defensive. The Swiss know that they could not defend their patch of land indefinitely. Their publicly stated defence policy is therefore one of extracting the maximum amount of blood possible from any invader before eventually and inevitably capitulating. Mmm! Very nice!

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

No doubt it will be remade, this time set Kansas staring a load of Americans, Spartacus amongst others.

We're on the Third Man here aren't we. A terrific film, made by an American giant of the film industry, with lots of Americans in the lead roles. Probably all of them!

Are they remaking Spartacus? Now that really is one of the best movies of all time... "I'm Spartacus" "I'm Spartacus" "I'm Spartacus" etc., "Great, we can crucify the lot of them." I made that bit up.

And I think just about everyone of them was American too, exept perhaps Olivier, Laughton, Jean Simmons, Ustinov, Nina Foch, John Ireland, Herbert Lom... hmmm!

Yup... I don't think I want to see a remake. It would almost certainly be rubbish in comparison to Kubrick's 1960 effort.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

You dont want to see the remake Oliver. Two part thing on SKY, i had the misfortune of watching a bit at my folks. Sparticus is some croation bloke from ER. things should just be left as they are. Film, (and music for that matter but dont get me started) is infinate. Surely they dont have to keep butchering classics to make a few quid.

As a further point, any party clamping down on any of the above will get my vote. In fact i'll make it a policy for the RBLC party.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

You dont want to see the remake Oliver. Sparticus is some croation bloke from ER. things should just be left as they are. Film, (and music for that matter but dont get me started) is infinate. Surely they dont have to keep butchering classics to make a few quid.

Ahah! Goran Visnic, I presume. The girls say he's rather pretty, and he probably does look a bit like Spartacus should, assuming Sparta was a province of ancient Greece.

But yes, they do have to keep butchering classics, because in the history of the world when everything is broken down to its main constituent parts, there are (in theory) only four tales (plots). You can embellish them any way you wish, but when all's said and done, it's pretty much: boy meets girl and lives happily ever after; boy meets girl and they both die; and the other two, which I can't remember off hand,

Needless to say, in Hollywood they are pretty certain that all the best tales have been turned into movies already. They started on the poor tales a long time ago.
So itt's a done deal that they're going to have to keep remaking the ones they've already done, because nobody has had any decent ideas since all the classics were written... notwithstanding the odd exception. Joseph Heller, J.R.R. Tolkein, Michael Crighton, the Harry Potter woman etc.,

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Surely they dont have to keep butchering classics to make a few quid.

Oh yes they do, the old black and white version of 12 Angry Men comes to mind, it was a master of films of it's kind, but they had to remake that in colour, it was not terrible but nowhere near as good as the original, but the film now, will be judged on the latest colour version.

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Oliver

it's pretty much: boy meets girl and lives happily ever after; boy meets girl and they both die; and the other two, which I can't remember off hand,

I think there's a few actually:

Boy meets boy -> happily ever after
Boy meets boy -> die
Girl meets girl -> same pair of options

[Occasional Fan]

Just heard the following text message read out on Five Live from someone commenting on the Labour Party Manifesto launch.

"I'm sick of hearing the phrase 'Hard working families'. What about the rest of us?"

Refreshingly honest!

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

And while I'm at it, adverts for UK products where the ad is set in the US, normally some New York loft apartment. My cat has been taken of whiskers as result.

That would be no. 2 on my manifesto.

Oh, I've hit 2000 posts. hurrah for me !!!!!!!!