Swallows and Amazons | Diy recessions | Infectious diseases | David Cameron’s Micra purchase | Bob Dylan’s birthday
When I read the Arthur Ransome books in the late 1950s Titty, while not a familiar name, had no other connotations, and certainly not for someone of my age (Titty’s family ‘furious’ over name change for Swallows and Amazons film, 25 May). Now, I suspect that any 10-year-old would hear it and snigger, which militates against the innocence that the Altounyan family are aiming to preserve. Given that the second letter of the name has to be a vowel, Tatty seems about the only plausible alternative, even if it does suggest a degree of dishevelment.
Henry Malt
Bythorn, Cambridgeshire
• There is a Diy recession that George Osborne has forgotten (Letters, 25 May; Report, 23 May). In 1988 Nigel Lawson cancelled mortgage interest relief at source for unmarried couples, but delayed its introduction for a year. This resulted...
When I read the Arthur Ransome books in the late 1950s Titty, while not a familiar name, had no other connotations, and certainly not for someone of my age (Titty’s family ‘furious’ over name change for Swallows and Amazons film, 25 May). Now, I suspect that any 10-year-old would hear it and snigger, which militates against the innocence that the Altounyan family are aiming to preserve. Given that the second letter of the name has to be a vowel, Tatty seems about the only plausible alternative, even if it does suggest a degree of dishevelment.
Henry Malt
Bythorn, Cambridgeshire
• There is a Diy recession that George Osborne has forgotten (Letters, 25 May; Report, 23 May). In 1988 Nigel Lawson cancelled mortgage interest relief at source for unmarried couples, but delayed its introduction for a year. This resulted...
- 5/25/2016
- by Letters
- The Guardian - Film News
Stand back for a Michael Moore-style splenetic strike on climate-change deniers in the Us
Craig Scott Rosebraugh's vigorous, knockabout film is in the manner of that polemicist whose name provokes fury among the right and supporters of the Iraq war: Michael Moore. It is a splenetic, satiric attack on the formidable PR forces, spurious thinktanks and talking heads being mobilised in the Us to attack the idea of man-made global warming. Rosebraugh sees them as ugly, partisan and abusive –and effectively replies in kind. They are funded by energy companies with deep pockets and use techniques similar to those which attacked people who said cigarettes cause cancer. The climate-change sceptics in America have one prominent supporter: Britain's Christopher Monckton, who cuts an eccentric figure here. Perhaps Nigel Lawson would be a more credible witness, but it is Monckton who really joins the media circus in the Us. We...
Craig Scott Rosebraugh's vigorous, knockabout film is in the manner of that polemicist whose name provokes fury among the right and supporters of the Iraq war: Michael Moore. It is a splenetic, satiric attack on the formidable PR forces, spurious thinktanks and talking heads being mobilised in the Us to attack the idea of man-made global warming. Rosebraugh sees them as ugly, partisan and abusive –and effectively replies in kind. They are funded by energy companies with deep pockets and use techniques similar to those which attacked people who said cigarettes cause cancer. The climate-change sceptics in America have one prominent supporter: Britain's Christopher Monckton, who cuts an eccentric figure here. Perhaps Nigel Lawson would be a more credible witness, but it is Monckton who really joins the media circus in the Us. We...
- 9/26/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
We've been indoctrinated to regard the NHS with such superstitious awe that we never stop to examine its maladies
Last Saturday's Guardian ran two articles that made a fascinating if unhappy contrast. Danny Boyle was interviewed about, among other things, his Olympics opening ceremony last summer, with its nurses holding up NHS placards and "bouncing children on NHS beds". Then one could turn to Roger Taylor's outstanding long essay entitled We love the NHS too much to make it better.
Well before reading Taylor, I had been thinking again about the opening ceremony, and wondering how it must have felt watching that mawkish pageant if you had been one of the victims – one of the survivors, that is – of Stafford hospital. Is it possible that some degree of embarrassment about the egregious failings of this health service that we love too much explains why the full, almost indescribable horror...
Last Saturday's Guardian ran two articles that made a fascinating if unhappy contrast. Danny Boyle was interviewed about, among other things, his Olympics opening ceremony last summer, with its nurses holding up NHS placards and "bouncing children on NHS beds". Then one could turn to Roger Taylor's outstanding long essay entitled We love the NHS too much to make it better.
Well before reading Taylor, I had been thinking again about the opening ceremony, and wondering how it must have felt watching that mawkish pageant if you had been one of the victims – one of the survivors, that is – of Stafford hospital. Is it possible that some degree of embarrassment about the egregious failings of this health service that we love too much explains why the full, almost indescribable horror...
- 3/13/2013
- by Geoffrey Wheatcroft
- The Guardian - Film News
Wishy-washy and unfocused, Phyllida Lloyd's Margaret Thatcher biopic fails to embody the indomitable spirit of its subject
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: C
Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
Structure
The Iron Lady tells its story as a series of flashbacks experienced by the ageing Thatcher (Meryl Streep), suffering from dementia and haunted by the imagined ghost of her late husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent). Streep is terrific, carrying off Thatcher in her prime and Thatcher in her dotage with equal aplomb. Regrettably, however, so much of the film's screentime has been devoted to the dotage – and so many of the flashbacks are, unlike Thatcher herself, preoccupied with her role as a wife and mother – that little time is left for the interesting stuff. A few of those who are relegated to blink-and-you'll-miss-'em status, or don't appear at all: Cecil Parkinson, Nigel Lawson,...
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: C
Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
Structure
The Iron Lady tells its story as a series of flashbacks experienced by the ageing Thatcher (Meryl Streep), suffering from dementia and haunted by the imagined ghost of her late husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent). Streep is terrific, carrying off Thatcher in her prime and Thatcher in her dotage with equal aplomb. Regrettably, however, so much of the film's screentime has been devoted to the dotage – and so many of the flashbacks are, unlike Thatcher herself, preoccupied with her role as a wife and mother – that little time is left for the interesting stuff. A few of those who are relegated to blink-and-you'll-miss-'em status, or don't appear at all: Cecil Parkinson, Nigel Lawson,...
- 12/29/2011
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Nigel Lawson has tipped Meryl Streep to win an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. The Conservative politician, who served as Thatcher's chancellor from 1983 to 1989, hailed Streep's performance of the former prime minister. Lawson told the Evening Standard: "Meryl Streep is a very fine actress and has got Margaret's personality right and her mannerisms very well. "I've no doubt she will win an Oscar and good luck to her." Nigella Lawson's father added of the movie: "It is a huge kind of romantic drama, with a lot about her relationship with Denis, her character and how she outfaced all these men. It is kind of a soap. "It's not within a million miles of an accurate account of what the Thatcher government did and what it was about. That's not what the (more)...
- 12/15/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.