cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19555924

> > John Lloyd hosted it, which he didn’t enjoy, with journalists Simon Hoggart and Jaci Stephen, myself and Ian. The idea was that Ian would know all the news questions and I could provide the comedy. Ian would be the intelligent one and I would be the funny one. It wasn’t the most promising start, but the BBC had already committed to a series. Producer Harry Thompson and comedian Angus Deayton wrote the scripts. Harry had a keen sense of humour. He’d say: “Here’s a joke for you. Angus doesn’t think it’s funny.” When it got a laugh, Angus would have this quizzical look on his face. > > > >I wore a T-shirt because everybody wore suits and ties. I thought we looked like a parole board, and it needed an element of anarchy. I also wanted some rudeness. The news agenda always changes. In our history, the only stories that wouldn’t go away were Brexit, Covid and Trump. There are five people, three of whom weren’t there last week. No one is irreplaceable in show business. But we’ll keep going until the sun explodes and consumes the Earth, which will be the top story the following week.

> John Lloyd hosted it, which he didn’t enjoy, with journalists Simon Hoggart and Jaci Stephen, myself and Ian. The idea was that Ian would know all the news questions and I could provide the comedy. Ian would be the intelligent one and I would be the funny one. It wasn’t the most promising start, but the BBC had already committed to a series. Producer Harry Thompson and comedian Angus Deayton wrote the scripts. Harry had a keen sense of humour. He’d say: “Here’s a joke for you. Angus doesn’t think it’s funny.” When it got a laugh, Angus would have this quizzical look on his face. > >I wore a T-shirt because everybody wore suits and ties. I thought we looked like a parole board, and it needed an element of anarchy. I also wanted some rudeness. The news agenda always changes. In our history, the only stories that wouldn’t go away were Brexit, Covid and Trump. There are five people, three of whom weren’t there last week. No one is irreplaceable in show business. But we’ll keep going until the sun explodes and consumes the Earth, which will be the top story the following week.

> An incendiary device hidden in a DHL package that caught fire in Germany in July was due to be sent by air to the UK as part of a suspected Russian sabotage plot that may also have been a dry run for a similar attack on the US and Canada. > >The device, reported to have been secreted in shipments of massage pillows and erotic gadgets, started a fire on the ground in Leipzig that was feared to be capable of downing a plane – similar to a package that ignited at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham on 22 July. > > ... > > Sources indicated the suspect package in Leipzig was also bound for the UK, though why the UK was chosen as the destination for the two devices, originally sent from Lithuania, is not fully clear. > > ... > > Four people were arrested in Poland as part of the alleged plot, it was announced last week, which the country’s chief prosecutor said was intended to commit sabotage using “camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials” in Europe. Two other individuals are also wanted by investigators in the country. > >Another intention, according to the Polish authorities, was “to test the transfer channel” for similar parcels to be sent to the US and Canada, to see if similarly dangerous and destructive attacks could be reproduced elsewhere. > >British police and officials, as well as their European counterparts in Germany, Poland and Lithuania, strongly suspect that Russia was behind the attacks as part of an effort to cause “mayhem” in the west in retaliation for western military support to Ukraine.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19554204

> > A shoplifter has been banned from wearing wigs after attempting to disguise herself while committing thefts on numerous occasions. > > > >Hannah Roberts of Nettleton Road, Gloucester, was handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court earlier this month. > > > >Roberts, 33, repeatedly ignored a ban by the City Safe Scheme from entering any member shops in Gloucester, the court heard. > > > >Although she tried to get around the ban by wearing a variety of wigs, her distinctive neck tattoo meant she was recognisable to shop staff in the city. > > > > ... > > > > Under the CBO, Roberts has been banned from entering Gloucester city centre and shops participating in the Gloucester City Safe scheme. > > > >She is also prohibited from wearing a wig or hairpiece designed to change her appearance while entering any retail premises.

> A shoplifter has been banned from wearing wigs after attempting to disguise herself while committing thefts on numerous occasions. > >Hannah Roberts of Nettleton Road, Gloucester, was handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court earlier this month. > >Roberts, 33, repeatedly ignored a ban by the City Safe Scheme from entering any member shops in Gloucester, the court heard. > >Although she tried to get around the ban by wearing a variety of wigs, her distinctive neck tattoo meant she was recognisable to shop staff in the city. > > ... > > Under the CBO, Roberts has been banned from entering Gloucester city centre and shops participating in the Gloucester City Safe scheme. > >She is also prohibited from wearing a wig or hairpiece designed to change her appearance while entering any retail premises.

> A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: "Following an investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches and The Sunday Times in September 2023, the Met received a number of reports of sexual offences from women in London and elsewhere in the country. > >"A file of evidence has now been passed to the CPS for their consideration. > >"As part of the investigation, a man in his 40s has been interviewed by officers under caution on three separate occasions. > >"These interviews related to a number of non-recent sexual offences which are alleged to have taken place both in and outside of London.

> Two more UK cases of a strain of mpox that is thought to spread more easily have been detected in household contacts of the first case, the Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said. > >This brings the total number of confirmed cases of the Clade lb mpox strain in the country to three. > > ... > > The country’s first case was detected in London last week, in a person who had been on holiday in Africa and travelled back to the UK on an overnight flight on October 21. > >They developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on October 24, started to develop a rash which worsened in the following days. > > ... > > Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said: “Mpox is very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household. > >“The overall risk to the UK population remains low.

> The man was said to be ‘extremely drunk’ when he returned to his room in Pattaya’s red light district in the early hours of this morning. > >Groans and banging was later heard coming from the 51-year-old’s room at The Freelancer Hotel but staff thought nothing of it. > >It was only when his legs crashed through the ceiling of an adjacent internet café after he plunged from the balcony that they realised something was amiss. > > ... > > Shocked gamers called police as the naked holidaymaker, believed to be from Blackburn cried for help with his legs dangling from the floorboards. > >Subsequent pictures showed him being guided to an ambulance while covered up in a blanket. > > ... > > Officers later checked his room, where they discovered excrement smeared across the floor. > >Police lieutenant Thanawee Yarangsee said: ‘We have some ideas about what he was doing in the room to make it so dirty but there was nothing illegal. > > ‘It is his private life, so he will have to speak with the hotel to negotiate the bill.’

[email protected]

> Tony Jaa (Expend4bles) is back with a vengeance in the action thriller Striking Rescue! > > This film came out of nowhere with no details besides the fact that it co-stars fellow martial arts star Xing Yu (Flashpoint). > > Striking Rescue is set to premiere on the Chinese streaming service Youku on November 8th.

Trailer

If you want more excitable coverage try: Tony Jaa is Back ONG BAK Old School Body Obliterating Style in the New & Insane Actioner STRIKING RESCUE!

> When interviewing a gamebook author, a document was mentioned by Joe Dever on writing gamebooks. I tried tracking it down on the internet, but couldn't find it. Probably because it was written in 1990, distributed in a newsletter... > >(bear in mind this was written 34 years ago, but the advice is still sound. It's also a part of Gamebook history worth knowing about. Joe Dever was the author of the Lone Wolf gamebooks) > >So here, for aspiring gamebook writers is...

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14266267

> > Lee remains a singular presence in film history, and rewatching all his work recently reawakened me to just how good he was. He wasn’t just a great martial artist, but a tremendous screen presence. His characters don’t want to kill but they do so, without mercy but also with tremendous regret. That’s a particular kind of acting, a well-tuned harvest of subtle, authentic emotion. There was nobody quite like him before. Frankly, there’s been nobody since. > > > >That is why studios around the world started exploiting Lee’s image mere months after his death, creating a short-lived but vast genre now referred to as “Bruceploitation.” Films with titles like Super Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death, The Dragon Lives Again and The Big Boss Part II promised “unseen” work by Lee to audiences in the pre-information age. These films starred men with stage names that often mimicked Lee’s own, such as Bruce Li or Dragon Lee. Martial artists themselves, they mimicked his fighting styles, battle cries, costumes and famous characters. > > > >At first blush, there’s obviously something inherently disreputable about the entire endeavor. It’s bad taste at its core, particularly if you’re a fan of Lee’s work and philosophies. > > > >But could it also be a treasure trove of hidden gems? A library of films that capture a particular time, place and filmmaking approach that feels impossible today? What about men like Bruce Li (real name Ho Chung-Tao) or Bruce Le (Lǚ Xiǎolóng)? These were talented martial artists playing the roles available to them. To what degree does their work deserve recognition, well after generations of fans have had time to process Lee’s death and the decades of work that have honored him hence? > > > > ... > > > > Those questions form the hypothesis behind Severin Films’ new Blu-ray set, The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1, an eight-disc set featuring 15 films curated to give new audiences an introduction to the genre and what it had to offer. The set also includes the recent documentary, Enter the Clones of Bruce, which serves as an introduction to the overall set and makes up the first disc. It’s essentially a must-watch thesis statement for why the set exists and provides a more forgiving lens through which to view the films. > > > > As an avid reviewer of this sort of thing, it’s a unique pleasure to view a product so exquisitely crafted around asking a viewer to look at an entire genre in a new light. There’s no shortage of odd cult films receiving gorgeous restorations and fancy packages these days, filled with essays and commentaries attesting to their worth. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen something quite as deeply researched and passionate as the Game of Clones set. > > > > This isn’t a release that just dug up a bunch of oddities, threw them on discs, shoved them in a hardshell and commissioned some artwork. This entire project is constantly, earnestly attesting to the underappreciated significance of the Bruceploitation genre and has the scholarly receipts to make its case. The commentaries by Hong Kong film expert Frank Djeng and director / actor Michael Worth (who also does introductions for each film) are informative and, frankly, a little seductive. They, along with Severin, have created a set that begs you to watch every single disc. It feels like a curated adventure. That may be the highest praise I can give a product like this. > > > > ... > > > > The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1 is an early contender for the best Blu-ray box set of 2024. Even my beloved Shawscope sets from Arrow Video — perhaps the height of martial-arts film curation in my eyes — operate with the understanding that their sets all include a few unimpeachable classic films as a selling point. > > > > That’s not the case with Game of Clones. Everyone involved in this production understands they are operating on their back feet. They’re the underdogs, introducing new viewers to truly cult material. They understand the indescribable pleasure of discovery that comes with being a fan of schlock, of rarities, of true cinematic ephemera. And by god, they really manage to convey it. It’s not only that, but the selection of films and supplementary material really crafts an argument that these films — exploitative as they are — remain an enduring, even positive aspect of Lee’s legacy. I’m deeply impressed. > > Tech specs at Blu-ray.com

> Despite only having a short stint as a kung fu movie star, Bruce Lee had a tremendous impact on the genre, one that steered the direction of so many Hong Kong movie studios for years. For filmmakers, there was obviously a lot to learn from Bruce Lee's martial arts movies, but some did more than just take inspiration from the fighting in his films; a sizable number copied them directly through a strategy now commonly known as Bruceploitation. > > Movies associated with the Bruceploitation era typically starred actors with stage names similar to Bruce Lee's, so much that the difference sometimes only came down to the spelling. This approach also extended to the stars' physical appearances, as several of these actors were cast based on their resemblances to Lee. Unsurprisingly, this unapologetic effort to capitalize on Bruce Lee's popularity certainly received its share of scrutiny. However, that's not to say that Bruceploitation movies weren't entertaining.

1. The Three Avengers
2. Golden Dragon, Silver Snake
3. Clones of Bruce Lee
4. Challenge of the Tiger
5. The Dragon's Snake Fist
6. Bruce's Deadly Fingers
7. Fist of Fury II
8. Enter The Invincible Hero
9. Bruce Lee's Secret
10. New Fist of Fury

> In a career that has spanned seven decades, Hong Kong action movie legend Sammo Hung has seen a lot, and moreover, his body has been through a lot. So it wasn’t a surprise to see the 72-year-old use a cane as he took the stage for a masterclass session at the Tokyo International Film Festival. But as he captivated an appreciative audience, the confidence and humor that have seen Hung through his illustrious career in martial arts movies shone bright. > >Born into a showbiz family, Hung’s career began as a child actor while at the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera school in Hong Kong. He made his film debut in the early 1960s, aged nine. A slightly grainy, black and white clip of the film showed a fresh-faced boy Hung, to coos from his assembled admirers. “Training at the school was very severe. We learned all the fundamental movements. By the time you’ve graduated, you can do nearly any move,” said Hung. > > One of his big breaks came when he fought Bruce Lee in the opening scene of 1973’s seminal Enter the Dragon. Lee’s death that year left Game of Death unfinished, and in 1978, Hung was charged with the fight choreography for the reshoots. > > ... > > In his 1977 directorial debut The Iron-Fisted Monk, in which he also starred, Hung incorporated more of the comedy touches he had noticed audiences reacting well to in previous films. It helped kick off a trend for comedy kung fu flicks, made famous by rival and collaborator Jackie Chan in classics such as Drunken Master. “And Hong Kong films at that time were mostly in Mandarin, but we used Cantonese [for The Iron-Fisted Monk], and from then on decided to do all our films in Cantonese,” said Hung. > > ... > > Hung was also instrumental in creating the jiangshi genre of horror kung fu in the 1980s, inspired by his childhood love of ghosts and monsters. “I was always thinking about new elements that I could add to my action movies,” he said. “I barely took any time off during that golden era of Hong Kong cinema. I was still young and could go at that pace. Making movies was preferable to resting.” > >While the 1990s didn’t see Hung reach the heights of previous decades at home, he starred in two seasons of CBS’s Martial Law from 1998 to 2000, making him a rare East Asian lead on a U.S. broadcast network show. Co-starring with Arsenio Hall, the show was a surprise hit, despite Hung’s dialogue being limited by his English ability. > > ... > > Next up was a clip of the iconic table-top fight scene between Hung and Donnie Yen in Ip Man 2 (2010). Hung was asked if it was difficult to shoot the combat sequence with the athletic Yen, known for his martial prowess and training across multiple disciplines. > > “It wasn’t hard work with Donnie, he’s very skillful, and I’m also very skillful. We could do a lot of those in one take. Donnie is incredible, but I’m even more incredible,” smiled Hung, to laughter and applause from the audience.

Here is the Sammo Hung Masterclass from the Tokyo International Film Festival (no English subs)

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19139649

> > Sammo Hung is a legend in martial arts and kung fu cinema, playing many different roles as an actor and also producing, directing, and choreographing fight sequences, setting the trend on many aspects of the genre overall. He was a pivotal figure in the Hong Kong New Wave movement, creating some of the best kung fu films of the 1980s, popularizing the kung fu genre to a larger, international audience with his focus on clever stories, dramatic narratives, and more Western-style action and special effects, as well as other technical aspects, like synchronous sound and filming movies on different locations. > > > >Whether in front of the camera or behind it, Sammo has left his mark on the culture of martial arts cinema. Films like The Prodigal Son and Pedicab Driver are landmarks in their genre, with stand-out acting, storytelling, and fight scenes that are as iconic today as they were back then. Even 50 years later, Sammo's work is still held in high regard, and his ability to mix comedy and action blazed the trail for many future stars to come. An icon of kung fu cinema and cinema in general, Sammo's influence has created some of the best action films of all time. > > 1. The Prodigal Son (1981) > 2. Pedicab Driver (1989) > 3. Warriors Two (1978) > 4. Painted Faces (1988) > 5. Project A (1983) > 6. IP Man 2 (2010) > 7. Dragons Forever (1988) > 8. Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1988) > 9. Knockabout (1979) > 10. Eastern Condors (1984)

> During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to promote his new film, Here, Zemeckis was asked if there was anything that he'd like to tackle before he retires, such as a genre that he hadn't worked in before, or an actor that he hadn't worked with yet. The director responded by saying that he would like to produce Back to the Future: The Musical as a feature film, not unlike the filmed version of the Broadway production adapting Mel Brooks' The Producers. > >The stage musical version of Back to the Future opened in London's West End in 2021 to rave reviews, receiving the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2022. The show moved to Broadway in August 2023, with a national touring production beginning in June of 2024. However, it doesn't look like the movie adaptation will happen, as Zemeckis has already pitched the idea at Universal and "they don't get it."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19498281

> > Two Scots who are believed to own the biggest brick collection in the UK are looking for a museum to house all 6,000 of them. > > > >Mark Cranston and Ian Suddaby have spent the last 15 years collecting thousands of Scottish-made bricks from all over the world. > > > >Part of the collection is stored in two large stables in Mr Cranston's garden in the Scottish Borders; the rest is stacked outside Mr Suddaby's house in East Lothian. > > > >The pair have an agreement that if something happens to one of them the other will make sure their priceless collection is safe. However, they have now decided they need to find a more secure and permanent home for them. > > > > Mr Suddaby, an archaeologist who lives in New Winton, told BBC Scotland News the bricks were an important record of Scotland's industrial past. > > > >"Brick-making is a very important part of Scotland's history because we do have some of the best quality fireclay in the world for making industrial bricks. > > > >"And this ties in with the industrial revolution and I think it should be promoted to a wider audience and that should be in some sort of a museum. > > > > ... > > > > Among their collection is a special fire brick that was salvaged from the SS Politician, after it ran aground in the Outer Hebrides in 1941 carrying 264,000 bottles of malt whisky - inspiring the novel and film Whisky Galore! > > > >There is also a brick that was retrieved from the execution block at Barlinnie prison in Glasgow, before it was demolished in the late 1990s. > > > >The men own a Scottish-made brick recovered from an old gold mine in Washington state, USA. Their oldest brick is a drainage tile from 1833. > > > >Their collection even out-numbers that of The Brickworks Museum - the UK's only brick museum - in Swanwick, Hampshire, which has about 3,500 bricks.

> Two Scots who are believed to own the biggest brick collection in the UK are looking for a museum to house all 6,000 of them. > >Mark Cranston and Ian Suddaby have spent the last 15 years collecting thousands of Scottish-made bricks from all over the world. > >Part of the collection is stored in two large stables in Mr Cranston's garden in the Scottish Borders; the rest is stacked outside Mr Suddaby's house in East Lothian. > >The pair have an agreement that if something happens to one of them the other will make sure their priceless collection is safe. However, they have now decided they need to find a more secure and permanent home for them. > > Mr Suddaby, an archaeologist who lives in New Winton, told BBC Scotland News the bricks were an important record of Scotland's industrial past. > >"Brick-making is a very important part of Scotland's history because we do have some of the best quality fireclay in the world for making industrial bricks. > >"And this ties in with the industrial revolution and I think it should be promoted to a wider audience and that should be in some sort of a museum. > > ... > > Among their collection is a special fire brick that was salvaged from the SS Politician, after it ran aground in the Outer Hebrides in 1941 carrying 264,000 bottles of malt whisky - inspiring the novel and film Whisky Galore! > >There is also a brick that was retrieved from the execution block at Barlinnie prison in Glasgow, before it was demolished in the late 1990s. > >The men own a Scottish-made brick recovered from an old gold mine in Washington state, USA. Their oldest brick is a drainage tile from 1833. > >Their collection even out-numbers that of The Brickworks Museum - the UK's only brick museum - in Swanwick, Hampshire, which has about 3,500 bricks.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19494046

> > In the hit 1990 film The Krays, the East End gangsters were portrayed as “identical twins who rose from poverty to power”, “from obscurity to fame” and “from the back streets to the attention of the world”. They were “special” boys, the film claimed, who loved their mother. > > > >But the producer now says he regrets glamorising them and is making another film that will portray the mobsters as they really were. > > > > Ray Burdis said he wants to put the record straight: “They weren’t folk heroes. They were just a pair of cowardly psychopathic bullies, who terrorised the East End of London in the 1960s.” > > > >He said that films such as The Godfather, the Marlon Brando classic about the mafia, had made it fashionable to idolise gangsters. > > > >The Krays, which starred brothers Gary and Martin Kemp in critically acclaimed performances, was a huge box-office success, taking more than £100m globally. > > > > ... > > > > The new film, which he is writing and directing, is titled Last Kings of London. It will be much darker, depicting swinging 1960s London, “where corruption plagued the police force and crime families ruled the streets”, he said.