Spectator Life

Every week Spectator Life brings you doses of topical trivia – facts, figures and anecdotes inspired by the current week’s dates in history … January 9 In 1806, Nelson’s funeral was held at St Paul’s. He is buried in the crypt, directly underneath the top of the cathedral’s dome. His coffin was made of wood taken from a French ship captured by his forces at the Battle of the Nile. January 10 Rod Stewart (born 1945). When the singer made his first serious money, he told his mother he wanted to buy her a huge gift. She said she didn’t want anything. He begged her. She said she’d think about it. Eventually she rang back, and told him she’d like a new bread bin. January 11 Edmund Hillary (died 2008).

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a British actor in possession of a hit series and a face that hasn’t been thrashed by the ugly stick will, at some point, be mooted as the next Bond. So it’s surprising that it took Ladbrokes almost a fortnight after the period drama Bridgerton dropped on Netflix on Christmas Day to slash the odds on its star, Regé-Jean Page, becoming 007. For anyone still uninitiated, Bridgerton is the love child of Jane Austen and Jilly Cooper. It’s a Regency romp for those who feel that Georgette Heyer would be improved by more action on the library ladder.

‘All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.’ Enoch Powell, (Joseph Chamberlain, 1977) As President Donald J Trump witnesses the remaining days of his presidency ebb away, we take a look at the inevitable time when leaders face their ouster. Some face the end with resignation and fortitude, but sadly (for them), many cannot accept that they no longer hold the reins of power. So, as a no doubt disconsolate POTUS tucks into yet another cheeseburger (with two scoops of ice cream to follow), some motion pictures for him to reflect on. ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

At the best of times, January is a depressing month. Everyone is feeling poor and bloated after the Christmas extravaganza, and the days are still short and cold, with the nights drawing in far too early. Nobody has ever said ‘I’m really looking forward to January’. Which is why, with the spectre of illness and infection still stalking the land, the best thing that we can do is to stay at home with some of the most cheering films that we can find, and hope to banish the January blues that way. Of course, everyone enjoys a whacky comedy, or a gripping thriller, and they definitely have their place. But these films represent some of the most uplifting and purely enjoyable examples of cinema that we’ve seen over the past years.

When I was 11, Iraqi scud missiles exploded next to our home, collapsing part of our roof while I huddled together with my younger siblings on my parents’ bed wearing gas masks. This was in 1991, during the Gulf War when Israel was under attacks for the better part of January and February. I lived with my family near Tel Aviv, in an area designated ‘Zone A’ – the most likely to be hit by missiles. This wasn’t the only time I’ve experienced bombings: as an operations sergeant in the IDF, I was stationed on the border with Lebanon at a time of fierce and frequent fighting with Hezbollah; and as a civilian living in Israel during several rounds of fighting with Hamas that involved rocket attacks.

Looking for something new to watch on Amazon Prime this Christmas? Here’s our guide to the best shows and films arriving over the winter season: Tenet, 15 December (to rent or buy) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZGcmvrTX9M Christopher Nolan’s time-bending venture - which revolves around the concept of bullets fired backwards in time - may have failed to reverse the decline of the cinema industry when it opened in theatres earlier this year. But now the would-be blockbuster gets a second chance to deliver on the hype when it arrives on Amazon Prime, as a rental offering, just in time for Christmas. Will the head-scratching plot make any more sense after a few helpings of seasonal mulled wine? You never know.Uncle Frank https://www.youtube.com/watch?

With the sad news of John le Carré’s (1931-2020) passing this weekend, a retrospective of some of the finest screen adaptations in the writer’s canon. For many aficionados of the genre, le Carré was the unrivalled king of the spy novel, who maintained a remarkably consistent output – his final novel (the satire Agent Running in the Field) was only published just over a year ago. We’ll be looking primarily at movie adaptations, but I’ll also briefly take in the storied history of Le Carré on the small screen.

If this year you hear the distant rumble of dusty games’ compendia being brought down out of attics, it's safe to say you can blame Netflix's latest smash hit series The Queen's Gambit, which seems to be convincing everyone that chess can be cool. App stores are reporting a surge of searches for a game first brought to England ten centuries ago by Vikings. Set in the 1950s The Queen’s Gambit tells the story of Beth Harmon (played brilliantly by Isla Johnstone and Anya Taylor-Joy). Aged eight, she survives a fatal car crash only to end up in an orphanage.

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is on this week. The gardens are impressive, but my favourite part of the show has always been the enormous tent in the middle of it all, in which flowers from all round the British Isles are displayed. Radiant pots of daffodils sit alongside obscene-looking collections of orchids – and people come from around the world to ogle at them. So at this time of the year, thoughts naturally turn to flowers. If, like me, you only have limited space in your garden – or window box (where I am currently attempting to grow sweet peas) – then you may find yourself in need of a few reliable places from which you can always buy a handsome bunch of flowers for yourself or someone more deserving. There are plenty of mediocre florists around.

The end of March is nigh, and thanks to the EU’s latest pronouncements, a no-deal Brexit is still a very real possibility. The idea of No Deal causes most millennials to quake in their Balenciaga boots. But there’s nothing like a bit of positive thinking to get you through a crisis, right? Here are 7 reasons a no deal Brexit will be good for millennials. 1. Brexit provides a faultless scape goat We all need a go-to excuse to get us through life’s ups and downs, and now Brexit can be that for everyone. No longer do you need to rely on permanently delayed tubes, or numerous dying aunts – Brexit is here for you. Parents question why you don’t have a job? – Brexit. Why were you late for the party? Brexit. Need an excuse to break up with Mr wrong?

As we are now well into the unwanted Lockdown sequel and winter approaches, time perhaps to enjoy an enforced home cinema experience with a selection of movie thrillers that you may have missed the first time round. Titles range from big budget star vehicles to smaller scale pictures that introduced us to some of the possible on and off-screen icons of tomorrow. The Coldest Game (2019) – Netflix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12DftzVD2Gg I came across this Polish-produced Cold War thriller one night when searching for movies similar to Bridge of Spies (2015).

When you hear the word ‘stockpiling’, the first thought that pops into your head is probably the image of forest-dwelling folk in remote reaches of the US, usually bearded, always armed, with hunting vests, baseball caps, a few tonnes of canned food buried beneath their shack and enough kerosene to defrost Svalbard. Yet with the prospect of a hard Brexit edging ever closer, stockpiling has become a major pastime of businesses across the UK. The Economist have set aside 30 tonnes of paper to print their magazine, whilst Majestic have secured up to 1.5 million bottles of wine (should the worst happen, I know which warehouse I’ll be looting). Medicines and food are also being stored in bulk.

Even with filming and production stalled, Netflix is set to deliver an impressive slate of new content this autumn. From the return of Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown to new work from Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher, here’s our guide to what’s coming up. The Crown (Season four), 15 November https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT2ETodJq1Q To call The Crown the highlight of Netflix’s autumn season would be an understatement. After all, even the release of the official trailer – due any minute now incidentally – is usually enough to send the internet into a tizzy.

As Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending, time-travelling espionage extravaganza Tenet finally makes it to British cinemas (America, amusingly, has to wait a while longer) and with the much-delayed release of the new James Bond film No Time To Die apparently just a few months away now, big-budget films dealing with glossy espionage in all its forms are very much in demand. Yet cinema of the past couple of decades has found numerous different ways to portray spying, from the banal to the glossily explosive. It has encompassed literary adaptations, unrecognisable resurrections of Sixties television shows, deconstructed Cold War sagas and even sly updates of classic Seventies films. Here are half a dozen of the very best. Spy Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?

How has Titania found lockdown? I conduct most of my activism through Twitter, so lockdown has not prevented me from spreading my important message of social justice. The trick to Twitter is always to include a rainbow flag and pronouns in your bio. That way, when you’re calling your opponents evil, lowlife scumbags, trying to get them fired, or gloating if they die, everyone will know that you’re actually incredibly compassionate. You cite the likes of Meghan Markle, Hillary Clinton and Joseph Stalin as key influencers for children growing up today. Who were your own role models growing up? I did used to look up to Florence Nightingale, but then I found out that she never said anything in support of non-binary rights, so I have to assume that she was transphobic.

‘Sequels are whores’ movies’, the great screenwriter William Goldman once opined. As with so much that Goldman said, it’s pithy, witty and often accurate. All of us have been lured into cinemas with the promise of the continuation of a great film, only to be sorely disappointed by the cynicism of a lazy cash-in. Several of these have deservedly gone down as some of the worst pictures ever made: there is no need for any sensible person to watch Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights or Jaws: The Revenge. Yet there are also examples of sequels that equal, even surpass, the original, where either the original filmmakers return to a story with new passion or a new director manages to revitalise a narrative with vigour and enthusiasm.

Whether you’re stuck at home in quarantine or just looking to spice up those weekday evenings, there’s plenty coming to Amazon Prime over the autumn. Here’s our round-up of the shows and films you don’t want to miss: The Boys (Season Two), 4 September https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN8fFM1ZdWo Set in a parallel universe in which superheroes are real – and form a crucial part of America’s police industrial complex – The Boys is a smart and timely satire that packs a serious punch. Don’t let the familiar capes and claws aesthetic fool you: this is no Marvel rip-off. For all their YouTube-friendly stunts, this is a series about how latex-clad ‘supes’ aren’t always as wonderful as they make out – a fact hidden by their shadowy corporate backers.