RIP Geoffrey Palmer. It was great seeing him in Tomorrow Never Dies. A good in-joke for Judi Dench’s M. And of course, he was terrific in As Time Goes By. My wife and I really enjoyed that show. He had great chemistry with Dench. He’ll be missed.
1 Like
I just recently watched the two boat chases from LALD and TMWTGG and they both hold up pretty well because they were live action stunts. Whereas TWINE’s jetboat through the streets of London I never found believable along with its annoying whine sound.
You’re right though in that we can appreciate the creativity of shsooting analog effects. For example, in Star Wars placing the camera underneath the model of the Death Star exploding so that the sparks don’t appear to fall from gravity, as opposed to a sideways view which would make it look like a 4th of July firework. However, in YOLT the flames curling upward underneath the rocket liftoff has always looked bad. And DAF’s red space lasers exploding missiles in China looks cheap. Moonraker’s effects, on the other hand, still look current (aside from space lazer battle, that is!)
1 Like
R.I.P. to a legendary player.
Arguably the greatest
1 Like
No argument about it in Naples and Argentina.
1 Like
True maybe not so much in Brazil
He was great to watch at his peak, which for me, was 1984 to 1986. His ability to go past players (quite often two at a time) was wonderful to watch, he had great upper body strength, and the change of pace was also outstanding.
He scored the most controversial goal and one of the greatest goals ever seen within 5 minutes of each other in Argentina’s 2-1 win over England in the 1986 World Cup. Of course, he cheated with the hand ball.
He was also later found to be a drug cheat in the 1994 World Cup, just after scoring that excellent goal against Greece.
Where to put him among the greats? Well he is up there. He’s a role model for kids who want to change the game, and take on players. He is definitely not a role model on how to balance the sport with the personal life, like Messi and Ronaldo are.
But he didn’t hit the heights for as long as Pele, Messi, Ronaldo or Cruyff, so it’s hard to say where he fits in the all-time list.
2 Likes
YAROSLAV HORAK
6 Likes
2 Likes
Sad news. Also remember him as the Green Cross Code Man on UK TV adverts in the early 80s.
1 Like
Also was responsible for getting Chris Reeves into shape for Superman
2 Likes
Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson has died. He had a small role as DEA officer Mullens in Licence to Kill. Apart from his athletic and acting career, he’s best known for tackling the assassin of Robert Kennedy.
4 Likes
The Circus has lost Control…
2 Likes
Sad news indeed. Number of his books on my shelf. Quite the legacy.
2 Likes
Here’s what Ian Fleming thought of le Carré and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, taken from his Redbook conversation with ex-CIA chief Allen Dulles:
FLEMING: We’ve had very interesting book published in England which I see is now on sale here, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. It’s a very, very fine spy story.
DULLES: I’ve read it. I got an advance copy of it. [Playfully] But I thought somebody was invading your field a little bit. You’re having some competition there, aren’t you?
FLEMING: I don’t object to that. Because first of all, I admire this book very much. It’s very well written. But of course, the only trouble about this is, it’s taking the “mickey” out of the spy business.
DULLES: [Laughing]: Explain that a little bit. I’d like to get you to explain that.
FLEMING: Well, none of us wants to do it. I mean, none of us professional writers about spies want this to happen. We want the romance—at least I do; I’m talking for myself—I want the romance and the fun and the fantasy to go on. If you reduced the whole thing to police daywork or ordinary secret-service daywork, it would bore the reader to tears.
DULLES: Well, I didn’t think this did.
FLEMING: No, no. It didn’t. It was well done. But what he does to the spy story is to take the fun out of it. This is a serious, a most depressing, book. I mean, it’s a book that one reads with great respect, but it isn’t a book I would take an airplane journey. Because it wouldn’t take my mind off the airplane. It might even increase my fears and nervousness—
DULLES: I didn’t even know you had any!
FLEMING [Dryly]: Well done, Allen.
I concur with Fleming’s opinion of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, which deserves its reputation as the best and most acclaimed “serious” spy novel. But I still have a bit of trouble letting go of the fact that le Carré speciously attacked Fleming’s books, and that his own novels have been used as a stick to beat Fleming’s with for decades (as if there was only one way to write a spy novel!). Unlike Fleming, le Carré managed to live far into old age and bask in critical acclaim, so his death is less a sad one than the end of a very productive and successful life.
3 Likes
A “useful, happy, long life”?
Unlike Fleming, le Carre did not allow Mr. Bond to shorten it.
The George Smiley lifestyle is more likely to increase one’s lifespan than shorten it.
Fleming was dealing with depression, a failing marriage, and heart trouble that ran in the family (his nephew Nichol died at the same age from it); I don’t blame him for taking some refuge in Bond, even if it hastened his death.
1 Like