Movie review - "Exodus" (1960) *** (warning: spoilers)

Otto Preminger does Leon Uris' best seller in that 1950s/60s style - widescreen, colour, self importance, stars. Dalton Trumbo got screen credit which was gutsy of Preminger. Because Hollywood doesn't make this sort of movie any more its virtues can be more appreciated - particularly the cast (now mostly dead), photography and location work. That and the fact that the issues are still hot -  it's not as though Jews have life much easier.

Eva Marie Saint is an American nurse. Paul Newman a Jewish freedom fighter. Peter Lawford a nasty British officer. Ralph Richardson a nice one. Sal Mineo a heavily traumatised concentration camp survivor. Jill Haworth (a role turned down by Hayley Mills apparently - or, rather, her parents) is a more optimistic camp survivor. George Mahari is another Jewish fighter. J Lee Cobb is Newman's dad, Alexandra Stewart his sister. She doesn't do much, hangs around in shorts - ditto Saint.

Some scenes are very potent - such as Mineo trying to join the Irgun, and an old guy (David Opatashu, playing Newman's brother) sussing out what he really did in the war.

Newman walks around moodily and charismatically. Saint hangs around occasionally dispensing medicine. Haworth is sweet but pretty awful. Support cast generally strong.

Solid set pieces - King David bombing, escape from Acre prison, final attack. Effective moments with Haworth dying rather than Mineo which you would think would happen. John Derek smiles as an Uncle Tom Arab but gets an effective death, strung up with the Star of David etched into it.

It's not as anti British as the book but is still fairly anti Arab, who are in cahoots with Nazis here.

A film for adults, still. Those days are gone.

Movie review - "Bad Timing" (1980) **1/2 (warning spoilers)

 The most artistically ambitious of Rank's late 70s slate - Jeremy Thomas had produced The Shout for them, and then got attached to this to work with Nic Roeg.

It's basically a two hander, and a sexy one, starting with Teresa Russell trying to kill herself and flashing back to the relationship she had with Art Garfunkel. It's a showy role for Russell even if a little pervy - a lot of showy roles from auteurs tend to be pervy (eg Blonde), showing sexy women to be uninhibited, abused, horny, naked, rooting older men.

There's non linear editing so you see a bit of nude Russell and Garfunkle, so Garfunkle fans won't want to miss it (actually a lot of him is nude). Harvey Keitel is an Austrian cop investigating - the film is set in Vienna. Denholm Elliot is an ex (or is he "ex") of Russell's.

The film consistently cuts to shots of Russell getting a tracheotomy and ends with Garfunkle poisoning Russell and then raping her while she's comatose. Also he stalks her and is obsessed. But he isn't punished for it so the film isn't very satisfying from a justice point of view.

After a while the acting and direction don't really hold the interest. It does have a swing, I'll give it that, it's just a bit too pervy for me ("oh I'm showing how badly men treat women by making a film about a young fuck doll who loves to root older guys").

Movie review - "Grease" (1978) **** (re-watching)

 Yep, problematic. Quite bleak in many ways - the sexual harasment, low prospects for the kids. Everyone's so old especially Sonny. Wonderful numbers. Edd Byrnes is very funny. Ditto Frankie Avalon, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Alice Ghostley, Dody Goodman. So much going on - that's why the film can be watched countless times. Tom and Patty Symcox, Cha Cha (the one student with ambition.. okay maybe Marty too), the female mechanic teacher, Fran and Putzie (a sweet couple who might make it)...

Touches on many universal themes - wanting to fit in at a new school, not being picked at the dance, a car, asking someone out, finding a date, liking someone who doesn't like you, being with a perfect person who is actually dull.

Great songs. Wonderful dancing. Why didn't they copy this more closely?

Various thoughts:

- John Travolta, so slim, so handsome, so vulnerable - you fotgive him anything even the sexual assault, his eyes are so open, he's a leader, he can sing and dance etc etc... what a star. It's amazing he was considered such a joke in the 80s.

- Olivia Newton John, awkward acting but it doesn't matter, so pretty, so good with John, they have genuine chemisty, she really seems her part.

- Stockard Channing. Ah the gay men who love her song. Women too. She has a reality to her which the sequel doesn't have. she's a real person. Not a bad person just threatened. Not maligned. Redeemed. As the actresses said she loves sex and is threatened by Sandy.

- Jeff Conaway. Like Travolta he can sing and dance, etc. Doesn't have the vulnerability which is why he wasn't a big a star... but he has some. An alpha male. He and Travolta are alphas who would be good in a fight in the sequel all the T Birds were jokes.

- Marty. A very believable type. Ambitious. Likes high status guys - Vince Fontaine, marines. She doesn't care a twig for Sonny but he would buy her things. Not a bad person. I like how she helps Sandy. But less of a joke character.

- Fran. Very identifiable. A nice Pink Lady, like Frenchie, Eating problem. What a great character note. Makes her stand out. Everyone knows this character. She and Putzie could make it.

- Frenchie. Sweet, lovely. No eating disorder so differentiated from Fran.

- The supporting three T Birds Kind of mix in, Sonny being more wild... play it like three stooges. But very effective. So harmless.

Movie review - "Silver Dream Racer" (1980) ** (warning: spoilers)

 Late era Rank film with David Essex as a bike racer. He sings on the soundtrack. There's an imported star (Beau Bridges). Written and directed by David Wickes, best known for TV but then flying high because of The Sweeney film.

It's got energy and pep. I wondered why Essex didn't become a bigger star after That'll Be the Day but looking at this I'm not surprised - he's got this sort of wet presence.

As one critic pointed out this needed a touch more Roger Corman - there's not that much racing, little nudity. More sex and action and tension. There's too much time devoted to Cristina Rains hanging out with Essex. And that's  a confusing love story because Essex has a girl then she vanishes, and Rains is with Bridges then Essex? There's a lot of zingers in the script but few are funny and the construction is off.

Some fine track work is ruined by poor back projection. Essex sings some nice tunes. Should've done more.

Clark Peters shines in a support role. But confusing decisions for a commercial film. End the movie with Essex dying? Have an American villain? 

Nothing wrong with an exploitation sports film. But they didn't know how to do it.

Movie review - "Eagle's Wing" (1979) **

 I don't know how the hell Anthony Harvey got two million quid out of Rank to make this - an arty Western shot in Mexico with a bunch of respected, non box office names (Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston in brownface as an Indian, Harvey Keitel, Stephanie Audran). Sheen and Keitel are trappers, Waterston is after a white horse but then Sheen gets the horse and Waterston holds up a coach with Audran and takes a woman hostage - not Audran but Caroline Langrishe (Audran's hardly in it). Oh and there's these Mexican cowboys trying to rescue Langrishe - I think.

The synopsis gives some idea of what's the problem. This should be simple and I guess it is as it's a series of chases, but it's also diffuse because people are chasing different things.

Everyone can act but Waterston looks silly as a Kiowa in a 1979 film and Sheen isn't the most compelling cowboy (he's not helped by being knocked out and having Waterston walk away a few times, giving Waterston all the power). Langrishe is beautiful but the relationship between her and Waterston is yuck because it's that rapey-kind-of-fall-in-love-abduction creepiness.

By the end of this I was "what's the point". Interesting music, beautifully shot. Just... why?

Movie review - "Pirate of the Half Moon" (1957) **

 Swasbuckler with imported American star a few years before this became super, super common. John Derek was the second tier name.

He's a pirate who pretends to be a minstrel, winds up at a acastle.I got confused. He takes over the castle. There's a final fight on the beach which was decent. That's about it. Some romance.

Book review - "Captain in Calico" by George MacDonald Fraser (warning: spoilers)

 Gave this another read (well, listen - in audio book form). It's polite. Professionally written. Never comes alive. Lacks humour. Woodes Rogers sends Jack Rackham on a mission. He falls for Anne Bonney. Gets involved in piracy, gets captured. There's not a lot of story. Little of the famous humour and historical details. The ending has Rackham saved and another person killed in his place - I feel there should be more story. There's a French pirate captain straight out of Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood and Anne B is very Maureen O'Hara. Some decent action sequences. It is of interest.

Movie review - "Alien vs Predator" (2004) **1/2

 Paul W.S. Anderson wrote and directed this cheerful video game style cross over which does everything it needs to do. It's set in the Antarctic, a team financed by a rich dying billionaire (Lance Henriksen) pokes around and discovers a crypt and there's predators and aliens etc.

I thought it was quite sweet (and believable) that the predators generally had it over the aliens. But it feels silly somehow that the predators used humans to breed aliens to chase and would blow up civilisation that didn't work out. That doesn't ring true. That's a lot of effort. Can't aliens survive without humans?

The film gives people what they want on a base level - face hugging, eggs, predators tracking and killing people. A bit more suspense/creepiness wouldn't have gone astray.

The two leads aren't terribly charismatic. Sigourney and Arnie are missed.

Book review - "Conclusions" by John Boorman (2020)

 Second volume of Boorman's memoirs isn't as entertaining as Adventures of a Suburban Boy. Money Into Light or his Projections diaries but is still worth a read. Boorman is a good writer and if this period involves his less renowned films - Tailor of Panama, The General, Tiger in the Tail - it's still of interest. I enjoyed the profiles of people like Bob Chartoff and his kids. Others such as his Irish mates was less compelling.

Movie review - "Love Letters" (1984) ***

 A story of how this got made it charming: Amy Holden Jones wanted to direct, she got her chance via Roger Corman and Slumber Party Massacre then she cashed in her chits to make this. Corman put his name on it as a producer - I think he was taken by the fact it feels influenced by Ingmar Bergman, with its simple shots, educated and cultured characters (Jamie Lee Curtis works for public radio, James Keach is a photographer) people trying to deal with emotional issues on a rational level. 

It's the sort of story I could imagine Woody Allen trying to tell although he'd probably make the woman more crazy and there would be more analysis. A more typical thriller (dare I say it male director/writer) and Curtis would've gone full Fatal Attraction.

The female writer-director gives it a fresh angle - you can imagine the pervy version about the story of the Other Woman. This is one with a lot more emphathy - it's clear Keach is a good root (even though he gives of a stalky vibe), her mum is dead, her dad is a useless boozer. The matter of fact way he seduces her is quite quick - he makes eyes at her, asks her out for a drink, says he's married and then pow. A bit more of seduction maybe couldn't have gone astray but maybe that's how it's done!

There's a bit of nudity which Corman required to sell the piece - and you know it does liven things up. As does the settings - Curtis lives by a canal (in Venice).

The cast is really good. Amy Madigan is Curtis' BFF, Bud Cort her co worker. Curtis is very good - she made this before Trading Places but I think it was released after. Keach is a little creepy.

Movie review - "Avatar: The Way of Water" (2022) *** (warning: spoilers)

 I totally enjoyed that more than I thought I would. It was a struggle at times - that running time - but it was quite moving. Then I guess Jim Cameron is a dab hand at trope manipulation - it's hard not to be stirred when the peaceful natives have their villages pummelled (again), or to feel for whales who are harpooned, or to be roused when the whales kick arse, or to love it when whalers get devastated, or to be moved when babies play in the ocean and people die, and people have a final glimpse of their final dead family member.

Also it hits on universal themes: fear of protecting family, bickering siblings, the good son versus the troublesome son, the walking stakes kids, the kids feeling out of step.\

The flaws are big but oddly one would think they were easily fixable. They set up this plot about colonising Pandora but that gets forgotten (along with Edie Falco's unconvincing general) to hang out with whales. I mean, weren't the forest people at war again? Isn't that still going on? Would the baddies devote all these resources to tracking down Sam Worthington once he actually leaves the forest people - I mean he's no longer a threat/mastermind because he's gone right? Why didn't they just make it a generic flight thing - he tries to flee but realises he can't any more. And Zoe Saldana's part is nothing. For a hippy movie it's very patriarchal.

Still, I was engrossed more often than not, the spectacle was fun, as was re using jungle movie tropes (there's even a comely native girl walking out of the ocean), and I got a little teary at the end.

Movie review - "Prey" (2022) ****

 Maybe I'm being over generous - the characterisations aren't that great or the relationships (hero is plucky, no interesting interactions) - but it's such a relief to see a sequel that isn't bad. It gets the first movie, reinvents it. Charismatic lead, stunning scenery, some good action. The introduction of the French provides a strong second act boost. Stirring moments. Deserves its praise.

Movie review - "High Hell" (1958) **

 Set in the Canadian mountains, shot in Switzerland. A group including John Derek look for treasure. The cast includes Elaine Stewart who was Derek's co star in The Adventures of Haji Baba which was more fun.

This isn't bad for a "B" picture. They may as well have set it in Switzerland though. Stewart gets harrassed taking a bath by a baddy then Derek comes along and things get hot and heavy.

People squabble over gold. Not a lot of action. There's not much to say apart from its unusual shoot.

Movie review - "The Predator" (2018) **

 A good concept - get Shane Black to had a go - and a colourful cast suffers under the weight of too many plots and too much exposition. They could have started the film like Escape from New York with a bunch of prisoners being transported, then detoured to meet Olivia Munn. That means the film could have focused on its main strength - the by play of the characters on the bus.

(The irony of this being the original script was much longer and coherent).

I wish Arnie had come back to star in it - surely he'd be free now? Boyd Holbrook starts off fine but I'm not sure he's a star. (At the least he's miscast as a "seen it all" experienced sniper solder.) He becomes more annoying as the film goes on, as does the film. 

There's a lot of sacrifice from the gang but because we haven't spent that much time with them it doesn't mean as much when they die heroically (I gather this wasn't an issue in the original script). But I lost track of who was who.

The story gets dumber and also more confusing as it goes along with good predators, cloning, powerful autistic kids and so on. Expanding the lore is fine but I got confused and the Marvelesque setting up sequels etc is just draining. I wish studios would stop trying to be Marvel. By the time of that final coda scene I wanted to yell at the screen - "stop just stop I don't want to see this film any more or any more like it".

There's some Black tropes in there - buddy comedy between Thomas Jane and Keegan-Michael Key, a small kid who witnesses a lot of action (eg Nice Guys, Last Boy Scout). He just should've done Assault on Precinct 13 with the Predator, or made it a buddy detective film with the Predator.

Book review - "Rumpole a la Carte" by John Mortimer

 It's always tricky to find a copy of Rumpole and the Age of Miracles for some reason.

• "Rumpole à la Carte" - Rumpole defends a chef leading to funny jokes about modern cooking, good value.
  
• "Rumpole and the Right to Silence" - Rumpole defends a northern academic who doesn't want to reveal what he's been up to. Some fun of the north, academe and marriage.
• "Rumpole and the Summer of Discontent" - Satiring trade unions and strike action.
  
• "Rumpole at Sea" - Rumpole on a cruise ship with Justice Graves.
• "Rumpole and the Quacks" - Rumpole defends an Asian doctor accused of sexual misconduct on a patient. Mortimer isn't great on rape accusation, or Asians.
  
• "Rumpole for the Prosecution" - Rumpole is engaged to undertake a private prosecution. This was fun, great concept, decent mystery.
  

Movie review - "Predators" (2010) *** (warning: spoilers)

 Over time the reputation of Predator remained high so here's a late sequel, from Hungarian director  Nimrod Antal, which sends the action back to the jungle. Instead of tough guy stars however there's a bunch of good actors pretending to be tough guys. There's nothing wrong with the actors, everyone is talented, but the casting lacks an element of fun that make the first two films in the series so entertaining - Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, etc. I wish Trejo had played the lead instead of Brody. Brody does nothing wrong, neither does Braga, they're both just dull (haunted,  yep, basically decent, yep, whatevs).

The film's got some good ideas - it's on a foreign planet of the predators, they run into Laurence Fishburn who has been there for years. The film picks up. But they kill Fisburn too soon - they should have kept him alive.

The gang throw in some different sort of killers - crim Walter Goggins and serial killer Topher Grace - but they don't seem to fit. Also they don't reveal Grace is a serial killer until too late. And after a while it's clear people are just there to die which is frustrating.

Still not bad. Polished. Tries to elevate the material.

Top Ten Eddie Murphy

 1. Trading Places (1983) - the first of his I saw

2. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) - will never forget seeing this in the cinema

3. Shrek (2001) - the film has, I guess, become tired in the memory because it was so exploited but his voice work is marvelous

4. Coming to America (1988) - charming leading man performance, superb comic riffs

5. Boomerang (1992) - not well remembered but very enjoyable riff on Cary Grant style films

6. Dolemite is My Name (2019) - lovely biopic with Murphy very engaging

7. Bowfinger (1996) - brilliant as a movie star

8. 48 Hours (1982) - taken for granted a little, but he's very good

9. The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) - hey I always liked it

10. Harlem Nights (1990) - I'm putting this up here just 'cause

Movie review - "Predator 2" (1990) ***

 Dismissed at the time, rather unfairly, but it ages well in part because it exemplifies a film no longer made: the noisy Joel Silver actioner. There's drug wars, hamfisted satire of the media, tough cops giving sass to their lieutenants, strong supporting actors. It gives Danny Glover a great starring part (maybe he can't quite carry it off but I love he's got the chance), throws in Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Bill Paxton, Maria Conhcita Alonzo and Morton Downey Jnr (who counted at the time).

The script cheats a lot - the Predator is forever attacking segments of LA where the cops happen to be (eg a train where Alonzo and Paxton are on board along with a Bill Goetz style mugger shooter). It's disparate geographically.

It's silly but it takes its own path instead of remarking the first so good on it. Directed by Stephen Hopkins.

Script review - "13 Lives" by William Nicholson

 They try not to make it a white saviour movie but it's about white heroes in the third world - that is unavoidable. This is still a gripping tale. I actually didn't know how they rescued the kids -this shows that. It's especially hard to watch as a dad seeing the kids be knocked out. I maybe thought they could have shown the unsuccessful rescues the leads took part in.

Movie review - "Predator" (1987) ****

I remember with this film you really felt Arnie was going to be different from any old action movie star - this was "elevated genre" despite John McTiernan not having much of a track record. It starts excellently, with its beautiful photography and rousing music and star entrance, a bunch of macho tough guys on a mission.

The cast is a hilarious combo - Arnie, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham and whimpy old Black. Everyone looks like a body builder rather than a regular soldier - apart from Black But the machismo is hilarious (such as Arnie and Carl shaking hands) and most have actual characters to play: Black's is limited to making jokes about big vaginas, but Bill Duke gets to be in love with Ventura, Richard Chavez has mor rat cunning, Weathers gets to redeem himself, Landham goes crazy, . Oh there is a hot native girl who acts as an audience surrogate.

The film has a big benefit from the others in that this one they got to show the monster for the first time.

It switches into a higher plane for the last act when Arnie goes solo against the monster.

TV review - "Fleishman is in Trouble" (2022) *****

 Saw this via word of mouth. Stunningly good. Literary and specific in the best way. Lizzy Caplan is a national treasure. Everyone is good. Wonderfully directed. Ah, magnifico. Maybe could've given Clare Danes a proper scene in the last ep,

Movie review - "Gone with the West" (1975, made 1968) *

 Ugh. A sort of jokey Western, "way out" and "crazy". Stupid. Cheap. Dumb. Quite a serious story - James Caan is a cowboy framed by Aldo Ray and goes looking for revenge. Ray's scenes seem like they are filmed on different days and cut in. Stephnie Powers plays an Indian. Sammy Davis Jr is a cowboy. He should've played the lead - that would've given the film some point. Caan is professional and accomplished. Awful.

TV review - "Only Murders in the Building Season 2" (2022) ****

  Still great fun. Just the right amount of Martin Short. Selena Gomez doesn't seem that into kissing Cara. Loved Iran Contra riff. Lots of twists at the end. Maybe doesn't have the same heart with the trio becoming friends but still fun.

Book review - " The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" by Jessica Radloff

 The best segment is the inception of the show - the near misses, the three goes at a pilot (Jodi lyn O'Keefe's Penny was too mean, then they got a nicer actress but the character was still too mean then got a new character and actress and they were off to the races), the opportunities missed (Kevin Sussman was cast in a lead but Ugly Betty wouldn't let him go), finding the voice of the series. Then as the show becomes successful the book is less interesting - it's about high fiving, dealing with fame, and complaining about the lack of Emmies, and guest stars from people linked to (zzz) Star Wars.. It does perk up at the end with tension among the cast over contract negotiations.

The show's less pleasant racial humour isn't really explored.

My Sight and Sound Top Ten

 (If I'd been invited :))

1. The Sentimental Bloke (1919)

2. Max Max Two (1981)

3. I Know Where I'm Going (1945)

4. Dr Strangelove (1963)

5. Goodfellas (1990)

6. Casablanca (1942)

7. North by Northwest (1959)

8. Ghostbusters (1984)

9. The Terminator (1984)

10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Ah, I can't do a high brow list...

Neil Simon Top Ten

 1. The Odd Couple

2. Plaza Suite

3. Barefoot in the Park

4.Biloxi Blues (script)

5. Chapter Two

6. California Suite

7. Lost in Yonkers

8. The Heartbreak Kid (script)

9. Promises, Promises

10. They're Playing Our Song

Chips Rafferty Top Ten

 1. Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940)

2. The Overlanders (1946)

3. Bush Christmas (1947)

4. Bitter Springs (1950)

5. King of the Coral Sea (1953)

6. They're a Weird Mob (1966)

7. Wake in Fright (1971)

8. Spyforce - Reily's Army (1971)

9. Smiley (1956)

10. Walk Into Paradise (1956)

Top Ten Alex Korda Films

 (as producer and director and I haven't seen his silent /Hungarian films)

1. The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

2. That Hamilton Woman (1941)

3. The Drum (1938)

4. The Four Feathers (1939)

5. Thief of Bagdad (1940)

6. The Ghost Goes West (1936)

7. The Spy in Black (1939)

8. The Third Man (1949)

9. Knight Without Armour (1937)

10. A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)

Top Ten Blake Edwards

 1. Operation Petticoat (1959)

2. Days of Wine and Roses (1963) 

3. Breakfast at Tiffanys (1961)

4. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1975) - limiting it to one in this series

5. 10 (1979)

6. SOB (1981)

7. Victor Victoria (1982)

8. Skin Deep (1989)

9. The Great Race (1965)

10.Experiment in Terror (1962)

Book review - "Life's Work: A Memoir" by David Milch

 Not sure if I've ever read a memoir by someone with Alzheimer's a lot. Milch has been through a lot - or rather, his wife has. I thought of her constantly reading this especially as she's not very well defined here - Milch's drug addiction, spending habits, gambling habits, temper. I guess you can forgive a lot with writing genius - maybe not blowing all their cash.

Milch wrote a highly readable book about NYPD Blue with Bill Clark which included a lot of stuff in this book. This of course fleshes it out - a not particularly interesting childhood (there's a lot of talk about someone called Judgy), an academic career (Robert Warren Penn) then rapid fame and wealth via Steven Bochco and Hill Street Blues. 

He had a number of flops - Brooklyn South, Bay City Blues, Beverly Hills Buntz, John from Cincinnati, - and these are recounted here along with the hits. The background to all these is interesting.

He's very magnanimous about David Caruso (their kids became good friends). I would've liked more gossip but that's not Milch's style.

Book review - "Juliet Naked" by Nick Hornby

 The fan character Gordon is wonderful and the book suffers a little when he's not around, Annie and Tucker are fine just not as vivid. Terrific last act. I wouldn't have minded a clearer ending.

Book review - Rumpole#6 - "Rumpole's Last Case"

 "Rumpole and the Winter Break" - Rumpole defends a Muslim.

"Rumpole and the Blind Tasting" - some satire of wine with the Timsoms up for stolen win. Fiona Allways is too boring storywise so they bring in Liz Probert which was a good idea.

"Rumpole and the Bright Seraphim" - defends a soldier found dead in a woman's dress. Based on a true story, the military setting gives it freshness.

"Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow" - Guthrie on the bench and gets in trouble. Lots of fun.

"Rumpole and the Official Secret" - spies and murder, a rather outlandish tale on a way.

"Rumpole and the Old, Old Story" - Hilda kicks out Rumpole who moves in with the Erskine Browns which funny. Solid murder story.

"Rumpole's Last Case" - Rumpole thinks he's going to gamble his way out of trouble and you know it's not going to happen so it's quite funny and touching.

Book review - Rumpole #5 - "Rumpole and the Golden Thread" by John Mortimer (1983)

 "Rumpole and the Genuine Article" - Rumpole defends a forger, makes fun of the art world and deals with Justice Featherstone. Great fun.

"Rumpole and the Golden Thread". Rumpole goes to Africa- a country based on Nigeria and wins a case he's meant to lose. The setting makes this very fresh.

"Rumpole and the Old Boy Net". Very funny with Rumpole defending some old school tie types who run a brothel. Rumpole meets his new head of chambers, Soapy Sam Ballard - a nasty stuffy little Christian, presumably introduced because he's more of a decent antagonist than Guthrie.

"Rumpole and the Female of the Species". Rumpole decides to champion female barrister Fiona. Some very funny comedy although the sexual politics are dicey.

"Rumpole and the Sporting Life". Rumpole defends Fiona's sister who is accused of murder. Fun satire of country life.

"Rumpole and the Last Resort". Hilarious ep with Rumpole faking his own death.