Movies at Home: The Fog, Halloween and Kiss Me Deadly

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The John Carpenter 1980 film The Fog is showing its age. Written with Debra Hill, it starred Adrienne Barbaux, Janet Leigh, and newcomer Jamie Lee Curtis. The first of these was excellent as the radio DJ. But the special effects for the fog and what comes with it were disappointing and tame by today's standards. 

Another John Carpenter movie, this time way more scary. 1978's Halloween is the first in what is now a whole industry created around this story. I had never seen it before, and what was impressive for me were the exterior shots of the Haddonfield township, the light, and the cinematography. But this all changes in the dark. We know from that scary introduction why young Michael Myers was locked up, but here we are fifteen years later, and the results of his escape are all so predictable. We see the "deserted" Myers house, and then over someone's shoulder on the evening of Halloween. 

It's a very young Jamie Lee Curtis who takes centre stage. She is very good. And I was surprised to see Donald Pleasance in a major role. I had not expected that. There are shots of children out trick or treating, but only from a distance. But it's that car that we know so well that appears all over the place. It's when it gets dark that it gets scary. In one house a mother cries, "There's no one out there." But we know better.

Kiss Me Deadly was one of the recommended films in David Thomson's book "Have You Seen ...." where he called it "magnificent". It is the first of those Mike Hammer movies from 1955. Directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Ralph Meeker, the cinematography in black and white is quite something. There are scenes that would not look the same in colour with those high camera angles and the exceptional lighting. The acting is quite stylised by today's standards, but the plot rattles along as private eye Mike Hammer tracks down the villains. There is some violence that would not be made today, but what an ending. 

Monty Don's Final Goodbye to Gardener's World

 

Gardner's World on Friday evening said goodbye to presenter Monty Don. He took over from Alan Titchmarsh in 2003 and has led the programme since then, with a break between 2008-2011 due to illness. I have watched most of the episodes over the years, making lots of notes along the way. Originally at Berryfields, he moved to his garden, Longmeadow, 23 years ago, and it's here we have seen the changes he has made over all this time. His gentle presentation came with a highly knowledgeable expertise. 

I have no idea who could replace him. Current presenters Adam Frost, Carol Klein and Joe Swift, along with Toby Buckland, who stood in for those missing years, are not in the same in the same league. I doubt I would ever watch them as hosts. 

In his last programme, Monty was planting tulips for spring next year. So I have just returned from the garden centre with these. Thanks, Monty.

The Social Reckoning, Klara and the Sun and Ghosts:The Possession of Button House

 

I could not believe that half the film was just one set. In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg is being rehearsed for his forthcoming interview at the senate. None of this was particularly interesting. Far better are the scenes where whistleblower Frances Haugen (a brilliant Mikey Madison) meets Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) from the Wall Street Journal. But the film has no real resolution. I think Aaron Sorkin made a mistake trying to emulate the success of The Social Network.

How has Taiki Waititi (writer/director of the superb Jojo Rabbit) somehow messed up the book Klara and the Sun by Ian McEwan? My introducing too much humour into the character of humanoid Klara. She was forever grinning, instead of adopting a more deadpan approach. I'm not sure if the visuals that Klara experiences are worth transmitting to the big screen. Amy Adams is excellent as the mother, but I thought that Mia Tharia as her daughter Josie was miscast. I found Jenny Ortega as Klara also disappointing. As was their New Zealander help. I have to say that the second half was a little better. Wendy Ide in The Guardian said it "does not do the novel justice", and Empire Online said it was "wildly inconsistent". It was not even reviewed in Sight and Sound Magazine. I'm surprised that David Hayman's Hayday Films did not step in as they were let down by the director.  

I guess that a feature film based on the excellent TV series had to do something different. So I should not have been surprised that Ghosts: The Possession of Button House did. It had an ingenious plot, though very far-fetched. I will resist saying anything about what happens, except it involves a lot of young people. The house is in danger, but for anyone who saw the last episode of the TV series, they will know the ending. It was a shame that Alison and Mike were absent for so much. Instead, we get a lot of new characters with the protestors and those children. Thank goodness the ghosts get all the good lines, and I did laugh quite a bit. It just about kept me interested; much is down to the sharp editing as we dodge between the various plots. And Simon Farnaby was predictably brilliant as the Tory MP. 

Standing With Giants at National Trust Waddesdon

 

Yesterday we visited the National Trust property at Waddesdon to see the Standing With Giants installation. Alison took these photos on her phone. They do not do justice to the 1,476 figures set on the hillside. I should have taken my camera.

This is an extract from the website. 

This autumn, experience the moving Standing with Giants D-Day 1476: For Your Tomorrow installation at Waddesdon Manor. Set against the landscape, 1,476 life-sized figures commemorate the lives lost under British command on D-Day, creating a powerful space for remembrance and reflection. New figures for 2026 bring even more individual stories to this poignant installation. The display is created in partnership with Standing With Giants, a community-based project which works to raise understanding and appreciation of our freedom and to remember and pay tribute to those who gave their lives so we could live ours today.

New Figures For 2026

In this third year of display, new figures will be unveiled within the 1,476. These include Beach Masters, Dog Handlers, Royal Navy Officers, Tank Crew, Merchant Navy personnel and Royal Engineers. 

Reflecting the broader story of the Normandy Campaign, 40 additional silhouettes representing British Commando Frogmen and personnel serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps will also be included. 

The Main Border in September

 

After the drought this summer, I wondered what the main border looked like a couple of years ago. In that September, as in the photo above, it was great. Unlike this year. Perhaps I will need some more tolerant plants. Last year was not much better.

Dangerous Calm by Elizabeth Taylor

 

Dangerous Calm is a selection of twenty-one short stories taken from Elizabeth Taylor's four volumes with additional uncollected and unpublished stories. 

From "Hester Lilly"

SPRY OLD CHARACTER

Harry is blind and living in a specialist care home. He is only interested in the horse racing on the TV, but they are always changing channels. And nobody will read him the runners and riders. The Sporting Life (which was occasionally for delivery on my paper round) is not in Braille. The outing to the fair is memorable, as they insist Harry try the coconut shy. He actually gets quite near. 24 Pages.

NODS AND BECKS AND WREATHED SMILES 

Ladies meet in a cafe. 4 Pages.

OASIS OF GAIETY

Here is an elderly auntie. She has a daughter, Dosie (who "had no beauty as there was none to inherit"), who has already had two husbands, and a son, Thomas, fifteen years later. "Auntie's last bit of nonsense." But "he was an uncouth cuckoo in her nest. " It was Auntie who set out to create an "Oasis of Gaiety" for her children and friends. They're playing roulette and drinking champagne. 

Thomas is in the army and meets a friend at the station bar for a drink. Here there are "glas domes over the museum pieces of pork pie." 11 Pages.

From "The Blush"

THE BLUSH

Two ladies. Mrs. Lacy does the housework for the childless Mrs. Allen. But the former spends most evenings at the pub to the detriment of her family. We find out how she gets away with it. 9 Pages.

THE LETTER WRITERS

A first encounter after years of corresponding does not go to plan.  "The virtues of convululous". 15 Pages.

SUMMER SCHOOLS

Melanie and Ursula are sisters and teachers. In the summer holidays they each go separately elsewhere. Ursula goes to stay with Pamela, where a description of the house includes "lamps were made out of Chianti bottles". (They were in those days). Melanie goes to lectures. But each has an encounter that unsettles their future. 26 Pages.

PERHAPS A FAMILY FAILING

Beryl and Geoff are getting married. On their way to a hotel after the reception, Geoff insists they stop at a pub. "Only his obsession with public houses worried her". She thinks she can break his habit. Good luck with that. 11 Pages.

From "A Dedicated Man"

GIRL READING

Schoolgirl Etta goes to stay with her friend Sarah, whose family is much wealthier than hers. Although "her own mother was so warm and worldly." She studies Sarah's brother David and his girlfriend Nora, puzzled by their courtship. She sets herself to study love. But the two friends are so different; Etta always has her nose stuck in a book, while Sarah does not. Their mothers are different too but get on well. On their way home in the car, Etta's mother thought, "I might buy her a new dress, though it does seem a criminal waste when she has all her good school clothes to wear out." Back home, a letter for Etta and "the most extraordinary happening of her life." 22 Pages.

THE PREROGATIVE OF LOVE

Two couples meet for dinner at Lillah's house. Arrabella is Lillah's niece and is an unexpected guest. But with the friend she meets, they make the most of the evening. 14 Pages.

THE BENEFACTRESS

Next to the church are four almshouses where four widows separately reside. But the landlady of The Plough Inn, Mrs. Phyliss Butcher, is too late to reach the bedside of her elderly mother. She hates the funeral almost as much as she dislikes her horrible husband. Although she has an admirer at the pub, a customer with whom she gets on well. But Phyliss is a bit of a mystery. 16 Pages.

A DEDICATED MAN

Silcox and Edith are not married even though he refers to her as his wife. They are now working together at the Royal George Hotel next to the Thames. "He was stately, eyes like a statue, mouth like a carp's. " As for Edith, she was "one of those where the attraction of men is not part of her equipment." A strange relationship, a convenience for them both. 19 Pages.

From "The Devastating Boys"

THE DEVASTATING BOYS

Not a nice story (and a hard read) about two young and difficult London boys who are to spend two weeks in the countryside home of Laura and her (mainly absent) husband. Laura's own children are grown and gone, and her husband thought this was a good idea. But that last day, and the boys (not even friends) leaving by train, is brilliantly described. 21 Pages.

FLESH

A strange story about two single people, a man and a woman,  on a singles holiday abroad. They get together through their drinking at the bar. A developing relationship that has nowehere to go. A strange poignant story that I will read again. 19 Pages.

SISTERS

In a typically brilliant opening, Mrs Mason (now on her own) has just returned from shopping and there is a young man waiting for her. He wants to talk to her about Marion, her famous sister. For a book he is writing about her? But she is not interested and should have shown him out. But there is not much that Mrs Mason can add as her sister's story is so well known. Marion moved to France with a set of "raffish" people, swapping partners, you name it. Their father would have nothing to do with them. "I think she killed my father", who had put that first book "in the incinerator". Mrs Mason then is so upset she has let these two things out. As we are. 10 brutal pages.

HOTEL DU COMMERCE

Melanie and Leonard are newly married and arrive at this very uncomfortable hotel in France. They are disturbed at night, and already both these things result in some early unfriendliness. 11 Pages

MISS A. AND MISS M.

This is the very first story to be written in the first person. A new motorway is "leaving houses perched on islands of confusion." So much has gone, including Miss Alluiot's and Miss Martin's weekend cottage. We are in the 1920s, as our author tells us about going on holiday to this particular guest house with their mother at all times of the year. This is run by two elderly ladies, and there are two long-standing guests from London, Miss Louie and Miss Martin. (All these ladies are in two's). The author (looking back to these teenage years, which she believes seem far better than the present day) does not sound like a very pleasant person, as she admits, "Miss Martin was my friend, kind and sincere (but) I simply used her as a stepping stone to Miss Alliot. " Back at school, "I was moved up to a higher form". Not a nice story, not a nice narrator, and a sad ending. 18 Pages.

Fr0m "Uncollected Stories"

HUSBANDS AND WIVES

Alison is awaiting the return from the war of her husband Eric. They live in an isolated location, and Alison is disturbed one night by ... what or who? Or is it a dream? All a bit nightmarish. 9 Pages.

THE BLOSSOMING

Mrs. Partidge has just lost her husband and is horribly alone in a crumbling house. But she has the money now and is persuaded to do a revamp. But she insists on staying away while the builders are there. She gets bored and returns home, only to find the men are quite pleasant. It's all very nice. 18 wonderful Pages

THE WRONG ORDER

Three people: elderly Hilda and Hector together with their gardener and general helper, who lives in the studio in the garden. He is an artist, and could his paintings be on the threshold of greatness? All Hilda thinks about is her demise, but just look at the title. 15 Pages.

Unpublished Stories

A RESPONSIBILITY

Jessie is scared to death after accepting being a godmother to her friend Gwen's baby. Gwen "was not yet twenty but looked already like a downtrodden housewife. " Inside the church, "two groups huddled, ostensibly opposed. "Jessie's big problem is that the godfather, Frederick, used to be her boyfriend. So they all were very relieved when it was all over. 8 Pages.

VIOLET HOUR AT THE FLEECE

A man and woman enter a pub on a significant date, meeting there at the very end of the war and not having been there for years. But they are not related; we know she has children. He is just back from active service. They are so much at ease with one another. That is until her husband arrives. 5 Pages.

These stories were written between 1945 and 1973. 

Brighton and Hove Albion reach the dizzy heights of the Premier League

 

As soon as I started at Brighton College of Advanced Technology in 1963, my friend Ray and I went to every Brighton and Hove Albion match while we were there. This was the time they were in the Fourth Division of the Football League. It was only in 1965 that Brighton won the league and were promoted to Division Three. This was despite an awful start when they were next to bottom after eleven matches.

That season was memorable for the introduction of a new centre forward. Bobby Smith was an ageing England international let go by Tottenham Hotspur. But in this league he scored many memorable goals.

Brighton have had a chequered history since those days. The Goldstone Ground was sold in 1997 after the club incurred heavy debts. They were forced to play at Gillingham's ground seventy miles away. This was when they were in Division Three. In 1999 they were able to play at the Withdean Stadium, which was used for athletics. It was not until 2012 that the club were able to move to the brand new Falmer Stadium. It was not until 2017, five years later, that Brighton were promoted to the Premier League, and today they sit third, their highest ever position. What a story.

The Zillah

 

This bunch of flowers that were a present for Alison are presented by Bloom and Wild. They have been the best cut flowers that I can remember. When they first arrived nearly two weeks ago, it was the maroon chrysanthemums that were prominent.

Then a week later, the alstroemeria started to bloom.

And now today the whole bunch is still going strong.

De la Comedie Francaise at The Rex Berkhamsted

 

Fortunately, the Rex cinema in Berkhamsted shows the best foreign films, and De La Comedie Francaise is one of these. It's only an hour and fifteen minutes long, but if they just slowed down their conversations just a little bit, it would have been far longer. The film is a clever comedy; the cast and production team are in their final rehearsal on the day of opening night of Macbeth, or should I join then and say, "the Scottish play"? We are inside the "oldest active theatre company in the world". There is a great cast, but even better is the plot. The ups and (mainly) downs of the young director Nina Cardi, played by Pauline Clement, as she arrives on her bike and is not allowed in as she has mislaid her pass. She needs a final run through if she can ever get the cast together at the same time. All of them have various hang-ups, not to mention the truly awful stage manager who seems to argue every suggestion.

Yes, there are lots of laughs in this farce; there are reminders of the play Noises Off, but this is different in many ways. One of the ushers is this young Black guy who is waiting for the result of his application for the French equivalent of RADA, whose reply he should have received hours ago, but when the lead actor collapses, his knowledge of the part is so perfect he will get his big chance. Or not. Towards the end, the bewildered director Nina meets Moliere of all people who complains about Shakespeare being performed in his theatre. At first Nina does not recognise him until he goes and stands next to his portrait. Their conversation might be the highlight of the film. Even later when the audience is taking their seats, the visiting dignitary actually wishes them all "good luck", and you can guess what happens when the performance starts. A wonderful film.

Village Walk in Autumn

 

Yesterday was not the best day to take my camera with me on my usual village walk, unlike the clear blue skies of the day before and today. But the autumn colours were lovely all the way round. The one above is from the bridge over the canal footpath  in the direction of Wendover.

What I did find in the first field I crossed just past the church was a herd of cows. They ignored me, thank goodness. 

The trees were colourful all around that field.

A more sunny day and a picture of the top of Coombe Hill from the path along the big field would have been better. Although it does still show the monument at the top.

A photo just before the canal.

Two photos along the canal.

This picture is taken from the bridge over the canal, looking towards Halton and beyond.

Arriving at the old cricket field past Halton Tennis Club, I ignored all the vehicles and equipment for the filming that was taking place at The Firecrest on the other side of Wendover. There was even a catering setup, and I was tempted to scrounge a cup of tea.

The trees down Halton Lane are just past their best.

Finally, a photo from the path alongside the reservoir looking towards Wendover Woods.

The sun was out on Friday when I took these photos at the reservoir.

The two adult swans also put in an appearance. The cygnets left a long time ago.

On my way home, this was a nice sight just before the allotments.

Classic Movies on Sky Arts: Series 6 Episode 2: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

 

I had never seen Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, just not my kind of film. So I wondered why this had been chosen for the new series of Classic Movies on Sky Arts. I found out why. Released in 1989, this is a time travelling adventure where Bill and Ted "head to the past to save the future". The comic duo are high school kids who are basically slackers with no hope of a successful graduation. Written by Ed Solomon and Chris Mathison, no major studio was interested in financing this project until Dino De Laurentis plunged in. The film starred the young Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, who were cast for their apparent connection after hundreds were auditioned. 

We have the same panel as before, except missing this time was Bonnie Greer. Stephen Armstrong was prominent in this episode, and he describes the film better than anyone. Christina Newland tells us, "Although their roles were silly, they wanted to be so sincere in how they played them. " We are told about the two lead actors and how both their parents were interested in theatre. The team describes the plot, and we see some of the historical characters the boys meet along the way.

The finished film still did not make it to cinemas when the studio went bust, and it was shelved for a year until another studio came along and started showing it in colleges. That was the beginning of the momentum that led to a full release and its future success. It led to two sequels and a TV show. Reeves and Winter went on to successful careers in film and even joined up to star in a Broadway play: would you believe Waiting for Godot. 

The Royal Ballet's Manon: Live in Cinemas

 

A new season of performances by the Royal Ballet beamed live to cinemas started last night with Manon. We had seen this ballet once before when English National Ballet brought it to Milton Keynes in October 2018. Unfortunately, after many years of appearing here on their autumn tour, they no longer perform here. Although you miss the excitement of a live production, there are compensations. The close-ups of the lead dancers are extraordinary, although then you miss everything that is going on in the background. Many times we also see the orchestra, which is not possible live in the pit. Despite the obvious quality of the dancing, what I did miss was the ensemble pieces that are more important in other ballets. 

Last night we had the British-born Yasmine Naghdi as Manon with William Bracewell as Des Grieux. They are top-drawer dancers. Yasmine has come through the ranks at the Royal Ballet to become a principal dancer. She only had her first child less than a year ago. One thing that's great about the live show is that there is plenty of time for excerpts of interviews with dancers and producers. It is all hosted by Petroc Trelawny (famous in our house for introducing concerts at the Wigmore Hall and on Radio 3) and Darcey Bussell, once a top ballerina at the Royal Ballet and now training the latest principals. (We remember Darcy from many, many years ago when we actually used to go to the Royal Opera House. The principal on that particular night, Lesley Collier, was indisposed, and we were told she would be replaced by one Darcy Bussell. Queu groans from the audience. What did they know?

It was good that the one-page programme we were given on the way in included on the back a long synopsis of the story with additional words from Petroc before each act started. 

The Garden in October

 

At the beginning of October, the antirhynums were still in flower. Some of the only bits of colour left in the garden. But by the end of the month they were all over, and the border cleared.

Some of the roses are over, but these two are hanging on.

The impatiens in the pots at the front have been great all summer.

This is the hydrangea macrophila, which has been a success in its first year. The blooms are fading now, and it will need some protection before the frosts arrive.