English Chess Forum

Jonathan Bryant wrote:Independence Day: Resurgence

Tediously stupid. A cynical rehashing of tired narratives constructed purely to enrich the careers of those who made it happen. Will appeal to xenophobes and simpletons.

No chess.

Very good
Though also tragic

This old, but very good, dark tragedy ("based on a true story") -

Aguirre: The Wrath of God

could be remade as a lighter tragicomedy of errors entitled -

Boris: The Wrath of the Electorate!

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/j ... god-review

To complete a matching pair all that's needed is for someone to make -

Jeremy: Night of the Long Knives!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18722428

The BFG (Boris, Farage & Gove?) -

Don't gobblefunk around with words.

Sophie, age ten and therefore unenfrachised, meets the BFG and is at first scared. However, she soon realises the BFG is actually gentle and charming... Their friendship attracts the attention of Bloodbottler & Fleshlumpeater and others...

After travelling to London Sophie and the BFG ask the Queen to help them get rid of all the bad giants for once and for all.

(Based on a fairy tale by a British writer of Norwegian parentage.)

http://www.roalddahl.com/blog/2014/apri ... ut-the-bfg

Now You See Me 2

Unspeakably brainless and yet - aside from the times that Daniel Radcliffe/Morgan Freeman/Michael Caine are on screen - entirely tolerable.

Chess set appears on screen for about half a second for no obvious reason.

I saw the documentary Weiner this afternoon.

It’s got absolutely no chess in it whatsoever but it’s really good and I’d recommend it to anybody.

Ghostbusters

Superb first half-hour. Tails off rather severely thereafter, but remains OK throughout.


A smidgen of chess - just about - too. A character is seated at a table and on the wall behind him there’s a painting off a knight on some chequered squares

Star Trek Beyond has no chess in it.


Which is a shame for those of us who are aficionados of the various chess scenes that Star Trek has given us over the years.

No chess in BFG which is not a great surprise.

Have high hopes for the Bourne comebacktonight. Fans of the original will recall that despite being suffering from complete amnesia as to who he is after being pulled unconscious from the sea, he still knows how to set up a chess board.

Jason Bourne: no chess

Are you planning to see Anthropoid? That and Hell or High Water might get people using chess metaphors.

Just for the record - on a long-haul flight of 12 hrs. I finally got to see A Hologram for the King on the small screen (of the seat in front) and all I can say is that I found it quite watchable and that my impression from what I'd heard about it before was confirmed.

It seems to me to be a none-too-subtle attempt to invite their Saudi friends to lighten up and join in a watered-down, alcohol-free "Bermuda"-style party for cultural exchange icebreaking purposes.

On the return flight (that at 13 hrs. is an hour longer) I decided to balance the book by watching Ben Affleck's film Argo, about certain events in the US-Iranian hostage crisis during the presidency of Jimmy Carter (who, like fellow Democrat Barak Obama, was fundamentally a man of peace and almost impossible to rile.)

There's an almost subliminal glimpse of two of the Americans playing chess, to kill time, having evaded capture in their own compromised embassy by escaping and taking refuge in the Canadian one.

The film is based on actual events that took place and that remained remained classified for many years for diplomatic and security reasons.
To me the science fiction movie subterfuge used by the CIA to rescue the six Americans from Iran just goes to show how far those two regimes are alienated from each other.

I wonder if the US is backing the eventual loser in the rivalry between the Saudis and the Iranians to get the upperhand in the Middle East.
Or if the Russians, by backing the Iranians, have stolen a march on the Americans once again - as they did in China by backing Mao's Communist Party rather than Chiang's Nationalist Party (the rump of which is still holed up in the island of Taiwan).

By the way, as well as watching a couple, or three, movies I found Kasparov Chess among the entertainments and played some G/30' & G/15' games - coming out even (+2,-2,=1) in the former and just shading a similar number of the latter by quitting while on +1. I believe I was playing a computer on medium (1820) , although it was possible that I was up against members of the Kasparov Chess Club since that was also on offer and my two opponents had human names.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Are you planning to see Anthropoid? That and Hell or High Water might get people using chess metaphors.

I missed this at the time.


I saw both films and both were highly enjoyable - especially Hell or High Water which is one of the films of 2016 for me. I don’t recall chess in either, unfortunately.

I’ve not been able to get to the cinema much for the past couple of months and don’t recall any chess cameos in mainstream films since the summer.

Judging by the trailer Paterson - featuring none other than Kylo Ren in his day job as bus driver in small time America - looks worth a watch, though.

https://youtu.be/Yqiq36VYCqc

Following the film thread...

I saw Paddington 2 today.

It may even be better than Paddington. I should warn potential viewers that it's a bit scary at times, but there is a disclaimer that "No bears were harmed in the making of ...", which is a relief.

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:59 pm

Following the film thread...

I saw Paddington 2 today.

It may even be better than Paddington. I should warn potential viewers that it's a bit scary at times, but there is a disclaimer that "No bears were harmed in the making of ...", which is a relief.

My daughter (12) enjoyed it, as did her friends I gather

"My daughter (12) enjoyed it, as did her friends I gather"

There are subtle jokes for adults as well!