My 12 Favourite Christmas Films

 13th December 2024

We ALL love Christmas films, don’t we ?

Watching them is part of our preparation for the festive season.

Watching them is part of our tradition.

Watching them is part of our culture.

I love them. Very much.

So, today is the 13th of December, just 12 days from Christmas Day,

In celebration of this, here is a list of MY favourite 12 Christmas films.

I watch these in the lead up to Christmas EVERY YEAR.

That’s MY tradition.

Maybe some of these are among your favourites ?

Anyway, happy viewing and let the films begin.

12. The Snowman

11. Die Hard

10. Elf

9. Love Actually

8. The Santa Clause

7. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

6. A Christmas Carol (1951)

5. White Christmas

4. Jingle All The Way

3. Santa Claus : The Movie

2. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

1. It’s A Wonderful Life

And, as a bonus, here is a top tip for an interesting and lovely British Christmas film that I think will be a future classic.

This is Christmas (2022) also known as This Christmas.

As always, thanks for reading. 

Let me know what you think of my list, and any of your favourites.

Graham

Twitter : @apple_shwn

Please add any comments to my Twitter post at @apple_shwn

Reach for the Nuclear Button, it’s time for the Dream Ticket

10th May 2024

Reach for the Nuclear Button, it’s time for the Dream Ticket

So, here we are approaching the middle of May 2024, with a Conservative Government losing support by the day.

Two previous member selected Conservative Leaders & Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, have been removed, and Rishi Sunak installed as Conservative Leader and Prime Minister, without reference to or selection by Conservative Members.

The plotting, planning and reasons behind the removals and installation are clear for all to see, and will not be rehashed here, other than to point you to the Nadine Dorris book “The Plot - The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson” which joins up all the dots.

Party Members have left in their droves, many of those remaining are disillusioned and disengaged. 

Many Conservative MP’s, over 60 at present, have indicated that they will be standing down at the next General Election, which must be held before the end of January 2025, a maximum of 8.5 months away.

A number of Conservative MP’s have defected to other Political Party’s.

Many voters, whether Conservative or the millions that lent their vote to the Conservatives and Boris Johnson at the last General Election in 2019 indicate their disillusionment and outright fury in Polls that show a massive Labour Majority is on its way, and maybe even a Conservative wipe-out.

In-fighting within the Conservative Party is visible, with higher profile MP’s jockeying for the role of future Party Leader.

And many factions, often pulling in different directions, are active and pulling the Party apart.

These are informally known as the five families, a reference to the controlling families of the New York Mafia.

Among these are :-

• The Blue Collar Conservatives 
• The Common Sense Group
• The Conservative Growth Group
• The European Research Group
• The New Conservatives
• The No Turning Back Group
• The Northern Research Group 
• The One Nation Conservatives 

Ultimately, though, Rishi Sunak is not trusted and it’s considered by most that he is not capable of turning the fortunes of the Conservative Party around in time for the next General Election.

And all this is quite apart from the performance of the Government.

SO, WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT ?

Well, of course, the Conservative Government could just carry on, as-is, and hope things improve, and hope they can turn things around, and hope at least to save some of the seats they are expected to lose.

That’s giving up, and will likely result in a Labour Government with a large majority, and a decimated Conservative Party in opposition.

The UK public does not deserve this, but it deserves much more than it’s getting at the moment.

Although many believe that its just too late for the Conservative Party to change Leader before the General Election, I disagree.

There is still time, and I contend that the Party now has nothing to lose by spinning the roulette wheel, having a last throw of the dice, and pressing the NUCLEAR BUTTON.

The NUCLEAR BUTTON

There is nothing to lose now.

And there is no time to waste.

It’s time to stop the personality career jockeying, time to stop the factions.

It’s time to unite, for the party, for the UK and for the public.

It’s time for a ‘Dream Ticket’.

A ‘DREAM TICKET’

Although less used in the UK, the phrase ‘Dream Ticket’ has been  commonly used in US politics, in particular around US Presidential Elections since the middle of the 20th Century.

The idea being an alliance of two or more politicians, usually from the same Party, working closely together to increase election prospects, by appealing to a wider set of voters, and also to smooth in-fighting and damp-down or remove factions within a Party. 

The CONSERVATIVE DREAM TICKET

I contend that the following could comprise a Conservative Party Dream Ticket, and set the Party back on the right track :-

• Suella Braverman
• Liz Truss
• Priti Patel
• Robert Jenrick
• Andrea Jenkyns
• Jacob Rees-Mogg

Each of the above are already serving Conservative MPs. 

They are all senior Politicians, well liked by members and by the public. They are well respected.

There are other MPs that are true & proper Conservative and these must have prominent roles in a refreshed Conservative Party. 

However A Conservative ‘Dream Ticket’ needs the best of the best. 

The one name that is missing from the above list, and MUST be included in any future refreshed Conservative Party is …

• Boris Johnson

Boris, of course is the biggest Conservative Electoral asset, the winner of a massive 80 seat majority at the 2019 General Election, and as Prime Minister he delivered on his promise in the 2019 General Election, he got Brexit done.

The future role that Boris may take is clearly upto him, he has many options. I have blogged a number of times about possible option, and these are available from the Blog homepage.

Should Boris want to return to front line politics, and the Party and the UK really need him to, it could obviously be in a sort of cheerleader role, an advisor, a more formal role (not an MP) by a route through the Lords, or be approved as a prospective candidate and stand at an election. 

The Conservative Party need the ‘X’ factor, Rishi Sunak doesn’t have it, Boris does. It’s really that simple.

So, here we have it, the potential new Conservative Dream Ticket for the next General Election…..

A co-ordinated group of respected MP’s representing true Conservative Values and promoting true Conservative Policy could rapidly turn things around, build confidence in the Party and the Government, bring back lost members and voters, and very importantly they could save the UK from a very financially and culturally damaging future Labour Government.

It could still be done.

It must be done.

And done quickly.

IT’S TIME TO GO TO WORK !!!

These are my views and opinions and I accept that other views and opinions may exist and may be different.

Thanks for reading.

Graham

Twitter : @apple_shwn

Please add any comments to my Twitter post at @apple_shwn

The Next Bond ?

20th March 2024

Every day, it seems we have more and more rumours about who will be the next JAMES BOND 007 in the long running spy film franchise.

Some of these rumours are little more than clickbait, others seem a little more well founded.

Note : throughout the rest of this blog ‘actor’ is used to cover both male and female actors. 

A few of the actors that have been ‘linked’ to the role include :-

• James Norton
• Idris Elba
• Rege-Jean Page
• Henry Golding
• Theo James
• Lashana Lynch
• Tom Holland
• Tom Hiddleston
• John Boyega
• Henry Cavill
• Cillian Murphy
• Luke Evans
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson, in the last few days

There are many more. It’s a coveted and important role.

And the right actor must be selected.

As a massive James Bond fan, both in literature and on the big screen, here’s MY view on it.

Replacing Daniel Craig is a massive thing. 

Almost impossible.

But NOT impossible.

I think Bond producers will want and need a new Bond actor to be around for 5/6 films, it’s a huge disruption changing Bond actors, and they wont want to do it again for a while, if possible. 

Taking that account, and the time to make a film and develop the scripts for future films, that feels like a commitment approaching 15-20 years.

Bond films have been very physical in recent times, and the new Bond probably needs to carry this on, physical and mental fitness will be important.

It feels to me that to meet these needs the new Bond will need to be aged 30–40 NOW, so that will include and exclude certain actors.

Ok, a biggie now.

Could Bond be female this time ?

Absolutely YES. 

Bond producers could definitely decide on this way forward and select a female Bond. And there are a few that could fill this role brilliantly.

However, going back to the origin of Bond, in the writings of Ian Fleming, and it’s clear that Bond is male. 

Yes, producers could separate the bond designation with the 007 designation to come up with whatever way forward they wish.

But it still feels to me that Bond is male and should remain male.

And others may have a different view on that, and that’s ok.

So, let’s get to the point.

Who do I want to be the next James Bond ?

Well, I believe that Richard Madden, star of BBC’s Bodyguard series would make a fantastic next James Bond.

Richard has the right look, can handle the physicality of Bond, is a great actor and importantly is in the right age range, born in 1986, and approaching 38 at time of writing.

If you haven’t see the BBC series Bodyguard at all, or recently, I would highly recommend you having a look at it (again).

The truth is, any of the actors in the list above would make an excellent next James Bond.

But my choice for the next James Bond is RICHARD MADDEN.

A final option, and an almighty wildcard, would be filling the shoes of Daniel Craig with ….. DANIEL CRAIG.

It would not be beyond the ability of the producers and writers of a new Bond film to find a way of bring back Daniel Craig, if he wanted to do another film. And he has been an incredible Bond.

As I have said to many, Sean Connery was the DEFINITIVE Bond, and Daniel Craig was my FAVOURITE Bond.

Personally, I don’t think this is as outrageous as it sounds.

One finale note, this blog has been written by someone who thought selecting Daniel Craig as the last new James Bond was a HUGE mistake !!!

How wrong I was, and I am delighted to acknowledge and admit that.

So, that’s my view on the next Bond, who do you think it should be ?

Feel free to comment with your choice and why, below.

Thanks for reading.

Graham

Twitter : @apple_shwn

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Worth a watch - The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson

12th March 2024

The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson

In the last week or so, Channel 4 (in the UK) have televised and streamed a new 4 part series called ‘The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson’.

After so many biased ‘hatchet job’ programmes shown on TV over recent times, many people wondered whether this new programme would just be more of the same; and lots openly suggesting they would not even watch the programme for this reason.

So, to the question …. Is ‘The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson’ worth a watch ?

What follows is my own view of the balance shown in the programme.

It must be up to individuals to decide themselves, some will determine the programme to be very biased, some will determine it very fair. I suspect most will determine it somewhere between those extremes.

Don’t take someone else’s view on it, watch it yourself and make your own mind up.

It doesn’t make sense to do a minute by minute review of over 4 hours of a TV show, it’s best for people to watch it themselves.

The following section will point out a few pertinent points and what my general view was.

• Deafness - it was stated that Boris had a severe hearing problem until he was about 8. I imagine most people would have been unaware of this.
• Jennifer Arcuri - I only saw her input into the programme as that of opportunist, self promoting chancer, who attempted to use Boris for her own aims. Her involvement was unnecessary. 
• Brexit - I think it would be very fair to say that Nigel Farage must be credited with getting the UK to the point where a referendum on Brexit would be held. Without Farage, there would not have been a Referendum. But it’s also clear that the winning of the election for the Leave Campaign had more to do with Boris than anyone else. Boris said he would get Brexit done, and he did.
• Michael Heseltine expressing personal views of bitter, old and jealous old man, who was on the losing side of an argument with Boris, was in the minority of the electorate, and still after many years cannot accept democracy and seeks to undermine it, actually it’s the electorate he seeks to undermine, you and I.
• December 2019 General Election - In 2019, he won the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, turning constituencies blue that had been red for generations. Voters did not vote for their local Conservative candidate in 2019, yes they put a cross against that name, but they were voting for BORIS JOHNSON. This was instrumental to getting Brexit done.
• Covid - Covid reared its ugly head in the first quarter of 2020, and for the next two years took up most of the bandwidth of the Government and the public. Whatever people’s view on the Covid time, that’s what happened. The Government were diverted.
• Ukraine - Boris was immediate and steadfast in his support for Ukraine, and that was instrumental in galvanizing support around the world. He led the world in this, actually.
• The various sections of input made by so-called journalist merely added to my feeling that they we but activists masquerading as journalists. As Elon musk tweeted …

• It was clear that the establishment were frightened of Boris’s popularity. They had never seen anyone like him before, and the only way they could deal with it was to discredit him, and that’s what they set out to do and that’s what whey did. As Labour PR / activist and so called journalist Pippa Crerar tweeted, Boris was the politician that Labour feared the most … 

• That there was a plot to undermine and bring down Boris Johnson, there is no doubt. The suitably named book ‘The Plot’ by Nadine Dorries is a must read and joins the dots.

As stated at the very start of Programme 1, ‘This century, no one has done more to shape the destiny of this country than Boris Johnson’.

And that’s true.

Boris is the one true ‘rock-star’ politician in the UK, he always was and always will be.

The Rise and Fall AND RISE of Boris Johnson

I blogged a while ago about the options, as I saw them, that were open to Boris. In many ways, those options are still valid. 

If you missed that Blog, you can catch up on it HERE.

Undoubtedly, Boris has been busy since he left office and left Parliament. He has had some well earned and well deserved family time, yet his profile remains high, making many speeches in the UK and around the world, and writing his thought provoking newspaper articles.

He has done what we all would have done, licked his wounds, recharged his batteries and learned some lessons. 

And there are some lessons to learn.

Clearly, a massive influence on Boris has been the life and times of Winston Churchill. Boris even wrote a book about the great man.

Boris’s great political hero, Winston Churchill, was Prime Minister of the UK in 1940-45, leading the UK through World War 2, and came back to Lead the country as Prime Minister again in 1951-51.

Boris will no doubt feel that events, and people, conspired against him.

That he still had much to do when he left Number 10, and Parliament.

That the potential wasn’t realised.

And he would be right.

The remarkable mandate that Boris won in the December 2019 General Election was somewhat derailed almost immediately.

What Boris does next must clearly be a decision for him and his family to consider.

He doesn’t need the lure of the spotlight, he has that every single day.

He doesn’t need the money, a very lucrative future lies ahead in whatever Boris decides to do.

But the drive and ambition to emulate his great political hero, and to finish the job he set out to do, will be strong.

And I believe that it will be too strong for Boris to resist.

Boris will be back at the top of British politics within the next 6 years (think about the timeframe), in whatever capacity he thinks is right, and the job he returns to will not necessarily be the job he ends up doing.

And it won’t be the same Boris, after a period of reflection I am sure Boris v2 will emerge, having addresses some of the flaws that he undoubtedly has. And after all, we all have flaws.

And when that happens I am looking forward to seeing an additional programme from C4 called ‘The Rise & Fall & RISE AGAIN of Boris Johnson’. 

The Conservative Party knows it.

Conservatives MPs know it.

Conservatives Members know it.

The Country knows it. 

Boris Johnson knows it. 

The Conservative Party and the Country needs Boris.

It’s time for Boris to come in from the cold.

It’s time for Boris, again.

And finally, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this blog, is ‘The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson’ worth a watch ?, I think it is worth a watch.

There were parts of the programme I liked and thought fair, likewise there were parts I disliked and thought were unfair. There were sections I thought added no value to the programme, and shouldn’t have been included. 

It showed a political phenomenon, a politician unlike any other in the last generation, a politician that will be remembered 100 years from now, and a politician that connects with the public.

And it also show a man with flaws, well, we all have flaws, I certainly do.

I wasn’t looking for a programme that ONLY sang the praises of Boris, or a programme that only painted him with negativity, a character assassination.  

This programme TRIED to provide at least an attempt of balance, and therefore I think it deserves a watch.

 

Thanks for reading.

Graham

Twitter : @apple_shwn

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