Opportunities or optimism...

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Or both. Merry Christmas Everyone. It's been such a good year in many respects and I hope it continues into 2013. Not all good of course; and by all means call me bitter and twisted but I'm glad to see some things are as they should be...best wishes to you and yours.

Opportunities or optimism...

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Or both. Merry Christmas Everyone. It's been such a good year in many respects and I hope it continues into 2013. Not all good of course; and by all means call me bitter and twisted but I'm glad to see some things are as they should be...best wishes to you and yours.

Orson ousted...

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A large number of distributors, critics and academics of The British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine (846 to be exact), for the first time in my life-time, have opted for a change: after 50 years of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane being top pick they have chosen Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo as 'the greatest of all time' [BBC]. "There is so much in Vertigo, that a single showing barely opens the door to its understanding" (Magill's Survey of Cinema).



Commendable indeed but haven't these people ever seen Jaws, Alien, Predator, Rambo, Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, etc? :-)

Orson ousted...

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A large number of distributors, critics and academics of The British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine (846 to be exact), for the first time in my life-time, have opted for a change: after 50 years of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane being top pick they have chosen Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo as 'the greatest of all time' [BBC]. "There is so much in Vertigo, that a single showing barely opens the door to its understanding" (Magill's Survey of Cinema).

Commendable indeed but haven't these people ever seen Jaws, Alien, Predator, Rambo, Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, etc? :-)

Olé, olé, olé, olé...

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Just over four years ago in Vienna, Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty against Italy that put Spain into the semi finals of Euro 2008: Spain's first victory over the Italians in a major tournament for the first time since the very first time the teams first met! That victory was still 'only' after a penalty shootout, "so the official records still show that the Spanish have only registered one victory in a major finals over the Azzurri: their first-ever meeting at the 1920 Olympics." [Guardian] Since then the Italians have shown who's boss time after time...so tonight history was on the side of the Italians: history got stuffed; like so many things when faced with what is surely the best team ever to grace a football field. And to finish on one twitter comment on the BBC's (click on image) online commentary: "The reign of Spain continues in Ukraine..."

Olé, olé, olé, olé...

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Just over four years ago in Vienna, Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty against Italy that put Spain into the semi finals of Euro 2008: Spain's first victory over the Italians in a major tournament for the first time since the very first time the teams first met! That victory was still 'only' after a penalty shootout, "so the official records still show that the Spanish have only registered one victory in a major finals over the Azzurri: their first-ever meeting at the 1920 Olympics." [Guardian] Since then the Italians have shown who's boss time after time...so tonight history was on the side of the Italians: history got stuffed; like so many things when faced with what is surely the best team ever to grace a football field. And to finish on one twitter comment on the BBC's (click on image) online commentary: "The reign of Spain continues in Ukraine..."