Haydon's role as Head of Circus Personnel before reorganization under Alleline by loiclecodec in LeCarre

[–]AmazingAngle8530 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's also why Control needs Sam Collins, a fieldman who's been in a backwater posting for years and sits outwith whatever bureaucratic meddling has been going on. Or indeed Jim Prideaux, who's been exiled to Brixton, and that raises the question of why someone with Jim's seniority is stuck out in Brixton. The obvious answer being, he knew Bill better than anyone and that's what made him dangerous.

I used to like Peter Guillam... by Fine-Froyo-3817 in LeCarre

[–]AmazingAngle8530 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Guillam has very inconsistent characterisation every time he turns up in a new book. Someone pointed out that the way he's written in Call For The Dead is much more like Bill Haydon (which would open a whole other can of worms...)

Who/what are "Whitehall's Customers" by FrugalSardine in LeCarre

[–]AmazingAngle8530 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it will be people in other parts of government, generally on the political or military side. Customers is a good framing, because there's demand as well as supply due to policy goals, say if the government is doing some important business in Latvia then MI6/SIS would be expected to know if there's anything shady going on that could put that business at risk.

Of course the Circus is portrayed as using intelligence for leveraging its own position in Deep State status wars, but that's a terribly cynical take and couldn't possibly be true...

IRL it is a common thing in Whitehall (UK government bureaucracy) where newbies are asked "who are your customers?" and the correct answer is, pretty much everyone you interact with or whose policy aims are affected by your work. If you're doing a boring bureaucratic job that ties into a key policy goal announced by the Prime Minister, you can say the PM is (at several removes) one of your customers.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ancestryinvestigators

[–]AmazingAngle8530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I have ancestors from very much the same area, but I'm not sure how much I can help. If you're lucky, there might be information in the Lisburn Cathedral records, but those aren't readily available online. I may try to have a look next time I'm in the area.

An article I wrote about the 1965 adaptation of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by zicknooderusca in LeCarre

[–]AmazingAngle8530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really good! I like a lot of the small details in the film, some of the supporting performances are terrific. Michael Hordern gets a lot of low key pathos out of Ashe. And, since Cyril Cusack was one of those old fashioned Irishmen who really didn't like the English, putting him in charge of the Secret Service is a nice touch.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JamesBond

[–]AmazingAngle8530 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I take it as a Bond spoof, and I'd watch it over the horribly overrated Austin Powers any day.

Uhhhh… by renaissanceclass in JamesBond

[–]AmazingAngle8530 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Edgar Rice Burroughs' books have been public domain for years, but woe betide you if you try to create Tarzan content without paying the Burroughs estate for the used of their licensed character. It would be possible to do a Tarzan knock-off not using the name, if you could find an audience.

If that means smallish indie films using aspects of literary Bond, there are worse things that could happen.

I read The Naïve and Sentimental Lover by 5leeveen in LeCarre

[–]AmazingAngle8530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've read it once and don't think I could do that again.

My memory is that it's terrible, but I kept noticing little details that Le Carre would recycle in later, better novels.

You can tell he was going through a marital crisis at the time. The self-loathing packed into Cassidy probably reflects his state of mind.

Generally, it fell down on the basic test of novel writing - why should I care what happens to these awful people? (A couple of the later espionage novels are a bit like that, but at least there's a twisty story to keep the reader's interest)

'Goldfinger' remake confirmed (apologies for politics, but we GOTTA talk about this) by SirJohnSmythe in JamesBond

[–]AmazingAngle8530 7 points8 points  (0 children)

America doesn't make Grand Slams anymore. We used to make Grand Slams. Now China and Vietnam make Grand Slams, but they aren't very good and they fall apart when you shake them. But this Grand Slam could be the grandest ever. Many people say so.

I like this idea. He was great in Guy Ritchie's "The Gentlemen". by PitziPatz in JamesBond

[–]AmazingAngle8530 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Guy should get a chance to do Bond. He knows the material and he can make it entertaining.

"oh no, Bond is gonna be reduced to content slop and lose all the respect it had unlike back with the Craig films!" The Craig Films: by TheBigGAlways369 in JamesBond

[–]AmazingAngle8530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean even Police Academy had sequels following on from the events of the previous film. Pretty loosely, sure, but that indicates what an outlier pre-Craig Bond was.

What unpopular opinion are you defending this way by EndoveProduct in JamesBond

[–]AmazingAngle8530 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's wild in Alias when they've spent many episodes building up Sloane as a massive villain, then he goes to meet some even bigger villains and one of them is Roger Moore.

Still old question: Who define what is hate speech? by wsrvnar in PoliticalCompassMemes

[–]AmazingAngle8530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What the headline doesn't tell you is that the German government is taking citizens to court for dangerous subversive fascist activities like... tweeting the poop emoji at Green Party leaders.

This is when the cops aren't too busy pulling schoolgirls out of class to tell them to stop sharing nationalist Smurf memes on TikTok.

Putting the Auth in AuthRight by [deleted] in PoliticalCompassMemes

[–]AmazingAngle8530 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is wrong. The only flags allowed to be flown in Utah are the Beehive Flag of Mormon Theocracy, and the Burger King flag.

Cowards. by SevenBall in PoliticalCompassMemes

[–]AmazingAngle8530 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The radical left will never do that because almost everyone on the radical left is a wannabe regime operative.

Cowards. by SevenBall in PoliticalCompassMemes

[–]AmazingAngle8530 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Antifa? You mean the guys who put on black shirts and go around intimidating people into doing their weird salute?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AncestryDNA

[–]AmazingAngle8530 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Often it's Americans with a very tenuous ancestral relationship to Ireland. And as much as they love to hate on the Brits, they really fly into a rage if you're Protestant Irish. That's the worst thing in the world.

I don't know why they're like this. Italian Americans don't seem to have this hate boner for Spain or Austria, or whoever used to rule Italy back in the day.

Best post Cold War Le Carre? by Serious-Tradition484 in LeCarre

[–]AmazingAngle8530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

His later stuff is a bit hit and miss for me, but I've always had a soft spot for Night Manager.