Brett-Butler

Very surprised that “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was Spielberg’s highest opening for a film in the UK, and that “Lost World” in the 90s was higher than some of his high-profile 2010s films with inflation adjustment. I’m guessing Jurassic Park is probably his biggest adjusted for inflation?

Great timing! Decided to start a Letterboxd account for the first time on Saturday. I’m currently trying to remember every single film I’ve ever watched, and have made somewhat of a start on it. It’ll probably take me a good year to remember them all. Username is beanochris (anyone with a very long memory will remember that name)

Vozinha's going to get picked up by some lucky Championship team after that first half performance.

Are you in Makerfield at the moment, or Scotland? What are your thoughts on who will win in your constituency?

In 2003 Giancarlo Fisichella and Jordan were awarded the win in the abandoned Brazilian Grand Prix five days later after the timekeepers got the lap the race officially ended incorrect - https://www.crash.net/f1/news/45341/1/fisichella-wins-brazilian-grand-prix

There's one week until the Makerfield by-election. For reference, here are the candidates running in the by-election: Jake Austin – Liberal Democrats Count Binface – Count Binface Party Andy Burnham – Labour and Co-operative Party Dan Clarke – Libertarian Party John Dyer – Independent Ed Gemmell – Climate Party Paul Gould – Independent Alan "Howlin" Laud Hope – The Official Monster Raving Loony Party Robert Kenyon – Reform UK Robert Pownall – Independent Rebecca Shepherd – Restore Britain Sarah Wakefield – Green Party Peter Ward – Rejoin EU Michael Winstanley – Conservative and Unionist Party As expected, given the high profile of this by-election, there is a massive slate of candidates hoping to take advantage of the added attention they are likely to get; outside of the usual suspects there's the Libertarians, Monster Raving Loonies, Rejoin EU (whose raison d'etre is a mystery), and the absolutely hilarious Count Binface. Under normal circumstances this would be a slam dunk Reform seat if it wasn't for the presence of Andrew Murray Burnham on the slate (although of course, there wouldn't have been a by-election here at all if it weren't for the presence of Mr Andrew Murray Burnham). The Brett-Butler Prognosticator 4000 gives this one to Labour and Andy Burnham with a narrow victory (although what Andy Burnham we get post 19th we will see). Given the high profile of this by-election, it's easy to forget that there are two other parliamentary by-elections in Scotland on the same day to replace SNP politicians who were elected to the Scottish parliament. The support acts are as follows - Aberdeen South - Nurul Hoque Ali – Scottish Labour Party David Ballantine – Alliance for Democracy and Freedom (ADF) Jo Hart – Reform UK Douglas Lumsden – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Jorg Shelton-Eckstein – Scottish Green Party Mel Sullivan – Scottish Liberal Democrats Richard Gordon Thomson – Scottish National Party (SNP) Arbroath and Broughty Ferry - Tanvir Ahmad – Scottish Liberal Democrats Lara Bird – Scottish National Party (SNP) Jack Cruickshanks – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Heather Doran – Scottish Labour Party Bill Reid – Reform UK I would have put both of these down as solid SNP holds if it wasn't for the public learning that Nicola Sturgeon has a special medical condition causing her to not see caravans parked in her garden. The SNP's majorities weren't massive in either of these, so both of these will end up tight. I'm predicting a shock loss in Aberdeen South to the Conservatives, and a hold in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, courtesy of the good voters in Battenberg Road, D11, Arbroath.

The eye gouging and attempted beheading took place 5 minutes away from where I live, it's an area I'm very familiar with, and the video was absolutely horrific to watch. The man who has potentially saved the victim's life with the hurley bat is slowly becoming a folk hero since the incident - £30k was raised on a Crowdfunder to buy him a pint, which he is going to donate to the victim & his family. There will be questions raised about the vetting of the alleged attacker (his asylum application was fast-tracked at the time), which will cause problems for Reform UK trying to make hay out of this incident, give that in 2023 when he was granted leave to remain, the people in charge and who praised this particular scheme were Suella Braveman and...Robert Jenrick. And regardless of the heinousness of the assault, that does not excuse the horrific, inexcusable violence that took place in Belfast and further afield in NI over the past two nights, with the targeting of innocent people who have absolutely nothing to do with this incident. And the last thing we need with an ongoing homelessness and housing crisis is tens of social housing units being taken out of commission by the f-wits who just want to spread violence and intimidation. I'm hoping that we're over the worst of the violence, the weather's been terrible today which tends to dampen protests, although the buses out of Belfast are stopping at 5.30, which suggests there's the potential for trouble.

18 please

Called it, although I didn’t expect it to be #2! I’d heard about it a few years back, but only watched it for the first time at the weekend and watched all the episodes of it on Netflix in one sitting, it’s pretty great viewing. Will wait until it’s on streaming until I see this one though.

Four series of the USA version have just been added to ITVX if you’re needing a stop-gap before the new UK series.

Tuner over performed my expectations, whilst Power Ballad performed a lot worse than I expected (thought it may end up being the 2nd biggest opener of the week), and amazed that Obsession has increased in week 3: I didn’t think in the modern era that many films would increase beyond week 2, it’ll be interesting if it increases or holds in the next few weeks. I believe “The Amazing Digital Circus” will outperform expectations next weekend (seems to be popular on pre-orders), but “Scary Movie” will top the chart, with He-Man being a relative flop.

I’d thought the Australian series had been axed, but obviously must have been enough worldwide demand for it to get another series.

Saw someone saying the other day that the best thing Keir Starmer could do in the by-election is go and canvass in Makerfield, telling the voters that "a vote for Andy Burnham is a vote of confidence in me". Looks like he's going to do just that. If Burnham wins, he can take the credit for it. If he loses, then Keir can keep going for another year. BBC NewsStarmer says he will campaign for Burnham in MakerfieldThe prime minister says Labour needs to "all pull together and fight", after a revolt against his leadership.

There have been arrests in Greater Manchester in relation to Labour's sole win in the Tameside Council Elections. In an exposé by local newspaper the Manchester Mill, it is alleged that people tied to the Labour campaign invented two independent candidates to split the indie vote to allow Labour's candidate to win in the St Peter's Ward. I'm surprised that the returning officer didn't notice something was up given that one of the "stooge" candidates was literally called "Muhammad Ali", but it's in the hands of the police for now.

I wonder why Wes Streeting would suddenly and unexpectedly want to put the EU back on the news agenda and suggest that Labour would want to bring the UK back into it, just before Andy Burnham is about to take part in a by-election in a constituency that voted 66% to leave. 🤔

Don't tell me they've got André Rieu ready.

Has Eurovision started allowing non-live vocals in the performances? Seemed like the UK & Norway had vocals that weren't coming from people on stage.

Norway's quite decent in a "rock song written by someone who has been told what rock music is about but has never listened to rock music in his life" kind of way.

A better staging than I expected. Still feels like a last place.

Australia doing the "putting female on top of big pole" trick again.

Good. Delta.

Not a bad song from Austria, superfluous guitarist aside.

Czechia wanted to be a moment. It was barely a glimpse.

Three songs in and I think this semi-final is better than all of Tuesday's. Romania's a pretty strong entry.