One likes to have a range of interests

Watching the latest season of The Crown on Netflix, I discovered that when he was a student at Cambridge University in the 1960s, Prince Charles performed in student theatre. A magazine article about his student acting career confuses review and revue. The correct noun is revue. This is a common error that I have encountered before. 

Of dubious educational value

For some reason, I like to relax by watching documentaries on Netflix. No wonder I have trouble relaxing. The quality varies from good to mediocre. One of the mediocre ones is Top 10 Secrets and Mysteries. Season 2, Episode 5 looks at unsolved disappearances. Since Australia barely rates a mention in such programs, I was surprised that the disappearance of former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt was covered in this episode. In December 1967, Holt went missing, presumed drowned, whilst swimming in treacherous waters in Portsea, Victoria. His body was never recovered. This part of the segment was correct, but it contains two glaring errors.

The archival film footage used is incorrectly captioned as being from December 1967. The crowd of people in this screen grab are clearly attending a campaign rally for Malcolm Fraser, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. They are also wearing 1970's fashions, and the campaign slogan on the shirt, "Liberal. Doing the Job" was used in the 1977 Australian federal election. Secondly, it is erroneously stated that Holt led the Liberal Party to power in 1966. At that time, the Liberals had held power federally since 1949 under Robert Menzies. Holt became Prime Minister when Menzies retired in January 1966, and became Prime Minister in his own right in the November 1966 federal election. 

Is more careful research on these shows too much to ask for? 

Weekend warriors

Not Christopher Pyne

Last night, my viewing companion and I started to watch Gods and Generals on Netflix. One hour in, and my impressions are not favourable. I also see that it has a rating of 8 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. It is easy to see why.

The dialogue and performances are overwrought and melodramatic, and the battle scenes look like they were performed by historical reenactment groups.

In the heat of battle, being bombarded with artillery, and under attack by enemy foot soldiers charging you with bayonets, and reinforced by horse mounted troops, you wouldn't last too long if you casually sauntered across the battlefield. The director clearly wasn't aiming for authenticity in staging these scenes.

Stephen Lang plays Confederate General, Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863). From certain angles, he looks like an older version of Australian politician, Christopher Pyne. Pyne is Defence Minister in the Turnbull government. The only differences are that the plummy Pyne does not speak with a southern drawl, nor has he ever had any facial hair to speak of.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gods_and_generals/

Get it right

Harold Wilson (1916-1995)

Memo to the subeditors at the Hollywood Reporter. Harold Wilson was British Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1976. As for this Howard Wilson, there has never been a former British Prime Minister by this name, much less any other famous people. Among other things, Harold Wilson had the honour of being namechecked in Taxman, the first track on the 1966 Beatles album, Revolver.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/crown-season-3-all-details-far-1077716

Buffering, please wait

Acclaimed film director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Dunkirk) prefers to watch movies on Blu-Ray over online streaming platforms such as Netflix.

So do I. Blu Ray has better picture and audio quality than Netflix. Australia has second rate home broadband speeds. The difference is clearly noticeable.

https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-and-technology/internet/connecting-to-the-internet/articles/australia-internet-speed-trails-50th-globally-020617

http://www.techradar.com/news/christopher-nolan-chooses-blu-ray-over-netflix-for-his-movie-watching