"Infamy! Infamy! They've All Got It Infamy!"

Proof That Others Can Be Equally Guilty
 - of creating bad puns.  This is a quote from that British Classic, "Carry On Cleo", said IIRC by Kenneth Williams playing Caesar.  He had a point -

"Is this a dagger I see before - oh, no, sorry, that's "MacBeth" "

     - or in this case the point had him, together with the rest of the blade.  The sets and props for COC were unusually lavish for a Carry On production, for the very good reason that they weren't responsible for them.  No, filming of "Cleopatra" had originally been set to begin in England, the sets had been built and the props created and costumes made - and then production switched to Italy.
     So - the Carry On production team snuck in and took advantage.
     None of which has anything to do with the rest of this Intro*.
     One of the books I got in my hot sweaty hands yesterday was "Infamy", by John Toland.  Art?

Sic.

     Mention is made of Owen Roberts, who had taken part in the "Black Tom Explosion" and the "Teapot Dome Scandal".  Neither of these was familiar to Conrad - as far as I knew, Black Tom was a foul alcoholic concoction consumed by Beaver Hateman's gang in the "Uncle" novels.  As for Teapot Dome - how could a humble piece of china cause any degree of opprobrium at all?
     Well, the Black Tom Explosion was the destruction via sabotage of about a thousand tons of explosives aboard a barge at the Black Tom pier on New York Island in 1916.  It caused immense damage, which included damage to the Statue of Liberty's torch, subsequently off-limits to you the public.  The saboteurs were German agents, and Germany - you could probably see this coming - was vehemently pursued by the South Canadians for damages, because those South Canadians can be i)  Very litigious and ii)  Very very persistent (just ask Osama Bin Laden - oh - well, you get the point).  The case was eventually settled in 1953**.

"I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for - oh, no, sorry, that's "Scooby Doo"."

     That's enough of infamy for one day, I may come back about the Killer Hemispherical Teapots From Oklahoma.
     And now, the motley can break into song and dance!

BOOJUM! Tackles Film
Forgive me for all this being posted at once, these reviews of recent releases have been piling up for a while,  either building up a head of steam or accumulating mass in a log-jam, here it comes.
     Remember our rules:  1) Generalise wildly  2)  Take everything literally  3)  Do no research ever - although we may ignore this one if it makes for more funny, more traffic or more cute fluffy bunnies.
     "Tarzan": What, another one?  Mark Kermode isn't too impressed.  Tarzan, moreover, is Naz Rat backwards, for your information.  Let's see how it goes - Jungle. Apes. Jungle.  Tigers.  Or lions.  Elephants, that should cover all bases.  There you are.  Conrad is not interested in further discussion.  He's a Tarzantagonist.

Well well.  Who knew!

     "Now You See Me 2":  Of course I do!  It's a film, isn't it?  If it were microbes or atoms or pollen grains you might have a point, but not as is.
   

  Now you see me too much.

     Yes, you puling bag of slutch.

     Methink you have slipped your clutch,

     Mentally your brain has been touch.

     "House of Cards": What, really?  Really?  Take a look around you and laugh while you can, monkey boy!  British politics today is wilder than any television series could possibly be and we don't even have to pay scriptwriters.  If I didn't have to actually live here I'd be alternately goggling and guffawing.
     Hold on, this isn't about professional gamblers, is it?

House of Bards.  Close enough

     - and I shall mercifully pause there.  Don't worry, BOOJUM! will return with more cinematic musings, O Yes Indeed!

I Cannot Apologise Enough
Your talented typist recently discovered a Twitter page dubbed #MakeAFilmAwfullyBritish.  It is far too tempting and I've probably already outworn my welcome, although one person did Like my "Forbidden Thanet" post.
     The idea is to take a film title and render it peculiarly British, and I'm afraid I couldn't resist.  So far we have:  

The Bridge Quartet At Remagen

The Tring

Escape From York

My Blue Devon

The Weevil Dead

The Bournemouth Identity

Independence Dray

Where Beagles Date

Baste The Blood Of Dracula

The War Of The Wolds

     I confess I am a Mucking-about-with-language addict and there is no cure.

"Okay, as the dummy you lay down a suppressing fire and I'll make a finesse."

* I do tend to go off on tangents, don't I?  It's why people love me, though.
** Like I said - persistent.