Only just got round to seeing it, but here’s some thoughts on Nolan’s Odyssey [obviously spoilers etc, though im not sure you can spoil a 000's year old tale]: A VERY 2026 adaptation of the text, which I mean as both a compliment and a criticism. Not particularly "woke" (unless you think the casting itself is woke), but very much a product of contemporary sensibilities in how it approaches the characters, particularly Odysseus himself. It diverges from the text quite substantially, often successfully. Making Circe an older, witchier figure rather than a lover, for example, works really well. But the biggest and most interesting change is to Odysseus himself. Homer's Odysseus is a trickster, whereas this Odysseus is fundamentally a good man who has fallen. I don't think Homer's Odysseus would experience guilt and trauma in anything like the way Damon does here. He's also a much more sexless, faithful figure. Again, very 2026. I think this broadly works, but it does narrow the text. There’s some debate about the extent to which Odysseus is an unreliable narrator in the original, and I think this adaptation pretty much eliminates that ambiguity. Removing the 'Nobody' trick from the Cyclops encounter takes away one of the clearest demonstrations of Odysseus's capacity for deception, while having him recount his adventures to Calypso as he slowly regains his mind positively encourages us to believe him. This Odysseus isn't a cunning, morally ambiguous storyteller. He's a traumatised man coming to terms with what he's done. I actually really liked the decision to make the Trojan Horse a great original sin, with repercussions that echo throughout the film. But I found it slightly incongruous that the man responsible for what is effectively a gigantic war crime is also the man who twangs his bow to give his prey a fighting chance. These two versions of Odysseus aren't irreconcilable, but I think the film could have done a little more to bridge the gap. Perhaps a scene with Agamemnon before the Horse, establishing how Odysseus was forced to make that decision. As spectacle, though, there are some absolutely incredible sequences. The Cyclops, Circe and Hades scenes were all magnificent, and I really liked the Sirens too. Very glad I saw this in IMAX. By contrast, the final confrontation with the suitors felt weirdly Marvel-esque, although I'm not entirely sure how you could stage that scene faithfully without running into the same problem. The casting was, broadly, very good. I know some found Tom Holland annoying as Telemachus, but frankly I found Telemachus annoying in Homer too. Damon wouldn't have been my choice for Odysseus, but he's a good choice for *this* Odysseus. I liked Helen, Pattinson was great, and I absolutely loved Agamemnon. After initially being unsure of it, I thought Zendaya as a Trojan manifestation of Athena was particularly inspired . My one real casting complaint was Elliot Page, whose performance was fine (particularly in Hades), but who simply didn't convince as a character who was meant to be a young man of approx 20. It was oddly immersion-breaking. I'm still not quite sure what I think about the Sea Peoples material, or the decision to end with everyone heading west and leaving Odysseus's crap son in charge. Overall, though, I really liked it. A fine adaptation.

Don’t think it’s been internalised what it says that Trafalgar Square now has to have anti-ramming bollards and gates about the terror threat. If these are to be permanent, is there not some way we can have iron gates befitting the dignity of the square?

Oxford University has told staff not to use common phrases such as "learn the ropes" or "find your feet" over fears they confuse foreign students, sparking concern at the new scheme of language policing. dailysceptic.org/2026/10/12/…

Second gen Muslim immigrants are often less well integrated than first gen, contrary to what one might optimistically hope. We are allowing people to radicalise alarmingly. That they are British citizens is not comforting and not a counterargument, but quite the opposite.