Neil Fisher
@neilfisher81.bsky.social
Exec culture and books editor of The Times
Pinned
Neil Fisher
@neilfisher81.bsky.social
· Oct 11
Diane Keaton: ‘Life is magical, but I don’t see happy as part of the deal’
Well, la-dee-da, Annie Hall has made it to Hampstead at last. It’s been a long wait and in the time since Diane Keaton, as goofy, wonderful Annie, wooed Woody A
www.thetimes.com
"I don’t see someone calling me up and saying, ‘Hey, how about dinner?’"
The day I missed my chance with the one-and-only Diane Keaton.
www.thetimes.com/article/83d9...
The day I missed my chance with the one-and-only Diane Keaton.
www.thetimes.com/article/83d9...
I got the same but I also chided 76 people who I happen to know are still on X
Here's my Bluesky Wrapped for 2025
- I scolded 64 other users (top 72% of Bluesky users)
- I was scolded by 112 users (top 54% of Bluesky users)
- I explained the joke to the original poster 14 times (top 62% of Bluesky users)
Get yours at bskywrapped2025.bsky.app
- I scolded 64 other users (top 72% of Bluesky users)
- I was scolded by 112 users (top 54% of Bluesky users)
- I explained the joke to the original poster 14 times (top 62% of Bluesky users)
Get yours at bskywrapped2025.bsky.app
November 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I got the same but I also chided 76 people who I happen to know are still on X
Reposted by Neil Fisher
Tbf, it would be a lot more expensive if he was still doing the double act with Roy.
November 13, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Tbf, it would be a lot more expensive if he was still doing the double act with Roy.
Sorry to say you missed the thrifty era when seats for Siegfried were a mere £415.
November 13, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Sorry to say you missed the thrifty era when seats for Siegfried were a mere £415.
"Rhapsodic slow movement" = it's mid-century British, it's not very good
"Spirited fast movement" = it's mid-century British, it's not very good
"Spirited fast movement" = it's mid-century British, it's not very good
November 9, 2025 at 2:13 PM
"Rhapsodic slow movement" = it's mid-century British, it's not very good
"Spirited fast movement" = it's mid-century British, it's not very good
"Spirited fast movement" = it's mid-century British, it's not very good
Reposted by Neil Fisher
Just bought my poppy
November 8, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Just bought my poppy
Reposted by Neil Fisher
If it’s not called And Another Thing don’t bother
John Carpenter says he's working on a sequel to 'The Thing'
"We'll see"
"We'll see"
November 7, 2025 at 10:31 PM
If it’s not called And Another Thing don’t bother
Reposted by Neil Fisher
Films: We need to hack a keycard, obtained by seducing one of the guards. We then need to drop in from the skylight after jumping from a plane, and dodge all of the lasers and traps, carefully switching the jewels for fakes that weigh the same to avoid tripping the alarm.
Real life:
Real life:
October 19, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Films: We need to hack a keycard, obtained by seducing one of the guards. We then need to drop in from the skylight after jumping from a plane, and dodge all of the lasers and traps, carefully switching the jewels for fakes that weigh the same to avoid tripping the alarm.
Real life:
Real life:
Reposted by Neil Fisher
A very fine house debut from Marie Jacquot in this excellent Royal Opera Magic Flute revival
My @thetimes.com review is now online:
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...
My @thetimes.com review is now online:
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...
The Magic Flute review — misogyny, Freemasonry and some fine singing
Marie Jacquot makes a splendid Royal Opera House debut conducting a wonderful cast in this delightful Mozart revival
www.thetimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 10:36 PM
A very fine house debut from Marie Jacquot in this excellent Royal Opera Magic Flute revival
My @thetimes.com review is now online:
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...
My @thetimes.com review is now online:
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...
Her interest was obviously stimulated by directing the video for Belinda Carlisle’s metaphysical ballad “Heaven is a Place on Earth”, which the correspondent weirdly ignores.
Diane Keaton's sole documentary, “Heaven,” explored popular ideas of the afterlife. “Why would there be such a place as hell, for any of us?” she told an interviewer in 2021, adding, “I just don’t believe that.”
Diane Keaton’s Only Documentary Was About the Afterlife
Keaton, who died on Saturday, was an actor, director and producer on multiple films and series. Her sole documentary, “Heaven,” explored popular ideas of the afterlife.
nyti.ms
October 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Her interest was obviously stimulated by directing the video for Belinda Carlisle’s metaphysical ballad “Heaven is a Place on Earth”, which the correspondent weirdly ignores.
"I don’t see someone calling me up and saying, ‘Hey, how about dinner?’"
The day I missed my chance with the one-and-only Diane Keaton.
www.thetimes.com/article/83d9...
The day I missed my chance with the one-and-only Diane Keaton.
www.thetimes.com/article/83d9...
Diane Keaton: ‘Life is magical, but I don’t see happy as part of the deal’
Well, la-dee-da, Annie Hall has made it to Hampstead at last. It’s been a long wait and in the time since Diane Keaton, as goofy, wonderful Annie, wooed Woody A
www.thetimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:49 PM
"I don’t see someone calling me up and saying, ‘Hey, how about dinner?’"
The day I missed my chance with the one-and-only Diane Keaton.
www.thetimes.com/article/83d9...
The day I missed my chance with the one-and-only Diane Keaton.
www.thetimes.com/article/83d9...
Reposted by Neil Fisher
It was two OUP books.
October 10, 2025 at 10:14 AM
It was two OUP books.
Reposted by Neil Fisher
Piece from me on the inability to call Jew hate by its real name
www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...
Why won't the Left call out anti-Semitism for what it is?
There is even a Jewish Green movement which offers a reasoned definition of anti-Semitism and fights attempts to overturn it.
www.spectator.co.uk
October 3, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Piece from me on the inability to call Jew hate by its real name
www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...
Reposted by Neil Fisher
"At an otherwise peaceful demonstration in Trafalgar Square I encountered abuse, swearing, ignorance and, underpinning it all, virulent, unthinking antisemitism" | ✍️ Matthew Syed
I asked a simple question at a pro-Palestine protest and it turned ugly
www.thetimes.com
October 5, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"At an otherwise peaceful demonstration in Trafalgar Square I encountered abuse, swearing, ignorance and, underpinning it all, virulent, unthinking antisemitism" | ✍️ Matthew Syed
Reposted by Neil Fisher
A "pro-Palestine' march passes me in Bath. Perhaps they're good people, I think to myself. The hippyish Quakers I remember from, say, being a member of Bath CND in the 80s. They're not *necessarily* antisemites, I say. So I check out their X feed. And it's awful.
October 4, 2025 at 12:25 PM
A "pro-Palestine' march passes me in Bath. Perhaps they're good people, I think to myself. The hippyish Quakers I remember from, say, being a member of Bath CND in the 80s. They're not *necessarily* antisemites, I say. So I check out their X feed. And it's awful.
Reposted by Neil Fisher
So the Metropolitan Opera can castigate Anna Netrebko and get on its high horse about Ukraine -- and then get in bed with the Saudis? And at this point it seems everyone is too punch-drunk even to be outraged.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/a...
The Met Opera Turns to Saudi Arabia to Help Solve Its Financial Woes
www.nytimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
So the Metropolitan Opera can castigate Anna Netrebko and get on its high horse about Ukraine -- and then get in bed with the Saudis? And at this point it seems everyone is too punch-drunk even to be outraged.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/a...
Christoph von Dohnanyi, who has died at 95, was brought up by heroic parents who endured extraordinary torment at the hands of the Nazis - as he revealed to me in @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/f5cf...
www.thetimes.com/article/f5cf...
September 8, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Christoph von Dohnanyi, who has died at 95, was brought up by heroic parents who endured extraordinary torment at the hands of the Nazis - as he revealed to me in @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/f5cf...
www.thetimes.com/article/f5cf...
It seems faintly odd that Simon Rattle has just announced "routine surgery" to happen in...the next few days, thus meaning he has to cancel his scheduled Proms.
August 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
It seems faintly odd that Simon Rattle has just announced "routine surgery" to happen in...the next few days, thus meaning he has to cancel his scheduled Proms.
Reposted by Neil Fisher
Step away from Bolero, banish Bruckner's 7th and stop murdering Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto... the pieces @thetimes.com music critics can't bear to hear again
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
Boo to Boléro! The classical music favourites we never want to hear again
As Ravel’s earworm is performed at the Proms — for the 57th time — our critics train their ire on Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner and more. Do you have a musical allergy?
www.thetimes.com
August 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Step away from Bolero, banish Bruckner's 7th and stop murdering Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto... the pieces @thetimes.com music critics can't bear to hear again
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
Reposted by Neil Fisher
Patient, sobbing: But Doctor, I AM Pagliacci!
ChatGPT: Apologies. I didn't realise when recommending Pagliacci's epic show to cure your depression that you were the genius himself. I'm impressed! With regards to your initial question, I can recommend seeing the Great Clown Pagliacci.
ChatGPT: Apologies. I didn't realise when recommending Pagliacci's epic show to cure your depression that you were the genius himself. I'm impressed! With regards to your initial question, I can recommend seeing the Great Clown Pagliacci.
August 7, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Patient, sobbing: But Doctor, I AM Pagliacci!
ChatGPT: Apologies. I didn't realise when recommending Pagliacci's epic show to cure your depression that you were the genius himself. I'm impressed! With regards to your initial question, I can recommend seeing the Great Clown Pagliacci.
ChatGPT: Apologies. I didn't realise when recommending Pagliacci's epic show to cure your depression that you were the genius himself. I'm impressed! With regards to your initial question, I can recommend seeing the Great Clown Pagliacci.
Step away from Bolero, banish Bruckner's 7th and stop murdering Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto... the pieces @thetimes.com music critics can't bear to hear again
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
Boo to Boléro! The classical music favourites we never want to hear again
As Ravel’s earworm is performed at the Proms — for the 57th time — our critics train their ire on Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner and more. Do you have a musical allergy?
www.thetimes.com
August 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Step away from Bolero, banish Bruckner's 7th and stop murdering Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto... the pieces @thetimes.com music critics can't bear to hear again
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
www.thetimes.com/article/f043...
Mahler coming up tonight with the Hallé. Their new Singaporean conductor seems like A Good Thing.
www.thetimes.com/article/8514...
www.thetimes.com/article/8514...
‘Don’t fight the wave, ride it’ — the surfer maestro revitalising the Hallé
As the Hallé’s chief conductor, Kahchun Wong, makes his Proms debut, the Singaporean explains how his military education — and favourite water sport — inspired him
www.thetimes.com
August 2, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Mahler coming up tonight with the Hallé. Their new Singaporean conductor seems like A Good Thing.
www.thetimes.com/article/8514...
www.thetimes.com/article/8514...
Reposted by Neil Fisher
"You have a lot to be proud of in England. It doesn’t always have to be about having a bad conscience about various things you’ve done in the past."
Love to have my fondness for smut and warm beer indulged by a Norwegian virtuoso violinist.
www.thetimes.com/article/3e46...
Love to have my fondness for smut and warm beer indulged by a Norwegian virtuoso violinist.
www.thetimes.com/article/3e46...
Dirty jokes and English beer — the baroque stars of the all-night Prom
The Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike and his Barokksolistene group sell out UK venues playing 17th-century music to young crowds. Now they’re revamping a classic Purcell opera
www.thetimes.com
July 17, 2025 at 2:56 PM
"You have a lot to be proud of in England. It doesn’t always have to be about having a bad conscience about various things you’ve done in the past."
Love to have my fondness for smut and warm beer indulged by a Norwegian virtuoso violinist.
www.thetimes.com/article/3e46...
Love to have my fondness for smut and warm beer indulged by a Norwegian virtuoso violinist.
www.thetimes.com/article/3e46...
"The arts critic is one of the rare roles in the arts ecosystem who has actual independence, and no financial stakes in the game; remove them and you still have plenty more gatekeepers who may be more concerned with great profit than great art."
bit.ly/40rPnuX
bit.ly/40rPnuX
A major music critic is taken off his post
late morning thoughts on Zachary Woolfe, the Times, and the role of the critic
industry.substack.com
July 18, 2025 at 8:09 PM
"The arts critic is one of the rare roles in the arts ecosystem who has actual independence, and no financial stakes in the game; remove them and you still have plenty more gatekeepers who may be more concerned with great profit than great art."
bit.ly/40rPnuX
bit.ly/40rPnuX