City AM review :happy:

WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST 2022 6:06 PM

In the five years since his debut film Get Out, Jordan Peele has established himself as a new Master of Horror. The promotional material for his latest work suggests he knows how popular he’s become, too: his own name is highlighted with equal prominence to the film’s title: Nope.

Taking place on a California ranch, the film follows two siblings, played by Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya, as they struggle to sustain a horse wrangling business following the death of their father. While facing the prospect of selling the ranch to local entrepreneur and former child actor Jupe, played by Steven Yeun, they notice an odd presence near the farm.

Suspecting it might be extra-terrestrial, the pair seek to get the “Opera Shot” Edit 22/04/23 - Having just seen the film, that should be "Oprah"! of the UFO that will make them famous. However, the pursuit of evidence puts them in the path of danger.

Nope examines our fascination with tragedy and celebrity. Peele mentioned the pandemic as an inspiration, and these themes give the story depth which, combined with a witty script and old-fashioned filming techniques, makes for a spooky story that’s a lot of fun to follow.

It’s all gorgeously shot. There are a number of memorable images, such as a field of inflatable sporting mascots (get tickets and you’ll see) which send a chill. Occasionally, Peele’s narrative threads bump into each other in a way that feels too chaotic: a subplot involving Jupe’s survival of a tragedy culminates in a horrifying flashback, for instance, but these can distract from the main journey.

But with a cast this impressive, there’s no harm in hanging around. One of the best stars around at the moment, Kaluuya’s first post-Oscar role is another example of the British actor’s range.

His character, the reserved OJ, is miles from what Kaluuya’s played in the past, but feels authentic and allows him to convey a film’s worth of emotions in just one look. Palmer serves as the other side of the coin as fearless sister Em, stealing many scenes with her quick delivery and there are memorable supporting turns from Yeun and Brandon Perea as UFO enthusiast Angel.

Nope may be one of the best acted films since, well, Get Out. A popcorn movie with a brain, Nope shows Peele has an ability to hold a mirror up to society while still being thoroughly entertaining.

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Review, dated 3 October 2017, from Fine Books & Collections

Barry Miles' Memoir of British Counterculture Issued as a Limited Edition

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From Goodreads:

The goal of the authors, Mike Brocken and Melissa Davis, was not only to gather and list a comprehensive list of the writings about (and in some cases 'by') The Beatles, but to provide thoughtful and thought-provoking annotations. The readers and users - researchers, writers, students, scholars and fans - were kept in mind, so separate songbook and webography sections, the cross-reference and logical style conventions make it a 'user-friendly' resource.

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Joon: "You're out of your tree"

...Sam: "It's not my tree"

(One of my favourite lines in any movie :)

One of those movies that over the course of time, has unintentionally become one of my all time favourites...

...By virtue of the fact that I just keep watching it, when I want something light, fun, enjoyable, and warm to look at.

It's bit of a silly, absurdist comedy overlaying a more personal, poignant story of a brother (Benny- Aidan Quinn) who has raised, essentially, and is looking after his little sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson) in the wake of losing their parents to tragedy.

Benny wants a life outside of being a mechanic, and looking after Joon as best he can, but is resigned to his responsibilities , but Joon has grown and is now a young woman, who's PTSD based (+ unspecified schizophrenic condition) mental health issues make her increasingly hard to cope with.

Benny has the world in the condition he wants it, and can just about handle, when Joon accidentally wins the simple, uneducated Sam (Johnny Depp) in a poker game.

Sam is a bit zany, and has a thing for Buster Keaton, and Joon, being a young woman, despite her issues, is more than a little taken with him, naturally.

...So Benny now has to take him home, and the change in this household dynamic begins to shake his fragile family world apart.

There are some quite big issues here around mental illness, such as taking care of someone who has them, especially if you are struggling a bit yourself, and whether it is the right thing, or better for them to be "in care", but these are background, or contextual themes in the movie, lightly, and deftly handled, so as not to get in the way of the funnier aspects of mental illness, and the comedic moments that come of it, and it doesn't overdo it, or sermonise on the issues... it assumes an intelligence in the audience, and allows a lot to be a given, or understood.

That said, Mary Stuart Masterson gives one of the most sensitive and underrated performances ever here, as someone has is suffering with such things and she deserves much more credit for the performance than she gets. Mostly, this is because of Depp's Keaton style physical comedy performance largely overshadowed it...

(And is probably why people often misunderstand the titular characters of this to be her and Depp.)

There's another early performance by Julianne Moore as Benny's possible burgeoning love interest, waitress and former minor movie "Scream Queen", and is where The Proclaimers 500 Miles song really got brought to the wider world.

And a special feature is a novel way to make toast :)

[YouTube Video]

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Title is a bit misleading since a "very best" of Fats would include the classic sides he made for Imperial Records between 1949 and 1963, when he left that label for ABC-Paramount. The ABC sides, recorded between 1963 and 1965, are the ones featured here. Instead of building on Fats' success recording in New Orleans, ABC sent him to Nashville. That's not as incongruous a move as you might think, considering Domino's clear country influences. Unfortunately, the glossier treatment with strings and vocal chorus produced only one top 40 hit in "Red Sails in the Sunset." The later sides like "Heartbreak Hill" and "Wigs" are more like the Fats the public had come to know, but by that time the British Invasion had swept many American R&B artists off the charts. The collection closes with a nice reworking of his 1956 hit "When My Dreamboat Comes Home." Out of print but not difficult to find.

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

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Certainly one of the most inane thrillers of our time. Still, I can't get enough of films this bad, especially when the incompetent filmmakers appear to have had no idea what a turd they were creating. Some of the most embarrassing acting to ever disgrace the screen from folks like Charlton Heston, Karen Black, Sid Caesar, Myrna Loy, Erik Estrada, Gloria Swanson, Susan Clark, and even F-Troop's Larry Storch! Some performers manage to save some face (Efrem Zimbalist, Dana Andrews, Roy Thinnes - all wasted). The best line in the whole film -- and there's a lot of competition -- is delivered by Linda Blair, who plays a sick teenager en route to receive a kidney transplant. As her mother tries to convince her to get some rest, she explains how difficult that task is because "People are so interesting!" And don't even get me started on Helen Reddy's singing nun...

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Mostly enjoyable fun thrill ride Spy caper in the style, and with a feel of a Mission Impossible or modern Bond movie, but with the odd Marvel elements thrown in.

Falls a little flat towards the end, I feel, and doesn't quite hit the mark.

...Mainly, I think, because I was expecting a Marvel movie... more Superhero elements (which are in here, but not to the extent you'd anticipate) rather than spy movie... but also because even as a spy movie, it borrows too much from those kind of films, and you've seen it all before, and better from the likes of Bourne, and those other two franchises I mentioned... except watered down a bit for this audience, and a little diluted, and the impact lost by the addition of those occasional fantastical super-hero elements.

Cast is great though, Florence Pugh steals the show a bit, and probably the weakest is Winstone... not that he is bad, it's just his character is a paint by numbers villain that doesn't impress much (still, nice easy pay day for our Ray!).

The only other gripe, is a seemingly small thing, but an odd choice, nonetheless:

Johansson's widow wears mainly White! (?)

They've spent all these years building an identity for this character based around that slinky black business, then when she gets her own movie.... white.

....eh?

White Widow?

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Death Wish V is undoubtedly the worst in the series, but it's also much better than many action films of the 90s.

Charles Bronson returns as Paul Kersey for a paycheck. He looks considerably older than he did on the last Death Wish film and is nowhere near as sprightly; that said he still exudes the tough guy persona that made him so famous.

The plot involves Bronson's girlfriend, fashion designer Olivia (the gorgeous Lesley-Anne Down) being threatened by Irish mobster and ex-husband Tommy O'Shea (Michael Parks).

Unlike previous entries the violence is considerably toned down. It's also the first film in the Death Wish franchise to be re-classified as UK 15. There are no doubt some violent death scenes, but it is more in-line with 90s films like True Lies, Batman Returns and Darkman, in that it is more fantastical and more about the spectacle than the gore. This makes it worse for me; it's pretty much what separated it from films like Lethal Weapon in terms of action. There's no rape scenes in this one which is a good thing.

Bronson is still bad ass in this. I thought Parks looked incredibly cool as the bad guy, but he feels a bit like a PG-rated pantomime baddie than a nasty piece of work like The Giggler or Nirvana.

Overall it's a pretty solid popcorn action film and is recommended for fans of the series. Allan A. Goldstein has always been a mediocre B-Movie director, but this is one of his better films and the direction is really solid.

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Somewhere there's an interesting documentary to be made about the bizarre 70s Naziploitation genre.

This is NOT that documentary, in fact it's barely a documentary at all, merely a collection of trailers introduced by a tattooed stripper.

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Half... and half again.

I finally got round to listening to this in it's entirety, having found a copy the other week, and I've got to say I am not overly impressed.

As previously mentioned below, the original tracks are the best, the others are just self indulgent blues work-outs, the kind that only Eric Clapton enjoys for his own pleasure... mostly tedious.

So immediately, you can cut this album into two separate albums, leaving, after having left the blues stuff for the "Clapton = God" die-hards, the bones of a much better album... a tighter, and more focused single disc album...

...But even that could do with some culling, as those songs too, are a little over-long, with lots of unnecessary repetition to eek them out. Occasionally, it's justified, what with having Allman on board, he seems to challenge Clapton and bring the best out of him, but mostly, the songs are twice the length they need to be.

Paired down in this way (and maybe with the addition of a couple of other songs of this quality), I feel this could have been the basis of a great album, fully deserving of the esteem it seems to garner, instead of an unnecessary double album, which sounds more like an epic whinge... like that bloke we've all met who thinks he's the only person in the world to have had his heart broken, and after your initial sympathy, his incessant moaning begins to wear thin.

But as for the pressing, well, it's a Polydor Super, which have proven themselves to me to be among the best sounding albums I've heard, so you can't go wrong on that score at least.

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Excellent animated comedy, could easily have been a King Fu Panda franchise entry.

Originally intended as a Blazing Saddles sequel - see Richard Pryor co-writing credit - there are many references to the latter dotted throughout.

I watched this on Cable and there was a parental lock on it, so it's not all fluff! There's a bit of violence there but literally of the cartoon variety.

The humour is very good, not as unsubtle as I might have expected.

8/10

:happy:

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Absolutely Batsh*t crazy brilliance!

The title is apt, in that it seems to be a collage of a movie, made mostly from bits and pieces of scripts and ideas, all stitched together to make something new and highly original...

... Like, all those things which might have been rejected or culled from other movies, have all been chucked in the pot, given a stir and this gloriously weird movie came out the other end.

In general, I've gotten off the "Multi-Verse" bus already, as it just seems like the latest lazy device used by Marvel and the like as a convenient way of rebooting, or prolonging a franchise and some bankable characters. Just as they used to use (and continue to use) time travel:

("Oh no, we've used up our one idea fort this character arc... quick... do-over! / reboot / time travel this franchise, so we can wring more cash out of it for another decade!")

The "multi-verse" / "many worlds" idea, just the latest one movie makers have latched on to from desperate, aptly named theoretical physicists who invent this crap as a way of plugging holes in their knowledge; Not actual science, or in any way, scientific..

But here, it's put to good use, and is very self aware of the ludicrousness of this concept, and doesn't try to sell it by taking itself too seriously.

It's an idea only, used to tell a story, and make it's point, about the real story.

And that real story is this probably the only time I can think of that has addressed what's going on in the real world around us right now:

The growing gulf, and schism that exists, between generations, with those of previous generations (up to, and including my own) feeling like the younger generations (millennials, gen-z-ers etc.) are increasingly alien, and incomprehensible, while they themselves, increasingly feel themselves dis-inherited culturally, and socially, and falling into a nihilistic despair... the chasm, this creates leading to an inter-generational warfare of sorts... here, actually realized.

As Michelle Yeoh, a mother in a family consisting of a very sweet, and optimistic husband (Short-round, from Indiana Jones!), staunch traditionalist Chinese father, and a young angst ridden gay daughter, struggles to balance these opposing forces and tensions within her family all the while, trying to keep the laundry business afloat, and deal with the taxes.

So there's a strong thread here that any struggling mother will recognise too.

But it's at the tax office, where it all goes completely sideways, and absolutely nuts... as, in the face of a gruff tax official (Jamie Lee Curtis, being brilliant :), her family members' consciousnesses are commandeered by other versions of themselves from other universes, in order to recruit her to help save the multi-verse from a malevolent omni-versal being, who is intent on destroying everything.

It's a martial arts movie, a sci-fi, a family drama, a social and cultural commentary, and a deeply personal story of a mother and her daughter with hot-dog hands (you must see to believe!), stick on googly eyes ("Google-eyes"), weird unsettling, even disturbing events (not for kids) that ends in the middle, and then keeps going until it's finished!

This is the kind of thing Philip K. Dick was great at writing... a wild apparently incomprehensible mess, from which the strongest and most powerful impression and idea is lodged in your mind, in a way more conventional writing fails to do, and for the life of you, you can't figure out how they did it.

I might mention Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and the kind of movies they make, to give you an idea of what you are in for, but nothing will prepare you for this...

(Russo brothers produced this - Avengers Infinity War / Endgame directors)

...But once you start watching, you will be sat riveted on the edge of your seat, open mouthed, until the end.

But that's not to say it's all swirling dazzle, there's real substance, and warmth, heart, and bags of that pathos stuff.

I feel have seen something refreshing, and entirely new here, in a way I haven't since Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse, which knocked me cleanout of my shoes!

Although still early, it's easily the best film of the decade so far.

(They'll have to go some way to bettering this in the coming years)

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Die Laughing - Below average slasher

Sam Coex (Steve Munroe) is a stand-up comedian who just can't get a break. After a rival comedian is murdered in what must be the only nightclub in town, Sam takes his place and goes on a prostitute and stripper killing binge.

The Comic has lofty ambitions, but it is hampered by a small budget and bad acting. Steve Munroe lacks charisma in the lead role and his Christmas cracker jokes are poorly delivered. In an odd design choice he also sports dyed, day-glo orange hair like a clown wig.

Any commentary about a dystopian society are hampered by an insipid script. This is not A Clockwork Orange or 1984 level of atmosphere. It's bizarre. The brutal guards look like weedy men and people get about in horse and carriage for unknown reasons.

For exploitation and horror fans there are some surprisingly nasty murder scenes with a fair amount of blood. Also a few long sex scenes.

This film has gone onto gain a bit of a cult status due to VHS tapes doing the rounds in the 90s and screenings at horror film festivals. It's a mediocre at best film and one wonders what the intended vision was had the budget been into the millions. The Blu-ray from Arrow has a sharp print, good sound and English subtitles.

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Gross-out comedies are not usually my cup of meat but, for some reason, this one grabbed me right from the off! So much so that I was worried it might burn out and just decay into an extended sketch!

Even now, a day after watching it, I can't put my finger on why I enjoyed it so much! It was my first SBC film and I have another recorded. Can't wait!

9/10

:happy:

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definitely a holly lisle-ish style version of an ''unknown worlds-ish'' sf author's approach to the risks of setting free the odd demon or several from the bowels of hell, and both foreseeable, and some utterly unanticipated consequences thereof;

- very different from james blish's classic ''black easter'' q.v.. . .

#1: ''sympathy for the devil'' holly lisle (1996), (this book)
#2: ''the devil and dan cooley'' holly lisle, walter spence (1996), q.v.
#3: ''hell on high'' holly lisle, ted nolan (1997), q.v.

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In general terms this film is a load of rubbish.

BUT time has been kind to it. The 80s synth soundtrack, the wooden performances, the shots of pre-mass tourism Barcelona - It's dum fun.

It's not for everyone but if you are a fan of trash horror then that's certainly what it is. If you are a gorehound however then you might find it a bit tame. There's not a lot of genuine horror and it has a very TV Movie feel.

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Glen Campbell was one of a number of artists who, aside from their solo work, also recorded demo recordings on behalf of various songwriters to present to Elvis for consideration for use on future albums or movie soundtracks. Campbell, who actually played for Elvis on the Viva Las Vegas soundtrack, was recruited by the Weisman-Wayne songwriting team to do some of their demos that were at the time almost exclusively intended for film soundtracks as Elvis pretty much was only focusing on that kind of work in the mid-60s. This album is a revelation. It may be a hot take to say this, but most of Campbell's versions are far superior to what Elvis ended up recording. That's not necessarily a knock on Elvis, but it does show that clearly something happened between, for example, Campbell recording "Clambake" which has extra verses and a completely different "middle eight" than what Elvis pretty much sleepwalked through on the Clambake soundtrack. "Easy Come, Easy Go" is a very strong rocker with surprisingly risque lyrics for the time and amazing guitar work by Campbell; none of this is reflected in what Elvis recorded (he is famously quoted as referring to the ECEG soundtrack music as "s*it"). Even the infamous "Do the Clam" from Girl Happy (described by some biographers as the nadir of his career) comes off much the better in the demo version. (Trivia note: although the CD spells her name wrong, "Do the Clam" was one of several songs Weisman and Wayne wrote with Dolores Fuller who is also remembered as the girlfriend of director Edward D. Wood Jr and appeared in several of his infamous films such as Plan 9 from Outer Space).

The strongest tracks on the album are the Bobbie Gentry-influenced "All I Needed Was the Rain" (it has the same feel as Gentry's "Nicky Hoeky" from around the same time) and a remix of what appears to have been the only non-movie-intended demo of the bunch, the spiritual "We Call on Him" which was recorded by Elvis for a single as he started to pull out of just doing the soundtracks, and the CD effectively combines his vocals with Campbell's demo to make an effective duet (though I do wish they'd included the unedited Campbell demo for comparison).

The CD also lets listeners play a game of "what if" as several songs that were rejected by Elvis (or the filmmakers) are also included. Some of them are quite good (and on a few of them Campbell really does sound like Elvis) and it's fun to guess what movies the unused songs were intended for (for example, "Magic Fire" sounds like it might have been intended for Harum Scarum).

Campbell, of course, wasn't the only talented performer to record demos for Elvis (others include PJ Proby, as well as the songwriters themselves in a few cases). It would be interesting to see more such releases compiling these demos.

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Bob Mosely is my Dad. He is the pianist on album. He was murdered 2 weeks before I was born. My mom told my brother 5 yrs old, that she was raped. She had a LOVE affair with a black man. When she went to LA to deliver and adopt me out, little John probably told his grandfather Jack Tweedie what his mom told him. Assume the rest. I wish I could find more pictures of my dad. Robert Powhatan Mosley

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What on earth is this!?!!

I found the DVD of this, quite by accident, at a boot fair this week, and recognised it as being one of those: "You must see it before you die... or your life will have been in vain!!!" titles, that keeps appearing in various lists of this type...

... And so I watched it.

The version I have is on Artificial Eye, and is two discs, with only and hour of part one on the first disc, then you have to switch for the remaining hour and a half for part two, and that's once you've navigated the subtitle menu, sound set up screen and managed at last to play it.

First impressions are, that it's a bit of a misnomer to call it science fiction...

...Yes, the pretext is that a meteor crashed somewhere in "The Zone" and then, within this "Zone" is a room, where, if you journey to it, and visit the room, your greatest wishes will come true... but you never see any meteor, or anything "Science-fiction-y" at all, as this is purely a film following two guys on their journey there, led by a third man... a "Stalker", who is like a wiseman / chosen one / guide type of thing, who takes people into, and across the "Zone" to the room. And all this does is follow these guys as they speak of the mythology of the meteor and room, philosophise, and have conversations and arguments as they go.

Other than the Stalker's wife and child, oh, and the barkeep in the intro, there are no other people in the film, and this set -up I've described is the entirety of the substance of the film, from beginning to end.

So if you are waiting for Something to happen... it doesn't.

I can see why opinions become mixed about it, as if you are expecting a landmark in epic sci-fi, based on whatever preconceptions that term brings to mind, you won't find it here, but if you see, as I think I did, that this is, instead, a kind of parable, or allegory, like a fable, or Canterbury Tales type of journey, then you might be better served.

But there are couple of things to be said otherwise than the plot, or story, and which are truly remarkable:

First... that cinematography!!!

Holy shit!

...The first say, twenty minutes / half hour, are most strikingly shot set of masterpiece images I've ever seen, shot in a weird mix of Black and white, around a brown / sepia mid tone, and with a very definite Pink haze or mist for everything in the middle to far distance... and every shot is like some artwork painting... I mean, every one!

In fact, it gets so it's hard to look at, and coupled with the extremely long glacial silences, and inaction, or total lack of anything happening at all... dialogue, movement anything, it starts to feel odd.

...But al of a sudden: BANG! ......COLOUR!

And this really knocks you backwards.

These rich, lurid greens of the forest and the grey concrete remains of old buildings is strange to see, and every so often, the light either shifts back to that black/white/ brown / sepia arrangement, or the pink mist of the distance, invades, or impinges on the green foreground of the colour shots.

Over all, I'd say this is more of a moving video art installation than it is a movie... very, very arty.

But is there anything more to it, substance wise?

And secondly, I think there is, but it's not for me consistent with the aims, ideas, or objectives of science fiction, but more - Remembering this is a Soviet era made film- a veiled and deliberately obscure commentary of perhaps, a more political, religious, and artistic nature, in a way, I suspect, that could perhaps, not be pinned down by censors etc.

(I think the sci-fi set up was more to do with Mr. Tarkovskiy being able to say: "a political critique of the state of our country and the world?.... Noooo... don't be ridiculous... look, it's clearly a science fiction!")

I might, and indeed, will have to watch it again, when I muster the courage to do so, but initial thoughts are, it's the height of bleak pretentious artiness,, way too long, being stuffed with unnecessarily long shots which could have made the same points more concisely and effectively if some of them were significantly cut down, or even cut out all together, and to the extent that this could easily have been a movie short, or half hour episode of weekly TV play kind of thing.

(I also got the feeling Tarkovskiy is slavishly trying to capture some kind of Kubrick-ness in how he shoots his movie... and over-cooking it somewhat!)

So unless your ready to settle in for long, bleak, almost mesmerising bout of depression, I'd give it a miss, as contrary to those lists, and the opinions of film critics and the like, you won't really be missing out on anything that hasn't already been said... and better.

...You certainly do not need to "see this before you die"... nor in fact, any time soon.

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The last of it's kind.

(And, in a way... the first)

In that this, on the face of it, taps into the kind of movie prevalent in the nineties that looked at the life and lifestyle of the hit-man, from an alternate point of view... whilst doing so in a way that makes for a very cool film... and presents the lead character as a very cool dude.

For this reason, you will see a lot of movies like Leon, and Grosse Point Blank in it, and it certainly deserves to be seen if you like those movies.

However, it differs from those two, in that it's made by Jim Jarmusch, which may or may not, speak for itself...

...It means this is not going to be a conventional rendition of those kind of movies, and not loaded with relentless, fast paced action, or adrenalin fuelled set pieces, in the way they do. Instead, this is a more contemplative, philosophical, mood driven piece, and philosophy is in general, the subject matter as well.

For Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a lone hit-man, living on a rooftop next to a pigeon shed, with his beloved feathered, and for the most part, only friends, and conducts his profession according to his chosen belief system... The way of the Samurai.

On one particular job, which he conducts on behalf of a mobster who once saved his life, a small detail is out of place... the presence of a girl, who witnesses him in the act, and so the "mafia" that this guy works for, decides (ill advisedly, as you might imagine) to have Ghost Dog "whacked", to tie up loose ends.

This whole movie has a very dream-like, lo-fi quality to it, that just rolls slowly along, and is peppered with surreal, dream-like moments, and often, very funny ones, too!

The frequent Whitaker narrated text quotations from the Samurai text that appear on the screen act like chapter headings, or presage the principles of the segment that follows.

after a few watches, you realize this film is actually saying more in it's message though, as the underlying theme seems to be about the changing times, and how old fashioned ways can either help, or hinder life... The rather antiquated, and satirically rendered mafia guys are basically cartoons of the kind of scuzz-bags depicted in movies like Goodfellas and such... being hopelessly lost in a modern and changing world that has no place their kind any more... comically bigotted, racist, diagrams of proto-Godfather Italian American gangster stereotypes...

... And it's that juxtaposition of generations, that gives the giggles, like the mafia boss who likes dancing around his bathroom, whilst singing to Public Enemy :)

...This, undermining, or satirical message is overtly emphasised by the frequent scenes of people watching TV, and in which, every single one is watching an old, zany Loony-Toons style cartoon... so these "serious" men are sat watching Woody Woodpecker, or Betty Boop.

It's also, because of this, about a lack of understanding of the world around us, and how this can make some people fearful, and strange, in how they deal with that... In fact, this is said on more than one occasion by the gangsters: "The world around us changing"...

...They can't deal with it, but Ghost Dog, who's only other non-pigeon friend, his "Best friend", is a French speaking ice cream van owner, he plays chess with, can... Ghost Dog doesn't speak French, and the other guy doesn't speak a lick of English... but they accept each other, and get along.

So a low burner, with bags of unique atmosphere, strange juxtapositions, who's surreal products makes for a very, very cool film.

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Produced during the lockdown of 2020 and 2021, Simon and Hilary's new studio album - with a couple of live tracks for good measure - is a mix of English folk song, settings of English poetry, original instrumentals and poetry, all spiced with a little Tchaikovsky and JC Bach.
This album is also available as a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD.
(From the Acoustic Records website)

The artists are new to me, but they have a Wikipedia page each, showing that they have been working for 45 years as multi-instrument players, vocalists, authors and artists. Their style is eclectic and based on the contemporary folk style, with rich production and multi-tracking.

They also have the website mayorandjames.com

[YouTube Video]

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A bit disappointing this one...

...Basically, it falls into that category of films where someone has simply thought, or had a conversation with someone, along the lines of:

"Hey, you know that film where the basic set up is this... well what if some particular detail was the polar opposite... what would that movie be like?"

...And so they make the film.

....And this is that film.

What if the spaceship that crashed into the Kent farm, containing extra-terrestrial super-baby did not have a good, pure soul who would later go on to become the saviour of the human race, but a nasty little insect boy, who's race had sent him here instead, to conquer us, and be evil?

In essence, the anti-superman origin story.

Naturally, with his powers, this is basically a horror movie, with some pretty grim effects on occasion, and has the tone, look, and feel of a modern horror.

The problem is, that while this is... OK, it's that same conversation everybody has had about Superman (What if he was evil) before, and all he same conclusions arising from it are all played out as you'd expect... So it's entirely predictable, lacks surprise, and just walks through that scenario in a paint by numbers kind of way. Feels a bit too flat.

On the plus side, where the story is of interest, in it's focus on the kid's adoptive parents, and the strains on their relationship as they struggle with the dawning realisation that their little cherub is not a good little boy at all.

Could have done with more of that to make the movie worth-while, but didn't, and isn't compensated for with enough action really, to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Oh and there's a pretty good track over the end credits, which turns out is by that there Billie Eilish person the kids are all raving about, and who's ubiquity of image and idol worshipry have been invading my consciousness for some time now from (Damn... I really am getting old!).

(I can now say I have knowingly heard a song by her, and she's not bad!)

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In the spring of 1970, 19-year-old Linda Hoover entered a New York studio to record her debut album for Roulette Records. Gary Katz was in charge as producer, while his protegés Donald Fagen and Walter Becker handled arrangements and contributed five songs. Other participating musicians included guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Ultimately, label boss Morris Levy declined to release the finished album after finding he would control copyright on only three of the 11 songs. Becker, Fagen, Dias, and Baxter formed Steely Dan two years later. Fifty years after that Hoover's record was finally released, restored from her quarter-inch tape copy. Okay, that's the history, but what about the music? Excellent. Hoover was a formidable talent; I agree with a review that likened her to Mary Hopkin. Becker and Fagen's five songs contain what became Steely Dan's signature quirky chords and cryptic lyrics. Hoover's three compositions provide a counterpoint, especially the lovely closer "The Dove." Highly recommended.

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an indication of how much control most authors have over how their babies get presented to the public:

''my hawk and fisher titles were perfectly acceptable to my british publisher,
but not to the u.s.

''no haven for the guilty'' became ''hawk and fisher''.
because: it was the first of a series starring hawk and fisher.

''devil take the hindmost'' became ''winner takes all''.
because: the publisher believed most americans wouldn't know what hindmost meant.

book 4, a gothic romance pastiche, was ''vengeance for a lonely man'' in the uk,
and ''wolf in the fold'' in the us.
because: the title was too long for the spine.

and book 6, ''two kings in haven'' in the uk, became ''bones of haven'' in the us.
because ... i haven't a clue. anti-monarchist feelings?''

- simon r. green, in drl's ansible #169, 8/2001 (lines re-set by yr hmbl srppnt.)

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Annotation:

Lewis Lapham claims to have been the only journalist allowed inside the Beatles coterie that went to India to study with the Maharishi. This is debatable, although the trip itself can be seen retrospectively to have been a significant, early encounter between Western pop culture and the mystical East - a social comedy, perhaps. The trip has been reasonably well documented over the years, and despite some wild speculations and rampant rumours, Ringo's 'holiday camp' summation appears accurate. The Beatles claimed to have written some of their greatest songs there and yet they also came away somewhat disillusioned (well, you would, wouldn't you?).

Lapham's little book at times verges on the disappointing for, despite his attendance, he informs the reader of very little - except, of course that he was 'there'. But to its great credit, it also shows that not every writer who covered the Beatles was smitten with the band.

When Lapham was sent to India to write about the Beatles for the Saturday Evening Post, he was a young, sceptical reporter who did not appear to be conscious of what the fuss was all about. 'I didn't rate myself an informed or fervent fan' he writes in this text. So this sliver of a book chronicles his stay at the meditation compound where the Beatles stayed for various lengths of time (Ringo and Maureen lasted a fortnight amidst the spicy food and bugs that plagued them respectively and missed their children in England), Paul and Jane Asher stayed just a bit longer and the Harrisons and Lennons lasted almost two months), does have its charms, despite remaining a little too slight for its own good. Unlike (say) Bob Spitz, Lapham's touch is light and detached, his eyebrow perpetually raised, his command of language scrupulous. He sees the Beatles as a curiosity, not a revelation.

Ironically, Lapham manages to etch an evocative portrait of the band members: the way they interacted both as individuals and as a collective, and by doing so, perhaps suggests how it might have felt to have spent some time around them. But to what extent did he actually spend time with them, rather than in the same compound?

Michael Brocken

Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only.

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Todd McFliker is one of South Florida's most passionate and knowledgeable music journalists. He graduated from Lynn University's College of International Communication with a M.S. in Mass Communication in 2005. Just two short years later, he published his first book, All You Need Is Love to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, a clever title crafted from two legendary bands' powerful lyrics, The Beatles and U2. The book takes an extensive look into the history of the two powerful rock bands that changed the world and musical history in unprecedented ways. With a catchy index of quotes and lists of the bands' tours and records, McFliker succeeds in encompassing the kind of amusing and interesting facts that true fans crave.

McFliker opens the book with a description of his first brushes with the music that later became the heart and soul of his writing career. I felt as if he was also expressing my innocent discovery of the phenomenal bands that have captured so many hearts before mine. Like him, I missed the generation in which the Beatles, and even U2, were adored by masses around the world. If not for writers and music lovers like McFliker, brave enough to delve backwards into the unfamiliar territory of a past generation, I would be left to '80s hair metal, '90s grunge, and the recent pop culture of the new millennium.

If there's one cliché to come out of my parents' complaints on today's music, it's that music is definitely "not what it used to be." The level of passion, concern, and conviction of the bands born in the past, like the Beatles and U2, remain unmatched by most budding musicians today. Why has the music of the past, specifically the Beatles and U2, touched the pages of history while still gripping people's interests today? What sets them above the bands that come and go in our mp3 players and on our radio stations? McFliker's book gives an accurate and refreshingly concise account of the reasons for these bands' timeless appeal.

While both the Beatles and U2 are regarded as culture-altering icons in our "me" centered society, McFliker focuses on the significant differences of the relationships between the members, the intention of the music, and the nature of the bands' impact.

During his solo career, Lennon became an advocate of peace and love through his music, tours, and unique interviews, such as the "Bed-In," that captured international attention and inspired concern from the public. Both the Beatles and Lennon alone, redefined music as well as the purpose of music. And while similarities between the cultural effect of the Beatles and U2 exist, most will admit that the revolutionary music of the four British men cannot be mimicked or genuinely regenerated.

While Lennon preached innovation through his music, Bono achieved, and continues to achieve, political change through his actions. He assumes the role of the ultimate political rock star, approaching presidents and politicians alike, lobbying for economical aid to starving and diseased countries.

Although the bands are very different, many fans still consider U2 to be the offspring of the Beatles and Bono, the John Lennons of our time. While the Fab Four endured countless fractures in their personal and professional relationship until the final breakup in 1970 ,U2 still remains a healthy, live and kicking band whose members never once publicly criticized one another.

All You Need Is Love to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb covers the contributions these two bands have made to our world in general as well as to the world of music. The Beatles revolutionized music through their lyrics,
performances and recording strategies. U2 shook everyone's ears and hearts with invigorating and painfully honest messages. Never before has a book been able to thoroughly explore all the twists and turns of each of their journeys to make musical history, until now.
Nadia Kijanka, Parklander

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sequel to ''henry martyn'' l. neil smith (1989), q.v. more piracy in space, more buckles being swashed. fun.

also a sequel to ''the wardove'' l. neil smith (1986), q.v.

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Enregistrements édifiants

Sous le titre global "La Bible ” on nous présente douze chansons, de la Genèse â l’exode. La musique est de Claude Henri VIC. Le découpage et les textes sont de Jacques Hourdeaux et sont chantés par Monique et Louis Aldebert.

Il y a douze textes de la genèse à l'exode qui sont entendus grâce à cet enregistrement.

J'aurais aimé une autre musique que ces airs ultra modernes. Si les auteurs et les diffuseurs de ces disques croient que par ce procédé et cette méthode ils peuvent rejoindre mieux le coeur de nos populations, alors me je résigne volontiers.

Nous avouerons que c'est une évolution quant à la musique accompagnant les textes de la bible.

Répétons-le afin de ne pas avoir l'air de diminuer l'intérêt et la valeur de ce disque en ajoutant que ce sont là des textes qu'une population chrétienne surtout doit connaître.

Au fond de la misère morale qui sévit actuellement en beaucoup de milieux au Canada français, il y a une ignorance chez beaucoup trop de la bible, de l'évangile, des dogmes et de la morale chrétienne.

Tous les moyens publicitaires modernes doivent être loués et mis en oeuvre si on juge que cela peut donner à nos populations en déroute le sens de ses origines chrétiennes.

Évidemment, je m'excuse de m'écarter de l'analyse proprement dite de ce disque, mais si les textes sont beaux, la musique qui ne manque pas d'allant est belle.

Il ne s'agit pas d'introduire le jazz à l'Eglise mais la nouvelle liturgie nous invite à des modes surprenants, tant mieux si par ce nouveau mode de véhiculer la pensée chrétienne on rejoint le coeur des masses.
(Rodolphe Laplante - L'Action Populaire, mercredi 24 mai 1967, Troisième cahier, page 5)


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*I've reviewed this on Imdb under the title "It's Pants Boyo"*

The Charlotte Church Show was designed to appeal to the post-pub / pre-club crowd of 18-30 year olds. Later on Channel 4 would score a megahit with The Friday Night Project in 2007 and this would get axed a year after. The Charlotte Church Show attracted a lot of negative criticisms much like programmes in the previous slot: The Girlie Show, Something For The Weekend, The 11 O' Clock Show and quite rightly so; it's complete cack.

There are two good points that make this show memorable. The programme showcased a lot of comedians who went onto become household names in the 10s people like: Adam Hills, Michael McIntyre, Lee Mack, Rhod Gilbert and Frankie Boyle. The musical performances which consisted mainly of covers with Charlotte Church providing backing vocals are also excellent and there's no denying Charlotte Church is a great singer. Some of the acts are like a whose who of mid-00s pop acts: Amy Winehouse, The Script, McFly, Sharleen Spiteri, Orson, Beth Rowley and Nelly Furtado. The show is now quite sort off for these two reasons, but it is sadly unavailable on all non-user generated streaming platforms and has no commercial release on DVD or Blu-Ray.

The comedy sketches/skits and some Charlotte Church's banter with guests and the audience is truly cringe; cashing-in on her bad girl image of the early 00s when she was pictured getting drunk and falling out of taxis. Really grown worthy puns about Wales and forced ladette humour which was popular with its predecessors like The Girlie Show. The show ran for a surprising 3 series from 2006-2008 despite negative reviews. There is around 20 hours worth of footage in its entirely, but maybe one hour of it is any good and worth your time. I can't recommend it, but would like to see All4 make it available.

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A Perfect Romance.

I'd been hearing about this since it came out, but never got around to seeing it, even as it's reputation grew and grew.

And it's reputation is well deserved.

It's basically, what I'd say was a realisation on film of a romantic fantasy Richard Linklater must have had, and perhaps many do, along the lines of "A Brief Encounter", except this is technically an even briefer encounter, where two perfect strangers meet on a train, get chatting, hit it off, and decide to spend the whole day and night together in Vienna, only to go their separate ways in the morning, when the dream must end (Before Sunrise).

But this is not a "One Night Stand" type of situation, where it's about the sex, this is about talking to someone, getting to know them as much as they can, in the time available, so this is purely about personal chemistry.

In fact the many discussions they have with each other as they move about the city are more, bordering on the philosophical, as well as deeply personal, and in the most honest way... Indeed, it struck me how similar getting to know someone through conversation like this resembles those conversations you have with people when you are stoned :D

(Love / connection = Intoxication (?))

But it's fun too, and very warm and engaging.

If you like Romantic films and Rom-coms, as I do (In a very manly way, of course....Grrrrr ), you will know that when these movies don't work, it's because the film-makers have made the classic mistake of thinking, all you need to do is get the two most beautiful / hot people you can find, putting them together, and hey presto!

...Because, of course it's not what the lead actors look like, that make people love these films (although of course, realistically, it's a factor), it's about likability, pure and simple.

...You've got to like the actors, their characters, and how they interact.

(This is why Hanks and Ryan work every time, and charisma vacuum movie, 27 Dresses sucks!)

This hit's that note perfectly... and it had to, as Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are together for every frame of every shot here, and had to work well, both on their own and especially with each other, in order to sell the premise of the movie, that two people who just met, could strike up a relationship like this in so short a time.

I know this was only "Episode 1" in this particular Linklater mega-project, that he is prone to (Boyhood- filmed over decades, to get the ageing of the actors caught on screen, was incredible), there being two other movies about this relationship: Before Sunset, and more recently, Before Midnight, but I'm a little scared of watching those, in case they ruin the effect of this one, it's novelty, their youth, and intimacy, but I expect I will anyway, at some point :)

Over time, this might be among my favourite movies, one that I will keep going back to when I need a nice warm, easy watch, with bags of charm and charisma.

Brilliant.

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Annotation:

This 200-page text has to be this reader's single most pointless purchase of recent years. The title and cover promise that some important parallels can be discovered between the careers and works of the Beatles and U2. But is it fair to say that U2 captured the attention of 'thoughtful' rock fans as the Beatles did? (The Beatles were never even considered a rock band by many). Is it historically correct to draw direct comparisons between Sgt. Pepper and Achtung Baby? Is this 'like with like', for God's sake? The answer to that is clearly 'no' and 'no'.

This rather tawdry book reads like a set of very tenuous links attempting to correlate the two bands because the writer wants to: it fails miserably. As one critic writes: 'It goes something like: Bono's dad was called Bob, Bob was the name of John Lennon's goldfish, Goldfish live in a bowl, Milton Keynes Bowl was where U2 played in 1985, 1985 was when Paul McCartney recorded the Frog Chorus'. It is generally agreed, I think, that this one is utter drivel.

Michael Brocken

Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only.

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Annotation:

This book traces the musical and cultural achievements of the Beatles as a contemporary musical phenomenon to its origins in the Romantic revolution of 1790's England when traditional concepts of literature, politics, education, and social relationships were challenged. This is not as far-fetched as one might at first imagine, for in the 1960s a new generation of politically and socially disenfranchised artists and writers worked their way through Britain's class system to make their collective voices heard. This is perhaps the first study of the relationship between the Beatles and the Romantic poets, an important issue if one also remembers that Liverpool contained several poets of note (Adrian Henri, Brian Pattern, Roger McGough) while the Beatles were developing their skills - and that Michael McCartney, brother of Paul, was closely connected with this local movement. One would have to take care however that we do not consider the Beatles' lyrics as poetry. Their lyrics could indeed be 'poetic' but the words were serving quite different purposes to those provided by the Romantic or indeed the Mersey poets.

Michael Brocken

Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only.

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Still, perhaps my favourite Sherlock Holmes movie.

I don't know why exactly, but people tend not to like this movie, maybe because of the central conceit, that's it's a subversive spoof of Sherlock Holmes, that imagines him as a Fraud... a piece of window dressing co conceal the real brains behind the operation: Ben Kingsley's watson.

...Not Cannon!

(Gasp)

But this means that, Holmes aficionados aside, it's great fun, light hearted, and very self-deprecating.

The essential plot is nothing new... Moriarty is up to no good, and Scotland Yard recruits Holmes to get to the bottom of things, unfortunately, it's a sham, as "Holmes" (Michael Caine) is a bit of a scummy, drunkard, out of work actor, hired by the frustrated author of the Holmes stories, Watson, to be the living embodiment of his fictional creation, so he can solve crimes in real life... until "Holmes" is actually called upon to play the part for real, in Watson's stead.

And this makes for a great set up, with Caine giving a gloriously dishevelled, bungling, slapstick comedic performance, against, Kingsley's straight-man.

There's only a couple of cringey moments that wouldn't perhaps make the cut today, in what is otherwise a light-hearted, brisk, family comedy version of the super-sleuth, but still a very enjoyable watch, I think, and though it might be blasphemous to the Holmes brigade, deserves to be better regarded for what it is.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This documentary is a complete and utter waste of time that you'll never get back. Lousy film footage and terrible narration make this one fit for the bin. I got it 2nd hand for £2 and even that was too much to pay. Avoid at all costs.

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This CD sounds amazing!

... Better even, than the original vinyl issue.

While I dearly love my original vinyl copy of this, my absolute favourite Rolling Stones album, which is not only one of the best double albums ever made (along with led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti), and is their most consistent, and consistently brilliant album, I love where it's coming from, with a very sleazy, slack rocking blues Groover vibe, which grooves from one end to the other like a something-or-other, with additional dashes of sweetness and soul, this, sonically is far superior, both in terms of clarity, sense of space and separation of instruments which perfectly compliments that "live in the studio" feel that this album has, with the band all playing together at once, rather than sounding like a patchwork of separately recorded pieces sewn together in the control room.

...I love the vinyl sound of the LP, which does give it that "vintage" sound that comes with vinyl, but this has power, punch and rocks even harder.

I did study the scant notes in the booklet, that comes with this, for a reason why it should sound so good, but only found the answer I wanted on the back cover.... With just one simple statement, that says it all:

"Remastered by Bob Ludwig"

Bang.

This has a whole lot of something extra, which I can only attribute to him.

The real beneficiary of his presence here, has to be Charlie Watts Drumming, which but has extra snap, crack, and an almighty bass drum thump.

I checked on Discogs, to see if there was a contemporary 1994 Ludwig vinyl to this, and apparently there was, but only in the US on 180g vinyl... And according to reviews on that vinyl issue, sounds awful!

Well, never mind, maybe later ones sound better (hopefully with the Ludwig mastering), but this CD is more than adequate.... It sounds great!

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This is entirely a live album from some club. Renditions are good, enough to be released as hit singles for some. Being on the Monument label they could not reuse his Mercury hits. Ahab The Arab is the short version, expanded here by audience and band sounds. This is the version where he shouts "my soul's American".
Sir Thanks-A-Lot and Bagpipes are great new songs. A fine album.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This was both very good, and yet disappointing at the same time.

... And for the same reason, oddly!

The reason being, that some few original elements aside, this is mostly entirely borrowed re-do of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, in that I was sitting there (As Nolan must have!), going:

"That's ripped off from the Dark Knight!... That's from Batman Begins!.... That's from The Dark Knight Rises!"

Dialogue, has been lifted wholesale, slightly re-worded : "This is your real mask", "I must be... More" etc. and the ideas they express, and even action sequences, stunts (dudes dangling from bat-ropes in a row - Dark Knight), and a dozen other things I felt overfamiliar with.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Dark Knight trilogy, I just didn't want to see it again so soon!

Even Dano's Riddler (The weakest element in this movie...oddly unconvincing, when usually he's excellent in everything) is basically a rebranded Ledger Joker, with motif of smartphone cam close up crazy directly lifted from Dark Knight.

Colin Farrell is truly astonishing as Penguin (is it him!?!!!), as an amazing transformation and characterization as Heath Ledger did with Joker, but not enough of him!!!

Pattinson is really good as a twitchy crack addict style Bruce Wayne who's ghostly (ahem...Vampiric?) presence lurks beneath his menacing, looming Batman, Kravitz too, gives one of the strongest performances here as Catwoman, as do the others.

Special mention is the grungy rain soaked Gotham City created here... feels like a character in itself , which is probably what Batfans have been waiting to see.

...But overall, there's too much going on in this movie, and seems to keep going long after it should have ended... It's long, and unlike other movies of three hours, which if well done, skip by, it feels long... too long.

(They could have cut at least one story element out of this, and brought it down to about two and a half hours, I feel, and the movie would have been the better for it.)

So a tad disappointing after all the hype, and having gotten quite excited myself for this... but, hopefully, this just represents the groundwork having been done in anticipation of a more concise, and involving (and hopefully, more completely original!) couple of instalments of a prospective trilogy.

...And if so... Dano, raise your game, else Farrell will blow you off the screen!

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Yet another offbeat film journey from the warped mind of Robert Downey, Sr. (an acquired taste, indeed.) Allan Arbus (possibly the only normal person in Downey's Putney Swope) is the Christ-like Jessy, who walks on water and performs miracles casually on his journey to audition his song-and-dance routine in Jerusalem. He ultimately gets his big audition at the saloon owned by badass outlaw/killer, Seaweedhead Greaser (who kills his own son several times in the film...) I read an apt summary once on a blog that described Greaser's Palace as a cross between "El Topo" and "The Life of Brian", although this was released years before Monty Python went there. If you're just looking for something different, this is it. If you love offbeat, quirky cult films, you'll probably love it.

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Finally got to cross this off my "to see" list, when I found the DVD in the charity shop.

A little underwhelmed at first, thinking this was going to be another Wicker Man style affair...

...But what becomes apparent as it goes along, is that in all likelihood, Wicker Man was inspired by this instead!

In fact, this is one of those, where you can feel it's seismic influence on movies for decades after, and many movies find both style, subject matter, characterisations and ideas rooted in this movie.

Deliverance, Wicker Man, and even Die Hard you feel, could not have happened without this movie... It opened a few doors, and is dripping with stuff you'll recognise from later movies.

Biggie has given a good sense of it in comments, but just the idea that Dustin Hoffman's meek, nerdy Mathematician everyman, has to battle the locals over what is a point of moral principle is, I think, the essence of the movie...

The "Straw Dogs" of the title, of course led me to seek the meaning online, which apparently is a practice in some parts of the world of making little straw idols of the Gods, for the use of just one day, before being readily discarded as worthless, once the purpose is served.

While this could reference the characters in the movie themselves, I think these Straw Dogs refer to the "Morality", sense of right and wrong, and what constitute "Justice" in a society, where a great display is made, with great vehemence and zealotry about "what's right" etc., but dig a little deeper, or put those to the test, and you discover they are only modern clothes for a more primitive thirst for vengeance... And once ignited the pretence falls away, and you see the angry villagers with metaphorical "burning torches" for what they really are.... scared cavemen who have convinced themselves they actually believe in something, and that what they do in the pursuit of vengeance actually equates to justice....

...Until, of course, you come up against a man you really underestimated, who actually does believe in something real, thought out, and on the principle of which he is prepared to stand his ground, come what may, though the abuses come from all sides.

It's a disturbing watch in places, not so much because of the violence, as we've all gotten used to this kind of thing now in subsequent years, but the rape scene is odd, unsettling, and grim.

But there's no denying this film's importance, and is one I think must be considered an essential watch for movie fans.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Hard, Heavy, Crunchy and Grunge-y.

This is good.... really good!

Another CD I bought a while back, and ripped to hard drive, then forgot... as I probably dismissed it as yet another generic almost band, but then it pinged up on my Mp3 player's shuffle button, and it immediately took my ear, as something much more than that...

...It sounds exactly like early nineties Grunge, so much so it is almost exactly like Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots, or certainly sitting somewhere in between the two, but with more conventional sounding metal riffs, bordering on AC/DC at times (but only occasionally).

The vocal however, is what pushes the character of this more toward Pilots than Soundgarden, and the lead here sounds a lot like Scott Weiland, or tending towards the newer, millennial sort of Blink 182 sound, which matches the strong melodic semi-pop / rock of the latter.

Thumping, cracking drumming, bass, and those guitars, all of that grunge / metal style, with a lot very strong tunes, of consistently high quality from one end to the other.

If you like Superunknown and Purple (Soundgarden and STP respectively), you'll like this.

(Think I've found a new walking / drown out the traffic album here :)

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Annotation:

Limited edition of 500 signed copies in slipcase; printed in LP size (30 cm x 30 cm) with photographs. The author, a teacher in Berlin and self-admitted 'obsessive' ("You have to be mad to do something like this ... not only to even conceive of the idea, but then following through"), Noske has collected, arranged and printed 14,000 photographs of the artwork on every Beatle record released in the world: singles, EPs, LPs, flexi-discs and 78-rpm shellac pressings. And by 'the world', you can take that to include Beatle records released in Angola, Pakistan, Mozambique, Iran and the West Indies, as well as 66 other countries from every continent save Antarctica. In addition to the entire EMI output, Noske includes the Tony Sheridan Hamburg recording from April 1961, the Christmas flexi-discs, the Decca audition, interview and documentary discs, colored vinyl and picture discs and boxed sets. Several appendices make this massive work easier to peruse.

Significantly, Noske chose to exclude bootleg items; only those records which were legitimate releases are here, although to what extent the records were always legal for purchase, as in the Soviet Union and the Soviet Bloc countries is another matter.

Unable to find a publisher willing (or able) to finance the cost of printing the colossal volume (800 pages, 14,000 photographs, many in color), Noske financed the project himself and the final product is impressive and, frankly, gorgeous. The book is in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

It was published in a limited edition of 500 numbered and signed copies, issued in a slipcase and weighing 5.5 kilograms (more than 12 pounds). Noske made it available online at $280 and was listed on the website for the book as sold-out as of this printing.

Melissa Davis

Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only.

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colin charteris, the viewpoint character(s!), is on a road trip across a europe devastated by an undeclared world war fought making unrestricted use of psychotropic weapons: as he progresses across the continent from italy through france and into britain, which was targeted particularly heavily by the military psychedelics, observing the chaos, confusion and destruction wrought by them, he himself becomes increasingly affected by their residues, is adopted as an increasingly influential hippie cult leader, but also finds it increasingly difficult to keep full control of his own mind, and impossible to distinguish reliably between psychedelic effects (his visions?) and reality - assuming this still has any meaning at all...

- not the easiest of reads by any means, but well worth the effort.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Book Review: “Take A Sad Song: The Emotional Currency of ‘Hey Jude'” by James Campion

This review is by Amy Hughes, Beatles-Freak's Reviews, 6 June 2022.

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Not a very good biography.

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Man makes an animal of himself, in order to escape the pain of being a man...

(well it goes something like that, anyway :)

...In this case though, the premise is, if you don't successfully make "a man" of yourself, as defined by whether you are in a productive, loving relationship with a loving partner, then society will turn you into an animal.....

...Literally!

So this is a comedy... about "romance", or better yet, a comedy about socially conditioned and determined romantic constructs (the "dating game" etc.), but it is not a "rom-com".

Rather it is a biting, social satire / acerbic diagram / analogy and criticism of how human relationships are constructed in the modern world.

...A parable, or fable that every twenty / thirty something who commits the crime of being single will find strikes too close to home.

When people find themselves untethered from a partner, as society here, deems appropriate, through perhaps divorce, separation, death, or just not trying to get themselves attached in a loving relationship, they are sent to a hotel resort, for one last try, to socialise, and find a partner among the other unfortunates...

...If this is not accomplished in a timely manner, they are sent to the "transformation room" to be turned into an animal of their choosing.

Colin Farrell's character opts to be the titular Lobster in the tragic event that he should fail in this programme, on account of their potential immortality, and the story centres around his fumbling attempts to navigate the programme, find a partner, and avoid this fate.

Of course, there's a non-sexuality based vibe of conversion therapy for singletons / cult about the place, and an air of awkward, forced displays of social expectations by those participants
least equipped, of course, to take part...

(like when you were young, and you used to go to night clubs you hated being at, because, that's what society and people expected of you)

...However, about half way through, this paradigm shifts to the opposite, as he finds himself out in woods among the other social exiles who dare to be alone... and here they are a faction opposed to these social ideas, but in a way that's equally zealous, cultish about their single-dom, and vehemently opposed to having partners and personal relationships.

Unfortunately for Farrell's character David, he can't find a partner at the hotel he's suited to, but instead falls for Rachel Weisz's character, who also unfortunately, happens to be one of the single-tons...

Their relationship develops, sneered at from both sides, and trouble is afoot.

This is an incredibly surreal, but entirely appropriate set-up, and played absolutely deadpan, and so straight up, that the child-like literal way in which the story is told, both in the how it plays out, and in Weisz's narration, that you really feel the razor sharp wit and venom in the satire here... but not in a way that makes you feel the film-makers are sermonising, and just venting their spleen, as it is, to use the phrase "wickedly funny", extremely well observed, and unlike most anything you've probably seen before... certainly on this subject.

The humour comes from the same kind of place as say, Withnail and I, or like a: This Is Spinal Tap mockumentary about society's attitudes to romantic relationships and their "norms".

...It even uses, what would be otherwise, very simplistic, and clunky, hackneyed expressions re-sharpened as a satirical tool: "Love Is Blind" etc.

Colin Farrell is excellent in this, as is Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman, Lea Seydoux, and indeed, everyone in their respective roles.

I'd mark it down as a must see, especially for those of that certain age of 20 /30 somethings who have ever heard that immortal phrase, at social gatherings and such, along the lines of:

"...Oh, just not find the right one yet then?"

(Like there's something profoundly wrong with you :D.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A minimalist, neon soaked, Tarantino-esque, pulpy-fiction, fluorescent lit, dingy crime drama mood piece.

One of those that some people don't "get", as it's very glacial, and a lot has to be read into it... so if you want a straight up crash bang wallop action movie, this won't exactly be it...

(The plot is a lot like Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, which may suit better if that's what you are after)

... As this centres around Ryan Gosling's barely there / blank, but prodigiously gifted driver, who, when not making a living part time stunt driving for Hollywood movies, acts as get away driver for various criminal enterprises, and working in a garage.

Unable to relate to others, he lives alone, and just goes about his business in a steady unflappable manner suited to his cold demeanour, although always approximating human courtesy as he does so... is he just a sweet, polite guy, or is there a raging psychopath underneath?

He is however, drawn into the lives of others, by striking up a friendship with his neighbour and her son, who's lives are further complicated by the imminent return from prison of her husband (Oscar Isaac), who, it turns out, is up to his eyeballs in underworld activity still, and Gosling offers to assist in getting him out of trouble, for the sake of Irene and her son, by offering his services as driver to pay off a debt...

...In addition, the owner of the garage he works at is a hood too, and along with his partner (Brooks and Perlman, respectively) want to enlist his driving talents too / embroil him in their nefarious activities.

Many criticise Gosling for this "non-acting", inscrutable thing he does, but it is entirely the character here, and he is very good at it...

(This may be the part that won him the part of K in Blade Runner 2049, and for these reasons)

...Most exemplified, by perhaps the most telling scene in the film, where Gosling is sat with the son on the sofa, watching a cartoon with sharks, and he asks the son:

"Is that the bad guy?"

..."Yeah"

(replies the son)

......"How can you tell the difference?"

(Responds Gosling, with genuine blank perplexity in his expression)

[YouTube Video]

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Half a classic widescreen pop rock album, half phoned in makeweight filler.

I bought this to make up the numbers in my local charity shop's 3 for 1 pound deal on CDs, mostly because, having heard that all time classic widescreen summer staple: Sunshine On A Rainy Day, I wanted to see if the rest of the album was up to much...

...I wasn't optimistic, given that it's been years and years since it's release, and I figured if the rest was any good, I'd have heard some of it over the years, surely?

Fortunately, it kicks off with a stonker, that I have indeed heard before, but just forgot: Lightning, every bit the equal of that previously mentioned hit, and indeed, the whole first half of this album is full of very strong, memorable tunes done in that huge, big energy widescreen pop rock style underpinned with a synthy / hip hop - ish beat... so much so, that the first enormous surprise comes in this fashion, in shape of the title track: Scarlet, Red and Blue, which, if I didn't know otherwise, I could swear was a Massive Attack song!

(seriously, you cannot tell the difference)

And while Mountains, Loving Kind, and Holy Days are all of this standard of epic pop-ery, worthy of the price of the CD on their own, after the pinnacle of this album, Sunshine etc. the level seems to fall away considerably, either because it was always asking too much to keep that level up (and having front loaded the strongest stuff) or they just ran out of ideas, and had to pad it out a bit, it feels a bit flat thereafter...

...But, that said, the final song: Smile In The Darkness does pick it right back up to the standard of the first half... so a good save on the last tune.

Possibly the other tracks will grow on me over the time a little, but even if not, there is more than enough on this album to make it a great buy, so much so, this one is not going back to the charity shop!

>It's a keeper!<

:)

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Annotation:

Several authors have attempted to cover the mountain of material connected with the Paul McCartney death hoax story, but Andru Reeve's text of over 300 pages includes some excellent secondary research on the topic.

For example, the text contextualises key moments extremely well, as when on October 12, 1969 WKNR-FM's Russ Gibb opened the phone lines for his usual Sunday afternoon with listeners. Eastern Michigan University Student Tom Zarski called in with questions about the supposed death of Paul McCartney. This was effectively the catalyst for the tall tale that would immortalize both 'Uncle Russ' and WKNR-FM in the annals of Beatle history.

In addition to outwardly dissecting almost every possible lead, the author apparently spent thousands of dollars to secure rare photographs and memorabilia directly connected with the event, all of which are on display in the pages of his book - a dedication to historical narrative that goes well beyond the call of duty. Reeve lists 140 clues discovered over 35 years, including every Beatle lyric that conspiracy fans say 'prove' that the Paul McCartney we 'know' today is actually an imposter. This is fascinating stuff: excellent detective work of the very highest quality.

Michael Brocken

Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only.

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Most of the name cast looks like they invested 1-2 days to shoot their parts, with the majority of the screen time occupied by Richard Harris and Justin Henry. Both are annoying, truth be told, so by their occupying most of the film puts it at a disadvantage from the starting gate. Very often, Canada-isms get shoved to the forefront, but on the flip side, the locations do look pretty nice and remind me of my one and only trip there. And I always appreciate watching Lindsay Wagner.

The storyline seems to be a mere excuse to trumpet a handful of social issues (ie, teen incarceration creates innocent criminals, parental issues, environmental concerns, etc.) Most of those are served up with music so thick in melodrama that it has the opposite of the intended effect.

There's no real reason to seek this one out, but if you have insomnia and it's on the late, late show, it's not a total loss.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

**This was review was first posted on IMDB by myself**

This was broadcast under the title "Spice Girls: How Girl Power Changed Britain", Girl Powered is the working title. This documentary is a history of The Spice Girls with references to the girl group promoting feminism. Love them or hate them, The Spice Girls were no doubt the biggest bands in the UK and maybe the world for about two years. I appreciate that they have been a massive influence on pop culture and I like some of their songs, but I'm certainly not a superfan.

The documentary features a lot of talking heads from people like Miranda Sawyer who attempts to clumsily make out The Spice Girls are in some way feminist icons. Matthew Wright who wrote several hit pieces on The Spice Girls attempts to clear his name after being made out to be a villain. Some of The Spice Girls PR team from back in the day recount their experiences of the band. It is all good stuff, but like most people I would have liked to hear from the girls themselves. Instead we are just shown archive clips.

The documentary manages to gloss over a few key events and the cynic in me would suggest this feels more like a puff piece than a serious documentary, especially given it is nearly 3 hours long in its entirety. The Spice Girls panned commercial flop "Spice World" movie wasn't mentioned to my knowledge or if it was I blinked and missed it. A pivotal moment in that it suggested The Spice Girls maybe weren't as popular at that time than was made out. Very little was mentioned of Mel B's single - "I Want You Back" with Missy Elliot which was massive. Also to my knowledge no mention of the Mel B documentary "Voodoo Princess" which was made for Channel 4. If I remember correctly there was no mention of the original demo version of Wannabe which was a slow R&B song similar to something like The All Saints "Black Coffee" in terms of tempo. There's no doubt in my mind giving it a fast paced europop style tempo gave it the kick in the face it needed to be a chart success; especially given dance music was dominating the charts in 1996.

The latter half of the documentary manages to segue in some frankly jarring references to feminism and even features footage of recent-ish protests for nearly 15 minutes. I think it's maybe a stretch too far. The Spice Girls were absolutely massive, but as important as Stevie Nicks or Debbie Harry at influencing young women into pursuing musical careers? I honestly don't know. I do know nostalgia for the 90s is bang on trend at the moment. The 00s will be next! This documentary took a few years to put together and 100s of hours of clips were sorted through and carefully selected. It is a real shame that some of the footage isn't better quality. A press conference video on episode 3 looks like an awful 240p YouTube clip and some footage looks has watermarks. On a big budget documentary I expect higher production values. With a press conference surely the original source clips are available. This isn't the only documentary to use low quality clips, but it is a real shame especially now as most people watch films and TV on HD quality equipment.

This is a mixed bag. The opening episode is fantastic and gives a good history of how the band got started with some rare footage. As the documentary goes on it looks like a bit of a filler was used or maybe my interest ran out. I think for anyone interested in 90s pop culture or asks the question "Mummy, who were The Spice Girls?" this is a pretty good watch.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?