This film was absolutely massive. Its success was now doubt greatly improved by having the Coolio song "Gangsta's Paradise" on the soundtrack. Gangsta's Paradise is one of the best selling singles of the 90s and a genuinely good song.

An idealistic teacher tries to help struggling kids in a deprived innercity school. She comes up against gang violence and teenage pregnancy.

A big fuss was made about Michelle Pfeiffer's acting in this. It's Pfeiffer being Pfeiffer. I'm not saying she isn't good, but the role could have been played by Diane Keaton, Kim Bassinger or Sharon Stone. It's a generic, underwritten role with little room for depth.

Dangerous Minds feels like TV movie of the week. I've seen it multiple times and it never fail to underwhelm me, rather than standing the test of time, it feels more dated than it is. It's a middle-budgeted, nicely shot and well acted drama, but offers nothing you hadn't seen a million times before even in 1995. Class of 1984 does the idealistic teacher theme with aplomb or there's Good Will Hunting for a better film based around teaching.

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Class Of 1984 has a notorious reputation. In the UK it was banned for its cinema release and later heavily cut for VHS, fortunately it was released uncut on DVD. Some theaters in USA refused to show it and it had MPAA cuts for an R rating.

Mark L. Lester is undoubtedly a B-Movie director, but he hit paydirt with Commando thanks to Arnie being one of the biggest actors of the late 80s\early 90s and it's a genuinely good film. Class of 1984 is also fondly remembered garnering cult status on VHS.

Class of 1984 does a number of thing rights. It is basically a "home invasion" movie set in a school. It adds slasher elements towards the end with some truly nasty death scenes and good special-effects. Mark L. Lester can undoubtedly craft good action sequences.

A big deal has been made about Michael J. Fox being in this film. Ignore it, he is very young and unrecognisable. Instead focus on Timothy Van Patten as the intimidating and intelligent bully and gang leader Stegman. Roddy McDowall also puts in a scene stealing performance as the broken science teacher. Perry King is very good as the idealist, turned vigilante music teacher, but he doesn't half chew the scenery. That said he was already a veteran of sleazy B-movies by the time this film came out.

Class of 1984 is a violent and scary trip of a film. I think it is love it or hate it, but it delivers on white knuckle thrills and it's a darn site more entertaining than the dull box office smash "Dangerous Minds".

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It’s like West Side Story meets Jason and the Argonauts on crack!

...And with a heavy feel of Escape From New York and idea or two borrowed from Vanishing Point (The DJ).

I watched this by mistake the other day when it was on telly late night...

...The programme I was watching had ended and this started, while I was playing with my phone; when the deep seventies Carpenter-esque vibe of the music and visuals came on I looked up and thought: “WTF is this!?!”

Very atmospheric, but absolutely mental!

It drew me in, and I was mesmerised by it right through to the end.

Preposterous and absurd plot and premise, with identikit gangs from someone's surreal nightmare punctuated with some of the worst acting you've ever seen...

All the reasons I loved it! :)

I mean, there's even a gang on roller skates!!!

As they battle to journey through the city to get back to their turf after being accused of assassinating the “Big Cheese” of the gang world, and the word gets out to the other gangs to get them, I wondered if the people who made it were totally or stoned, or I was!

...And the amount of early / first time actors in this that you recognize from later fame is incredible (even saw Mercedes Ruehl in this)... and it took me a while to figure if the lead actor (Mr. Beck, of course) may or may not have been Jon Bon Jovi or not.

Nuts... Wonderfully bonkers and nuts!

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Important performance. Hard to beat

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Wonderful movie!

I missed this first time around, as I think there was a lot else going on at the time to take attention away from it, and the reviews were not particularly inspiring... And also Jim Carey's over the top-ness had begun to wear a little thin for me.

But he thankfully gives a very understated, straight up performance in this understated, slow paced, and yes, very sentimental film.

It's not without it's faults of course, mainly in that it almost seems to be "designed" to be what it is:

"What do people like in a movie? - let's take all those pieces, and make a whole new movie from them"

...As such, you'll frequently see immediately where plot points, and other ideas are from other movies as it goes (at least one of which, Carey has been in himself: Truman Show!)
, and many other things that are not wholly original, but well worn, tried and trusted formula:

A big city type gets stuck out in a quaint pastoral town with traditional values (Doc Hollywood), in this case, a Hollywood screenwriter, and he's got there by having an accident in which he loses his memory, and is taken to be one of the old residents, who was thought o have been killed in the war, now returned (Isn't there a Richard Gere movie along those lines?)

...But the townsfolk welcome him "home", and especially his "ex-girlfriend", and "father", owner of a dilapidated old cinema that the re-invigoration of the townsfolk his arrival inspires, promotes a possible return to glory days.

It's perhaps loaded with too much by way of plot points, as it's set in McCarthy era Communist hunting America, and his accident is had whilst "fleeing" such persecution, as well as a big theme of honouring local war heroes, and also added to the mix, is the cinema aspect.

But in the end (and this is a reasonably long film) it does tie together... somewhat.

And they really threw the kitchen sink at this, with lots of actors you'd both remember, and love: Martin Landau, the dude from MASH, and at least a couple of the actors from Shawshank Redemption (Brooks) and Green Mile.

But it's a very sentimental, slow paced, meandering, warm, cosy movie with a Nat King Cole soundtrack and such, that is great for a Sunday afternoon's viewing, sitting on the sofa feeling squishy :)

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Reviewed at Amazon.co.uk by S P Mead TOP 500 REVIEWER

3.0 out of 5 stars a short publication that repeats the ideas and conclusions of Wiener's and Bresler's books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 July 2016

As a Lennon fan, I was intrigued by the topic raised in this book. Its authors, Phil Strongman and Alan Parker, set out to show that Lennon's overt political attitudes and activism drew the attentions of the US authorities - most notably the FBI. Moreover, Lennon was the target of a unnecessary campaign - led by the mid-1970's Republican elite - to be deported from American soil. And, so suggest the authors, mixed-up within all of this covert and undercover surveillance was a possible plot to eliminate Lennon should be ever be considered too much of a risk ...

There are some very good books that deal with the particulars covered by Strongman and Parker. Notably, Jon Wiener's Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files provides a detailed and scholarly discussion on the lengths the FBI went to in order to investigate Lennon and portray him as a dangerous outsider. And there's Fenton Bresler's Who Killed John Lennon? - which exposes the incomplete police investigation into Lennon's murder and the possibility that the killer - Mark Chapman - was a 'Manchurian Candidate' programmed to kill Lennon upon his return to the public limelight in late 1980. And for anyone interested in reading about the deluded psyche of the murderer, Jack Jones' Let Me Take You Down: Inside The Mind Of Mark David Chapman, The Man Who Shot John Lennon: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman - Man Who Shot John Lennon is worth a read.

Unfortunately, "John Lennon and the FBI Files" presents us with nothing new, and is not based on original research. Rather it's a simple re-stating of the main ideas found in Wiener's and Bresler's books. And it's a far weaker read as compared to either of those other publications. Very little of the book deals with the FBI's files concerning Lennon - as such, the title is misleading. What we get, instead, is a brief history of the FBI, the CIA, and the Beatles. We're informed that Lennon was - increasingly from the late 1960's - politically active. And we're provided an account of the murder. But it's poorly put together. The entire book is only 206 pages long - and over 20 pages are dedicated to a 'discography' and index; the main discussion of the book amounts to just 176 pages!

While it's reasonably well-written, I didn't buy this book to be informed of the Kennedy assassination, or when Brian Epstein met the Beatles. Such matters are off-topic. Yet the book seems full of such off-topic chapters! What's left, after all the inessentials have been discounted, is little more than a few pages looking at why Lennon was the possible target of political assassination. And these few pages are no more than a regurgitation of other people's writings!

Given such major limitations, I cannot recommend this book. Yet I do believe that the topic is worthy of study, and that the issue of why Lennon was murdered is important. Since this book highlights such concerns, I've awarded 3 stars. But I do suggest that potential readers opt for the other books I've cited in this review, as they're far more significant.

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This little curio is definitely one for Goldmine Soul Supply Completists and/or Motown/NS fanatics and I think completes the full set of Goldmine CDs here at 45Worlds (I could still be proven wrong of course).

As stated in the notes section, this was released to coincide with the publication of Kev Roberts' "Northern Soul Top 500" book in 2000 and tracks 1 and 3 have Frank Wilson being interviewed about his early career and the events surrounding the withdrawal of his proposed single release of "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" on Motown's "Soul" label back in '65.

Track one has instrumental versions of "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" and "My Sugar Baby" playing in the background whilst Frank Wilson is being interviewed by Kev Roberts, Track three is entirely spoken word.

Track two is Frank singing a version of his song "My Sugar Baby" (a tune that became an NS anthem when the version by Connie Clarke started to get plays in the mid '70s). It should be noted that it is NOT the same version of the song that came out on the "Cellarful Of Motown" CD in July 2002 but one that uses the same backing arrangement as the Connie Clarke version. Maybe it was specially recorded for this release using the original backing-track?

[YouTube Video]

Unsurprisingly, the booklet notes by Frank E Wilson are essentially the same essay that appeared as the foreword at the start of the "Northern Soul Top 500" book.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Katrin Cartlidge stars as Claire Dolan a high-class, but jaded Irish call-girl, turning tricks for her pimp, a menacing Colm Meaney (as Roland Cain) after her mother dies Claire wants to become a mother and meets a good-natured if slightly stalker-ish cab driver, Elton Garrett (an emotionally complex Vincent D'Onofrio).

I've seen Lodge Kerrigan's earlier film Clean, Shaven. Arguably one of the best obscure films of the 90s. Claire Dolan has a similar style in that it is social-realist and filmed almost like a documentary. It also has a clinical, sterile approach with minimal lighting,set design and even dialogue. In all honesty this is the film's biggest fault; it feels soulless. The scenes were I should feel more for the characters involved, I just didn't. That's not to say the film isn't engaging. There's enough drama to keep it interesting and with a runtime of just over 90 minutes it moves along at a fair pace. It also doesn't scrimp on the sex scenes with some fairly explicit scenes.

The film is believable in terms of story. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. That's not a slight on the acting, everyone is excellent; I just didn't feel for them. Colm Meaney is good in everything, but it is rare for him to play malicious characters. His roles are often reduced to Irish gangsters, priests or fatherly guys. It's nice to see him being cast against type. Katrin Cartlidge is an excellent and an underrated actress. I first saw her in Naked (1993) and despite having the chops she never really became an A-lister. She is a bit cold and austere in this role, which I'm sure is intentional, but not really convincing as a call-girl. Compare and contrast with "Secret Diaries Of A Call Girl" while a total fantasy much like the book itself in omitting the more sinister aspects; Billie Piper had the look and glamour of a stereotypical call girl.

It's a difficult film to see which is a shame. While not a brilliant film I preferred almost lost British drama, Prostitute (1980), Import/Export (2007) and Call Girl (2012). Claire Dolan does everything right, but it just didn't click with me.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Difficult one for me to review because I really wanted to enjoy it, but there's too much about it that annoyed me. I'm not a horror film snob and this year I enjoyed My Bloody Valentine (1981) and Happy Death Day 2U. I think Us fails to live up to the hype. On one hand it wants to be gory home invasion movie on the other some sort of intelligent neo-slasher, to me it is an over long messily plotted borefest.

The main source of annoyance was the ham-fisted horror film references. The son is called Jason, I'm guessing Freddy and Issac were also in the running. Then you have a bad patchwork quilt of 90s pop culture. One of the brats says "what's Home Alone?", "what's Micro Machine?" Then there's the soundtrack: NWA, Luniz "I Got 5 On It" - both overused and not really obscure or interesting enough to make anyone over the age of 30 to take notice. You can clearly see when love and care has gone into a soundtrack if it is personal: The Sopranos TV series being the obvious example.

It's tries so hard to be clever and funny, but it just fell flat for me. Hearing the Ice Cube on the soundtrack say "bloodbath" to gory scissor stabbings. Please spare me. That said, the name of the Yacht was funny, I will give them that.

Maybe it's ennui on my part, but I don't know were Us fits. If you want an intelligent Home Invasion movie: Funny Games (1997) while not quite brilliant is still the business, de-constructed horror post-80s Wes Craven, for a solid gory horror French film, Inside.

Two hours of people being stabbed with scissors, obvious pop culture references to the 80s and 90s by people with a PhD in reading Wikipedia and a bunch of bad gurning guys who sound like they have strep throat. Not my idea of fun.

I know a film isn't great when I check the runtime and I want it to end and there's nearly an hour left. Even worse I was thinking "what I could be watching instead?" Martin, The Exorcist, American Werewolf.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What an absolute joy it was to sit through 8 - 9 hours of pure genius at work. After watching Episode 1 I was a little worried about what way the documentary was going. It wasn't unlike the original film as there was a lot of angst and heaviness going on and at the end George left the band. At the start of the Episode there was an awful lot of very fast cutting and at times was a little distracting, added to that there were clips of film overdubbed from an audio only source which looked a little weird so between that and all the aforementioned angst I was left feeling a little deflated. Day 2 and I settled down to watch Episode 2 which was so very different to the first one. I started to feel very positive and engaged with film. The boys were really having a great time and the good humour and banter was amazing to watch. It wasn't until they brought Billy Preston into the fold that the whole thing magically started to take shape. I would go as far as to say that if Billy Preston hadn't been brought onboard the album might never have happened, such was the positive influence he had on the other four guys it gave them room to concentrate on doing what they do best, writing some incredible music. This continued througout the whole of Episode 2 and into Episode 3 which for me only had 1 awkward moment when Paul looked as if he wasn't really into doing the rooftop gig but as we already know, the show went on. Barring my hesitancy about Episode 1, Peter Jackson has done us all a huge favour by letting us in on what it was really like to make the album and it wasn't anything like the funereal film that was released first time around. It was full of joy, happiness and humour and has changed my outlook on what it was really like, it was absolutely wonderful to watch. It's a much more positive and uplifting experience than the original film and I'm only sorry it didn't go on for another 8 hours!. Absolutely brilliant and a very highly recommended must see. Just can't wait now for the release of the Blu-Ray and if it's released soon it will be top of my Christmas list.

12 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The Lonely lady is considered something of a flop. It was nominated for 11 Golden Raspberry Awards at a time when the Razzies actually held water. Judging by the poster art the film was marketed almost as an erotic thriller, a genre that died off by the mid-90s with the coup-de-grâce being Showgirls.

Doe-eyed Pia Zadora plays a naive novelist who tries to make it as a Hollywood screenwriter. To get a leg up, she must get a leg over and ends up having sex with various men in brief, but quite graphic scenes.

The film feels a bit like a TV movie in premise and it is a well crafted film, but it manages to feel cheap. The film has had a bit of a resurgence as it is regarded as camp in the same league as the aforementioned Showgirls, but this is nowhere near as much fun. This is an OK watch if you go in with low expectations and it's not as bad as the reviews suggest.

Pia Zadora enjoyed a modicum of success both as an actress and singer, but she never quite became a household name, but is instantly recognisable as she looks like nobody else. I think she has been unfairly slated as she is convincing in this film.

The Blu-Ray from Shout Factory features a nice print and is about as good as it gets.

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hugo award-winning novel voted best science fiction novel of the year 1988 by the members of the 1989 world science fiction convention.

ariane emory, highly respected, one of the most powerful people in resuene - and therefore, in the union, leading socio-political theoretical and practical scientist behind the development, production, education and (some) socialisation of the ''azi'', the ''bottle'' or ''test-tube'' clones who've provided the man- - and woman- - power for union's successful revolt against rule from light years away - and years, even decades behind the times - earth company, and earth company's fleet - and for the absolute requirement that all azi education, socialisation, including military, ''tape'' programming be supervised and controlled by reseune -

- feared by some - and hated - perhaps by even more -

- ariane emory is working late in an old, familiar lab with its known faulty door propped open, to compensate for its failing heating, and with known inadequate security because of its age -

- and is discovered in the morning frozen to death, with the faulty door slammed shut - but also with a bad head wound sufficient to've knocked her unconscious.

- was it an accident ? - if so, it was remarkably convenient for her political and business competitors and enemies, inside reseune as well as outside, and for her personal enemies, too - one of whom is known to have visited her that evening, and argued vehemently with her...

- was it the accidental outcome of this vehement argument's becoming literally violent - or, with the known suspect's storming out unaware that by letting the door slam shut, he was condemning her to a slow freezing to death, in the course of which she got up, fell, and accidentally knocked herself out?

- or was it out and out murder ?


- and whichever it was, can reseune retain its power - even survive - without her insight, her ability, and without her clear-sighted steering - or, as her rivals and political opponents within and without reseune might prefer to term it, her bloody-minded dictatorial and domineering directorship of reseune - can the company that is the heart of union, and the dominant power on cyteen, steering the union's politics and colonisation programmes always in the progressive - or ''expansionist'' - directions that also - purely incidentally, of course - ensure reseune's continued domination of the union's policies, budget and politics - can reseune and even the union survive ?


(more follows during december-january) (sorry: yr hmbl srppnt. got distracted...) (''more eventually'')

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The illegitimate son of John Waters and the father of Todd Solondz. Neil LaBute with the austere edge. These are some comparisons I've invented to describe this film.

The plot is straight out of a lavish 80s soap opera. Chicano manservant and a body building chauffeur make a bet to see which one can bed their female boss first.

Films about sex are rarely sexy. Scenes manages to be tongue in cheek and surprisingly graphic in its handling of sex, but also funny with it. By going for a campy approach it manages to avoid the usual trappings of being boring. By comparison black comedy, The Opposite Of Sex was more subtle, but h had zero laughs for me. I was also reminded of Clueless another store about middle class suburbia, but without the acrid, briny tang.

Class Struggle is hilarious and biting with its satire and managed to be more than just a send-up of bad Soap Operas and Sitcoms. It has actors who are in on the joke and understand the absurdity of the material and a strong script with genuine heartfelt drama as well as a high hit rate for funny one liners.

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excessively hagialogical - especially as very sparse, withal - even fawning account of the franco-welsh dynasty put on the throne of england by a combination of mostly french force of arms, the tiny rump of the die-hard lancastrian unreconciled with richard III, and the treachery of one turncoat, a man who owed his survival and that of the noblewoman he married to richard's clemency -

- a dynasty of men - and a woman - so voraciously power- and money-grabbing, and so paranoid, they wiped out all of their remaining near, and even distant relatives, overthrew roman (vatican) control of the church in england, grabbing it - and all the churches accumulated wealth, land, patronage and power for themselves, and were so virulently and rabidly ''christian fundamentalist'' they encouraged and even promoted the slaying of thousands for the religious crime of not being sufficiently narrow-mindedly protestant, or of not being sufficiently narrow-mindedly roman catholic, and whose abuse of their powers was so egregious -

- that it seems a major miracle that they eventually produced a ruling queen who was head of the english church -

- yet refused to condemn loyal catholics without evidence of treason°; who was so skilled a political operator her most serious critics in parliament insisted, or tried to insist, that she marry for the good of the realm, managed to keep the two major european powers so greatly in competition with one another, they were ultimately prepared to tolerate her and england's independence, and outright piracy - philip of spain, admittedly, only after the failure of his grand armada - and all this upon a shoestring budget grudgingly voted her by parliament, and whilst - mostly - making good her declaration of tolerance, accepting the official minimum outward conformity with anglicanism (the compromise english church which could accept forms of worship ranging from ''high church'', with some incense, through ''low church'', with fire and brimstone sermons, and lacking most hymns) with the declaration that she would not seek to make a window into men's souls.

- but instead of following, even in a simplified outline, the story of the three or four power struggles that were running throughout tudor times - and occasionally, running wild - this book gives little more than a clichéed and honeyed - or rather, sickly sugared - synopsis of the official tudor apologists' and outright proselytists' propaganda machine pr releases:

- and worse, it's boring.

- avoid.


° - save once; and the undoubtedly loyal englishman in question insisted on standing up to be counted an enemy by elizabeth's parliament

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I'm a big fan of Brit Crime and I've seen some crackers this year: The Squeeze and Clash By Night being two barely anyone talks about. The Offence is another one hardly anybody mentions. It's not quite up there with Get Carter, Brighton Rock and The Long Good Friday, but it is excellent in its own way.

Sean Connery plays Johnson a police Sergeant investigating a child murder and rape case. When the film started I thought he was playing a typical nasty bastard. What he manages to do is bring humanity and believability to a role which could easily end up being camp. Vivien Merchant is also brilliant as his long suffering wife, a role which could easily end up being one dimensional. Fellow Scot, Ian Bannen also brilliant as the criminal held in custody who manages to be creepy, but also smart. And of course veteran actor, Trevor Howard is intense as Johnson's superior.

Sidney Lumet always gets superb performances from his actors and can make two people talking in a room incredibly immersive. Sadly these are now rare skills from directors who are overly reliant on special effects and shock tactics to mask paper-thin plots and weak characterisation.

Despite being made in the early 1970s the film is still shocking now. There's been many films dealing with child sexual abuse since. Silly and laughable vigilante films like "Hard Candy", misguided humanising films like "The Woodsman" or sensationalised victim films "No Child Of Mine". What is lacking in modern films like "Blitz" and "Harry Brown" is they are perfectly fine films but don't have any depth. There's a real lack of existential films dealing with Sartrean suffering and pathos.Sean Connery plays a broken man who can't be fixed and conveys more in 20 minutes than it takes some two television series to do. The script is also sharp: "It's funny the more I drink, the more sober I get." Indeed. This film wasn't the success people thought it would be with the star power of Sean Connery, it was too dark and too beguiling, but it's all the better for it.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Houses don't get haunted... People do.

I found the modern Penguin edition of this a couple of weeks back, so was pleased to finally read it at last...

...And I've got to say, it's an odd one.

The basic set up (which most may know by now), is that a Doctor conducting a scientific experiment in the supernatural phenomena of "Hauntings" leases an old house with a reputation for such goings on, and then invites people to apply to come and stay there, to be the subjects / observers of this experiment.

Other than the Doctor, and Luke, a relative of the family who owns the house, only Theodora, a bit of a flake, and Eleanor actually arrive.

So there's only four of them in the house, along with the brief appearance of Mr. Dudley, the gatekeeper, who lets them in, and his wife Mrs. Dudley, who cleans, makes the meals, then clears out as fast as possible.

(The doctor's wife - a pain in the arse who has delusions of spiritual sensitivity and expertise, and her rather stiff friend, a school headmaster, are the only other characters who appear in the book, and they arrive rather late in the proceedings)

But mostly this is a story about Eleanor; A 35 year old single woman who has spent most of her life caring for her mother (recently deceased) and so she has had a rather cloistered life, and is pretty meek, and subservient, but is trying to break out after her mother's passing, and live a little - seek a little adventure, though she is very timid and afraid at doing so.

The house, seems to single her out, and wants her for it's very own in some capacity, and the narrative focuses entirely on her point of view... we are privy to her thoughts, as well as words and actions, in a way we are not with the other characters.

This is perhaps the most impressive element of this story, in how Shirley Jackson perceives, and captures that thing we all do, in thinking one thing, then immediately saying something else - frequently the opposite!

How Eleanor thinks and feels about the others grows in diverging from what she says to them as the story progresses, and she begins to feel more herself, with her subservience and compliance conditioned into her over a lifetime ebbing away, and as the influence of the house begins to take hold, and act on these characteristics.

And this is the odd thing, because while the house, and it's architecture are a real presence in the story, there's not actually much by way of actual haunting "Events" in it.

....There's no "beings", or manifestations that appear "in the flesh" so to speak, although the previous occupants / owners / residents are referred to and their stories told. So if you are looking to get creeped out / chilled or have the willies scared out of you, you probably won't get that here, in the way you might with say, a Stephen King Novel or a more modern horror / ghost story book.

The haunting events don't get going until about two thirds of the way in, and are more pronounced, and cursory.

No, this is more a character study of one lonely, lost young woman after she has lost whatever dissatisfying reason for living she once had, and trying to reach out into a new life, however strange...

...And it's about her baggage, guilt (?), and timidity.

It might be said, she brought her own hauntings with her to the house.

The story is startling in that it doesn't end in anything like the way you think it might, and like Shirley Jackson's brilliant description of the house itself, it's full of odd angles that don't add up, or make conventional sense... but it does catch in the mind, perhaps the more so, because of all this.

The writing style is superb, cracking along, at times almost poetic, but quickly read.

(I read this in two days - which is good by my standards >Mr. Snail Brain!!!< :)

A very enjoyable, if tragic story.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Apart from their choices (to which certain would take issue), this book is chock full o' errors in some instances. For example:
- In their review of Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle, they cited "She made perfume in the back of the room" as an example of Parks' particular poesy. Only that line came from "Vine Street," written by Randy ("Short People") Newman. (Only the line about an Alabama country fair they quoted was Parks, from "The All Golden.")
- When reviewing David Bowie's Never Let Me Down, they were going on about how Bowie was "abstruse" as a lyricist - but they made him out to be even more so by mistitling one of the songs on the LP, "New York's In Love," as "New York's In Life."
- They listed The Beverly Hillbillies co-star Irene "Granny" Ryan's "Granny's Mini-Skirt" single as from 1965. It was issued in 1968.
- When reviewing what they considered Ringo Starr's two worst LP's (Stop And Smell The Roses and Old Wave), they noted that afterwards, he stopped making any records. It should be noted that this book came out one year before he released Time Takes Time and a slew of new albums for the next nearly three decades. In short, Mr. Guterman and his co-author, Owen O'Donnell, really jumped the gun on that one.

But a few of those whose works were cited came to be in agreement. Bowie practically disowned Never Let Me Down for years, and Roger Waters came to regret (in a way) putting out Radio K.A.O.S.

In this sense, a mixed bag. At least this version (unlike its UK Virgin-published counterpart Slipped Discs) lets you read their views of Phil Collins, Genesis, and the one Mike + The Mechanics hit that were all edited out of the UK version and replaced with other "worst" records. A few of their comments are good for a laugh or two - or more . . .

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is almost a different book from its U.S. counterpart (which misses the Slipped Discs title as on here). Notably, this version eliminates any and all references to Phil Collins, Genesis, and anybody associated past or present with that group (that includes Peter Gabriel) - no doubt because Collins and Genesis at the time were signed to Virgin, and Collins' good buddy Richard Branson was equally no doubt sensitive about the backlash against Phil that was brewing at the time owing to his sheer ubiquitousness. There are greater differences in the 45 list than for the LP's. Among them:
Singles
#8: US - "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs; UK - "You Better Sit Down Kids" by Cher
#15: US - "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics (Collins/Genesis connection); UK - "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy
#23: US - "Eve Of Destruction" by Barry McGuire; UK - "Blinded By The Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band
#24: US - "The Dawn Of Correction" by The Spokesmen; UK - "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin
#26: US - "You Can't Hurry Love" by Phil Collins; UK - "Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan
#29: US - "This Time" by Richard Simmons (the fitness guru); UK - "Kiss" by The Art Of Noise Featuring Tom Jones
#34: US - "The Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk; UK - "Dancing On The Ceiling" by Lionel Richie
#37: US - "D.O.A." by Bloodrock; UK - "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher" by Rita Coolidge (on the latter, I'd have to agree)
#38: US - "American Woman" by The Guess Who; UK - "Knock On Wood" by Amii Stewart
#43: US - "Escalator Of Life" by Robert Hazard; UK - "Freedom" by Wham!
#44: US - "All You Zombies" by the Hooters; UK - "Freedom" by George Michael (tolerate the Wham! "Freedom," can't stand the solo Michael one)
#49: US - "Granny's Mini-Skirt" by Irene "Granny" Ryan; UK - "Baby, I Love Your Way / Freebird Medley (Free Baby)" by Will To Power
Albums
#27: US - Live by Iron Butterfly; UK - Journey's Greatest Hits by Journey
#33: US - Joey Bishop Sings Country/Western by Joey Bishop; UK - Whenever You Need Somebody by Rick Astley
The alterations to the albums list was miniscule in comparison with the singles.

I think for completeness, I would seek out copies of both versions.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I'm not sure what to make of this one. On one hand it is a very good movie with powerful performances and looks a lot more expensive than its paltry (by Hollywood standards) $2 million budget suggests. On the other I feel a bit disappointed and as though I've seen it all before.

A teenage girl, Kayla (Elsie Fisher) posts Self-help and motivation YouTube Videocasts\V-Logs; subjects like "self-esteem" and "making friends". In real life we learn she is socially anxious and a bit of an outcast. Meanwhile her Dad (Josh Hamilton) is a smothering and finds it difficult to bond with her, mainly because she is getting older.

I'm not sure how much of this film is based on comedian Bo Burnham's own life. Bo is absolutely massive in USA, but in the UK very few people have heard of him and would probably think he was mainly known as a film director; I don't know the British equivalent: David Baddiel maybe?

The acting is believable and it manages to be less annoying than most teen movies. Juno I found irritating due to clunky dialogue. Eighth Grade manages to just avoid "this is how teens talks". I've seen very similar plots in American Beauty with Mena Suvari's subplot, but this is less of a boot in the face in terms of impact. One can't help but be reminded slighted of John Hughes films as they are pretty much the prototype; Eighth Grade is less sugary and more open ended.

It's a solid film with solid performances, but for me it just lacks the magic touch.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Great big monster music, for those who fancy an extra dose of Led Zepp.

...Well, in part.

The first song is uncanny like AC/DC, and John Miles does an incredible impression of one of their tunes, with only a light flavouring of Jimmy Page / Zepp guitar work.

The next two are more bona fide Zepp style tracks, and big and thumpy and screechy wailing rock affairs (but again, with Miles' AC /DC style vocal, until the man himself arrives:

For Robert Plant himself turns up for vocal duties on The Only One... but oddly, this is less convincing Zepp tune... more llke latter day Zeppelin, when they began to wane a little.

And the A side concludes with a Zeppy instrumental workout.

The B-side however, employs the vocals of Chris Farlow, and the style of the music is more gritty, dirty Blues, both slower, and grimier than the A-side.

All of which makes this like two halves of different albums welded together:

A-Side, a hard and fast AC/DC / Zeppelin side, and the B-side a more straight up Blues album.

...Probably doesn't give you enough of either to be honest, and the contrast a little too different.

Oh, and "Blues Anthem" is anything but, if you ask me, it sounds more like a pipe and slippers sing-a-long... almost worthy of a Eurovision entry from back in the day! (nice tune though)

Odd.

But, this being one of those Alsdorf pressed marvels, the sonics are amazing throughout...

...It sounds enormous, huge and menacing, with big widescreen effect, and all with real power and grunt, as well as astonishing clarity.

Nice for a little extra Zepp fix in a couple of places, and maybe almost half a decent blues album.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

First off, let's talk about that fantastically ugly cover...

...If you were to judge this particular album by it's cover, you might well wonder what on earth the music is like inside; Perhaps concluding it was some kind of late sixties hangover Victorian accordion based psych twizzling.

But you'd be quite some distance off the mark.

...As, despite the mega-paisley appearance, this is more punk-ish new wave -ish, pub-lite rock, which has more in common with a range of other band's music that was going on at the time...

(And, for some of whom, these guys were not coincidentally, the session musicians)

... There's a strong whiff of the Cars first album, The Jam, Wilko Johnson, Elvis Costello and an assortment of variious New Wave-ery going on.

I can't say I was that taken with the "Max" album previous, that I have (and is seemingly ubiquitous in record crates), as that was a little too much of lean toward the pub rock thing running parallel to the punk scene...

...But this is a much more bouncy, upbeat, tuneful, and melodic affair... lot's of great songs and tunes to get you nodding along.

The music is great, and the harmonies and backing vocals are all top notch, but the problem is really two things here:

(other than the cover! :)

Firstly, there's no convincing lead vocal on any of the tracks... they just don't have the lead vocalist required to push this all up a level. Not bad, just a bit flat and, well, sounding like a band member doing a run through of the vocal until the real vocalist arrives.

...And secondly, that flatness is a little in evidence in the music itself. Noticeable the more so, because the musical styles they are approximating, or emulating that I mentioned earlier, has all that, and this suffers by way of contrast... doesn't have the punch, and snap, and distinctiveness of those others... and bouncing a little ineffectually off all their respective musical walls, without committing too strongly to one, in order to leave dent.

This is really evident on the track (which is a good one, but could have been better, if there was more commitment): Writing In The Water, which is very strongly flavoured with The Police, especially, Message In A Bottle... they just can't compete with that kind of delivery.

But there's a couple of songs where they do elevate the whole thing (mostly due to those harmonies), like Tula, I Don't Want The Night To End, and Houston., but the rest is, a nice, jolly bounce, but which does seem to run a little out of steam towards the end, but only a little... and maybe gets a little more introspective too.

The other noteworthy track is Pyramids, which, while in terms of the song itself, is probably one of the weaker ones, but about two thirds of the way through bends with wailing, otherworldly guitar effects into a psych mind popper of a droning noise-fest - far out!

And to conclude the weirdness, and get back to that cover, it's a top-loader, with the spine text on all three other sides, left, right, and bottom.

Vinyl and pressing is nice though.

I think this will punch through my criticisms over time though, as it has all the hallmarks of a "Grower", that will just seep into me, by degrees, through the strength of the tunes.

It's also cheaply bought, so well worth a couple of coins of anyone's money.

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The Freakmaker is about a crazy scientist (Donald Pleasence) who creates half-human, half-plant hybrids for his circus freakshow. Eventually the "freaks" turn on him.

The film is directed by Jack Cardiff who is best known as a cinematographer creating a stunning body of work with films like: The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. His directioral films have not been as critically acclaimed; they came out at a time when the British film industry was heading towards ruin. The Girl On A Motorcycle is a very good existential biker film with some stunning photography. The Freakmaker has some excellent time lapse photography of plants and some great performances from Donald Pleasence who hams it up, but still manages to be creepy and insidious. A young Tom Baker who has good screen presence and is physically imposing as he is over six feet tall. Julie Ege is a cult film actress who is an underrated actress and this film gives her something to do other than take her clothes off.

I consider it to be an above average B-Movie horror with some genuinely disturbing moments and it manages to be a bit more than a campy homage to Tod Browning's "Freaks". The Blu-Ray from Diabolik has great colour bringing out the garish palette and features clear Mono sound.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Finally got around to seeing this again the other day... after about twenty years!

With the residual impression of the "action" in the tobacconists, I'd forgotten how much more there was to it; A character piece which only centres around the New York tobacconist owned by Harvey Keitel's Auggie...

More prominently, there's William Hurt as a writer who has lost his wife in an accident, and is essentially floating around, and living by habit alone, and in an existential funk, until he almost gets killed stepping into the road while a little zoned out in a daydream, and is saved by a young (apparently homeless) guy, who he offers to take in for a couple of nights by way of thanks.

And then Auggie's ex girlfriend turns up out of the blue after many years seeking a favour, and with big news that's sure to rock his quiet little world.

The many character's stories intertwine and have significance and repercussions for each other (as they usually do in this kind of New York story kind of movie).

But overall it's an engaging and quirky little film, with lots of warmth, and makes a nice break from the usual CGI extravaganza as modern cinema exclusively provides these days.

Not sure if one or two of the character dynamics have aged particularly well, in light of modern mores, but if you can get over that, it really is a great little movie, that might make a good, off the beaten track - Thanksgiving movie for our American friends (if they are tired of the usual staples for this time of year).

(There's also a funny little dialogue free video story at the end which illustrates Auggie's Christmas story as he tells it to Benjamin - and all set to a great Tom Waits tune).

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What a bloody awful film. The dirty version of Mind Your Language.

A group of Au Pair girls from different countries: Germany, Holland and Sweden (I think) to be fair the accents and characters are interchangeable. They come to England to do housekeeping duties. What we are treated to are a bunch of dirty old men trying it on with younger "crumpet" and a distasteful subplot were an Au Pair is goaded to lose her virginity.

The film starts off promising with some impressive airport footage and a good theme song. After that the jokes are women being caught in the shower by a husband and wife and crass stereotypes. I've lost a rib. The women are incredibly attractive, but with such a threadbare plot you would get more enjoyment flipping through a 1970s Pirelli Calendar. Like a lot of these British Sex Comedies they feel like an overlong sitcom episode with no jokes and full frontal female nudity. Not worth your time.

Blu-Ray from Jezebel has a pretty good print with soft colours and is an upgrade from DVD, but not massively. Audio is only Mono, but is lossless. Best of all is it is region free.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

** Spoilers Ahead **

Fairly obscure and downbeat "home invasion" exploitation film from Spain.

A pacifist lawyer who regularly defends down and out criminals has her Mini stolen. After finding some of her documents in her car the bad guys plan to rob the "rich bitch". The home invasion ends with Adela's husband being shot in the head by accident after he struggles to defend himself. A bit of stalking later and things come to a head with an unnecessarily graphic rape and some violent scenes.

The violence is graphic with massive blood splatters and bloody bullet wounds showing flesh. Clearly taking influence from splatter slasher movies of the 1970s and 1980s. This is a relatively short film at around 100 minutes with a lot of boring dialogue bits. It lacks the punch of taught violent thrillers like "Rabid Dogs" and "Bloody Friday". It's an OK film and despite being made in the early 80s it has lost none of its ability to shock.

The version I saw was the recent Blu-Ray from Mondo Macabro which has a superb 4K print with no archive damage from what I can tell and is about as good as it gets for a film most people will have seen on bootleg VHS. The subtitles were accurate conveying the nastiness of the thug's abuse. Unfortunately audio is only 2.0, but the levels are loud and balanced.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Well this one surprised me, at how well it's actually aged...

...At least, it wasn't anywhere near as disastrous as I'd expected to have done so!

Having not seen it since the nineties, when things like this, and it's brilliant predecessor Clerks were my thing, I was happy to stumble across the DVD again at a boot fair.

Basically, an ultimate slacker movie centred around the relationship between the grossly immature and overly geeky and intense Brodie (Jason Lee), and his girlfriend Rene (Shanen Doherty), who he is ingrave danger of losing as she wants him to grow up, and stop being such a complete tool, he sets off on an everyday oddysy / adventure / quest to win her back in the local shopping mall, with the aid of his friends, including the stallwarts Jay and Silent Bob.

And with Ben Affleck continuing his mean jock promoted to local store manager in a sharp suit asshole role with aplomb stealing Rene away to the approval of her dad played by Michael Rooker,.. who together, play the Darth Vader and Emperor to Brodie's low rent Luke Skywalker in what is basically a low rent, everyday Star Wars episode in a shopping mall death star.

Of course, Kevin Smith was well into comic books, comic lore, Sci-Fi and cultural references long before Marvel had even conceived of it's global cinematic dominion, so this was pretty obscure at the time of release, and has actually grown in relevance as the rest of the world has caught up with it, in it's cultural preferences.

This even has Stan Lee in it!!!

So while it has actually done the reverse thing of the more common thing of ageing badly, the other surprise is how actually (relatively) enlightened it's attitudes to men and women's relationships are...

(for the time, and it still has the odd wobbly moment, but nothing that can't be forgiven :)

...But actually quite funny still and with quite a sharp wit all round.... lot's of fun.

A great way to spend a couple of hours, hanging out in the mall with flaky friends, while plotting the downfall of the evil empire :)

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Here's an old review I wrote:

Based on a story by Quentin Blake. Channel 4 marketed this short film as a Christmas event much like: The Tiger Who Came To Tea last year. Clown features the iconic artwork of Quentin Blake. I've been a fan since I read Roald Dahl books as a child.

The story is a simple and derivative one about a clown toy who gets discarded as the owner grows too old to have toys. The clown comes alive and goes on an adventure to find a new owner. Similar themes have been used in Toy Story (1994) and Raggedy Ann (1974 onwards). Given its short running time Clown is the lightest in terms of depth. The star of the show is the animation and music. Largely produced by an Italian company, it is frankly beautiful. Helena Bonham Carter does a fine job of narrating the story.

Given the hype surrounding this it's easy to be disappointed. I think it is style over substance, but it is infinitely charming.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Super-noodly!

...I missed this album first time around, having been basically distracted by other musical offerings at the time, which drew my attention away from bjork, and onto other things...

... And having found Medulla in a charity shop last year, and found it largely unlistenable, I wasn't really inspired to seek this out.

... But having had a lucky double tap a couple of weeks ago at a boot fair, of finding both this, and a 180g reissue of debut (a fave) for a fiver each (more than I would usually go for at a boot), I came home pretty pleased with my day's work, and was even more pleased to find that this is a really good album!

A double disc 180g in a lovely glossy gatefold, it is a very consistent, thoroughly immersive, lo-fi beats, programming, and electro-noodle affair with multi-layered bjork vocalisations which create a choral effect overlay, with a final layer of the familiar bjork-ish weirdness in the lead vocals.

... It sounds like a musical version of James Cameron's "The Abyss" saturated with a heavy Boards Of Canada style vibe... Very floaty, and absorbing, and likely to put you in a trance like state... Or electro-coma! :)

It conjures images in the mind of some undefined nostalgia that you can't quite put your finger on, and which you'd swear you'd never actually experienced, and touches something profound you could not even describe adequately, but all in a very memorably melodic way.

My copy was scratched on all four sides, so it was a double happy experience to find no blemishes at all in the playing, in what is a brilliantly pressed vinyl, full of the rich acoustic weight that comes with the vinyl sound, coupled with the clarity and precision of a CD.

One little note... The back cover gives the last track title as UnisonA ("a" on the end) but everywhere else gives it only as "unison"... Although you'd need a magnifying glass to see it!

... And all this, for a fiver!!!

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

It was poorly made, badly acted, and pure exploitation of the lamest music genre ever. But dammit, it was fun. Sure, Jeff Goldblum's early performance is an embarrassment, but teenage Terri Nunn is a total hoot. The late disco diva, Paul Jabara, is also a campy treat. Then there's Donna Summer, the Commodores, and a truckload of Casablanca Records disco music. The dopiest scene is perhaps the roadie for the Commodores trying to prove to a cop that he's with the band, completely stupid. Or the dancing Hispanic, Marv the Leatherman, who proclaims, "I love to dance...everything else is boolshit!" Still, I liked the movie, all of it.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Haunted house movie's greatest hits tribute movie.

This is, although full of perfectly serviceable scares, creeps, chill, and jumps, nothing anyone has not seen before, and although "based on a true story" etc. it is basically assembled from a dozen different (And better) movies...

...There's Amityville, The Exorcist, Chucky (There's a haunted / possessed doll in here too), Poltergeist, and a plethora of different ghost siting "documentary" tropes in it.

Predictable, and largely dull.

Either the writers have got to get some new material, or the ghosts do.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is the one that started the whole whale harpoon vs. pistol showdown craze. The opening sequence is a trailer for the ending, which was a very strange device in a film not afraid of strange devices. Sebastian Cabot is particularly impressive. Other than the obvious twist, this was a rather generic, if offbeat, western.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What a difficult film to rate. For the average viewer, it's an easy 1-star and probably the worst film you will ever see. But for the cult movie fan, how far is too far?

Over the years, I have seen this film name-dropped in various psychotronic zines, but I have always turned away and pretended to see nothing. As a fan of H.G. Lewis from way back, it just didn't seem conceivable that he could have a kiddie matinée in his filmography, not the guy who gave us gouged-out tongues, feasts made of internal organs, wacky fun-loving psychotic redneck ghosts, and the first horror film to delve into the wig fetish thing. The only saving grace is the fact that Lewis was at least a competent film maker, albeit in a grindhouse world. Certainly not in the realm of trash like "Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny"! WRONG.

It is the first day of school and little Jimmy wishes time would stop, so in true unexplainable fashion, a magical (and portly) woman named Aurora appears, which leads the two on a journey to the world's end to restart time, while a ridiculous adversary, a wizard named Mr. Fig, does everything to hinder their quest. Along the way, the world gets tinted red and then blue (and then red and blue!), they get redirected to a land of slow-motion, stumble upon a fountain of laughing syrup, and inexplicably encounter a group of what we are supposed to believe are hostile Indians who look like frat boys with New England accents, that are ultimately consoled when Aurora creates a shower of beans. The injuns, Aurora, and Jimmy all eat uncooked beans from a cauldron while singing a terrible song detailing the sheer wonderfulness of this tasty snack.

Oh, there are other songs, too, all sung barely in-sync and with the same animated gestures you might expect from a play performed by second graders. Like all of the very worst children's films of all time, the origin is yet again, Florida. Why is that? Every time a news story comes on about a horrible crime against children, kids buried alive, tortured by parents, etc. ...it always ends up happening in Florida. And it seems every time an atrocity from the kiddie matinée galaxy is unearthed from someone's basement, the filming location is Florida. I used to like that state when I was a kid and it was all about St. Petersburg, Tampa, Miami Beach, Busch Gardens, and that whole beautiful parrot thing. But now, it's a children's torture dungeon.

Like the previously mentioned Santa film, in the middle of the action, we get whisked into another film (presumably because Lewis ran low on 8mm film stock), which turns out to be an imported cartoon. It teaches a lesson to Jimmy only because of H.G.'s clever dubbing skills, but even that lesson is highly suspect: Jimmy complains that he's only eight and a half years old, just a kid, tired and wants to go back home...he's famished from all of this action, but Aurora lies to him and tells him the story of another boy who never gave up. I guess she's pro child labor, I dunno, but the real labor pains are on the screen.

It should go without saying that the acting is godawful. How they came to choose young Dennis Jones to star in the title role of a theatrical feature film is mind-numbing. He possesses no charisma, no speaking (or singing) talent, is visually as generic as a faceless window mannequin, and brings nothing to the role that might possibly involve a young viewer to identify or sympathize with him. Oh, like they were gonna hire an actor! My guess is that Lewis cast the son of the guy who owned the cheapo amusement park where they filmed this as a trade-out. I've seen stalks of celery give stronger performances.

This doesn't look or feel like what you would expect an H.G. Lewis family film to look or feel like. More like John Waters. If you seek more convincing, heart-warming, feel-good family fare, you'd be better off surfing over to YouTube and searching for old Cracker Jack commercials.

In conclusion, this may well be one of the best films ever made.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

and maybe - quite possibly - should be adjudged even better than fawlty towers as, after the somewhat uneven first series "the black adder", "blackadder II", "blackadder III" and especially the final series, "blackadder goes forth", add to the frequently extremely and inspirédly silly, an underlying level of acutely observed historically acute criticism and from time to time satirically creative writing, for which the wonderfully funny fawlty towers rarely aimed.

- but this mayn't've been - and may not be, still - to all viewers' taste, nor fit all viewers' ideas of what a sitcom should perhaps be.

✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is one of the most sublime albums I have ever heard. There is something so pure and authentic and beautiful about Gordeanna (pronounced Gordeena not Gordy-anna) McCulloch's voice that you cannot help be enthralled by it. I say authentic because it is possible to turn scots song into something only for the front parlour, something cleaned up and gentle. The music on this album is beautifully produced but sounds just like the music produced around the fires of a traveller caravan. The instruments are carefully arranged with fiddle, concertina, lowland pipes (a gentle sounding bagpipe far removed from the stridency of the highland pipes), tasteful acoustic guitar and the purest scots voice of Gordeanna McCulloch. Each song is a pearl with beautiful melodies even when not accompanied, her voice rings true. She hits every note with precision and sings with a craft that she has worked on for many years.

I cannot recommend this album highly enough. I should perhaps add a note of caution. If what you seek from this is Andy Stewart singing "Donald Where's Yer Trousers" then you will be sadly disappointed. If you don't like Scotch whisky because it's too strong or the waters of Loch Rannoch because they're too wet, then you may not like this record. But then what would you like that is pure?

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

West End Jungle is a fake documentary with staged scenes. Set in the West End of London it is a morality story with the intention of showing titillating sex scenes and nudity. Due to the time this film came out there is no real nudity shown just a few underwear shots.

The film mainly features men going to clip joints, seeing prostitutes and it ends with a street walker being picked up by the police. All sleazy stuff backed up by a cynical albeit excellently written narration track.

The version I saw was the Strike Force Entertainment DVD release from the UK. It is rated 15 and features a superb print and good sound which could do with being a bit louder. This is a 50 minute film and it is a bit expensive at £10+

Director Arnold L Miller went on to make London in The Raw and Primitive London which are more of the same and worth watching. The cinematographer was Stanley Long who made the forgettable British Sex Comedies series The Adventures of...

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Although owning the 2012 Record Collector re-issue of this album I have never been able to play it because my equipment is in storage. It was great to stumble across this _very_ limited release on CD and finally get around to hear what it was like. The music overall is quite good but I wouldn't rave about it as it all sounds very amateurish and this is no doubt down to how it was recorded in the first place. The band though, with a proper producer and more time to record these songs might well have been a very different matter. It has the makings of some great sounds and in particular the guitar player who sounds like he had the talent to take it even further. His playing on this album has the sound and feel of Kim Simmonds on the Savoy Brown album Looking In which is one of my personal favourites. So all-in-all a worthy effort and one defintely for the Savoy Brown fans out there. I would give it 7/10 for the effort and it's just a pity they couldn't have taken it further.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

sequel to the first johnny depp film inspired by, rather than based on, one of lewis carroll's two classic fantasy/satire novels, q.v.; these tim burton and james bobbin films are strangely compellingly weird, definitely "deppraved" variations upon their originals' themes, plus others barely present, only hinted at, or deeply buried...

- yet they work really well, handling "grown-up" themes, including some that fundamentally affected the man that rev. charles dodgson - lewis carroll - was, and does so in ways that are - and remain - entertaining, whilst going into the core ideas in some depth, as it were, "under the covers".

- this sequel creates an original setting by "backstrapolating" from the wonderland-based world of the first film, to look into the fraught and more than a little mentally and spiritually abusive childhood and teenage of hatter tarrant hightopp, and invents an eccentric - of course! (?) - time-travelling, time-collecting and time-obsessed lord of time - or slave of his obsession with time - ? - whose iron, steel and clockwork (naturally) steampunk chronosyllogismobile alice has to hijack, to prevent the death - or worse - of the hatter, and the erasure of the outcome of - and even, of the reality of - the frabjous day, itself...

- this film moves much farther away from lewis carroll's originals than tim burton's first, q.v., but imnsho he, james bobin and its other makers kept faith with carroll's thematic concerns, and the story and images are - again, very weirdly - well in keeping with many of those that were his abiding concerns.


- these two deppraved productions should definitely be viewed in the order in which they were made, as hatter's problems are symptomatic of those faced by underland itself, and which could destroy it, twice over. and under.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

the first, very strange johnny depp film "inspired by" the first of lewis carroll's two classic fantasy/satire novels, tim burton's "alice in wonderland" (2010) creates an original, but clearly carrollian wonderland, a world riven by the bitter sisterly rivalry of the red and white queens, at daggers drawn since a long-repressed utterly horrific betrayal, an incident too dreadful to be mentioned in more than hushed whisper, into the middle of which which alice - definitely an alice - and possibly, but not necessarily, "the right alice'' - is pitchforked,

(- intro précis to be completed when yr hmbl srppnt.'s a bit better recovered from the death of a friend. sorry.)

the stories of the hatter, and of the jabberwock, and their fates, and whether the outcome of - the long foretold, inexorably oncoming - frabjous day depend upon whether ''the right alice'' has indeed been matched to the right job - that of the long-awaited heroine who will save everyone and wonderland from the vengeful, demented rage of the red queen.. probably...

- only probably. . .

- this film moves some distance away from lewis carroll's original first "alice" fantasy novel - if that's quite the right classification for it (that creation possesses many levels besides that of ''fantasy''), but imnsho burton and its other makers kept faith with carroll's thematic concerns, and the story and images are - again, very weirdly - well in keeping with many of those that were his abiding concerns.

- this "alice in wonderland" is complete and satisfying in itself, coming to a thundering fine climactic conclusory frabjous day - and one that fully satisfies alice - this alice - in the fantasy world of underland, and about her place in her real world too; she gains confidence through shaping events according to her own ideals - mostly - in the one, and discovers it transfers in its own, weird way, and ways, into insights into the difficulties and decisions she faces, in the other.

- and yet the 2016 james bobin-directed sequel (q.v.) isn't an anticlimax of any kind, and in its own right is a superb film.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Pretty poor to be honest, but not unenjoyable. Starts were the last film left off with Jim and Michelle getting married, but the wedding doesn't run smooth. Eugene Levy is always good value and there's a memorable scene of a "dance off" with Seann William Scott as Stifler. Unfortunately, the film suffers from bad tropes of the time including language which could be considered homophobic and some slightly creepy scenes of Stifler hitting on older women. The film seems mild today in terms of sexual and scatological humour especially compared to something like The Inbetweeners, but it's also not as funny.

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Review
"this book captures not only the changes in American steam locomotive development, but also the why that it happened.
And that makes it worth reading"
----The Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society---

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Fascinating custom-grown concept lp about the book of Genesis that aspires to great progressive rock opera heights despite its low-budget underpinnings. Very homemade rock mixture featuring trippy low-budget harpsichord, acoustic and electric guitars, organ, electric piano, piano and drums, alternating solo male and female vocals with choral youth singing. The themes in Genesis provide a great opportunity for creative dynamics, including a loud fuzz guitar outpouring, edgy underground electric guitar/organ passages, psychedelic marching organ and fuzz, and a noisy instrumental collage. Chants of “kill your brother right now!” decorate the Cain and Abel number.
On the quieter end are some fulfilling acoustic songs and moody keyboard sections. An amateur production for sure, but with a wonderful sincerity and innocence. Words and music written by Paul Eakin and Tim Wilborn, sung by The Celebration Singers of Spring Branch Presbyterian Church, plus various soloists and instrumentalists. Intricately doodled cover illustration (mostly black and white, with a handwritten note to “color this creation”). Reported to be a 50 press item. From Houston, Texas.
(Ken Scott - Archivist)

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Back in the day a few of my friends had been to see Jubilee, and they were all in agreement that it was a bore. Being into punk like my friends, I just couldn't understand how a punk film could possibly be boring - until I saw it, that is. Maybe my friends and I weren't expecting such a theatrical approach, or maybe we were just not sophisticated or patient enough to 'get' it.. either way, the experience wasn't a good one. Dull in extremis, and pretentious to boot; matters were not helped by the fact that the projector broke down about halfway into the film, and the cinema manager came out to ask the audience for patience as it 'really is worth your time' (or so he said). Resigned to having travelled and paid to be there at this flea pit in Soho to see it, my girlfriend and I stayed put but all we got for our efforts were heavy eyelids and numb backsides. Three memorable moments however linger in my mind; the first is Adam Ant's inability to suppress his laughter during one scene - no doubt because he realised how daft the whole thing must look and he was amused by the concept of people parting with good money to watch this nonsense. The two others are musical ones - Adam And The Ants performing "Plastic Surgery", and Maneaters doing "Nine To Five", where an almost unrecognisable Toyah ends the song by spitting directly at the screen. I know exactly how she felt.

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well worth a read: it's great fun, really silly in parts - not least, the whole idea in the first place - and interesting people are met, and places seen; their stories told at least in part; and not a few of the friendly folk convinced it's proof that all brits are cracked :-)); and interesting titbits introduced from time-to-time, too. . .

- but it's a ''once only'' read, for all that - what's there is all on the surface, what you (i) read the first time around: there's no depth beneath that; and i think there could have been.

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UNE PREMIÈRE POUR LE GRAND CIRQUE ORDINAIRE

De nouveaux musiciens sont apparus sur la scène du rock québécois. Il s’agit du ‘Grand Cirque Ordinaire’, qui convoquait récemment la presse montréalaise afin de procéder au lancement de son premier disque tout simplement intitulé « Le Grand Cirque Ordinaire », sur étiquette Capitol.

Ils sont quatorze jeunes comédiens et musiciens, qui ont pris ce nom fort significatif. Ils ne veulent qu’expérimenter divers aspects du show-bizz québécois. Ils ont ainsi décidé de mêler agréablement la musique au théâtre.

Le groupe ne comprend pas moins de six comédiens et un peu plus de musiciens. À des noms déjà connus comme ceux de Gilbert Sicotte (qui a joué dans les « Vautours » de Labrecque) ou de Frédérique Collin (qui a joué dans plusieurs pièces de Tremblay) sont venus s’ajouter les noms de Michel Hinton, Louis Cuerrier, François Richard, Serge Boisvert, Paule Baillargeon, Benoît Fauteux, Claude Laroche, Jocelyn Bérubé, Pierre Curzi, Jean-François Garneau et les deux principaux compositeurs des musiques, Raymond Cloutier et Louis Baillargeon. C’est tout ça « Le grand cirque ordinaire ».

Sur le disque quelques noms connus sont venus leur prêter main forte. On reconnaît ainsi le nom de Michel Rivard de « Beau Dommage », qui joue de la guitare ou celui du batteur d’ « Octobre », Pierre Hébert, qui tappe sur « Beau malaise » et « Truchement ».

Cette première production musicale du « Grand Cirque Ordinaire » pourrait fort bien marcher, si on réussit à promouvoir le disque correctement. Un 45 tours fut simultanément lancé, qui porte le nom de « Blues d’hiver ». Ça devrait tourner très bientôt si ce n’est déjà fait.
(Le Petit Journal, dimanche 1er février 1976, page 15)

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Le disque s’ouvre sur une fanfare comique de Michel Hinton, une grosse fanfare amusante qui nous met tout de suite dans l’esprit du G.C.O. Puis c’est une série de chansons où les textes chevauchent entre le poétique hermétique et le réaliste accessible. La musique elle, hésite entre l’emportement (L’Atlantide, à la fin, et Suite pour un truchement et la monotonie. Les mélodies sont simples, parfois très simples.

L’espect le plus intéressant du disque est sans doute le « vécu », la dimension insaisissable de l’expression d’idées et de sentiments. Le théâtre mis en musique nous arrive avec des chanteurs qui peuvent donner beaucoup de sensibilité à la chanson québécoise nouvelle… Vive la famille! L’idée d’un grand groupe de comédiens-chanteurs et musiciens n’a pas encore atteint toute sa maturité, pour la simple raison que tout le monde financier de la business musical n’y voit pas son intérêt et cherche à y mettre les bâtons dans les roues. Pourtant il y a du monde assez courageux pour essayer… j’espère que ça va continuer et que des groupes comme le G.C.O. bourgeonneront, ils appartiennent à la grande famille des bandes nomades de troubadours, des réveilleurs de coin-de-rues… un peu comme The Perth County Conspiracy et Incredible String Band.(à une certaine époque).

Les chansons du G.C.O. sont presque toutes des petites chansons. Leurs structures est traditionnelle. Elles répondent à un goût installé dans le ventre de chacun. Un goût pour la complainte de chaise berçante qui fait partir les enfants vers… « l’autre à l’heure de l’émeraude, qui rejoindra l’autre à l’heure des merveilles ».
(Pierre Voyer - Mainmise, mars 1976, page 20)

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Le printemps de la musique

Un disque à apprivoiser, qui ne se laisse pas conquérir du pre­mier coup. Des textes écrits par Raymond Cloutier sur une musique de Louis Baillargeon. “ L’ Atlantide ” qu'ils ont repris de L'Opéra des pauvres est leur plus beau morceau de rêve poétique: “ Faites l’amour au fond des bois ”, phrase que le disque du Grand Cirque devrait ancrer dans la tête du monde, image de cette révolution promise que le violon de Jocelyn Bérubé, dans “Truchement”, concrétise allègrement, à chaque coup d’archet. Le disque commence sur un coup de sifflet suivi d’une musique de fanfare, recréant l'atmosphère du cirque... et qui leur sert, pourrait-on dire, de mantra, c’est-à-dire un son permettant de regrouper l’énergie de ces vingt-trois musiciens. Un peu comme le faisait le Grand Cirque dans son théâtre d'improvisa­tion. On y retrouve une partie des chansons de leur pièce “ La tragédie américaine de l’enfant prodigue ” avec une musique où prédomine le son de la guitare, un peu comme chez les Séguin Du blues, du western aussi et la voix inégale de Raymond Cloutier.

Le Grand Cirque, c’est “aller à la conquête du royaume d’en dedans”, par la musique, par la chanson. Enfin des Québécois qui ont des choses à dire.
(Christine L'Heureux - Le Devoir, samedi 24 janvier 1976, page 18)

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On se demandera ce que vient faire le Grand Cirque dans une chronique de jazz. Rien du tout, si ce n’est que le groupe, la troupe si vous aimez mieux, m’est sympathique et qu'il me plait de souligner la parution de son premier microsillon.

Il n y a pas là de performance musicale impressionnante. Plutôt des chansons "ordinaires" et des airs de fanfare, des reels de vrais québécois et des blues de nègres blancs.

Mais il y a surtout sur ce disque un climat de simplicité et de candeur qu’on ne retrouve plus guère de nos jours et qui force la sympathie. Savoir qu’il peut encore exister un Grand Cirque, c’est encourageant; mais que ce cirque soit en plus ORDINAIRE et sans prétention, qu’il dégage la chaleur d'une grande famille, voilà qui nous rassure tout à fait et nous donne le goût de participer.

Le Grand Cirque Ordinaire a surtout à vous dire des textes d une beauté éblouissante, "Douce l’étoile", "La Louve ”, et d’une lucidité triste, "Suite pour un truchement" et "Beau Malaise".

Le Grand Cirque parle à tous les québécois.
(Jacques Marois - Le Soleil, samedi 21 février 1976, page 10)

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thor heyerdahl's magnum opus, in which he details all the evidence for american indians' venturing into the pacific ocean from both north and south america, their use of both colonisable islands and of islets incapable of supporting human life & societies, of some of the societies they established and the development of their languages, religions, agriculture and other introduced crops and their origins, likewise their crafts and architecture - including, on some island, major sculptures and artefacts in wood, and truly monumental stone moai developed uniquely in these colonies, from traceable precursors on the main american continents...

..and also the near total lack of most major cultural and agricultural staples and other foods and animals from societies to their west in the pacific ocean and its south-eastern asian mainland, or in micronesia, or melanesia or, to their south-west, in australia.

detailed study of work published before his magnum opus, the examination of alternative possible explanations of the observed facts, detailed original research into many of these and other areas of study make this a multi-disciplinary tour-de-force, and one which should be read and understood by any and everyone before they seek to criticise his work, analyses and exploration of the possible, impossible, likely and unlikely explanations for the considerable body of evidence.

- through the rest of the twentieth century and on into the twenty-first (- and as recently as 2024 c.e. -) further evidence has come to light in the field of dna research strongly suggesting that thor heyerdahl's studies, experimental research, hypotheses and major conclusions are substantially sound, even where these - and he, himself - have been much criticised, and from time-to-time lampooned.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I own this record and it's good

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Saturday morning Granada kids TV programme which ran for one season (although it seemed much longer!) when Tiswas were on their 1979 summer holidays.

Featuring Duggie Brown (Lynne Perrie's brother) Uber-gag-meister Frank Carson and former Cavern Club DJ, professional scouser Billy Butler.

Set aboard a boat on The Mersey, featuring a dockside audience and guests interviewed out on deck, it became the only televison programme, apart from the cricket, to be regularly called off due to inclement weather.

ANNOUNCER: There will be no Mersey Pirate today because it's raining.
KIDS WATCHING AT HOME:Yesss!! ... Brilliant!!!

It was rubbish to be honest, despite the inclusion of Carson. It felt as if the producers and crew were trying to manufacture a Tiswas-like anarchic madness within the staid confines of a format which wasn't that far off from resembling BBC's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.

Then again almost anything having to stand in for Chris Tarrant and Sally James would have seemed pale at the time.

The format was repeated by Granada the following summer (sans Duggie B and shipping vessel) with the Billy Boyle fronted 'Fun Factory' (verification needed .. especially on the 'fun'.)
This effort not only introduced us to idiot cockney DJ Gary Crowley, but was the first ever television show to feature the artistic talents of a young Jeremy Beadle.

Enough said I think.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?