Sunday 28 February 2021

144 - Girls

 So there I was earlier on listening to a particular song, and I had a thought about a new strand of posts for this blog... I thought about it for a moment, and decided that, yes, I really like the idea... so I'm going with it. 

This, therefore, will be the first in a series in which I have a bit of a yak about a song I either really like, or that means something to me, or is a very under-rated thing that needs more people to have listened to it. 

The only rule I'm giving myself is that each band or artist only gets one entry. I'm going to be absolutely strict on this rule, but if your interpretation of what I mean by this rule differs from mine... tough. It's my rule. I would say "I don't make up the rules"... but in the case of this blog, I do. 

The thing is, though, I'm not going to start off with the song I was listening to when I came up with, as really the first song in this series can only be...

Atta Girl, by Heavenly

I remember exactly when I first heard a Heavenly song. Well, not exactly to the date and the time and the minute. I recall it was a Friday night and it was the very much missed John Peel's show. (It is impossible to estimate just how much we miss him...) He was about to play this song. It was called P.U.N.K. Girl, and he was agonising about whether he should read the "P.U.N.K." bit as individual letters, or as the word "punk". I forget what he decided. Maybe he didn't. But, he played the song, and it was a thing of beauty. I fell in love with the song immediately. 

Shortly after, I was over in Swindon, and looking for P.U.N.K. Girl, as well as Blue Eyes Deceiving Me, by Even As We Speak, which Peel was also playing around this time. I looked in both Rival Records and HMV, and whilst they didn't have Blue Eyes... one of them did have P.U.N.K. Girl. I forget which one of the two had it, but from the other one I did also buy Her Jazz, by Huggy Bear, which at that point I'd never actually heard. It took me rather longer to buy Blue Eyes...

I listened to P.U.N.K. Girl a million times. It's b-side was, despite its jaunty pop sound, a rather tougher listen due to it being about a teenage girl who loses her virginity when she's raped. I remember it being quite shocking the first time I heard it, but I guess that was the point. 

I ended up buying a couple of Heavenly's albums on tape - Le Jardin de Heavenly, and Heavenly vs Satan - and loving them, too. So many great songs. And then came The Decline and Fall of Heavenly, which I thought (and still do) to be the best of the Heavenly albums, even at its short length... 

And then in 1995 came the There And Back Again Lane compilation CD, which was the last ever release on the Sarah Records label. I would say 21 songs of perfection, but... well, there's a couple there that just aren't that great. But... track 2...

Track 2 was Atta Girl. And as soon as I heard it, I was just blown away. I genuinely think this is the best song I've ever heard in my whole life. It starts with a blistering 75 second intro that's unlike anything else Heavenly had done at that point, and then... Bam... in come the vocals, dropping an f-bomb almost straight away. And before you even have time to think about that, suddenly there's two vocal tracks there. each singing different things... at least after an initial repetition of the opening lines. But the second track is pushed to the background and is hard to hear, and hard to make out if you don't know the words (oh, the amount of time I spent trying to work these out before the internet told me so many years later...), but they work as a counterpart to the more prominent lyrics.

It's all about a couple having an argument and splitting up. And the venom. And the memories of when things were good, until jealousy got in the way, and turning out mean (at one point both accuse the other of that), before an attempt on one side for reconciliation which is met with a snarling "fuck you, now way". And you know she is not joking. And it sounds like it should be a horrible song, but it's not.

It's wonderful.

The best song I had ever heard back in 1995.

And still the best song I've ever heard today. 

Enjoy...


Post script; my list of songs for this series is already up to 11 (literally, 11 songs!), and I'm going to do them in the order I've listed them in my handwritten list. I'll keep adding to it. Already, I've noticed something about the first 11 on the list. See if you can notice it, too. Oh, and if you've been paying attention I've mentioned the name of four of the forthcoming songs in this post... 

Saturday 27 February 2021

143 - Electrifying

 So, it's the fifth Spider-Man film overall, and the second of the Emma Stone movies (she's the best thing about this one, too), and we get to see what would happen if Duane Dibbley got turned in to a super-villain. 

'Cos I'm sure loads of people would have taken one look at Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon and instantly noted the similarity between him and the Cat's alter ego. 

This one, Amazing Spider-Man 2, is a definite step up from the previous one. It's still clearly planting loads of seeds for the future, with an appearance by a character called Felicia, who's clearly meant to be Felicia Hardy who (in the comics) goes on to be the Black Cat. You also see Doctor Octopus' arms, and the Vulture's wings in the Oscorp vault. All part of setting up the Sinister Six... plans that would never come to fruition. 

I would actually that, five films in, this is the best of the films so far. Anyone coming up with the "too many villains" whinge can jog on; the main villain here is clearly Electro, and the others (at least once powered) are little more than cameos. 

The Green Goblin's barely in it, and when he does appear, it's quite devastating. My memory of the scene in the clock tower at the end was that it went on for a lot longer than it actually did (that was the one major fault I'd clearly mis-remembered), and it is absolutely devastating when Peter fails to stop Gwen hitting the ground, killing her. 

And the Rhino at the end... that's all about Peter getting back in to the swing of things, getting back to being Spidey and continuing to protect the city. Ending the film just as the fight between the two is starting is the right decision... life goes on. 

I didn't even mind the ongoing thread about Peter's parents in this one; at least they dived in to what happened a bit more, and gave a bit more about the shared history between Peter's Dad and Norman Osborne. 

I am torn as to whether or not I'm glad the scene with Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane was cut; it would have been good to see her, but I guess maybe it would have just been another seed too far. I'm sure I read that you can see her, very briefly, in one scene, though. 

The fact that they never got to do any more with this iteration of Spidey means there's so many plot threads that never went anywhere. I really would have liked there to be at least a third one, but circumstances prevented it... shame. 

Anyhow, next up on the list is a film I've not actually seen before... Venom. 

Friday 26 February 2021

142 - Bulldog

 I can't believe I didn't mention Bulldog yesterday. I'd like to see him in at least one episode of any new Frasier. And Gil as well. 

I expect there's other things I'll have forgotten as well!

Thursday 25 February 2021

141 - Listening

 So at last the news has landed that there's going to be a new iteration of Frasier; what format it will take is yet to be announced, as is who the regular cast of the show will be beyond Kelsey Grammer.

I'm very much looking to this new show, after all Frasier is probably the greatest US sitcom ever made. Yes. Better than that one you're thinking of. Whatever it is. Even if it's the other one with seven letters starting with "Fr"...

I just hope that the new version lives up to the standard of its predecessor; it can't be the same as it was before, for numerous obvious reactions most notably the death of John Mahoney who played Martin, Frasier and Nile's dad. And whatever scenario, I hope it's not completely contrived. 

I have been thinking about some of the things I'd want to see in the show;
  • Some kind of tribute to John Mahoney. Maybe start the show with Martin's funeral? 
  • An adult Frederick. Perhaps an element of role reversal with him looking after his dad (but not the same as the Frasier/Martin scenario). 
  • Niles and Daphne and their children. They'll have had children. I imagine one of them taking after Daphne and the other Niles. They'd be teenagers.
  • Lilith appearing at least once.
  • If Frasier's still a DJ then keep Ros as his producer. And Alice... she'd be about 20, wouldn't she? Would she be like a young version of Ros? Or would older Ros be just like Ros of old, with Alice the polar opposite?
And things I'd not want to see in the show...
  • Maris. 
I just hope it's going to be good...

Wednesday 24 February 2021

140 - Laura

 I suppose there's really only the one thing to even think about talking about today and that's how wonderful Twin Peaks was. Because it was. Wonderful. 

'Cos I was thinking the other day about how over the years there had been a number of abortive attempts to bring Twin Peaks back, and how there were meant to be more movies, and how at the time each missed opportunity made me feel sad. 

But then the stars aligned, and we got the 18 part third season that Lynch described as a movie in 18 parts.

And all of a sudden I was glad these earlier attempts were not successful. 

'Cos if they were, they wouldn't have been the third season as we got it. They would have been different. And the third season of Twin Peaks is the greatest television ever made. Heck, I would go so far as to say it's the greatest work of fiction in any medium, ever. 

Yes. Even better than that thing you're thinking of right now. 

It's like a dream. When you're watching it, everything makes perfect sense. You feel it intuitively. You allow yourself to fall in to this world and immerse yourself in it. But if you try too hard to explain exactly what it is you've seen... you can't. I've read all sorts of theories as to exactly what's going on... and you know what? It doesn't matter if any of them are true. 

You experience these 18 hours. You feel them. You don't need Basil Expostion telling you what everything is. That would have destroyed it. 

It's more than fiction, it's more than a story. It just is. 

It doesn't matter that we're clearly not being shown everything in the right order (I still maintain the very first scene we see is actually set after the very last scene we see). It doesn't matter if there are multiple time lines. Things flow and seem to make sense. But don't make sense. 

And there's such heartbreak in there. The few scenes with the Log Lady really get to you - especially when you know that Catherine Coulson was dying of cancer when she filmed them, and never got to see the finished show - and when Hawk announces she's died... 

...which is counterpointed with such joyous scenes as Ed and Norma getting together, at long last. They get their happy ending. 

It defies normal narrative storytelling and does its own thing. It's David Lynch turned up to 11. 

It is an experience. It is a feeling. 

It's like a dream...

Tuesday 23 February 2021

139 - Maps

 A map shows there are many ways to get to your destination. 

What matters is not the route you take, but that you end up where you need to be.

I'm on my way...

Monday 22 February 2021

138 - Widening

 I often wonder how I can get an increased number of viewers to this blog. I don't link to every single post in FaceAche or Twitter, but those I do tend to get a few more people tuning in. 

I sometimes think I should go all Oolon Coluphid and say something quite controversial (and as I typed that I imagined Peter Jones' pronunciation of that word), but wonder what that could be. 

Am I even a smidgen controversial anyway?

I dunno...

Sunday 21 February 2021

137 - Amazing

 So, with the first of the Spider-Man reboots, and we get a plot about a scientist whose experiments go wrong turning himself in to a super-villain... hmm...

Clearly the best thing about this one is, unlike the last lot, Gwen Stacey. Here, played by Emma Stone, she is absolutely perfect, and the performance and script absolutely nails the character. 

Unfortunately, much of the rest of the film doesn't live up to her brilliance. We get another version of the Spidey origin, which takes too long. Surely we all know by now, bitten by spider, gains powers, doesn't stop person who kills Uncle Ben... blah, blah, blah... it just takes too long. 

And then there's the whole building up a sense of mystery about what happened to Peter's parents... It's not really needed, especially his dad's involvement with the spider that bit Peter, and with Dr Connors. It almost seems like an afterthought as it's really very tangential to the film, and doesn't really go anywhere (and yes, I know, thanks to the mid-credits scene, and memeories of the next film it's continued there...).

So, we finally get Curt Connors, and I'm rather underwhelmed. Rhys Ifans gives a good go at things, but it's a weaker character than Doc Ock and Norman Osborne in the previous iteration. 

(And speaking of Norman; the mentions of him, and that Connors works for Oscorp is clearly laying the foundations for the future.)

The absence of J Jonah Jameson is also felt, with Captain Stacey taking on the main ant-Spidey voice in the film. But, we won't be seeing JJJ for a while, sadly...

It just seems disjointed, and as if the studio had a deadline to meet, and they decided to press on without giving the script a bit more of a polish, as there is some good stuff buried in here. The interactions at the school between Peter and Flash, for example. These moments are really well handled. But there's not enough of them.

It's not as bad as Spider-Man 3, but the first two Maguire films trounce it. 

I recall the next one being much better, though (with one notable exception), so it'll be interesting to see how my memory is... 

Saturday 20 February 2021

Friday 19 February 2021

135 - Tantive

Just a thought... in Star Wars, after the Empire has boarded and captured the Tantive IV, Leia is taken to the Death Star and held in a cell there. 

What happened to all the other Rebel soldiers and officers that were captured? Were they also taken to the Death Star? And if so... well, that must mean when it goes BOOM at the end of the film they're all killed. 

Or were they taken elsewhere?

(I expect this is answered in a book or a comic at some point, isn't it?)

And another question... the Lego model of the Tantive IV includes a figure of Bail Organa. Was he on board the ship in the film? I don't recall seeing him. Or was he meant to be on there, but just not shown?

Thursday 18 February 2021

134 - Kennedy

 So, the other day in post #"128 - Leaping" I asked you all to remind me not to forget to talk about the implication of the end of the Lee Harvey Oswald episode of Quantum Leap. Well, literally thousands of you have been flooding my inbox with requests to do just that, so it appears that the only way to get this non-stop clogging up is to get off my butt (not literally; I am sitting down as I type) and do it...

It's an unusual episode in that throughout Sam doesn't just stay in a fixed point in the life of the person he's leaped in to. Here, as Lee Harvey Oswald, he keeps leaping through Oswald's life at various points, all of which are heading closer to the inevitable date of November 22nd 1962. And Sam's mission to stop the tragdey that took place that day.

Another unusual aspect is that somehow Oswald's personality starts to take over, and control, so that Sam is gradually becoming more powerless to stop the assassination of JFK. It gets to the point, in the book depository, where Oswald is in total control. And just before he fires, Sam leaps out of Oswald, and in to the Secret Service agent Clint Hill. 

Of course, Sam doesn't save JFK.

But after the event Al says to Sam that his swiss-cheese mind probably doesn't remember that the first time round Oswald killed Jackie as well. 

Some people think this was a cop-out, just a simple twist that doesn't work. I think the exact opposite, because of what it implies. 

And to my mind the implication of the ending is that the world we are living in is the world that Sam's leaps have made better. We don't remember Jackie dying because Sam put right what once went wrong. The world around us is the world Sam has created, and we are all the better for it. 

That makes me happy when I watch the show.

  

Wednesday 17 February 2021

133 - Seventeeth

 Well, last year I got to the 17th of February before I missed a day, the following day, and never got back on track. I'm now level pegging with last year...

...will I remember to make a post tomorrow? And will it be as pointless as this one...?

Tuesday 16 February 2021

132- Inversion

 How did we get to a world where it's the Tories who are championing freedom of speech? It seems odd. I can't quite get my head around it. This is the same party who, in the 1980s, introduced Clause 28 which was the absolute antithesis of free speech. 

This seems to me a total reversion, like playing the reverse card in Uno. And a part of me is wondering what Johnson and co are up to. They are up to something, aren't they? They are the Tories. They must be plotting. 

Or is this like where a stopped clock (I said CLOCK) is right twice a day? 

I dunno.

This is doing my nut in...

 

Monday 15 February 2021

131 - Counting

 Now having read the news today that Anne Robinson is to take over as the host of Countdown when Nick Hewer departs, I can't help but think that Colin Murray was robbed. 

I mean, I've no idea what she'll be like, and can only draw on her previous performances on shows like The Weakest Link, or Watchdog, or Point of View (now that's a long while back), and I guess the producers must have seen something about her that fits, but...

...when we've had Colin Murray sitting in, oh so briefly, for Nick he's been absolutely brilliant. He slotted in perfectly, and his rapport with Susie, Rachel, the guests, and the contestants just seemed so natural, and he felt at home on the show. His approach varied from previous hosts as he liked to show off a little when he got a longer word than the contestants, or got the numbers round when they didn't sometimes (not often; Rachel remains the boss at this!). He was just a natural host for the show.

But they've not gone for him. Maybe he was unavailable to take over permanently? Who knows...?

Still, I'll give Anne a go; you never know, I might end up completely surprised by her and realise that, yes, they made the right decision. Got to at least give her a chance...

Sunday 14 February 2021

130 - Symbiotic

 The thing that's often said about Spider-Man 3 is that it's too overloaded with villians, but to me that's absolutely the least of its problems, and its number of villains isn't really an issue... oh, no... that issue pales in to comparison with...

Gwen Stacey; she is massively misused in this film. She only appears, really, as an avatar Peter uses to make Mary-Jane jealous when they've split. It, frankly, could have been anyone, but that they use Gwen for this just sticks in the craw, when you look at her and Peter's history in the comics. It's just laziness. I guess if you were going to use a character for this purpose, why not the landlord's daughter, Ursula; Peter would still have been being a jerk, but at least it's not Gwen...

Uncle Ben; the whole retconning of who "really" killed Uncle Ben is another thing that sits wrong. It's one of the key parts of the Spidey origin story that the robber who Peter lets run past him, rather than stopping him, is the one who kills Ben. Making him just an accomplice, rather than the killer just feels wrong. What would have happened in a fourth film? It turned out that a resurrected Norman Osborne time traveled in to the past and secretly killed Uncle Ben...?

The Symbiote; for a while it seems that Peter can take off the black costume at will. Certainly there's no build up to him being unable to take it off. That is, until the point at the church where he decides to take it off, and he can't. It's just so sudden, and makes you think there's sections of the film scythed out of it to get the length down.

Sandman; he's out to kill Peter/Spidey, then suddenly, again without any foreshadowing, nor any reason shown on screen, he's all contrite and remorseful, and tells the "true" story about what happened to Uncle Ben. Just made me groan... and then he flies off looking like a sandy version of the smoke monster from Lost.

I can't help but think the script needed another draft or two to iron out some of these issues...

This is clearly the weakest of the Raimi films, but it's not entirely without its good points. We get a satisfying end to Harry Osborne's storyline, which ran through the whole trilogy; it's a fairly standard redemption arc here, but it's handled rather well, and that's probably largely down to the performances. 

JK Simmons is again great, but here there seems to be less of him than in previous films. Still, better than nowt. And again we see Dr Curt Connors, which is more clear foreshadowing as to where the series would have gone had we got a fourth Sam Raimi movie. I wonder if The Lizard not being in this film was because it would have meant three "scientist's experiment goes wrong turning him in to a super villain" movies in a row?

Whatever, it seems obvious that Raimi would have had The Lizard in a Spidey movie sooner or later had this series continued (I'm sure I read they were planning up to six of them!). And... let's not forget the little bit of the symbiote that Dr Connors had in his laboratory... 

Overall, it was a pretty decent trilogy, just let down by its final part; still, the first of the reboots looms large... and Dr Connors - albeit a different actor - will get his chance to shine! 

Saturday 13 February 2021

129 - Octopus

 A scientist conducts an experiment which goes wrong and turns him in to a super villain... Norman Osborne or Otto Octavius? Well, it's both, isn't it? Two films in, and already were getting in to a formula. But for Spidey films it kinda works.

As per the previous film, again the scale is relatively small scale; nothing Doc Ock does has any impact beyond a relatively small part of New York, and again this is a good thing. You absolutely have to build up the threat. Alfred Molina does somewhat ham it up at times in the film, and it somehow works. He's not up to the 11 of Willem Defoe, but he's damn good. Though I do often still picture him as Tony Hancock.

The core of this film, though, is the relationship between Peter and Mary-Jane; at times you just want to slap Peter for his ineptitude. Face it, tiger, you hit the jackpot... but you're not bothering to collect your winnings. The way he pushes away MJ at various points in the film just makes you want to slap him, and it's no wonder she turns to someone else. Though when she finally realises that he's Spidey, everything gets back on track... and I guess I should mention here Kirsten Dunst's performance as MJ; she's just a perfect embodiment of the comic book character.

And talking of perfect embodiments of comic book characters, I have to mention JK Simmons' performance as J Jonah Jameson. He absolutely nails the character, and often injects a tone of levity in to things. He has spot on timing with his lines, and whenever he's on screen he's the best thing on it. In fact, I'd say his performance is up there with the aforementioned Kirsten Dunst, as well as Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Chris Evans' Johnny Storm (yes, you read that right), but I'll get on to those last three when the time is right...

One thing this Spidey does seem to be overly fond of is taking off his mask so that people can see who he is. He seems to do it with an alarming frequency. It's a good job these movies are set before decent cameras on phones were really commonplace, otherwise his identity would be all over TikTok, Instagram, FaceBook, and Twitter before he'd even got home...

And again, foreshadowing. After mentioning Doctor Curt Connors (another scientist who'll conduct an experiment that goes wrong turning him in to a supervillain) we actually get to see him here. Though, ultimately, it's foreshadowing that goes nowhere in the Maguire films, as we never see The Lizard in these films. Not until Andrew Garfield takes over. 

We also see Harry Osborne stumble on his dad's secret stash of Green Goblin equipment... hmm... I wonder what will happen there in the next movie...? Hmm... 

I have a feeling, if memory recalls correctly, there may be at least one thing I rant about when we get on to the next movie...

 

Friday 12 February 2021

128 - Leaping

 I watched a fairly rubbish video today about TV shows ending bad, and it was full of utter nonsense. One notable thing was a complete misunderstanding of The Prisoner's ending... I'm not even going to go there. Clearly a buffoon.

But I am going to talk about Quantum Leap, which according to this melt was an example of a bad ending to a TV show...

...before I dive in...

...here be spoilers...

...if you don't want to know how a show that ended in - what, 1992? - ended, stop reading now...

Apparently according to the melt the ending, particularly the final caption;

"Doctor Sam Beckett never returned home."

was a betrayal of the whole ethos of the show, which was only ever about Sam getting home, and getting to properly reunite with Al.

Whilst Sam very much did want to get home, that wasn't the be all and end all of the show; Sam was driven by the urge to put right what once went wrong, and to help change other lives. He was weary of this at times, as he thought he wasn't having much of an impact just helping out a string of individuals.

But then you have that beautiful scene in the last episode where Sam is talking to the bartender (who may or may not be God; no, really...) who tells Sam that he hadn't just been saving individual lives, he'd had much more of an effect. For every individual he'd helped it hadn't just helped them, but their family, and friends, creating a ripple effect helping more people than he could possibly have thought possible. 

This seemed to galvanise him, and when he was told he could control his leaps, and he could go home, the very first thing he did was to leap back to a point in history and save Al's first marriage, to let Beth know that Al was still alive. And that was the subject of the first caption at the end of the episode that Al and Beth had recently celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary with their four daughters. 

Sam had, selflessly, helped out his best friend. And this changing of things didn't in even the slightest manner diminish the ending of the episode MIA - which to my mind is the shows best - and made you so happy for Al and Beth, and you're just thinking it's all a happy ending... which made the second caption (quoted above) all the more of a gut punch. 

But it was the only way to end the show. 

There was talk that this episode was, however, intended originally just to be a season finale, and that some changes were made to dialogue to close things off. But had there been a sixth season, the Al & Beth change would have carried through. This would have created a potentially interesting change in Al, who was very much a womaniser; he'd had something like four wives after Beth in the original history, and many flings. A version of Al as a family man would, likely, have been very different. I'd have liked to have seen that.

Remind me one day to post again about Quantum Leap; firstly the implication about the ending of the Lee Harvey Oswald episode, and secondly why (and how) the should bring it back. (Even though Dean Stockwell wouldn't be in it.)

[Edit; looks like I already did the latter in post #31. Oops!]

Just on a tangent; I read a thing today also that suggests that Captain Archer may be seen again in Star Trek. I would very much like that. He's probably the most under-rated captain. 

Thursday 11 February 2021

127 - Normal

I do wonder if there will be any kind of a return to normality by the end of the year? 

It needs to happen. The life we live right now is no life for the longer term. As a short term measure in order to deal with the problem it's fine. Short term things end. 

But it can't go on forever. 

Wednesday 10 February 2021

126 - Repetition

 I realised the other day that I'd repeated a title of a blog post - there's now two posts called "Flamin'"...

...there's only meant to be one of each. Part of the challenge is coming up with a unique title for each post, but I guess as the number of posts swells it's inevitable that there will be some amount of repetition.

Good job Timmy Mallet's not around otherwise I'd have got a bonk on the head like this (or like this)... ah, well. 

Tuesday 9 February 2021

125 - 125

Back in the day these ads were normal... now they just seem creepy...




 

Monday 8 February 2021

124 - 46

 George Orwell was 46 when he died.

I am now 47.

Look what he achieved in that time.

And then the piffle I've done.

*sigh*

Sunday 7 February 2021

123 - Power

 Another film I've not seen in quite a while is the first of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films. It actually holds up really well, and does make a change from super hero movies where the villain threatens the entire fabric of reality itself. 

Here, Norman Obborne's Green Goblin is really only a bit of a menace to a bit of New York; he doesn't really seem to have much of a grand plan, other than revenge on those who he thinks have wronged him. And it kinda works. 

I guess you have to start small with these things. Let them build up. If they'd used, for example, Mephisto from the off that would have set the stakes too high. Starting with this smaller threat allows us to see the more ordinary side of things. 

And even then it was clearly building things with its little references. It mentions a photographer called Eddie (who's clearly Eddie Brock who would later become Venom) and a Doctor Connors (Curt, who becomes the Lizard), but it's all somewhat subtle and if you don't know who these people are, it really doesn't matter.

It's not perfect, and one mistake it makes is to take Peter et al out of High School too soon; just halfway through the film. I kinda think we needed a bit more of this environment, probably at least keeping them there for the whole of the film. 

And also, no Gwen Stacy... but the movies never really got the hang of the whole Gwen and Mary Jane scenario, with (as I recall) only one of the many Spider-Man movies having both characters in (SM3), and in the case of the MCU films not actually having either character in them at all. (Zendaya's character, although called MJ, is not Mary Jane, rather Michelle Jones, a different character).  

Or at least, that's my memory of them. I guess my memory will be refreshed in coming days...

The reason I watched this film today is that me and the kids are having a bit of a Marvel super hero movie marathon over coming weeks, watching as many of the Marvel movies as we possibly can. And should any pedants reading this say "but that movie was made by Sony, not Marvel", by "Marvel movies" I mean movies with characters from the Marvel comics in them. And we're only looking at post-2000 films, so anything before then is excluded. At the moment, the running order of 48 films is looking like;

7 Spider-Man films*
3 Fantastic Four films
DareDevil
13 Z-Men films
Hulk
23 MCU films


* - This doesn't include the Tom Holland films. 

I don't think there's anything I've missed, except the Thomas Jane Punisher movie, which I'm not counting. Can't think of anything else that should go in there. If there's anything you think I've missed let me know; bearing in mind it has to be post-2000, so things like the Roger Corman Fantastic Four, or any of the TV movies of the 70s and 80s, don't count. Nor do the Netflix TV shows, or Agents of SHIELD, etc. That may be for another time... 

And the above is the order we're watching them in, too; basically by series, then by release date in each series. We, well I, did think of mixing them all together and watching in pure release date, mixing up all the series, but the kids over-ruled me on that one. 

Saturday 6 February 2021

122 - Past

So, I watched Akira for the first time in a few years, and strewth... it's now set in the past. Like Blade Runner (now also set in the past; where's our blimmin' flying cars we were promised) it's set in 2019.

Also, in Akira's world, the 2020 (Neo) Toyko Olympics didn't take place (presumably) although here it's not a virus stopping it, rather a big explosion destroying the stadium and much of the town...

It's got me to thinking about movies set in the future becoming the past, and how accurate they are when we catch up with them, and really, the answer has to be; not really that accurate at all. 

This is, of course, because these movies aren't intended to be predictions of the future, and rather than predictions they're more like a projection of our current fears extrapolated and taken to an extreme. 

Akira, from the 1980s, was created in a Japan still reeling from the atomic bombs of the second world war, and their impacts. The comic, and film, even starts off with an atomic bomb exploding, and devastating, Tokyo (hence it being set in Neo Tokyo). These fears that this could happen again were still present at that time.

And you probably find similar extrapolations in other films, too... maybe I'll explore this topic more in future posts. 

Friday 5 February 2021

121 - Festival

 I'm watching the second half of the movie, The Festival, on Film4. I had started watching it on Amazon Prime, but only got about halfway through it on the first viewing. Then when I went to watch the second half they wanted to charge me to watch the rest... nope. Wasn't going to happen. 

Hmm. Simon from The Inbetweeners is shagging a girl dressed as a Smurf...

And that's the thing I can't help but wonder... was this movie initially meant to be an Inbetweeners movie? Could it have been? But maybe they couldn't make it work as an Inbetweeners movie, so they repurposed it with different characters.

Even though Joe Thomas is essentially playing Simon with the serial numbers filed off. And much of it could almost have been an Inbetweeners movie. 

Mind you, I am saying that with about half an hour of the movie itself to go. 

Hmm...

Thursday 4 February 2021

120 - Mondays

 Catching the tail end of this programme summarising the story of Top of the Pops in 1989, I really can't help but wonder if The Happy Mondays doing Hallelujah, with Kirsty MacColl, might be the best ever performance on the show?

It is just wonderful, Shaun off his head, Bez being Bez with his maracas, and Kirsty just being the sheer pop perfection she always was. 

There may very well be another that's better, but I can't think of it off the top of my head.

They certainly blew away the Stone Roses on that show. 

Mind you, if they'd ever have done She Bangs the Drums...

Or if the Pixies could have done Veluouria...

I dunno...

Tuesday 2 February 2021

118 - Tom

 I guess after today's news there's really only one thing that can be talked about; the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore at the age of 100. 

He captured the mood of the nation last year during the first lockdown, with his sponsored walk around his garden - 100 laps before his 100th birthday - and his positive messages, notably tomorrow will be a good day. 

He raised a ludicrously high amount of money for charity - in the millions - for his efforts, and was an inspiration, lifting so many people's spirits. 

So, to hear today that he died was more than a little disheartening. 

But the thing to bear in mind is his long life, and that his last year of his life was so full of amazing experiences. Every life has a value. 

RIP.

Monday 1 February 2021

117 - Flamin'

 So, when watching old Hone and Away on Amazon Prime yesterday, i hit a milestone; the first time Alf said the word "Flamin'". Well, at least the first time i noticed it.

It was during an argument with Brett Macklin, and it was a joy to hear him utter his trademark word at last. 

This was the 178th episode!

Though Amazon Prime, with their "unique" numbering system bills it as "Season 1, Episode 178; Episode 177"...

(This is because they bill the first episode as "Episode 1; Pilot", and from there "Episode 2; Episode 1" and so on... )