THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT... THE WiLDHEARTS
Your first time is always special and my first gig was The Wildhearts at Warrington Parr Hall on April 14th 1996, and it's still one of the best that I've ever been to, even though it nearly destroyed my dad's eardrums and I could hardly walk when I came out because I'd been kneeling down in the seating area around near the top of the stage. If I hadn't declared my undying love to Ginger, Danny, Jef and Ritch before that gig, then I certainly had by the time they finished the encore of Don't Worry 'Bout Me.
If there was any justice in the world, which there of course isn't, The Wildhearts would be the biggest rock band around, because they're certainly amongst the best these British isles have ever produced, right up there with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. At times it looked like they might be able to make it big, but part of being "rock 'n' roll" is having that self-destructive streak and The Wildhearts certainly have that, having split up as many times as most of us have had breakfasts.
Ginger IS The Wildhearts, having started the band in 1989, and he's the only constant in an ever-shifting line-up. Their first EP came out in 1992, called Mondo Akimbo A-Go-Go and 15 years on it still sounds fresh and exciting, not least the classic Turning American, which still features in their gigs to this day. However good their first two EPs were, their debut album Earth vs The Wildhearts took things another level with a collection of stunning tracks that mixed heavy metal riffs with power pop melodies.
The high point of the album was My Baby Is A Headfuck, which featured Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson in one of his last recordings before he died soon afterwards. With great singles like Greetings From Shitsville, Suckerpunch and the hyperactive Caffeine Bomb (the song that helped me discover them), the album simply didn't have a weak track and will hopefully one day be recognised as one of the greatest British rock debuts of all time.
But Ginger had only just started to show off his talents, with fan-club-only follow-up Fishing For Luckies one of the most experimental and exciting rock albums released in the 90s. From folky sing-a-long Geordie In Wonderland to 12 minute sci-fi epic Sky Babies, it was easy to see why record label EastWest baulked at the idea of trying to sell it commercially, but their cowardice was their failing and the start of the disintegration of their relationship with the band.
Second album proper p.h.u.q. (say it however you like) saw guitarist CJ sacked and the band have a few more minor hits with I Wanna Go Where The People Go and Just In Lust. In 1996 they re-released Fishing For Luckies with some new tracks, including Sick Of Drugs, which got into top twenty, and with a relatively settled line-up, things seemed to be going well. Of course, it all went wrong, and they split before releasing Endless Nameless, a massively-underrated raging beast of distortion and feedback that sounded like career suicide.
They came back in 2001 with the Earth vs The Wildhearts line-up, and your Editor went to see them at Dudley JBs, only to witness yet another implosion as heroin addict bassist Danny scuffled with CJ and Ginger on stage after struggling his way through the first half of the show. However, in true Wildhearts style they battled on (not literally) with the bassist from the support band standing in, and when Danny returned they released The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed in 2003.
It was a fairly lightweight return though, lacking the punch or insane genius of their classic material, and probably was their first slightly disappointing release. Fairly predictably, they split up again in 2005, despite having had a radio success with a cover of the Cheers theme tune (a b-side like so many of their classics - 29 x The Pain, Show A Little Emotion, Dangerlust, And The Bullshit Goes On, Shut Your Fucking Mouth And Use Your Fucking Brain, etc), and it looked like their time was finally up. They'd lived fast, died young (many times over) and left a beautiful corpse. But then it rose from the dead again late last year, with a line-up of Ginger, Scott Sorry (on bass), CJ and Ritch Battersby returning on drums.
They've got a new self-titled album out in April and Ginger has promised a return to their classic sound: "The melodies are still there, the big choruses are still there, but the mammoth guitar riffs are back and heavier than ever," he said, which promises much. They might never recapture the glory days of the mid-90s, but they will always be one of the most interesting and exciting rock bands around, and their live shows are legendary. They'll be playing the Academy in early May, so why not check them out? Who knows, they might change your life. They changed mine...
(PS, also well worth checking out is Ginger's excellent recent solo album Yoni...)
THE EDITOR
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Entertainment Essentials: The Right Stuff
Space, to paraphrase Douglas Adams, is big. Really, really big. So big, in fact, that Hollywood has struggled to capture its vastness on the silver screen. Space operas like Star Wars and existential odysseys such as Solaris and 2001 aside, the infinite realms of the universe and our tentative steps into them have rarely been investigated by anything other than TV documentaries. It’s a shame too because when space and NASA’s role in decoding its mysteries are translated onto the big screen the results are usually terrific, with Apollo 13, Contact and especially The Right Stuff leading the way.
Based on Tom Wolfe’s same-titled non-fiction novel, Phillip Kaufamn’s film turns the US-Soviet space race into a grand, three hour epic which effortlessly blends tragedy and comedy to form a slyly satirical look at a crucial moment in American history. Ostensibly, the focus is on the Mercury 7, the septuplet of test pilots who became the first Americans in space. However, Kaufman finds intriguing dramatic weight in contrasting the fates of Sam Shepherd’s rough and ready Chuck Yeager, the 50s’ greatest test pilot who never became a part of the project, and prim and proper John Glen, who became the first American to orbit the earth.
While Glen and his six colleagues are put under intense media spotlight, subjected to rigorous and absurd tests (most of them neatly parodied in The Simpsons’ Deep Space Homer episode) and exhibited by NASA and the government as bastions of American excellence, Yeager gets on with his work alone. There are no trumpet fares or ticker tape parades as he risks his life by breaking the sound barrier several times over.
However, while he laments the fact Yeager’s influence has been buried by the sands of time, Kaufman’s smart enough to realise that the astronauts never encouraged such attention themselves and were simply washed up on a tidal wave of national euphoria at a time when US citizens desperately needed a distraction from the escalating Cold War.
Crucially, the writer/director also shows the tremendous danger of their missions, ensuring the film never descends into the kind of chest-beating patriotism that the title may suggest. When Gus Grissom, for example, is not treated to the same heroic welcome as the others after a botched landing, Kaufman finds sympathy, as he does with the wives of both the astronauts and Yeager, who powerlessly watch as their husbands ride into the unknown inside rocket-powered tin cans, be they spaceships or planes.
Indeed, rather than hailing American jingoism, the film makes a point of subverting it, ironically bathing a Russian scientist in a mephistopholian haze and portraying two NASA recruitment agents (played by Harry Shearer and Jeff Goldblum) as bumbling buffoons. The Right Stuff isn’t a nationality, Kaufman suggests, and it certainly isn’t in physical prowess. It’s in the ability to stare destiny in the face and it should certainly be in your DVD collection.
Space, to paraphrase Douglas Adams, is big. Really, really big. So big, in fact, that Hollywood has struggled to capture its vastness on the silver screen. Space operas like Star Wars and existential odysseys such as Solaris and 2001 aside, the infinite realms of the universe and our tentative steps into them have rarely been investigated by anything other than TV documentaries. It’s a shame too because when space and NASA’s role in decoding its mysteries are translated onto the big screen the results are usually terrific, with Apollo 13, Contact and especially The Right Stuff leading the way.
Based on Tom Wolfe’s same-titled non-fiction novel, Phillip Kaufamn’s film turns the US-Soviet space race into a grand, three hour epic which effortlessly blends tragedy and comedy to form a slyly satirical look at a crucial moment in American history. Ostensibly, the focus is on the Mercury 7, the septuplet of test pilots who became the first Americans in space. However, Kaufman finds intriguing dramatic weight in contrasting the fates of Sam Shepherd’s rough and ready Chuck Yeager, the 50s’ greatest test pilot who never became a part of the project, and prim and proper John Glen, who became the first American to orbit the earth.
While Glen and his six colleagues are put under intense media spotlight, subjected to rigorous and absurd tests (most of them neatly parodied in The Simpsons’ Deep Space Homer episode) and exhibited by NASA and the government as bastions of American excellence, Yeager gets on with his work alone. There are no trumpet fares or ticker tape parades as he risks his life by breaking the sound barrier several times over.
However, while he laments the fact Yeager’s influence has been buried by the sands of time, Kaufman’s smart enough to realise that the astronauts never encouraged such attention themselves and were simply washed up on a tidal wave of national euphoria at a time when US citizens desperately needed a distraction from the escalating Cold War.
Crucially, the writer/director also shows the tremendous danger of their missions, ensuring the film never descends into the kind of chest-beating patriotism that the title may suggest. When Gus Grissom, for example, is not treated to the same heroic welcome as the others after a botched landing, Kaufman finds sympathy, as he does with the wives of both the astronauts and Yeager, who powerlessly watch as their husbands ride into the unknown inside rocket-powered tin cans, be they spaceships or planes.
Indeed, rather than hailing American jingoism, the film makes a point of subverting it, ironically bathing a Russian scientist in a mephistopholian haze and portraying two NASA recruitment agents (played by Harry Shearer and Jeff Goldblum) as bumbling buffoons. The Right Stuff isn’t a nationality, Kaufman suggests, and it certainly isn’t in physical prowess. It’s in the ability to stare destiny in the face and it should certainly be in your DVD collection.
Friday, March 23, 2007
With Casino Royale out on DVD this week, our two bloggers have come up with their own personal Top Ten Bond Films lists and it has already stirred up plenty of debate and controversy, so see what you think and add your own...
THE EDITOR
1. You Only Live Twice
By this stage, Sean Connery WAS Bond (the poster even said as much), and Roald Dahl's fantastic script gave him the best lines of any Bond film (including the innuendo-ridden line 'don't get soap in my eye' which Connery seems to get great delight in saying whilst being bathed by Japanese ladies). Donald Pleasance's Blofeld set the standard by which all villains are measured, and John Barry's soundtrack is simply stunning. The perfect Bond film.
2. Goldfinger
This was the film that established 007 as a global phenomenon and it's easy to see why, with so many iconic scenes and lines. How they got away with having a character called Pussy Galore remains a mystery, but pretty much everything about Goldfinger is classic, with Connery wearing Bond like a second skin and exuding charm and danger like no-one that has followed him.
3. Live And Let Die
After the fiasco with George Lazenby and Connery's slightly off-beat return in Diamonds Are Forever, the franchise needed to come back strongly with its third 007, and Roger Moore got off to a flying start with this voodoo-riddled classic. He even manages to keep that pesky eyebrow in check, and with George Martin and Paul McCartney coming up with a timeless theme song, Bong was back on track.
4. The Living Daylights
Reaction to this was muted at first, with the Bond series in trouble after Moore had gone on at least a couple of films too long, with View To A Kill being the weakest in the whole series. Timothy Dalton's portrayal was a sea change for the character, dispensing with Moore's sardonic humour and being, well, a bit grumpy. However, it works really well and a much more grounded Cold War plotline meant that this was a welcome shift in direction for Bond.
5. License To Kill
Followed by an even more dramatic shift. License To Kill is sometimes criticised for being '007 Does Die Hard' and it's a fair cop, because it's the most obvious attempt by EON to appeal to an American audience, with almost the entire film set in America and featuring a rather un-British story about drugs and vengence. It's also much more violent, ushering Bond into the modern era, and while it still gets a mixed press, it's done very well and Dalton's final performance certainly stands up.
6. Casino Royale
Daniel Craig was under so much pressure to perform here that the initial reaction was almost hysterical relief that it was so good when expectations had been lowered by so much negative press. Rather over-long and at times ponderous, Casino Royale is still a massive improvement over some of the silliness of the later Brosnan films (though they were all ok), bringing it back down to earth, though hammering the final nail into the coffin of any kind of continuity in the series...
7. From Russia With Love
A big step forward from the iconic but flawed Dr No, From Russia With Love was where Bond got his wings. With a genuinely menacing baddie in Red Grant and the sexiest Bond girl in Tatiana Romanova, this is an excellent spy film as well as a great Bond film. John Barry's score is classy, and while it gets lost a bit during the scenes in Turkey and the gypsy camp, it's easy to see why so many would put this at number one.
8. The Spy Who Loved Me
Very much along the same lines as You Only Live Twice in terms of plot, The Spy Who Loved Me is one of the most ridiculous Bond films, but also one of the most enjoyable. It introduces one of the most iconic villains, Jaws, as well as one of the most popular cars, the Lotus Esprit that goes underwater. Maybe it was a step in the wrong direction, leading to the even sillier Moonraker, but it's still a lot of fun.
9. The World Is Not Enough
Probably a controversial choice just ahead of Dr No, this film has been rather unfairly dismissed in the grand scheme of Brosnan Bonds. A return to form after the slightly iffy Tomorrow Never Dies (a media baron? come on...) and much more grounded than Die Another Day, it has a great villain in Robert Carlyle and a great vampy villain girl in Sophie Marceau, as well as Judi Dench's first really good performance as M. And a really underrated theme tune to boot.
10. The Man With The Golden Gun
Lulu's campy theme tune tends to be used as a brush to tar this whole film, with Sheriff J W Pepper's second appearance rather grating, but it's still an excellent Bond film. It's got Christopher Lee as the bad guy for crying out loud. And he's got a third nipple! And The Man With The Golden Gun also has that spiral jump car stunt. What more do you need?
THE WRITER
1. From Russia With Love
Goldfinger has the iconic set-pieces, but From Russia With Love can boast a raw edge which its sequel lacks. Connery’s on top form, bringing charm to the casual brutality he displayed in Dr No, and for the first time we’re introduced to the pussy-loving (ahem) Blofeld.
2. Goldfinger.
Magnificently mad, the third outing for 007 really should collapse under the weight of its own silliness. That it’s gone on to become the template for all future entries is testament not only to Connery’s charm but also director Guy Hamilton’s deft, Boy‘s Own sense of fun.
3. Casino Royale
Perhaps it’s a little premature to put a film which was only released five months ago this high, but Casino Royale really is that good. Eva Green was born to play a Bond girl and Daniel Craig brought a dark but compassionate edge to the character which had not been seen since Timothy Dalton. Speaking of which…
4. Licence to Kill
If Casino Royale’s success proves anything it’s that Dalton was ahead of his time. The Hot Fuzz star may only have two films to his name, but with Licence to Kill, he was given a depth entirely absent from the Moore era. The only problem is that the best line of the entire series (“he disagreed with something that ate him”), goes to the villain.
5. You Only Live Twice
Roald Dahl scripts, Connery stars and Blofeld hollows out a volcano in the final truly great Bond since Dalton donned the tux. Escapist, but still grounded with Connery’s earthy edge, it’s only scuppered slightly by some dubious political incorrectness.
6. Goldeneye
With Communism long since consigned to the history book, James Bond had to quickly find his feet in the 1990s and did so with the energetic Goldeneye. Easily Pierce Brosnan’s best film, it benefits from two cracking set-pieces (the opening bungee jump and the St Petersberg tank chase) and has fun in recasting M as a woman. Shame the other Brosnan Bonds never hit the same heights.
7. The Spy Who Loved Me.
This is where myself and The Editor differ greatly. He likes the Moore era, I loathe it, so that’s why he makes his first appearance at number 7. The Spy Who Loved Me is easily the best of the Moore era thanks mostly to the first appearance of Jaws and the best Bond girl yet in the shapely form of Barbara Bach’s Anya Amasova. Agent Triple X indeed.
8. Live and Let Die.
The second and last Moore film to appear on this list, Live and Let Die actually contains the reason I dislike most of his entries into the series. In the film’s opening, he seduces a woman in typical fashion, using a magnetic watch to unzip her dress. It’s meant to be Bond at his most suave, but thanks to Moore’s false charm it comes off more lecherous than debonair as he utters the dire words: “sheer magnetism, darling.” Despite this, and an obvious Bond goes Blaxploitation plot, the film’s enjoyable nonsense which culminates in the stupidest villain death ever. Damn those compressed-air bullets.
9. Dr No
It’s a pity that Bond’s first big screen adventure is largely overlooked these days, because it’s a cracking little spy story with plenty of mystery and intrigue. It’s also the only one that feels like an actual film, rather than a BOND FILM, with Connery and Ursula Andress sharing what so few other Bond couplings do: chemistry.
10. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Yes, it’s camp. Yes, George Lazenby is more wooden than a table leg. And yes, it’s got some terrible continuity errors. But OHMSS is a glorious anomaly in the Bond franchise with a neat sting in the tale. Shame it was ruined by the opening of For Your Eyes Only. Damn you Roger Moore.
THE EDITOR
1. You Only Live Twice
By this stage, Sean Connery WAS Bond (the poster even said as much), and Roald Dahl's fantastic script gave him the best lines of any Bond film (including the innuendo-ridden line 'don't get soap in my eye' which Connery seems to get great delight in saying whilst being bathed by Japanese ladies). Donald Pleasance's Blofeld set the standard by which all villains are measured, and John Barry's soundtrack is simply stunning. The perfect Bond film.
2. Goldfinger
This was the film that established 007 as a global phenomenon and it's easy to see why, with so many iconic scenes and lines. How they got away with having a character called Pussy Galore remains a mystery, but pretty much everything about Goldfinger is classic, with Connery wearing Bond like a second skin and exuding charm and danger like no-one that has followed him.
3. Live And Let Die
After the fiasco with George Lazenby and Connery's slightly off-beat return in Diamonds Are Forever, the franchise needed to come back strongly with its third 007, and Roger Moore got off to a flying start with this voodoo-riddled classic. He even manages to keep that pesky eyebrow in check, and with George Martin and Paul McCartney coming up with a timeless theme song, Bong was back on track.
4. The Living Daylights
Reaction to this was muted at first, with the Bond series in trouble after Moore had gone on at least a couple of films too long, with View To A Kill being the weakest in the whole series. Timothy Dalton's portrayal was a sea change for the character, dispensing with Moore's sardonic humour and being, well, a bit grumpy. However, it works really well and a much more grounded Cold War plotline meant that this was a welcome shift in direction for Bond.
5. License To Kill
Followed by an even more dramatic shift. License To Kill is sometimes criticised for being '007 Does Die Hard' and it's a fair cop, because it's the most obvious attempt by EON to appeal to an American audience, with almost the entire film set in America and featuring a rather un-British story about drugs and vengence. It's also much more violent, ushering Bond into the modern era, and while it still gets a mixed press, it's done very well and Dalton's final performance certainly stands up.
6. Casino Royale
Daniel Craig was under so much pressure to perform here that the initial reaction was almost hysterical relief that it was so good when expectations had been lowered by so much negative press. Rather over-long and at times ponderous, Casino Royale is still a massive improvement over some of the silliness of the later Brosnan films (though they were all ok), bringing it back down to earth, though hammering the final nail into the coffin of any kind of continuity in the series...
7. From Russia With Love
A big step forward from the iconic but flawed Dr No, From Russia With Love was where Bond got his wings. With a genuinely menacing baddie in Red Grant and the sexiest Bond girl in Tatiana Romanova, this is an excellent spy film as well as a great Bond film. John Barry's score is classy, and while it gets lost a bit during the scenes in Turkey and the gypsy camp, it's easy to see why so many would put this at number one.
8. The Spy Who Loved Me
Very much along the same lines as You Only Live Twice in terms of plot, The Spy Who Loved Me is one of the most ridiculous Bond films, but also one of the most enjoyable. It introduces one of the most iconic villains, Jaws, as well as one of the most popular cars, the Lotus Esprit that goes underwater. Maybe it was a step in the wrong direction, leading to the even sillier Moonraker, but it's still a lot of fun.
9. The World Is Not Enough
Probably a controversial choice just ahead of Dr No, this film has been rather unfairly dismissed in the grand scheme of Brosnan Bonds. A return to form after the slightly iffy Tomorrow Never Dies (a media baron? come on...) and much more grounded than Die Another Day, it has a great villain in Robert Carlyle and a great vampy villain girl in Sophie Marceau, as well as Judi Dench's first really good performance as M. And a really underrated theme tune to boot.
10. The Man With The Golden Gun
Lulu's campy theme tune tends to be used as a brush to tar this whole film, with Sheriff J W Pepper's second appearance rather grating, but it's still an excellent Bond film. It's got Christopher Lee as the bad guy for crying out loud. And he's got a third nipple! And The Man With The Golden Gun also has that spiral jump car stunt. What more do you need?
THE WRITER
1. From Russia With Love
Goldfinger has the iconic set-pieces, but From Russia With Love can boast a raw edge which its sequel lacks. Connery’s on top form, bringing charm to the casual brutality he displayed in Dr No, and for the first time we’re introduced to the pussy-loving (ahem) Blofeld.
2. Goldfinger.
Magnificently mad, the third outing for 007 really should collapse under the weight of its own silliness. That it’s gone on to become the template for all future entries is testament not only to Connery’s charm but also director Guy Hamilton’s deft, Boy‘s Own sense of fun.
3. Casino Royale
Perhaps it’s a little premature to put a film which was only released five months ago this high, but Casino Royale really is that good. Eva Green was born to play a Bond girl and Daniel Craig brought a dark but compassionate edge to the character which had not been seen since Timothy Dalton. Speaking of which…
4. Licence to Kill
If Casino Royale’s success proves anything it’s that Dalton was ahead of his time. The Hot Fuzz star may only have two films to his name, but with Licence to Kill, he was given a depth entirely absent from the Moore era. The only problem is that the best line of the entire series (“he disagreed with something that ate him”), goes to the villain.
5. You Only Live Twice
Roald Dahl scripts, Connery stars and Blofeld hollows out a volcano in the final truly great Bond since Dalton donned the tux. Escapist, but still grounded with Connery’s earthy edge, it’s only scuppered slightly by some dubious political incorrectness.
6. Goldeneye
With Communism long since consigned to the history book, James Bond had to quickly find his feet in the 1990s and did so with the energetic Goldeneye. Easily Pierce Brosnan’s best film, it benefits from two cracking set-pieces (the opening bungee jump and the St Petersberg tank chase) and has fun in recasting M as a woman. Shame the other Brosnan Bonds never hit the same heights.
7. The Spy Who Loved Me.
This is where myself and The Editor differ greatly. He likes the Moore era, I loathe it, so that’s why he makes his first appearance at number 7. The Spy Who Loved Me is easily the best of the Moore era thanks mostly to the first appearance of Jaws and the best Bond girl yet in the shapely form of Barbara Bach’s Anya Amasova. Agent Triple X indeed.
8. Live and Let Die.
The second and last Moore film to appear on this list, Live and Let Die actually contains the reason I dislike most of his entries into the series. In the film’s opening, he seduces a woman in typical fashion, using a magnetic watch to unzip her dress. It’s meant to be Bond at his most suave, but thanks to Moore’s false charm it comes off more lecherous than debonair as he utters the dire words: “sheer magnetism, darling.” Despite this, and an obvious Bond goes Blaxploitation plot, the film’s enjoyable nonsense which culminates in the stupidest villain death ever. Damn those compressed-air bullets.
9. Dr No
It’s a pity that Bond’s first big screen adventure is largely overlooked these days, because it’s a cracking little spy story with plenty of mystery and intrigue. It’s also the only one that feels like an actual film, rather than a BOND FILM, with Connery and Ursula Andress sharing what so few other Bond couplings do: chemistry.
10. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Yes, it’s camp. Yes, George Lazenby is more wooden than a table leg. And yes, it’s got some terrible continuity errors. But OHMSS is a glorious anomaly in the Bond franchise with a neat sting in the tale. Shame it was ruined by the opening of For Your Eyes Only. Damn you Roger Moore.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
THE EDITOR
WATCHING: On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The Lazenby Bond film. Initially considered a flop, it's gone on to be claimed as one of the best, but doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. Lazenby clearly isn't an actor, and the plot meanders along until the last half hour, with the scenes in Blofeld's mountain hideaway more like a bad Carry On film than anything else. The ending is still impressive, but how much worse would OHMSS have been if it had ended as originally intended, after the wedding and before the murder (which would have been at the start of Diamonds Are Forever if Lazenby had still been Bond)? It's not a disaster, but if Connery had stayed on, it could have been so much better...
LISTENING TO: Mano Negra's debut album Patchanka. The French mongrel punks led by Manu Chao may have taken their lead from The Clash, but they throw in everything else they could possibly have thrown in, with styles from all kinds of genres and countries. Best example is the cover of Leadbelly's Rock Island Line that takes in Beastie Boy hip-hop, rockabilly and Alvin and The Chipmunks. Chao would go on to even better things in his solo career, but Patchanka is a classic album that sounds as fresh and adventurous as anything out there.
READING: For One More Day by Mitch Albom. Another sentimental tale from the writer of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Albom's books are the equivalent of Frank Capra films. If you're overly cynical or cold, you'll sneer at this story about a suicidal former baseball player who tries to kill himself and fails, ending up at his childhood home where his mother is waiting to look after him. His dead mother. So far so good...
THE WRITER
WATCHING: Walking with Monsters. A frankly frightening TV series which may be a good few years old now but can still boast a spider the size of a human head pitting its wits against a giant millipede the length of a car. What more does a boy need? At the cinema I last watched The Illusionist, a love story with no chemistry between leads Ed Norton and Jessica Biel which looks, feels and sounds like a dreadful period-set ITV1 drama premiere. Very dull.
LISTENING TO: Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. What can I say about Arcade Fire's immense follow-up to Funeral that hasn't already been said? Both lyrically and musically it's a more expansive piece of work than its predecessor and songs like Ocean of Noise and No Cars Go will be remembered as modern classics as stunning as Street Spirit and Paranoid Android. A rare masterpiece in a music scene drowning in drivel.
READING: Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. It's a shame that this corking little title is marketed as a comic book for teenage girls, because it's actually one of the best Spider-Man books around at the moment. That probably says more about the dreadful state core line Amazing Spider-Man currently finds itself in, but Sean McKeever's writing exhibits a knack for teen dialogue rarely seen beyond Joss Whedon's work and Takeshi Miyazawa has a Manga-inspired and charming art style. A must-read if you're sick of all this Civil War crap.
WATCHING: On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The Lazenby Bond film. Initially considered a flop, it's gone on to be claimed as one of the best, but doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. Lazenby clearly isn't an actor, and the plot meanders along until the last half hour, with the scenes in Blofeld's mountain hideaway more like a bad Carry On film than anything else. The ending is still impressive, but how much worse would OHMSS have been if it had ended as originally intended, after the wedding and before the murder (which would have been at the start of Diamonds Are Forever if Lazenby had still been Bond)? It's not a disaster, but if Connery had stayed on, it could have been so much better...
LISTENING TO: Mano Negra's debut album Patchanka. The French mongrel punks led by Manu Chao may have taken their lead from The Clash, but they throw in everything else they could possibly have thrown in, with styles from all kinds of genres and countries. Best example is the cover of Leadbelly's Rock Island Line that takes in Beastie Boy hip-hop, rockabilly and Alvin and The Chipmunks. Chao would go on to even better things in his solo career, but Patchanka is a classic album that sounds as fresh and adventurous as anything out there.
READING: For One More Day by Mitch Albom. Another sentimental tale from the writer of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Albom's books are the equivalent of Frank Capra films. If you're overly cynical or cold, you'll sneer at this story about a suicidal former baseball player who tries to kill himself and fails, ending up at his childhood home where his mother is waiting to look after him. His dead mother. So far so good...
THE WRITER
WATCHING: Walking with Monsters. A frankly frightening TV series which may be a good few years old now but can still boast a spider the size of a human head pitting its wits against a giant millipede the length of a car. What more does a boy need? At the cinema I last watched The Illusionist, a love story with no chemistry between leads Ed Norton and Jessica Biel which looks, feels and sounds like a dreadful period-set ITV1 drama premiere. Very dull.
LISTENING TO: Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. What can I say about Arcade Fire's immense follow-up to Funeral that hasn't already been said? Both lyrically and musically it's a more expansive piece of work than its predecessor and songs like Ocean of Noise and No Cars Go will be remembered as modern classics as stunning as Street Spirit and Paranoid Android. A rare masterpiece in a music scene drowning in drivel.
READING: Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. It's a shame that this corking little title is marketed as a comic book for teenage girls, because it's actually one of the best Spider-Man books around at the moment. That probably says more about the dreadful state core line Amazing Spider-Man currently finds itself in, but Sean McKeever's writing exhibits a knack for teen dialogue rarely seen beyond Joss Whedon's work and Takeshi Miyazawa has a Manga-inspired and charming art style. A must-read if you're sick of all this Civil War crap.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
TOP TEN: MOVIE SEQUELS
1. The Godfather Part 2
Although lacking the titanic presence of Marlon Brando and some of its predecessor's more iconic sequences, Godfather Part II is a more subtle, rounded and, dare I say it, intelligent film than Part 1 and more than deserving of its place in the record books as the first of only two sequels to win Best Picture (brownie points for those who can tell us the second).
2. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
After the unusually dark and violent Temple of Doom, Steven Spielberg returned to the action/adventure template of Raiders of the Lost Ark and threw in a dash of knockabout comedy in the shape of Sean Connery as Indy’s dad. The result is just a Karen Allen away from beating Raiders.
3. Empire Strikes Back
Empire only at three? You better believe it, because while not entirely destructive, it’s very difficult indeed to reconcile the whiny, poorly developed Anakin we see at the end of Episode III with the brutish, Han Solo-torturing bastard we see here. Still one of the touchstone of pop culture, it’d probably be higher were it not for Jar Jar and co.
4. Dawn of the Dead
A rare example of a sequel which not only betters the original, but changes the formula altogether. While Night of the Living Dead is creepily dark, Dawn is gaudily bright, with Romero replacing the urgency of his genre-defining classic with the bored apathy of this film’s protagonists to form a superb comment on consumer culture as well a crackingly gory midnight movie.
5. Spider-Man 2
If the first Spider-Man film was a respectful introduction to the characters which rarely allowed Sam Raimi to break free, its sequel finds the director in full, hyper-kinetic mood hurling the camera from pillar to post and filming some superb set-pieces to boot (the train chase is a doozy). Throw in some nice character development and the best use of Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head since Butch and Sundance and you have a superb set-up for this summer’s Spider-Man 3.
6. Aliens
James Cameron’s finest film by some distance, Aliens is the only time the director has convincingly matched up emotional content with his great talent for action. It helps that he already had great groundwork in the shape of Alien (still the better of the two), but here Cameron evolves the character of Ripley whilst also creating a few memorable ones of his own. Titanic would have improved immeasurably had Hudson been roaming about on board.
7. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Another example of a film which, while not bettering its predecessor, evolves its mythos. While Gremlins was a wonderfully sadistic inversion of films like It’s A Wonderful Life, The New Batch features Joe Dante making a live action Chuck Jones cartoon, complete with cameos from Daffy and Bugs and a third act New York, New York sing-along. Not sure how a film as barmy as this ever got made, but we’re glad it did.
8. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn
One of the few examples of a horror-comedy which manages to balance out its competing genres well, Sam Raimi’s manic follow-up to The Evil Dead features Bruce Campbell at his hyperactive best, some truly ridiculous camerawork and a newly-severed possessed hand being trapped in a bucket weighed down by a copy of A Farewell to Arms. Who needs sophistication, eh?
9. Back to the Future Part II
Unfairly criticised for being overly complicated, the second film in Robert Zemeckis’ time-travel trilogy is only slightly inferior to the first thanks to another winning turn from Michael J Fox and enough paradoxes to give even Stephen Hawking a headache. Oh and it‘s got hover boards as well. Lots of hover boards.
10. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
Notorious sexploitation guru Russ Meyer wrote this follow up to Valley of the Dolls with critic Roger Ebert and the result is a uproarious satire of 60s celebrity. Worth seeing for it’s violently manic finale alone.
1. The Godfather Part 2
Although lacking the titanic presence of Marlon Brando and some of its predecessor's more iconic sequences, Godfather Part II is a more subtle, rounded and, dare I say it, intelligent film than Part 1 and more than deserving of its place in the record books as the first of only two sequels to win Best Picture (brownie points for those who can tell us the second).
2. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
After the unusually dark and violent Temple of Doom, Steven Spielberg returned to the action/adventure template of Raiders of the Lost Ark and threw in a dash of knockabout comedy in the shape of Sean Connery as Indy’s dad. The result is just a Karen Allen away from beating Raiders.
3. Empire Strikes Back
Empire only at three? You better believe it, because while not entirely destructive, it’s very difficult indeed to reconcile the whiny, poorly developed Anakin we see at the end of Episode III with the brutish, Han Solo-torturing bastard we see here. Still one of the touchstone of pop culture, it’d probably be higher were it not for Jar Jar and co.
4. Dawn of the Dead
A rare example of a sequel which not only betters the original, but changes the formula altogether. While Night of the Living Dead is creepily dark, Dawn is gaudily bright, with Romero replacing the urgency of his genre-defining classic with the bored apathy of this film’s protagonists to form a superb comment on consumer culture as well a crackingly gory midnight movie.
5. Spider-Man 2
If the first Spider-Man film was a respectful introduction to the characters which rarely allowed Sam Raimi to break free, its sequel finds the director in full, hyper-kinetic mood hurling the camera from pillar to post and filming some superb set-pieces to boot (the train chase is a doozy). Throw in some nice character development and the best use of Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head since Butch and Sundance and you have a superb set-up for this summer’s Spider-Man 3.
6. Aliens
James Cameron’s finest film by some distance, Aliens is the only time the director has convincingly matched up emotional content with his great talent for action. It helps that he already had great groundwork in the shape of Alien (still the better of the two), but here Cameron evolves the character of Ripley whilst also creating a few memorable ones of his own. Titanic would have improved immeasurably had Hudson been roaming about on board.
7. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Another example of a film which, while not bettering its predecessor, evolves its mythos. While Gremlins was a wonderfully sadistic inversion of films like It’s A Wonderful Life, The New Batch features Joe Dante making a live action Chuck Jones cartoon, complete with cameos from Daffy and Bugs and a third act New York, New York sing-along. Not sure how a film as barmy as this ever got made, but we’re glad it did.
8. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn
One of the few examples of a horror-comedy which manages to balance out its competing genres well, Sam Raimi’s manic follow-up to The Evil Dead features Bruce Campbell at his hyperactive best, some truly ridiculous camerawork and a newly-severed possessed hand being trapped in a bucket weighed down by a copy of A Farewell to Arms. Who needs sophistication, eh?
9. Back to the Future Part II
Unfairly criticised for being overly complicated, the second film in Robert Zemeckis’ time-travel trilogy is only slightly inferior to the first thanks to another winning turn from Michael J Fox and enough paradoxes to give even Stephen Hawking a headache. Oh and it‘s got hover boards as well. Lots of hover boards.
10. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
Notorious sexploitation guru Russ Meyer wrote this follow up to Valley of the Dolls with critic Roger Ebert and the result is a uproarious satire of 60s celebrity. Worth seeing for it’s violently manic finale alone.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The point of this blog isn't to whore it out to promote stuff, but hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. There's an awesome rock tour later this year that calls at the MEN Arena on November 18th, and we want to review it and hopefully give away tickets to you guys, so indulge us in a little PR stuff...
Rock fans are in for a unique treat this November when shock rock guru Alice Cooper teams up with legendary British rock’n’roll hellraisers Motorhead & loud leather lovin’ Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for a value-packed 10-date UK tour which promises a relentless, ear-splintering, deliciously dirty rock’n’roll experience. Each legendary artist is a leader in their rock genre.
We love Alice Cooper here at Entertainment Manchester, so that's a given, but the chance to see Motorhead as well is simply too good to miss, and Joan Jett's bound to be fun too, so make sure you get your tickets soon. Or you could wait for our competition of course... if not, see you there!
Rock fans are in for a unique treat this November when shock rock guru Alice Cooper teams up with legendary British rock’n’roll hellraisers Motorhead & loud leather lovin’ Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for a value-packed 10-date UK tour which promises a relentless, ear-splintering, deliciously dirty rock’n’roll experience. Each legendary artist is a leader in their rock genre.
We love Alice Cooper here at Entertainment Manchester, so that's a given, but the chance to see Motorhead as well is simply too good to miss, and Joan Jett's bound to be fun too, so make sure you get your tickets soon. Or you could wait for our competition of course... if not, see you there!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Here's our latest Watching, Listening To and Reading, feel free to add your own...
The Writer:
WATCHING: That Thing You Do. Tom Hanks' 1996 directorial debut focuses on fictional 1960s pop group The Wonders (or The Oneders depending on which era of the band you're concentrating on). It's a pity Hanks has yet to follow it up because it's a light and enjoyable slice of Americana which proves he’s as good behind the camera as he is in front of it.
LISTENING TO: The Collateral soundtrack. An eclectic mix of chill-out tunes, edgy dance numbers and James Newton Howard's murky, urban underworld score, it's the perfect audio accompaniment to one of Michael Mann's best films of recent years.
READING: Essential Sensational Spider-Man Vol 3. While never quite hitting the heights of the classic Stan Lee/John Romita run on Amazing Spider-Man in the late 60s, these black and white reprints of the 1970s Sensational Spider-Man still have the same kind of drama, tragedy and romance that makes the wall crawling wonder so popular. Current Spidey writers, take heed...
The Editor:
WATCHING: Last film I watched was Chocolat. It was ok. I'd like to go to the cinema more often, but there's so little out that's actually worth the effort these days. Last one was Hot Fuzz, which was about as good as Chocolat, but disappointing because I'd hoped for much more. Also recently watched the failed American pilots for Red Dwarf on YouTube, which were certainly interesting, just not funny. At all.
LISTENING TO: Moby's Animal Rights. Before he took over the world of TV advertising with Play, he bemused his techno fanbase by making this rock album (interspersed with some lovely ambient melodies) and it's generally regarded as his weakest effort. Maybe it's because I saw him blow Soundgarden off the stage as a support act at the Apollo, touring this album, but I love it.
READING: Having finished War And Peace (!) last week I'm now onto The Good Life by Jay McInerney, which is a sequel to his classic Brightness Falls, with the central characters from that, Corrine and Russell Calloway still together and still living in New York. The Good Life sees how their lives are torn apart by 9/11, and while in the wrong hands it could be a schmaltzy mess, McInerney keeps it all with an edge that making for an engrossing read.
The Writer:
WATCHING: That Thing You Do. Tom Hanks' 1996 directorial debut focuses on fictional 1960s pop group The Wonders (or The Oneders depending on which era of the band you're concentrating on). It's a pity Hanks has yet to follow it up because it's a light and enjoyable slice of Americana which proves he’s as good behind the camera as he is in front of it.
LISTENING TO: The Collateral soundtrack. An eclectic mix of chill-out tunes, edgy dance numbers and James Newton Howard's murky, urban underworld score, it's the perfect audio accompaniment to one of Michael Mann's best films of recent years.
READING: Essential Sensational Spider-Man Vol 3. While never quite hitting the heights of the classic Stan Lee/John Romita run on Amazing Spider-Man in the late 60s, these black and white reprints of the 1970s Sensational Spider-Man still have the same kind of drama, tragedy and romance that makes the wall crawling wonder so popular. Current Spidey writers, take heed...
The Editor:
WATCHING: Last film I watched was Chocolat. It was ok. I'd like to go to the cinema more often, but there's so little out that's actually worth the effort these days. Last one was Hot Fuzz, which was about as good as Chocolat, but disappointing because I'd hoped for much more. Also recently watched the failed American pilots for Red Dwarf on YouTube, which were certainly interesting, just not funny. At all.
LISTENING TO: Moby's Animal Rights. Before he took over the world of TV advertising with Play, he bemused his techno fanbase by making this rock album (interspersed with some lovely ambient melodies) and it's generally regarded as his weakest effort. Maybe it's because I saw him blow Soundgarden off the stage as a support act at the Apollo, touring this album, but I love it.
READING: Having finished War And Peace (!) last week I'm now onto The Good Life by Jay McInerney, which is a sequel to his classic Brightness Falls, with the central characters from that, Corrine and Russell Calloway still together and still living in New York. The Good Life sees how their lives are torn apart by 9/11, and while in the wrong hands it could be a schmaltzy mess, McInerney keeps it all with an edge that making for an engrossing read.
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