Thursday 29 September 2011

Fabulous Forty, Sweet Sixteen, Terrific Twelve


It's been all birthdays and celebrations around these 'ere parts lately. These three strange escapees from some mad Zooniverse have all been havin' at large...



First of all was Sarah's surprise 40th birthday party at our fave venue, the fantastic Gloucester Guild Hall, specifically the beautiful Cinema Room, formerly the City Council Chamber.


Sophie and I had spent months arranging this and trying to keep it a secret, so we were very concerned that it would all work out. Luckily it did: Sarah had no idea what was going on and was overwhelmed and overjoyed to find herself in the Guildhall, surrounded by friends and family. Once she got over the shock :-)

And now, the conspirators...


Sophie and her mates...


Party-goers...


Kevin and Lyn, my Best Man and his wonderful wife. Could have opened their eyes for the picture, though...


Some of us sneaked off half way through the party to the main hall for a bit of Punk Rock action. Here we are with my mate Glenn
( you know... the Chinese Burn superstar ) and his lovely daughter, Millie, enjoying her first legal drink...


The band were Green Date, top Green Day tribute band, who were pretty damn good, but had to endure a fair bit of drunken heckling from Glenn and I.
It's got to be done...


Two parties for the price of one. What a great night!!


And here's Sarah with her friend Deri who flew in from Northern Ireland for the occasion and really made Sarah's night.


More drunken rabble, this time with added Caz...


Not to be outdone, Sophie decided to have a birthday as well. Funnily enough, she seems to do that every year...


Here she is: Miss Sweet Sixteen...


...with Mum...


... and her mates, posing in our back garden.


And, before we knew it, it was time for James to turn 12...


We spent the afternoon ( last Sunday, luckily after the torrential rain had stopped ) up at Gloucester Ski Centre, hurtling down the slope in converted tyre inner-tubes. What a great laugh! Here's me trying to break my neck...


And the birthday boy spinning down the slope...


... to collapse in a heap at the bottom.


Sophie and her boyfriend, Jon...


And all of us lined up in one last kamikaze plunge...


Phew! That's enough birthdays for now...

Tuesday 27 September 2011

I wear an eye patch now...


... eye patches are cool.

Well, they're certainly this season's hottest accessory in the Doctor Who universe.

This week's Radio Times features interviews with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, all talking about their unsung heroes of the show. There's also a lovely interview with Sadie Miller, daughter of another of Doctor Who's most beloved actors, the late, lamented Elisabeth Sladen.

Here's a scan of that interview:


The last quote is the one that got me:
"You just have to let grief roll, take its own time. Mum and I were so close and all my memories of her are happy ones. That gives me a lot of peace."

Monday 26 September 2011

Doctor Who: Closing Time ( mini review with spoilers )


"I'm the Doctor. I work in a shop now - here to help..."


Mini review. Comedy episode. Low budget. Save the pennies for season finale. The Doctor's visiting Craig ( you know... tubby guy from The Lodger ) and his new baby Alfie aka Stormageddon, Dark Lord Of All. Craig feels like a useless dad. We all get that now and then...

Department store. Very obviously not just Debenham's with a new sign put up. Cybermen in the changing-rooms, the Doctor working the toy department. Robot dogs and silver rats. More scenes in department store. And more. Doctor and Craig searching for alien spaceship. And plot.
Craig discovers his paternal mojo and kills rubbish Cybermen with love. ( No, not with a cyber-STD... )


Closing Time is ( worryingly ) another weak episode in the season that's already given us That Pirate Story. The once-mighty Cybermen are wasted yet again, the plot is virtually non-existent, and there are only blink-and-you'll-miss-'em appearances from Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Daisy Haggard. The relationship between the Doctor and Craig is still funny and charming, but isn't enough to sustain another 45 minutes. Luckily, Matt Smith is on top form: just look at the way he says "...what?" when "silver rats" are mentioned. Priceless.

And then, right at the end, in a chilling scene between River, Eyepatch Lady and the Silence, we remember that this Doctor's story will end very soon. Or will it?

2 1/2 out of 5 Bow Ties.

Oh, and Craig? On the subject of not knowing when to change a baby's nappy, I'll just say "sniff test" :-)

Friday 23 September 2011

Happy Boss Day!


Many happy returns to Bruce Springsteen, 62 (!) today. It's obviously been a tough year for the man they call The Boss, with the illness and sad passing of his life-long friend and bandmate, the Big Man, Clarence Clemons.
It's been reported today, on the ever-wonderful Backstreets.com, that Bruce and the E Street Band will get together over the next few weeks to decide the future of the group, post-Clarence. I'm sure whatever they decide will be the right decision.


Anyway, here's a quick gander at some images of Bruce's past, starting with the career-low of the 1990s and the California Rock God look...


The mainstream / pop charts success days of the 1980s, with its Working Man Chic...


And the Hobo Years of the dim and distant 1970s...



And here's Bruce with The Real Boss, his wife of 20 years, Patti Scialfa

Soundtrack: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions by Broooooce

Thursday 22 September 2011

Bond Babes: Izabella and Famke


I watched GoldenEye ( 1995 ) recently for the first time in ages and thought it stood up fairly well as an attempt to update the Bond franchise. All the requisite globe-trotting, glamour and action scenes were in place ( including a spectacular tank chase through the streets of Moscow ) and Pierce Brosnan did a surprisingly good job as a smooth-but-tough Bond, especially when aided by such top character actors as Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane and Michael Kitchen. However, the almost post-modern jibes at Bond's "sexist Cold War dinosaur" persona were jarring - Brosnan would have been a schoolboy at the height of the Red Scare! Interestingly, Bond's embittered former colleague, Sean Bean's 006, looks with hindsight like a precursor to Daniel Craig's rugged, craggy-faced Bond of the last two movies.

Also caught in the crosshairs of the GoldenEye are two memorable Bond Babes. Firstly, Izabella Scorupco as computer programmer Natalya, an innocent witness to a massacre who gets swept along with Bond's mission to retrieve a stolen space weapon.
Ms. Scorupco gives a fine performance of a woman struggling to deal with her world turning to hell in seconds and having to dodge bullets with England's greatest secret agent. And, to be perfectly honest, when the film's pace sagged now and then, I was just happy to gawp like a lovestruck adolescent at her beauty...


On the other hand, we have the wonderful Fammke Janssen playing the ridiculously-named femme fatale, Xenia Onatopp. Only in a Bond movie!! Ms. Janssen clearly relishes the role of the crazed Bad Girl, whose speciality is squeezing the life out of her enemies between her muscly thighs. But what a way to go...




Monday 19 September 2011

Doctor Who: The God Complex ( review with spoilers )


"There's a room here for everyone, Doctor... even you."

This week the Tardis Trio find themselves checked into the hotel from hell, where your standard accommodation problems like dirty bed linen and poor plumbing are replaced by rooms filled with your deepest fears, a shifting labyrinth of landings and a horned beast thumping along the corridors. Fawlty Towers this ain't...


The Doctor and the Ponds find themselves among a disparate group of reluctant guests, like David Walliams' cowardly Gibbis and stuttering blogger Howie, all being forced to face their own, personal demons, before giving up their faith and their lives to the lord of the labyrinth. The nightmares in the hotel rooms all seem small-scale ( a sad clown, chattering ventriloquist dummies, angry PE teacher ) but they are all geared to pushing the guests over the edge. As the Minotaur claims more and more victims, the Doctor and Amy have to both face their own fears and come to a turning point in their relationship...


While not a classic, this episode is a lot of creepy fun from professional scarer, Toby Whithouse. The seedy, 1980s hotel is a wonderfully garish backdrop to the nightmares ( Weeping Angels, disappointed dads, brutish apes, Cloister Bells... ) and the Minotaur is a triumph of costume design and execution. The ruminations on fear and faith give this story a depth and poignancy when it could have been just a runaround; and there's a standout performance by Amara Karan as another doomed potential companion. David Walliams, however, is mostly wasted as mole-like, cowardly alien comic relief Gibbis and only really shines in one scene when being upbraided by the Doctor. Maybe he should stick to swimming through sewage :-)
The last scenes of the Doctor saying goodbye to Amy and Rory are quite touching... even though we all know they'll be back very soon.

I'm not on the horns of a dilemma about this one:
4 Out Of 5 Bow Ties

Finally, I'd just like to say how satisfying it is for old Fourth Doctor fans like myself to hear that this story's excellent monster is related to corny, pantomime villains, the Nimon - who lived in a Power ( not God ) Complex and were endearingly crap, back in the days of wobbly sets and even wobblier special effects.

Soundtrack: Sorrow, Diamond Dogs and Rebel Rebel by David Bowie

Sunday 18 September 2011

DC's New 52 ( well, some of them... )


DC Comics' brand new, rebooted universe is now a couple of weeks old and even this jaded old blogger has been intrigued enough by the event to pick up some of the titles. I'm not sure if I've just been sucked in by a successful advertising campaign but the fact is I've walked into local comic shops and parted with cold, hard cash for some brand new comics, instead of back issues for a change... and DC comics at that. I've always been more of a Marvel guy really, with only the occasional trip into the DCU. So what do I make of the new version?

Justice League
is first out of the starting gate and is a strange beast for the beginning of a brave new world. It's set "five years ago" and details the first meeting between Batman and Green Lantern as they encounter a destructive, shape-shifting creature, seemingly intent on destroying Gotham City real estate. Jim Lee's artwork is as dynamic and detailed as ever, but not too self-indulgent, with only one double-page spread, and plenty of kinetic action. Geoff Johns provides some enjoyable dialogue as the Emerald Avenger and the Dark Knight Detective get the measure of each other's abilities:
"What are your powers, anyway? You can't fly. Super strength? Hold on a second... You're not just some guy in a bat costume, are you? Are you freaking kidding me?!"

My biggest problem with this comic is that, beyond the title, the Justice League themselves aren't even mentioned. I can understand the concept of the slow build of the story but, if this story had been told in the Silver or Bronze Ages ( here he goes again... ), this entire 24-page story would have warranted about 3 or 4 story pages as purely set-up for the main plot, the origin of the team itself. I can even imagine this hypothetical story beginning with the League in action against an enemy ( Starro, say... ) for the first few pages and then flashing back to how the characters all met. This all probably sounds corny to today's creators but I'm sure it would be a better hook for new readers, who could pick up this New 52 version of the League and be justified in wondering where exactly the titular team are. And new readers, not 44-year old lifers, are what DC need to keep their business alive...

Action Comics
is an audacious attempt to take the world's most famous, iconic hero back to his roots. This story is obviously set even further back than his last-page appearance in Justice League #1, for this early Superman wears a home-made costume of jeans and T-shirt, with the only concession to superhero chic being a small, almost silly, cape. He is young, idealistic but tough, and unsure of his developing powers, more of a super boy than man. In keeping with the character's early days way back in the 1930s, this Superman is a crusader, rooting out corruption, standing up for the common man, not fighting alien menaces or super villains. The iconic Superman cast of characters - Clark, Lois, Jimmy and Lex - are all introduced to us and each other, and it should be interesting to see how their relationships develop. The script is Grant Morrison at his most mainstream, without his more bizarre concepts or plot twists, but there's nothing wrong with that. The story powers along with some beautifully clean-lined, expressive, Wrightson-esque artwork by Rags Morales. I'll definitely be back for more...


Batgirl
is my first introduction to the work of Gail Simone. I know, I know, where have I been? She's a writer who comes highly recommended ( especially by ace blogger, Colin Smith ) as an important female voice in a mostly male-dominated medium. The story sees Barbara Gordon tackling some particularly brutal criminals, attempting to step out of her police commissioner father's shadow, finding herself a new home, and trying to come to terms with the memory of her shocking assault by the Joker. ( I admit I'm not up on recent DC continuity - I thought Barbara was still confined to a wheelchair. There is some mention of a "miracle" that somehow cured her, but I don't know any more than that. ) The artwork by Ardian Syaf is what I think of as "generic DC", with some decent story-telling but also some dodgy anatomy, while Ms. Simone's script is suitably hard-bitten but refreshingly concerned with a heroine who is racked with self-doubt and nerves. Oh, and the Adam Hughes cover is gorgeous.

Stormwatch
is a team I know little about. I never read the old version of the comic, or even the more well-known follow-on title, The Authority. ( Shame on me. ) I'm vaguely aware of the characters from reading Ellis / Cassady's excellent Planetary and, of course, I know the Martian Manhunter, but that's about it. So I'm left with a story about some mostly unlikeable, globe-trotting characters trying to save the world from an ill-defined alien menace, while fighting amongst themselves. There are a few nice visuals from Miguel Sepulveda, but the story is a disappointment from the usually reliable Paul Cornell.


Swamp Thing
however, is an old favourite character of mine. The issues by
Wein / Wrightson and Alan Moore / various are two of my most-loved comic runs ever, so this new creative team have a lot to live up to. And this first issue is very promising. Alec Holland is now human again and is working for a logging company, trying to forget his superhuman and supernatural past. A spate of mass unexplained animal deaths brings Superman ( the "present day" version we haven't really met yet ) to Louisiana to check up on Holland and to offer support to our disillusioned botanist. At the same time a group of archaeologists uncover something very nasty indeed, which seems to point to the rebirth of old Swamp Thing villain, Anton Arcane.
Scott Snyder writes a very wordy, intelligent script with plenty of fan-pleasing references to old Swampy stories and creators, while Yanick Paquette's artwork is beautifully detailed and often reminiscent of the baroque Starman work of Tony Harris. One to watch, all right.

Animal Man
also brings back an old fave, Buddy Baker, he of the animal powers and fourth-wall-breaking insanity back in the Grant Morrison days. Buddy seems confused these days: is he a superhero, an animal activist or a stuntman-turned-actor? After some lovely, naturalistic domestic scenes, Buddy digs out the old costume to help end a siege in a hospital, but finds his animal powers are causing him problems; he feels stronger than ever but using his powers causes him to unexplainably bleed from the eyes. Which can't be good. And after some disturbing dreams of his family suffering and dying, Buddy wakes to find his daughter Maxine has developed some scary powers of her own...
This is a very promising debut issue, with some alternately scratchy and intricate artwork from Travel Foreman ( that's a real name? ) and a fine script from Jeff Lemire, expertly balancing Buddy's family life with foreboding glimpses of a future, supernatural threat. But the most disturbing thing is probably Buddy's son, Cliff's, haircut - mullet alert!


OMAC
is an update of one of Jack ( King ) Kirby's lesser-known DC characters. It's a very slight story of a rampaging, blue-skinned bruiser smashing his way into the Cadmus Project, DC's multi-purpose secret scientific organisation. Old Kirby Fourth World characters, such as Mokkari and Dubbilex, pop up to try and stop OMAC from reaching the company's mainframe and... doing whatever it is he's doing. This OMAC is a hulking brute, remotely controlled by orbiting AI, Brother Eye, and seems very different from the crusading One Man Army Corps of the old 1970s series. Keith Giffen does his best Kirby impression but it all feels too insubstantial.

And that's all I've read of the New 52 so far. I went to Excelsior Comics in Bristol today, hoping to buy Paul Cornell's Demon Knights ( and maybe a few others ) but it was sold out, and none of the other new titles really grabbed me. There are still a few more first issues to come over the next couple of weeks, so expect some more half-baked reviews in a little while.

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