Baby Driver

"All you need is one killer track..."

James and I went to see Edgar Wright's latest movie, Baby Driver, last night and were blown away by its turbo-charged thrills and too-cool-for-school soundtrack. It was great to see all Wright's familiar visual flourishes ( plus plenty of new ones ) exploding from the big screen again, but this time in a dazzling, heart-racing thriller instead of a comedy. The cast were uniformly excellent, with old hand Kevin Spacey making a chilling villain ( well, kind of ) and the young leads, Ansel Elgort ( "Baby" ) and Lily James, bringing some charming chemistry to their star-crossed lovers amidst all the chaos. And what a soundtrack! Most scenes were cut exactly to the sounds of the tracks playing on Baby's ever-present iPod  -  all the squealing tyres, crunching metal and gun shots in sync with the beats. The soundtrack was dominated by classic soul and funk ( Nowhere To Run, Every Little Bit Hurts, B.A.B.Y ) and hip hop, with diversions down some rockier roads by Queen, Golden Earring and even The Damned.

But don't just take my word for all this  -  here's James's review of the movie from his own blog,
I Criticise Because I'm Not Creative. Now, I may be biased  -  okay, I obviously am biased  -  but I think James has an excellent prose style and I always find his reviews well thought out and witty. Check them out and drop him a comment or two if you like...

The 13th Doctor

...is Jodie Whittaker. ( But you all know that, right?, because I'm probably the last person in the world to post about the subject... )
I think she's a great choice  -  she was fantastic in Broadchurch and also has experience in fighting aliens after appearing in Attack The Block. For a long time I was in two minds about a female Doctor ( Would it just be stunt casting? Is it too gimmicky for a mainstream audience? ) but I now believe it's an idea whose time has come and Whittaker is certainly a good enough actor to pull it off.
She had the following to say on her casting as Doctor Number 13:

"It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you’re told you can and can’t be. It feels incredible... I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender. Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one."

And incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall added:

“After months of lists, conversations, auditions, recalls, and a lot of secret-keeping, we’re excited to welcome Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we're thrilled to have secured our number one choice. Her audition for The Doctor simply blew us all away. Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role. The Thirteenth Doctor is on her way.”

It's indeed an exciting time for Doctor Who and I can't wait to see the new Doctor in action...

It's Almost Time...

The 13th Doctor will be revealed tonight! As much as I'm sad to see Peter Capaldi leave ( would one more year have hurt, Pete, huh? ) I'm excited for the new Doctor.
Let's just hope Wimbledon doesn't over-run by too much :-)

Happy Independence Day!

Here's wishing all you good people across the Pond a Happy 4th of July!