Who is TG Jones?

 

The most lowkey takeover in recent retail history

 It may have taken a while for people to notice but a significant though unobtrusive change has been occurring throughout high streets in the UK. A familiar store remains open but look up and its name has changed. WH Smith is now TG Jones. You’d be forgiven for not noticing. The blue and white colour scheme of the sign remains the same, the stores untouched by any makeover. Yet those signs have been quietly changed- I don’t know when, I’ve yet to see it actually happening – in recent weeks. You’ll still find WH Smiths in airports and railway stations because the brand has been split in two, the high street shops sold off. It’s the end of an era though in other ways a return to how things started.

 

The Fantastic Four- First Steps review

 

The clue’s in the film title!

 Marvel’s latest is a joyous affair even if it does little more than rearrange familiar scenarios and hit similar beats to countless other movies. Yet it does this with such joi de vivre that you can’t help but be swept along by its likeability and compact pace. Funnier than many Marvel movies it also possesses a warmth missing from some of them so proves to be a strong foundation for the next phase of this ever-expanding universe.

 Spoilers after the break

Evita @London Palladium review

 

Jamie Lloyd’s re-interpretation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s timeless classic is noisy, sensual, clever and epic!

 So…I saw Rachel Zegler serenading Argentina on the balcony of London’s Palladium theatre on Wednesday evening, then the following night the full production itself only halfway through Rachel was substituted by her alternate Bella Brown for the balcony scene and the rest of the production. I’m not sure when Jamie Lloyd took on re-inventing Evita for the modern age, he envisaged a change of physical appearance for Eva Peron halfway through but it wouldn’t be too surprising! This is a full blooded, boisterous version that fills the venerable Palladium with attitude.

 

The People That Time Forgot (1977)

 A direct sequel to 1974’s The Land That Time Forgot though for some reason the same team made At The Earth’s Core in between which may have confused cinema goers at the time. The film sees a friend of the missing Bowen Taylor leading an expedition to find him though in not as engaging fashion as the first film. This was actually the final film produced by the Amicus studio which had closed by the time it was released and its fair to say it is nowhere near as exciting as this poster makes it seem...

 

Top of the Pops 12 July 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

 Anthea Turner: “Well hullo! And welcome to Top of the Pops on BBC1 and Radio 1! Tonight in the studio, amongst others, we've got the River City People, Thunder, and Blue Pearl but we're going to start off tonight's show with a group who've been supporting the Rolling Stones on their recent tour! The Gun! At thirty five!”

 [35] GUN: Shame On You. 1990 was the year I took my A-Levels. It was also the year I stopped watching Top of the Pops on a weekly basis (thus contributing to the ratings drop which would result in the notorious “year zero” revamp, sorry about that). I was still watching the Chart Show on ITV, I was still listening to Radio 1, so I hadn't completely lost touch with pop culture (that would come with the arrival of Steve Wright and his posse on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show*). The point of all this background** is to just explain how chunks of this edition feel like dipping into a parallel universe. Gun? Who are they?

 

Superman (2025) review

 

The umpteenth attempt to revive the perpetually ailing DC Comics film universe sees the best-known superhero in what is more of James Gunn film than a Superman one. The director / writer’s scrappy, humour heavy, music laced style is all over this movie. While it sometimes works in isolated scenes there is an overall sense of a cluttered canvas in which too much is happening and too many characters are involved. At the same time the fundamentals of storytelling are too easily skipped over in favour of effects heavy set pieces. There was no point during watching when I felt really excited about anything on screen and with an over reliance on special effects, especially the last section, the results are undoubtedly spectacular but strangely uninvolving.

Spoilers after the break... 

At The Earth's Core (1976)

 

The success of The Land That Time Forgot enabled the same team to make At The Earth’s Core . While it had a bigger budget than its predecessor it’s not always deployed as effectively.  The adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ tale of a burrowing machine accidentally taking its passengers to the centre of the world is a lively affair. Kevin Connor directs with as much regard for the fact that this is studio bound for its entirety as he can and deploys some impressive flourishes in an environment over which the production has complete control. The results may seem mixed from this distance but I remember seeing films like this in tv during the school summer holidays and finding them hugely exciting. 

 

Top of the Pops 5 July 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Nicky Campbell: “Hello, good evening. Believe me there is absolutely no respite. World Cup fever. Wimbledon frenzy. And now, strap yourselves in for what could be the most exciting half hour in any of our lifetimes. Top. Of the. Pops. What a show. What a line up. Inspiral Carpets.”

 [30] INSPIRAL CARPETS: She Comes In The Fall. The dream is over. World Cup update. The Years-of-Hurt-omemter (pat. pending) ticks up from 24. England sailed through the quarter-finals to meet West Germany in the semi-final. The result, a 1-1 draw and England were knocked out on penalties. Fortunately, England will never play West Germany again so that can't happen any more.

Ironheart Eps 4- 6 review

 

This series was actually filmed three years ago and is not as special effects heavy as many so I’m wondering why it has taken this long to be shown. Not only that but it is officially the end of Marvel’s phase five, surely the least distinct segment of their saga. While some of the individual productions have been good, overall, there is a feeling that perhaps Marvel is reaching too far, trying to vary what they’re good at which will inevitably yield mixed results. Ironheart does present some striking sequences though and regardless of what narrative the cast are given they carry it off well so it deserves a more prominent place than this.

 

Spoilers after the break

Jurassic World- Rebirth review

 

The fact that you sort of know what’s going to happen in a Jurassic franchise film – disparate characters fleeing from big jaws and not all of them will make it – doesn’t necessarily negate the thrills. This seventh iteration somehow manages to come up with yet more inventive sequences in which people are caught in seemingly inescapable peril at the claws of prehistoric monsters. Some of them make it, others don’t- surely not a spoiler at this late stage. This film is something of a reset, largely ignoring previous characters (there are a few references) but neatly linking back to  the lore presumably setting up another trilogy though after what the survivors have been through here, would any of them really come back for more?

 

Spoilers past this point