Resident Evil review

 Last year’s Weapons was quite a shock in every respect so much is expected of director Zach Cregger’s follow up especially as it stars Austin Abrams, a standout in the previous film as drug addict James. Here, he is also tasked with leading the film as the camera never leaves him for the entire run time, something he achieves with aplomb.  As for Zach Cregger he has again found a way to make the ordinary seem scary and the extraordinary seem terrifying; all with jump scares aplenty. Regardless of its source (about which I know little) as a film Resident Evil is a tremendous ninety five minutes of tension, danger and a little well sprinkled humour too.

Spoilers after the break...

 

Top of the Pops 19th September 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Nicky Campbell: “Oh welcome to Top of the Pops and a classic show tonight. What more could you want? Great videos. Great music. Great live performances as well. What a great start. Brothers in Rhythm, both of whom have been DJs since about the age of thirteen, so they know a thing or two about infectious rhythm. Ah, one, two, three, four.”

 [25] BROTHERS IN RHYTHM: SUCH A GOOD FEELING. About two thirds of the way through this performance something small but significant happens. Dave Chapman, credited with video effects, and Hilary West, vision mixer, apply a reduced frame effect to give a strobe movement look to Brothers In Rhythm. Stanley Appel never uses electronic effects when he’s directing a performance. What’s going on?

Ludwig season 2 review

 

The plethora of detective series means there’s something for everyone whether its disturbing thrillers or so called cosy murder mysteries (though I’m not sure how murder can ever be described as cosy), Ludwig sits somewhere in between and owes as much to the likes of Inspector Morse as it does to so called gentler series. Its also something of a comedy drama, a difficult thing to pull off but which writer Mark Brotherhood manages to do with aplomb. This second series offers a new set of homicides along with unexpected developments relating to the overall plot of missing detective James Taylor.

 

Lanterns episodes 1 - 4 review

 

Episode 1 Pilot

The opening episode starts off in understated style, playing with Western tropes aplenty. The incestuous small town, bar room fights, desolate geography – these aspects and more come into play as Lanterns establishes itself as one of those series that tries to make superpowers more down to earth and relatable. The mood is often similar to something like Wonder Man except the humour is more arch, the characters harder to like. This episode is very much about establishing a sense of place and there’s more than enough to sink your teeth into whether not you’ve read the comics.

Top of the Pops 12 September 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Simon Mayo: “Hello. Good evening. Welcome to Top of the Pops. Can I say, first of all, if you got your tickets for tonight’s show through Keith Prowse, can you, you can watch this at 7.30, but cheer and applaud louder because you are watching for free. Seem fair enough to me. We’re gonna start at number twenty eight with Bizarre Inc and this is Such A Feeling. Their first time on the show.”

 [28] BIZARRE INC: SUCH A FEELING. Simon Mayo gabbles his introduction. It’s weird. He talks so quickly he seems actually nervous. Maybe this is take three. Maybe he’s struggling to remember his convoluted satirical jab at the Keith Prowse ticket agency, who went into administration on Monday 09/09/1991. I’m not really even sure what his joke is, it’s lost in the word salad.

It doesn’t really matter because this is a great performance. Top of the Pops is getting better at generating visual interest from a few blokes with synthesisers. In this case the three blokes with synthesisers are at the back of the main stage, behind two dancers who are raised on podiums about four feet off stage level. This means they tower over the crowd. Under both podiums are squares of four monitors, at the back of the stage are two more piles of monitors, each a stack of three, each playing the video.

Brewster McCloud (1970)

 

Considering its place in the timeline of Robert Altman’s career, Brewster McCloud is a comparatively overlooked film. It was his next movie after MASH and similarly underperformed initially though its curiously vague publicity (“a different kind of film”) and odd poster probably didn’t help. Its not an easily pigeonholed movie and so little talked about that I only discovered it when I was writing about Harold and Maude, checking on Bud Cort’s other credits. The film has never really enjoyed a re-assessed critical appreciation while Altman’s subsequent illustrious career left Brewster McCloud as grounded as its protagonist ends up. While it never quite rises to the heights of the director’s best -known work it is interesting to view it from the considerable distance of fifty -six years as a bold endeavour that never quite fits any category.  In some ways its hard to see how it got made as it refuses to be confined.  Is it a murder mystery? Is it a comedy? Is it a fantastical allegory? Watching the movie does not necessarily answer these questions but I’m sure it created much post cinema debate in 1970. It’s not that it’s difficult to understand, more that the narrative chooses to be obtuse and vague, leaving it to the viewer to make up their mind.

Top of the Pops 6th September 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Jakki Brambles: “Hello, good evening, and welcome along to Top of the Pops. The nation’s finest music show. Tonight we’re checking out the Top Forty Breakers looking at what’s heading up the charts. Also, we have five acts in the studio. The first of which are at number eight. They’re from Liverpool, will you please welcome in the studio Oceanic.”

 [8] OCEANIC: INSANITY. Barely two weeks ago I suggested that Oceanic would have made a better opening act than Midge Ure. Nice of Stanley Appel to take my advice. Let’s see what he does with them.

Top of the Pops 29th August 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Mark Goodier: “Hi. Good evening and welcome to Top of the Pops. We have an essential show tonight with some performances by EMF, and the Farm, and Arnee and the Terminaters. And we start with a live rap by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch with Loletta Holloway. This is a new entry Good Vibrations.”

 [29] MARKY MARK & THE FUNKY BUNCH Featuring LOLETTA HOLLOWAY: GOOD VIBRATIONS. I’m over 50. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch are basically precision engineered to make me hate them. Stupid hat. Check. Stupid trousers. Stupid jacket. Check. Shakes walking stick at the screen. Boo! Get these kids off my TV set.