Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Groku review

 

The Star Wars Universe has expanded massively yet despite the undoubted quality of the offshoots (notably the superb Andor) they are a fairly long way from the tone of the 1977 original. Here though is a branch of the tale that indulges in exactly the same fast paced action orientated type of story that lit the fuse.  The Mandalorian and Groku hardly rests, pinwheeling from one place to another frantic to throw our unusual heroes into ever more perilous situations. What you gain from the action you do tend to lose in terms of character but this is a film that brings the fun back to big screen Star Wars.

 

Top of the Pops 23rd & 30th May 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

23/05/1991

 Gary Davies: “Hello. A very good evening to you and welcome to Top of the Pops. Don’t forget we’re in stereo on Radio 1FM and boy do we have a great show for you tonight. We start off with a band who’ve got a new album called The Promise which is coming out in June. They’re in the charts at number twenty with Whenever You Need Me. It’s T’Pau!”

 [20] T’PAU: WHENEVER YOU NEED ME. Apologies to flame-haired crooner Carol Decker but I wouldn’t have started this edition with this song. Then again, I’m not sure which song I would have used to start tonight’s show. This is going to be a double-bill write up because once again I find myself with little to say. Top of the Pops has hit a chart slump between the May Bank Holidays.

Soylent Green (1973)

 Fifty three years ago the events depicted in Soylent Green may have seemed far fetched yet today maybe not so much. Based loosely on Harry Harrison’s novel Make Room, Make Room (though the adaptation changes some events and has a different outcome) the 1973 film depicts population and climate change having rendered life almost impossible for many. People sleep on staircases and queue for hours for synthesised food produced by the Soylent company while everyone suffers under blistering heat twenty four hours per day. Corruption is rife and memories of life before this urban hell are fading.

 

Top of the Pops 9th and 16th May 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 09/05/1991

 Gary Davies: “Hello. A very good evening to you and welcome to Top of the Pops. We’re in stereo on your twenty four hour radio station, Radio 1FM. We have a terrific programme for you tonight. And we start off with a band who are shortly going to release their first album. They’re performing the DNA Groove mix of Get The Message, over there. Electronic!”

 [8] ELECTRONIC: GET THE MESSAGE. This is new. I don’t think a band has performed a different mix of a single before. It’s an interesting idea and I can see how you might want to keep a song fresh for the audience and the performer. It’s just… this is a bit boring isn’t it. It seems very low energy and Bernard Sumner’s voice sounds very quiet in the mix. I appreciate it’s a change of direction for these write ups to start talking about music but, hasn’t this remix boiled out all the good bits of the single? Where’s the drum break gone? Why is Johnny Marr miming to a guitar that only he can hear? 4/10 guys.

Eurovision 2026 Final review

 

I am gutted. Sick as a parrot etc. The two best songs in my opinion were eliminated in the semi’s. Latvia’s `Ena` and Switzerland’s `Alice` are no more which is a big disappointment though maybe not too surprising. Both are quite serious songs, perhaps not the tone required for the party atmosphere of the Final but I hope they are recognised beyond the competition. I really like both of them anyway. Of the others eliminated at this stage, I was also quite sorry to see Armenia, Georgia and Luxembourg go. These exits definitely cut back on the variety of music on display, however as last night’s Final demonstrated there were still plenty of bold performances to savour.

 

Good Omens finale review

 

Having been squeezed into ninety five minutes or so from an originally intended six-part series, its reputation tarnished by the allegations against its co- author, the third instalment of Good Omens seems determined to make a stand. Every scene is accompanied by grandiose incidental music, the story moves fast because it has so little time and the actors give it their best oratory.  Visually it manages to convey a lot even on a reduced budget. In some ways the truncated form helps; season two was definitely prone to meandering whereas this third part focusses on its two main characters, always the key asset. While the reduced screen time does sometimes help, it can also mean narrative leaps that are not always earned.

 

Top of the Pops 2nd May 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Simon Mayo: “Hello. Good evening. Tonight is club night. Welcome to the nicest nightclub in the nation with no dress sense required [glances at the woman to his right]… as you can probably tell. We’re going to start with the most incredible opening to Top of the Pops ever, ever seen. I mean it. Try this at number three. This is KLF. Take it lads.”

 [3] THE KLF: LAST TRAIN TO TRANCENTRAL. The Main Stage is full. I count 11 people, 10 of them dressed in white, diaphanous, robes and Ricardo da Force wearing black. Oh and Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty (or should that be King Boy D and Rockman Rock?) both have a single enormous tusk strapped to their head.

Eurovision 2026 Songs Reviewed

 

In an age when we’re all amateur pundits now, I thought I’d do mini reviews of each song entered into this year’s Eurovision. There’s thirty-five of them altogether and I’d say the standard is a little down on the last couple of years yet also more varied. Trends I noted where the inclusion of operatic influences in several songs (though nobody is spinning on a disk like Nemo) and what has become a Eurovision trope- a song starting as a ballad then lurching into all out techno. There are a lot of serious songs, so much so that a couple where the singer actually smiles and seems to be having fun really stand out. Disappointedly there’s no outright bonkers song this year; in fact the UK’s entry is at the quirkier end of things. It is though a vast improvement on our last couple of attempts.  Of course some of these thirty five songs will be eliminated in the semi- finals probably making my predictions seem totally wrong but that’s half the fun.