Top of the Pops 27th June 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Simon Mayo: “Hello this is Top of the Pops. Thirty minutes of songs for your folks to complain about. Question. Give me a singing superstar from Belgium. Yes, yes, yes. Singing nun. Any ideas? Plastic Bertrand. Yes. Any more? Well you can add this lot to the pile because they’re at number twenty two a spooky thing, the band are Cubic 22.”

 [22] CUBIC 22: NIGHT IN MOTION. Please welcome Stanley Appel to the Produced and Directed by credit. He’s been around for years, obviously, but now he is here to shepherd Top of the Pops into the nineties, and beyond. This is awkward. I don’t much like his style. I’ve previously described it as dull. Although, fair play to the man, he directed a storming performance by The Wedding Present on the 27/09/1990 show.

Supergirl review

 

Superhero films are not generally a lot of fun when there’s serious world saving to be done yet Supergirl ,while it does have some darker hues to its story, is light and breezy enough to make you smile. Unlike the most recent Superman its clear his cousin takes her responsibilities a lot less seriously even if tis is covering up for traumatic past issues. The relatively small stakes of the plot compared with the other films of this ilk do make it more amenable to those less familiar with the backstory. In tone Supergirl lines up more with something like Guardians of the Galaxy. And, yes, the music is very loud!

Spoilers after the break.

 

Top of the Pops 20th June 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 Nicky Campbell: “Hello. Good evening. Welcome to the brilliant new look Top of the Pops. Prepare to be engulfed in a fiesta of music and colour. Lights and action. Sound and vision. What a show. Five live acts, the best music videos and what a start. Here is the r-r-r-r-Rebel MC.”

 [20] REBEL MC/TENOR FLY/B.LEVY: TRIBAL BASE. It seems a little over the top for Nicky Campbell to describe minor format tweaks as a new look. However, there’s an interesting snippet of news in the following week’s Stage And Television Today.

That news item would have been written in the week the 20/06/1991Top of the Pops was being prepared and recorded. It is possible Nicky Campbell was asked to describe the small changes made to Top of the Pops as a “new look” to throw people off the scent a bit.

Disclosure Day review

 

I suspect that if proof of aliens really was disclosed at this current febrile time the public reaction would be hysterical with calls for them to be locked up, dropped on the Moon or something similarly draconian. This is not presently a world receptive to `others` of the human variety let along extra-terrestrials. The idea of such a reveal is what drives Steven Spielberg’s latest which returns him to the territory of ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Disclosure Day lacks the certainty of those earlier movies though and the sense of wonder they created is in shorter supply. I think it’s potentially a good story presented in a way that doesn’t do it justice.

 Spoilers disclosed after the break...

Invaders from Mars (1953)

 

“Gee Whizz!” Big green men invade a small town in this classic sci fi film

 If the plot of Invaders from Mars seems familiar then that’s likely to be because it’s proven to be hugely influential on subsequent generations of filmmakers. The likes of Joe Dante and John Landis are fans while Martin Scorcese has named it as one of the best uses of lighting and colour in film. While it does appear to fulfil its title admirably it also sets a template for future invasion pictures to follow or extrapolate from. Re-released last month with a fantastic restoration, we can have a more vivid experience watching it than even those 1953 cinemagoers did.

 

Top of the Pops 13th June 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 Jakki Brambles: “Hello. Good evening. And welcome to Top of the Pops. It’s a little bit different tonight but you can still hear us in stereo on 1FM. First up, tonight’s show, we have probably the only ever artist who scored five top twenty singles off her debut album and still got dropped by her record label. You can’t keep a good woman down. Here’s Sonia.”

 [11] SONIA: ONLY FOOLS (NEVER FALL IN LOVE). “A little bit different tonight.” That sounds ominous. I’m getting “Great news for all readers inside!” vibes. It sounds like IPC is about to force Top of the Pops to merge with Roy of the Rovers.

Backrooms review

 

Sometimes you can find yourself in one of those shops whose dimensions appear to exceed the space the building occupies. I’ve been in one or two such places and as you start to move away from the hubbub of the entrance, browsing can become a solitary occupation with no other customers around. The further you go, the stranger it can seem. It is this sensation, magnified many times, that Backrooms creates finding scares in such seemingly regular things as walls, rooms, doors and even open space. The debut feature of twenty year old Kane Parsons is an impressively unsettling movie to sit through, one that will make you think twice about roaming off on your own. Like last year’s Weapons it creates an edgy mood that makes the everyday terrifying.

 Some spoilers after the break

 

Spider - Noir review

 For Nicolas Cage to commit to his first television role (apart from appearances as himself or a 1981 pilot) it had to be something special and Spider- Noir definitely is. The phrase `comic book coming to life` is often bandied about but there aren’t many instances where this seems a appropriate a description as with this series. Set in the Thirties, it side steps realism taking inspiration from the printed page and pulp novels to present an absorbing world and a fresh take on familiar material. Even if you’ve seen the Spiderman films, you haven’t seen anything quite like this.

 You can choose to watch in “true black and white” or in what is described as “True Hue Full Colour”. There’s even some guidance as to which format is best for which episodes courtesy of the online fan site Marvel Mania. I’m sure the studio wants us to watch the whole thing twice but it actually works out interestingly to switch back and forth. So, in the reviews below, I’ve noted which format I watched in. In the end, I’d say the black and white edges it making the material look so stylish and adding to its’ strangeness.

Spider Spoilers after the break...