Film Reviews- Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters

 

Deadpool & Wolverine  is a brutal buddy movie. It takes that age old story of two people who would never work together forced to do so for the greater good. Its just that it takes a lot of fighting- and I mean a lot- before they do! The opening sequence sets out the stall with no holds barred  - physically or narratively- hard edged yet containing some nuggets that make this more than just one massive series of punch ups. Deadpool was always the outlier of the superhero stable who was able to go to more extremes than other genre movies and I was wondering whether this would change now he’s been fully admitted to Marvel’s mainstream. The answer is hardly at all.

 

Batman Unmasked!

 In a large warehouse near Manchester Piccadilly station the Batman Unmasked exhibition has swung in and will be there till the end of August. Its celebrating 85 years of the iconic character and his enemies across all media. Original props, costumes, artwork and interactive areas combine to create an impressive display well worth visiting if you're a Batfan.  The event is due to move to London afterwards.  Here's some pictures I took there yesterday but there's lots more to experience for yourself...

Top of the Pops 29 June 1989

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Bonus master tape bit: Images from a rewinding VT. A wide shot of the studio with the Rebel MC gazing out at an indifferent crowd. A countdown clock. The Top of the Pops logo.

The picture stabilises on the title sequence countdown clock (backed by Bananarama singing Cruel Summer '89). Burned in text at the top of the screen reveals the title sequence is by The Moving Picture Company and at the bottom there's a telephone number; 01-434-3100 and another number 01 437-3885, which is identified as CAR. A carphone? How very eighties.

The countdown clock is held on screen at 10. Crowd noise begins to bleed through the Bananarama track.

Iain McLean: “Ugh. Looks like we're gonna start in a moment. Got themselves ready. All the technical hitches are out of the way. We can start our show. Sorry about that but bear with us like you have done throughout the rest of the show just get s... ooh.. ooh. It's all sticky. Ooh. What is that? Why is that? Cause there's stuff on it. [New 30 second clock appears on screen and starts counting going down] Alright. We're back again. You're lucky. You're gonna see it twice. People at home can only see it ONCE! YEAH! C'mon let's here you ch [audio cuts out]”.

 Titles.

 

Stuff: General Election, Coldplay @ Glastonbury and more

I suppose I should mention the UK General Election which reaches its conclusion on Thursday. From its soggy birth through wet campaigns its not been the most riveting event even if Ed Davey ends up flying to the Moon.  It feels as if none of the parties have an agenda to inspire which may be a sign of the times. Bold political thinking is long gone which means that manifestoes tend to seem similar overall and you sort of know that whichever side wins the same people will benefit and most won’t .