VisionQuest Episodes 5 & 6 review

 

A series that is as happy being literal as it is being philosophical VisionQuest enters its second half after a climactic fourth episode. What follows are two episodes that have divided viewers and longer-term comic fans. While there are smatterings of action, the narrative momentum slows here to enable character exploration and perhaps a little too much exposition plus yet another unexpected antagonist. If, like me, you enjoy something more than just guns and chases then there is a lot of more thoughtful material here though, don’t panic, there’s still someone with a massive plan that will affect the whole world!

Spoilers after the break!

Top of the Pops 24th October 1991

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby 

Tony Dortie: “Eyes open for a full house. From Elstree it’s Top of the Pops with the biggest and best live. Starting with 2 Unlimited and the busiest dancers around!”

 [2] 2 UNLIMITED: Get Ready For This. This edition opens with a splendid pan round the side of the Mess stage looking towards the Cyclorama stage. Rod Litherland works his usual magic with lights and smoke and points a bank of white lights at equipment hanging down from the ceiling to once again create a sort of Close Encounters look.

VisionQuest Episodes 3 & 4 review

 

It’s easy to see how VisonQuest could be irritating for some with its clever dialogue and sudden tone shifts but these are advantages as far as I’m concerned. The dialogue for example is witty even in what seem like throwaway comments. At times, it has the rhythm of a sitcom while still being quite serious when it needs to be. Visually it plays with TV imagery in a similar way to WandaVision. Its an appealing mix if you’re willing to go with it and these two episodes double down on those aspects as the series improves further.

 

Top of the Pops 17th October 1991

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby

"Kickstarting tonight’s Top of the Pops, back with a vengeance is Slade and Radio Wall Of Sound.”

[33] SLADE: Radio Wall of Sound. That opening pan across the studio is lovely. Rod Litherland’s lights send beams through the studio smoke and the circular lighting rig at the centre of the ceiling glides over the camera like one of the UFOs from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I didn’t know Slade had such a long career although I do remember their last comeback, in 1984. After that they released six singles between January 1985 and August 1987; the most successful being Mysterious Mizster Jones which peaked at [50] in March 1985. Their Wikipedia page is amazing. It ups and downs like a roller coaster. Early years; Glam rock, success and peak; Decline in popularity; Stateside; Wilderness years; Comeback and heavy metal following; American breakthrough; Second decline in popularity; Brief comeback and break-up; and there’s still time for a final section called Aftermath and Later Years. Right now, in 1991, we are in Brief comeback and break-up.

VisionQuest Episodes 1 & 2 review

 

VisionQuest, like its narrative forerunners, WandaVision and Agatha All Along, dips in and out of reality and asks us to believe in a digital world as well as a real one. With AI suddenly front and centre in the news it makes the show even more timely than the previous chapters.  For those who may be less up to date with the lore relating to this most unusual character, the first episode of this new miniseries provides a succinct update, with clips, that tells you what you need to know. It’s an essential introduction to what might otherwise be a somewhat baffling show. Even with this opening montage some may still struggle with all the whys and wherefores and the fact that, for all the sharp action scenes, there’s a lot of philosophical musing about life and existence in the dialogue. Dig in though and there is treasure to be found…

 

Lady review

 

In Samuel Abrahams’ debut feature a documentary crew turn up at the palatial stately home Ravenhyde Hall to make a film about the life of its enigmatic owner Lady Isabella. Yet it soon transpires that things are not as they seem and the director becomes drawn into the eccentric aristocrat’s self-absorbed world. I’d been wanting to see this for a while but it had a limited theatrical release and is now on Amazon Prime. If you watch it don’t assume that the knockabout trailer or opening segment is all Lady has to offer. The material may well be presented in typical fly on the wall style – wobbly cameras, fourth wall breaks etc – but there is a heart to the story that only becomes apparent later on. It’s sometimes a little overwrought in its methods yet also unpredictable, imaginative and ultimately moving.

 

Spoilers after the break

 

Top of the Pops 11th October 1991

 Reviewed by Chris Arnsby

“It’s Top of the Pops. Everyone’s live and firing as interaction. From Brighton, DJ Carl Cox, I Want You Forever.”

 [24] DJ CARL COX: I Want You (Forever). I know I have cloth ears. I cannot work out what Tony Dortie says in the opening voice over. What’s written above is my best attempt at transcribing what is said.

Carl Cox has brought along a couple of friends, one of whom is Kelly Overett and in November 2024 she posted this on Facebook:

“The very first time I appeared on TV. On Top of the Pops dancing for Carl Cox in 1991. 33 years ago! To dance on TOTP in this era, we joined the Musicians Union and were paid £240 (yep, that’s a lot of money) BUT if you were an Equity member you earned £500 for doing the same thing. I was a council estate kid raised with little to nothing. I think I was the first rave dancer (and maybe the only rave dancer) to ever have an Equity card, which i got whilst in SL2 and we did TOTP’s several times.”

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit I’m not sure which dancer is Kelly, I think she’s the one wearing the black headband.

Liverpool Comic Con Photo Post

Some pictures from last weekend's event, just a small number of the dozens of guests and happenings going on around the arena and conference centre or as its somewhat randomly named Liverpool Experience Campus which just sounds like a University though its actually an arena and conference centre. If you want to book for next time, due to be held in April 2027, tickets are already available from the website
 www.comic conventionliverpool.co.uk  

 

Lanterns Episodes 5 to 8 reviews

 

Episode Five- Lights Out

This episode is the best yet at balancing the series’ more thoughtful scenes with it’s action ones. As the town comes under threat from the aliens searching for the Manhunter and Hal leaves John for dead, emotions are running high. The 2007 opening flashback depicts Kerry’s arrival in town, pursued by killers and shows how Zoe helped her- for a price. It’s a fitting beginning to an episode where several characters have to make an important choice as to what to do. If the sometimes tongue tied dialogue makes it harder to work out what people’s motivations are then this episode suggests everyone is looking after themselves.

Spoilers after the break...

Top of the Pops 3rd October 1991

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby

“Welcome to a fresh new look Top of the Pops from our new studio in Elstree. To open our show tonight, Erasure.”

 [4] ERASURE: Love To Hate You. That uncredited voice over doesn’t have the impact it needs. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe the sound quality so I’ll use the word muffled. I think it is being recorded in the studio where it has been played through speakers. This stops it booming like the wrath of god, which is what is needed. I guess the mix of studio audio is being carefully balanced to take into account Erasure’s backing track.

I am also not sure the opening shot sells the new studio. It’s clearly massive. You couldn’t pull off a crane shot like that in TC3 but a huge space needs a huge crowd to go with it, and obviously the BBC doesn’t want to wrangle a huge crowd of twentysomethings on the first night. This means my first impression of the new studio is of a space that is cavernous but a bit empty.

Goodbye to our local WH Smiths

 

My local branch of what used to be WH Smith is shortly closing after being made to wait months to hear it is on the list of closures drawn pup by Modella, the company who `rescued` the firm. Modella’s past record is of making such deals then downsizing the estate before ultimately winding up the physical business leaving either an online presence only or nothing but empty units. There is no reason to believe the same will not happen to the business latterly known as TG Jones. Yet for each shop closure there is a story, a history beyond the unfortunate fate of those working there and whatever has led down this final path. And this shop is almost the last one left of those I remember from decades ago. Its impending closure will be a sad day because I have so many memories of the place.

 

Top of the Pops 26th September 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Countdown to Year Zero revamp: 1 week.

 Gary Davies: “Hello. Very good evening to you. Welcome to Top of the Pops. Well it’s the end of an era tonight on Top of the Pops, next week a totally different look to the show. We’ll tell you a little bit more about that a little later on. We’ve got some great dance music in the studio tonight, we start off with PJB featuring Hannah and Her Sisters.”

 Housekeeping first. Several years ago I was delighted to learn of an early entry on Paul Ciani’s television CV.  A Christmas 1975, “rock-musical romp through the legend of The Wooden Horse of Troy.” It was called Great Big Groovy Horse and it has finally escaped the BBC Archives and you (yes, you!) can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUfDDrd0GQ

I only found it on Youtube this week. It seems appropriate to link to it here because this edition feels like the true end to the Paul Ciani era of Top of the Pops. It’s from next week that Stanley Appel really puts his mark on the programme.

 

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.