Monday 31 October 2011

PHOTOS: Halloween 2010

Photos of Halloween 2010

The Ultimate Halloween Playlist

Click here for the Ultimate Halloween Playlist

Sunday 30 October 2011

MUSIC: Charlene Soraia - Wherever You Will Go

I've heard this a few times at the cinema lately, it's used in the rather lovely new Twinings tea advert (the animation, woman in boat, on beach, etc.)

I think it's beautiful.

PHOTOS: Great Pumpkin carvings

here are some great pumpkin carvings I've found online:






DRINKS: Halloween Cocktails

Here are four easy to make cocktails for Halloween!

Ghostbuster
Equal parts: Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua, Vodka
Shake with ice, strain into a highball glass.

Ghostbuster Shooter
Equal parts: Creme de Menthe, Tia Maria, Vodka
Mix with ice and strain into a shot glass.

The Ghosty
2 parts Vodka to 1 part Creme de Cacao
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Purdue Ghostbuster
Equal parts: Key Lime Cream Liqueur, Vodka plus a splash of Seven Up
Shake over ice, Strain into a shot glass.

VIDEO: These are beautiful







MUSIC: Songs about Time

Today in the UK, we moved our clocks back an hour from BST to GMT.

Here are five songs about time:


What Time is it? - The Spin Doctors


Turn Back Time - Aqua


America - What Time is Love? - KLF


Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper


If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher

Saturday 29 October 2011

TOP 10: Halloween Movies

On Monday it's Halloween - so, it seems obvious to compile a Top 10 list of Halloween movies...

You'll notice there's nothing too gory - I'm not a fan of slasher movies.

So here's my Top 10:

1. Halloween (1978)

2. Carrie (1976)

3. Little Shop of Horrors (1987)

4. Beetlejuice (1988)

5. The Omen (1976)

6. The Shining (1980)

7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

8. The Exorcist (1974)

9. Young Frankenstein (1975)

10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

What have I missed?

Any others I might like that aren't too gory?

OBITUARY: Jimmy Savile (1926-2011)

To say that Jimmy Savile, the radio and television star who has died today aged 84, was an enigma is, perhaps, an understatement.

When I was a child Saturday evenings always began with Jim'll Fix It. He'd sit, dressed in tracksuit and bling (though it wasn't called bling back then), saying nonsensical things like "Now then, Now then!", puffing on a cigar (was it ever really lit?) and helping to make various people's dreams come true. Who can forget the Scouts eating a meal on the rollercoaster or the boys team beating Manchester United? To me, even then, he was always a little odd; there was something of Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang!'s child-catcher about him.




His media career had followed time as a coal miner and a failed wrestler. He was the first presenter of Top of the Pops (and, when that show came to an end, he was also it's its last).

Savile has been attributed with large amounts of charity work, including running many marathons (there are, however, stories that He would start and finish a lot of marathons but maybe didn't actually run the full 26 miles!).

His involvement in the Stoke Mandeville Hospital (where he had a suite of rooms!) and Broadmoor Secure Hospital are well-known but his connections appear to have included Prime Ministers, royalty and Israel politicians (he claims to have addressed the Israel cabinet a one point). For someone who was just an entertainer his influence appears to have been rather broad and questions about how have been raised at various points - Free Masonry seems to be the popular answer.

Savile was always keen to publicize himself; "surprise visits" to a hospital would be met by a television crew and he rarely missed an opportunity to tell others about his "good works".

He lived an odd and isolated life in Leeds and never quite recovered from his mother's death in 1973. The flat where "The Duchess" lived has been kept as she left it ever since and he had her clothes dry-cleaned annually, claiming that they're better than any photograph.

His private life, no partners and living by himself, has raised many questions. When Louis Theroux made a programme about him a few years ago, he seemed to find Savile a rate troubled and difficult person.

I suspect there's a lot that will come out over the coming months. Why, for instance, did Jimmy Savile have an injunction preventing News International from reporting, and using photographs, of his visits to the notorious children's home in Jersey where Wilfred Bramble, from Steptoe and Son, took part in child abuse?

There are many, many stories about Jimmy Savile that raise eyebrows, the truth will neve be known, but it's fair to say he was successful in his chosen careers. Whether his reputation will survive his death... Only time will tell.

POLL: Changing the clocks

Tonight, the UK, along with the rest of Europe, will put the clocks back an hour.

The government is proposing joining Central European Time (basically we'll be same as France, Germany,etc.) for a trial period.

I'm not fussed which of those we have - my personal preference is to chose one and keep it all year round, stop the twice-yealy clock forward and back nonsense.

What would you prefer:

1. Join Central European Time?

2. Stick with our current BST/GMT?

3. Choose and time and not alter it each March/October?

OPINION: The BEM - why revive it?

David Cameron has announced that the British Empire Medal is to be revived.

The BEM had a short-lived history; having started to be awarded during the First World War it stopped being awarded in 1993 when, it was hoped, the MBE would take it's place but it is now thought to few receive an MBE. John Major, the Prime Minister at the time, thought that the distinction between the two honours had become "tenuous".


Now don't get me wrong - I'm not against honours per se. I think it's right that a nation commemorates the achievements of its citizens. I think those who go above and beyond the norm should receive recognition but the BEM? Really?

Why rescuerrect a failed honour and one which, by its very title, many will find offensive?

Do we really need these continual reminders of the past? And what has the British Empire got to do with some Lollipop Lady who did the job for 75 years or someone who devoted themselves to charity work?

What's wrong with having a new honour - let's just call it the "Good Citizen Award"?

This should be applied across the whole honours system - let's come to terms with the fact the British Empire has finished and give honours in the name of the country, not an historical evil, not a transitory monarch but the country.

If politicians want the honour system to mean something, and not merely be seen as a discredited system that's pointless, they must live in the present not the past.

Oh dear, what shall I include on my letter to Santa?

It's the every year that around the end of October the TV and movie companies deluge us with their wares in the hope that we'll give them as gifts to out loved ones or we'll be the recipient of them.

2011 is no exception with lots to tempt already being advertised. The question is, what do I ask Santa for? (Assuming I'm on his nice list!).


Here are a few that particularly took my attention:
  1. Frozen Planet - The Complete Series
  2. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 or even the box set of all 8 movies
  3. Senna
  4. Big Bang Theory - Season 1-4 Box Set
  5. Peter Gabriel New Blood Live In London

REVIEW: Anonymous (12A)

There are probably more theories about who wrote the works of William Shakespeare than there are plays that bear his name. Anonymous adds to the conspiracy theory list by suggesting that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (played brilliantly by Rhys Ifans) actually wrote them but, because of his position in society, it was inappropriate for that fact to be known.



The movie is full of political intrigue and has some fantastic scenery and tremendous set-pieces. The conceit is maintained well throughout and the theory/fiction, depending on your point of view, is linked into history to make it enjoyably believable.


Vanessa Redgrave's frail and aging Queen Elizabeth I is tremendous - if Judy Dench can get an Oscar for her 8-minute portrayal of Elizabeth I in Shakespeare In Love then Ms. Redgrave is a show-in for one next Spring.



Shakespeare, himself, is initally portrayed as an illiterate buffoon by Rafe Spall before becoming rather more stute and making the most of the "situation".

For me, the outstanding performance was that of Sebastian Armesto (King Ferdinand VI in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ) who took on the role of Ben Jonson the poet who the Earl of Oxford originally offers his plays to before Will Shakespeare.


Sadly, Sony, in their wisdom, have limited the release of Anonymous to 250 cinemas believing that the British public won't "get it" and will be put off by a movie about Shakespeare. I don't know whether this is a reflection of an idiotic business decision or an idiotic nation.


Definitely worth going to see.

Friday 28 October 2011

OPINION: What can the Irish do but not the UK?

Yesterday, while the Commonwealth were deciding whether future male or female members of one family should rule over them, there was an election in Ireland unlike anything we've ever seen in the UK. They were voting for their new Head of State - their President.

In Ireland, the Head of State is a largely ceremonial role. I know there are ill-informed monarchists who will say that Elizabeth Windsor, in her position as monarch, has a largely ceremonial role but they are ignoring the legal status and powers which the monarch really has.

The Irish President holds office for seven years and can only be re-elected once. Although political parties put forward candidates the role itself is non political.

Why can't we have such a system in the UK? If Liz Windsor, or any of her descendants, wishes to stand for election they can. And if they win then that's all well and good but why do the British public tolerate a system whereby the Head of State, and all the powers that includes, is selected by which birth canal a child passes through rather than their suitability for the job or being democratically elected?

It's time for a change. There are already parties planned for Liz's jubilee next year. Why not use them to celebrate her retirement and the introduction of an accountable Head of State?

It's time to learn from the Irish.

Thursday 27 October 2011

RECIPE: Pumpkin Pie

As it's Halloween on Monday here's a spooktacularly simple Pumpkin Pie recipe.

Ingredients

Pastry

Use ready-made SweetShort Crust Pastry or ready-baked case (why waste time?)
- 23cm diameter, 4cm deep

Filling

Pumpkin flesh - 450g cut into 2.5 cm cubes
2 eggs
1 egg yolk (in addition to the other 2 eggs)
Soft dark brown sugar - 75g
Double Cream - 275 ml
1/2 teaspoon each of the following spices: cinammon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger


Preparation

* Pre-heat oven: 180C/350F/Gas mark 4

* Steam the pumpkin then sieve to remove excess water and turn pumpkin into a purée

* Whisk eggs and yolk together

* Put sugar, spices and cream in a pan and bring to near simmering - quick whisk - pour over eggs - whisk again

* Add pumpkin and whisk everything together

* Pour mix into pastry case

Cooking

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes
Cool then chill in fridge

Serve with créme fraïche.

REVIEW: Tap! On Newsstand

If you've not used Newsstand on an iOS5 device yet you really don't know what you're missing (obviously).

In the same way as the iTunes store revolutionised online music sales, Apple hopes that Newsstand will revolutionise the newspaper and magazine market. It is both an online newsagents and a library for your purchases - so far I love it. I've felt guilty for a while that I hadn't given up paper magazines in the same way as I've stopped buying CDs, books and DVDs (unless they're offered very cheaply in a sale!).

I've never bought a lot of magazines, and early attempts at e-magazines were awful... Just PDFs of the physical product that you flipped through. Newsstand takes magazines into the 21st century - at last!

It's like the newspapers from Harry Potter - the pages come alive!

Tap! is a magazine I've bought since it launched a couple of years back. It gives information and reviews about apps, devices, etc. for iPhones, iPods and iPads. It's always been a good read but the Newsstand version takes things on and makes it a much more enjoyable experience.

But it's not just a web site - it's a completely different experience!

The writing is good, informative and not too techy. There's always a celeb part (in the latest edition Graham Linehan discusses his iPhones home screen) and there used to be a column by Caitlin Moran but that seems have gone. I guess it was unnecessary puff.

Via the Newsstand version you can not only read a review of, say, an new app, scan through various images of it in use but, from with within the magazine, click straight to the app store so that you can download it. You can purchase individual issues or subscribe too.

Genius!

The other publication I love is the Guardian newspaper Newsstand edition. Currently it's free (due to a sponsorship from Channel 4) - then it will become become about £10 per month.

Yes, yes, I'm sure I'm going to be called a Fanboy again but, really, you should try it out or, at least, get someone to show you how good it is.

The one thing Newsstand needs is a bigger range of magazines but, surely, this both heralds the end of print media whilst giving a lifeline to the same publications.

QUIZ: Halloween Books

The Guardian website has a fun little quiz about spooky books...

See how you do.

I didn't do well. Just 5/10!

Click here to take the quiz.

Pomegranate Theatre Poster Competition

The Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield is holding a competition to give designers and artists the chance to showcase their talents, by designing an alternative poster/posters for the six plays being performed.

Here are my ideas.... (yes, yes, I don't think I'm likely to win!)

Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot

Funny Money
Funny Money 

Haunting Julia
Haunting Julia

Cider with Rosie
Cider with Rosie

Silly Cow
Silly Cow

Murdered to Death
Murdered to Death

TOP 10: Catchiest Songs of All Time

Academics at Goldsmiths College have published a list of the Top 10 catchiest songs of all time.

The scientists claim that a "special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song."
 
1. We are the Champions - Queen


2. Y.M.C.A. - Village People

3. Fat Lip - Sum 41


4. The Final Countdown - Europe


5. Monster - The Automatic

6. Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs


7. I'm Always Here - Jimi Jamison

8. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison


9. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus


10. Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi


Which is all well and good - but where's Agadoo and the Birdie Song?

Which songs do you think should be up there?

RETROSPECTIVE: Never mind the Bollocks by The Sex Pistols

 It was 34 years ago today, 27th October 1977, that The Sex Pistols, the godfathers of British Punk Rock,  released their only studio album: Never Mind the Bollocks... Here's The Sex Pistols.

The Sex Pistols had been around for just over a year, under the careful control of Malcolm McLaren. McLaren knew what to do to gain publicity, to manipulate the media and to, consequently, make money.

At the time The Sex Pistols were seen by many as a close relative of the Antichrist (or, by some, as the Antichrist himself). This was exactly the type of publicity that McLaren's was trying to generate. He wanted to have his band appeal to a generation that felt disenfranchised from the society that was busy celebrating the Queen's Silver Jubilee with old-fashioned street parties and from a music industry that either released very dull middle of the road music or pompous OTT Prog Rock a la Yes and Genesis (in the early Peter Gabriel days).



Never Mind the Bollocks... hits you in the face with its iconic sleeve artwork before taking the listener on a lively, fun and faux angry musical rant of musical miniatures. The album cover, and it';s use of the word "bollocks" lead to Richard Branson's Virgin record label having a day in court - they got off.



By the end of 1977 The Sex Pistols had been playing for a while, they could, now, actually play their instruments - unlike some of their earlier live performances that helped to bring their notoriety to the public's attention.

The album contains three punk masterpieces: God Save the Queen, Anarchy in the UK and Pretty Vacant with it's fantastic and memorable vocal performance. Today there is nothing shoclking here - it's rock and roll in the best traditions of that genre. Only one track goes beyond three and a half minutes - and then only just!

These days John Lydon, the scourge of the Mary Whitehouse and her brand of Moral Majority at the time, is more often to be seen in the Celebrity Jungle or dressed up in waistcoat selling butter! He's now an eccentric National Treasure - he's no longer going to undermine decent society.

It's a great album - of it's time but, if I'm honest, in it's simplicity, of any time when youth want to rebel against society.

It's worth having a listen again. It's probably better than you remember!


Wednesday 26 October 2011

REVIEW: Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay

Coldplay are the Marmite of stadium acts - some love them, some hate them but, most importantly, everyone seems to have an opinion and, as a result, this generates lots of column inches and mega sales internationally. If Mylo Xyloto isn't No. 1 in the album charts this Sunday I'll eat my hat - and I do have one, I'd just have to search for it first.

Many were surprised by the eclectic mix of styles and genres that appeared on Coldplay's last studio album, 2008's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends but Mylo Xyolo goes even further. Not only do Coldplay incorporate elements of pop, R&B and electronica into their new album they also have a guest appearance from Rihanna (she seems to crop up envy where at the moment).


First, I guess, I should explain the title of the album. It's a concept love story for two characters, one named Mylo and the other Xyloto. It's all meant to be very much about the little people against the rest of the world.

1. Mylo Xyloto is a tiny overture (just 43 seconds in length) of tinkling glockenspiels and shimmering layers that leads directly into track 2.

2. Hurts Like Heaven has a toe tapping quality combined with a spaced-out guitar solo. It's an excellent opening to the album that make you wanting more.

3. Paradise has Chris Martin singing in his high falsetto accompanied by sweeping strings, hand claps and singalong moments. There's lots going on here. It's another big anthem - after all, that's what Coldplay do best isn't it?



4. Charlie Brown is another big anthem but this time has a little hint of the Orient. This is immensely memorable - the riffs infuse into your subconscious.

5. Us Against The World calms things after the enormity of the opening sequence of tracks. It's a chilled ballad, the unifying song in the concept of the album.

6. M.M.I.X. is a musical interlude based around layered electronic sounds. It wouldn't sound out of place on a movie soundtrack.

7. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall has a hint of club music about it with it's thumping kick bass. The first time I heard it, when Coldplay headlined at Glastonbury, I was disappointed. It seems like paint-by-numbers songwriting, easy obvious melodies and lyrics; some might say it is clichéd. It does, however, stick with you; your foot starts tapping and you sing-a-long!



8. Major Minus is like a cocktail of early Coldplay mixed with hints of Radiohead. Major Minus also includes the big solo for all you air guitarists!

9. U.F.O. is an introspective track - the lyrics, accompanied by acoustic guitar and strings, call for some guidance from above?

10. Princess Of China is all electro beats and driving rhythms and, yes, this is where Rihanna makes her appearance. I'm not sure why she's here. She doesn't need the publicity and Coldplay don't need her. It happens. It's ok. It could be worse.

11. Up In Flames is a miserable track with an R&B feel. It's very repetitive and has a dull piano part. I can only feel Coldplay were told they had to have 14 tracks because this embarrassing track should have been cut (or sold on to someone else who does this sort of inconsequential music). Very poor.



12. A Hopeful Transmission is another instrumental link, this time with a calypso feel accompanying big string chords.

13. Don't Let It Break Your Heart returns us to more familiar Coldplay territory - play this to your friends and they will instantly guess who it's by. Sadly, 10 seconds after it's finished they will have forgotten it as it really lacks that certain something.

14. Up With The Birds brings things to a nicely understated ending. It's not a firework finale but it makes the album sound complete. Again, there's a definite hint of Radiohead here.

If you like Coldplay you'll like this album. If you don't like them it's worth a listen to see if the injection of other styles changes your mind. Is it their best album? No, but it will sell like hot cakes.

I predict many Dads will get this in their Christmas stocking come December 25th!

50 Years of PMQs

Today marked the 50th anniversary of Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament.

Here's a Top 5 PMQ moments from 2000-2009.

OPINION: Eurozone Crisis - my solution

I guess I'd best come clean... I'm not an economist! I think my bank manager would go into shock at the idea of me offering financial advice to anyone else, let alone a complete continent!

Today, yet again, we have a crisis meeting of governments in Brussels to try to sort out the latest hiatus in debt. This time it's not only Greece but also Italy that are cussing concerns.

How many times will this happen before Europe's governments accept that something more substantial needs to be done? How much more tinkering will we have without actually coming up with a proper solution?

Surely we need a cure, not just a band aid?

There are very few countries, if any, that aren't in debt to some extent. The situation is a nonsense. The fear is that today's "comprehensive solution" will only solve things for a few weeks, maybe into the new year.

I have a radical solution I'd like to suggest. It requires governments to take back control of international finances and put banks back into a support role.

My solution:

* All repayments need to be suspended. Stopped would be a better word.

* No more interest should be charged.

* Countries have what they have.

We then look at the matter internationally. Let's stop the nonsense of the Little Englanders (and probably Kleine Deutschen and Peu le Français) who only see national interest. That is the politics of the past. It is no longer 1939!

I'd also outlaw inflation - I've never seen the point or value of it. Things are worth what they are. Is there any benefit to inflation?

Nations should then be given 12 months to devise a truly international, co-operative fiscal policy. An international economic policy that works for everyone's interest, that will mean that we don't get in this mess again.

It might be that, alongside the international fiscal policy, we do have a single-currency - I see that as a label and not essential to begin with - but we agree that x number of pounds is worth x number of dollars is worth x number of Euros, etc. We outlaw currency trading and exchanges that drive up and down currencies.

I expect this would require the immediate nationalisation (internationalisation?) of all banks.

Ideally, this would be a global agreement - all countries involved.

Third World Debt would be cancelled - so many problems in the Third World are caused by interest repayments - and there would be funds transferred from wealthier nations to less worthy on a per capita basis.

If I were President of the World, a position I'm happy to accept we're it to be offered, I'd take this further. I would also suspend all business debt repayments and all personal debt repayments - and cancel them.

Let's start again - wipe the slate clean.

Money is a notional thing. It is worth whatever we say it's worth. Debt is, similarly, a concept that can cause hardship and chaos and, therefore, needs to be eliminated.

It's an extreme solution and, sadly, there are too many idiots, xenophobic and greedy interests involved in finding a solution that will result in this whole mess rumbling on for months, years, decades.

Let's start again. Let's think differently.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

TOP 10: Movies about Composers/Musicians

Earlier today, I tweeted that I was watching Amadeus - a movie I haven't watched from start to finish in many a year. It's a great movie - if you haven't seen it then you really should. It won a ton of awards including 8 Oscars (though not for Original soundtrack!).

It may, or may not, be factually accurate - we simply do not know. Peter Shaffer's script is adapted from his own play of the same name which uses, as it's primary sources, a miniature play by Pushkin and a   one-act opera by Rimsky-Korsakov!

Several others agreed what a great movie it is fantastic - though, apparently, there is a Director's Cut that extends it beyond its 2 hours 40 minutes!

Whoever edited the following YouTube clip sems to think 2 hours 40 minutes is too long:



Anyhow, I loved it - despite having a bizarre (and I presume early?) DVD that required me to turn it over half way through!

Then @ppmw challenged me, to come up with a Top 10 Movies about Composer and Musicians.

This list is based on the movie - not the music!

Here's my list:

1. Amadeus - Tom Hulce plays the precocious genius Mozart

2. August Rush - I just love this movie - the ending always makes me cry!



3. Walk the Line- in which Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash

4. Immortal Beloved - Gary Oldman gives a tremendous performance as Beethoven.



5. 24 Hour Party People Steve Coogan plays Tony Wilson in 80s Manchester.

6. The Pianist - Roman Polanski's movie about Wladyslaw Szpilman


7. Testimony - in which Ben Kingsley brings to life the memoirs of Shostakovich, his struggles under the Soviet regime and his battles with Stalin.

8. Bird - Clint Eastwood's biopic of saxophonist Charlie 'Bird" Parker



9. The Glenn Miller Story - maybe not one of the greatest movies but I have fond memories of watching James Stewart play Glenn Miller on many a rainy Sunday afternoon.

10. Music and Lyrics - yes, yes, I know - an awful chick-flick with a cheese-tastic performance from High Grant as a fading 80s pop star. Two things: (1) this is MY list not yours and (2) can any movie be wrong when it includes a classic spoof such as this!

I'm sure I've missed several great ones (do let me know) and I realise that some on this list aren't classics but, well, I remember enjoying them!

BOOKS: Kindle update

I now have 3 books available on Kindle.

Things That Go Bump In The Night - A Collection of Poetry for Hallowe'en 
A selection of classic poetry for Hallowe'en.



All You Have To Do Is Listen
Original poetry linked to the subject of music.

Snow Angels
A children's Christmas fantasy ideal to read to little ones at bedtime.

    MUSIC: On St. Crispin's Day

    Today, October 25th, is St. Crispin's Day - the day immortalised in Shakespeare's Henry V with his inspirational pre-battle speech at Agincourt in 1415.

    A couple of years ago I wrote On St. Crispin's Day for actor and orchestra using Shakespeare's words.

    It incorporates the traditional Agincourt Song.

    This video is a performance of the piece by Lady Manners School Orchestra in Budapest in summer 2010. The sound quality isn't great but gives a general idea of the piece.



    St. Crispin was actually two saints Crispin and Crispinian, twins who were martyred in the year 286.

    Monday 24 October 2011

    MUSIC: 2011 Q Awards - the winners

    • Hall of Fame Award - Queen
      • Q's Greatest Act Of The Last 25 Years - U2


      TOP 10: Utopian Movies

      Yesterday I posted my Top 10 Dystopian Movies, as a result of which I was challenged to come up with a Top 10 Utopian Movies by @ppmw.

      It's much harder than I expected.

      I guess the main problem is that there aren't many - after all, how much drama is there in a world where everything is wonderful?

      Consequently, I've come up with a Top 10 that has a Utopia, of sorts, for a sizeable chunk of the movie or people trying to create a Utopia.

      I hope that's not stretching the rules of the challenge too much, Paul!

      Here are my Top 10 Utopian movies.

      1. The Truman Show (one of my all-time favourite movies!)

      2. Lost Horizon

      3. Logan's Run Some will argue to it being more dystopia than utopia..

      4. Things To Come

      5. The Wizard Of Oz

      6. Fahrenheit 451 - another utopia/dystopia crossover!

      7. The Mosquito Coast

      8. Pleasantville

      9. Camelot

      10. The Time Machine

      What have I missed?

      Which movies would you suggest?

      REVIEW: The Adventures of Tin Tin - Secret of the Unicorn (PG)

       This morning I went to watch The Adventures of Tin Tin - Secret of the Unicorn expecting big things - directed by Steven Spielberg, co-written by Steven Moffat, produced by Peter Jackson, score by John Williams and a trailer that showed some of the finest animation ever produced - I wasn't to be disappointed.



       Tin Tin (let's call it that for simplicity) is a tremendous romp - buckles are swashed with abandon, there's tension and action, fantastic chase scenes and a fair bit of humour and levity.

      The movie opens in the visual style of the original Tin Tin books (and the old television series) with a pre-story a bit like the pre-title sequence in a Bond movie before shifting into the modern animation.

      The movie combines three Herge stories: Red Rackham's Treasure, The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Secret of the Unicorn. Tin Tin (Jamie Bell) meets Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and follow clues to find the treasure of the Captain's ancestor, Sir Francis Haddoque. There's Snowy the dog and the Thompson Twins (played by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) and some great baddies.

      The animation is truly magnificent - it's a mixture of Motion Capture and more traditional/CGI techniques. For the vast majority of the movie you forget that it's animated, so good is the animation and characterisation. This does, of course, raise the question.... 

      Why not use real actors?


      There's truly amazing reflections in multiple mirrors and distortion through a magnifying glass; there's floods and waves and waterfalls and breaking glass.... it's all there. They've moved the bar for animation not an inch or two but several yards.

      The use of 3D is good - I mean, the vast majority of the time you don't notice it, it seems totally integrated into the movie and, apart from one moment (you'll spot it) there's no silly 3D gimmicks.


      Many of the chases (and much of the finale) feel like they could have been in a new Indiana Jones movie - particularly when he climbs aboard a motorbike:



      John Williams' score is, as you would expect, brilliantly cinematic and combines big orchestral sounds with hints of West Side Story-jazz rhythms and even some French (Belgian?) accordion music.  It does, though, lack the big memorable tune that is usually Williams' thumbprint - the 5-note Tin Tin leitmotif isn't, to my mind, catchy enough and feels rather like Danny Elfman's Batman theme.

      This is, without doubt, the movie event of the year.

      Could an animated movie win best picture at next year's Oscars?

      OPINION: Are we heading for a UK revolution?

      As Bob Dylan sang: The times they are a'changing!

       Most democracies evolve, often very slowly, over hundreds of years. In the UK there are signs that the need and desire for change is accelerating.

      1. Earlier this year, we had a referendum about a new voting system (it failed but it was only the second referendum in the history of the UK).

      2. Today, MPs will debate calls for another referendum, this time about membership of the EU, brought about because 100,000 people signed an e-petition.

      3. For 10 days protestors have been camped outside St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London making their voice heard on issues including corporate greed, banking dishonesty and societal inequalities.



      These are just three examples of the political balance being edged slightly away from its historical roots.

      There's always been protests and marches but the past decade has seen a million or more on the streets of London to oppose the war in Iraq - it could be argued that, ultimately, this lead to Tony Blair's downfall. Other huge marches have happened about issues such as fox hunting.

      And then there were the riots of summer 2011; a 5-day orgy of anarchy in some areas, the police ineffectual against seemingly organised gangs whose behaviour "inspired" a swathe of lawlessness.

      Is this all just a blip - the proles rattling the cage of those who truly rule - or is this something more significant?

      In the UK we were the first major nation to have a revolution. More than a century before the French or Americans ditched their monarchy we had the English Civil War and over a decade as a republic. Sadly, it was a false dawn and we had the Restoration which returned everything to its previous status and with bells on!



      This isn't just an anti-monarchy rant. They are just the figurehead that highlights the inequalities in society. There is a wider "elite" that keeps power and privilege in their grubby hands whilst keeping the rest of us very much in our place.

      It's nearly 100 years since the Russians got rid of the Czars but it would be wrong to suggest their troubled century has given everyone their fair share.

      The UK government (and opposition) makes great efforts to highlight our great "democracy" - but it's a token democracy with whip-controlled MPs doing exactly what their pay-masters tell them (most of the time!).

      Next year will see both the Olympic Games come to London and the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The government will be keen to make the Olympics the "people's games" but
      they will have a bigger problem celebrating Liz Windsor's jubilee while there are families struggling to put food on their kids' plates and keep their houses warm.

      Maybe #OccupyLSX should have an annexe set up outside Buck House, or any of the other castles and homes we, as a nation, loan to our monarch for free?

      Maybe we need marches in every city around the country demanding a new Britain with a new constitution, a new bill of rights and an end to the corruption and privilege that has been the roadblock preventing the UK from being a truly civilised and democratic nation.

      The problem is the majority of the population are too apathetic - or is that just plain pathetic.

      The time has come for a new start. 2012 could be that be start - the tipping point when the UK actually becomes a democracy.

      Let's stop cow-towing to the Windsors and their cronies.

      Let's stop putting up with a parliamentary democracy that isn't very democratic.

      Let's stop accepting the inequalities in society and give everyone the equality of opportunbity they deserve and should be their right at birth.

      We need a new beginning - a nation of rights AND responsibilities, where anyone COULD be Head of State, where everyone can earn a good living for themselves and their family and where nobody goes cold or hungry.

      Let's stop letting those in power manipulate the rest of us for their benefit and let's take control.

      Vive la Revolution!


      OPINION: What do Tory MPs and Jockeys have in common?

      No, it's not a joke! In the past week both Tory MPs (possibly a few Labour ones too) and horse racing jockeys have both had problems with whips - but not, for once, revelations in the tabloids about S&M parties.

      I am against both type of whips - they are both wrong and have no place in a civilised and modern society.

      MPs
      Today, MPs from all three of the biggest parties in the House of Commons will be under a three-line whip to follow the orders of their party leadership; they will be told they HAVE to vote against the motion calling for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.

      Now don't get me wrong - I will be by happy if this moronic and xenophobic motion is defeated in parliament later, but I am very much against party whips.

      In the UK, in elections to parliament, we vote for an MP, we put a cross beside the name of the individual candidate that we feel is the best of those who have put themselves forward to represent our views, and the views of our locality, in Westminster.

      We do NOT put a cross against a party name.

      Parties are a very bad thing for democracy. I don't think they should exist at all. MPs should vote on their own conscience on every issue. Groupings of MPs should vary accord to the subject being discussed and not simply to look after party interests and seek personal promotions (or keep affairs quiet).

      There are anti-EU MPs in both the Conservatives and Labour - they should be able to vote together. When it comes to taxation they might vote differently.

      Politics needs to be returned to principles and removed from the hands of the party whips.

      Jockeys
      Following a lengthy consultation, the horse racing authorities introduced new rules to limit the use of the whip in races and to increase penalties for those jockeys who broke those rules. When the new rules were introduced a large number of jockeys found themselves breaking the rules and in receipt of fines and bans.

      Now, jockeys are not the brightest of people - an unscientific sample from those who have been interviewed on the media in the past week suggests they are mostly a bit thick.

      It seems jockeys struggled counting to 7, or to notice the furlong marker - imagine that when driving on the road: "Sorry officer, I didn't notice the STOP sign!"... you'd expect a fine and posts on your license.

      The authorities reviewed and watered down the regulations and jockeys, for now, are happier. Maybe they now have a numeracy hour in the weigh-in room at meetings to help them count?

      The problem with the amended rules is that jockey's wallets are now being hit less than the horses.

      Whipping an animal is just wrong.

      To me there is a solution; I'd ban horse racing. It is animal abuse. Sadly that won't happen yet, but I hope the public wake up soon to the atrocities of horse racing - hundreds of horses killed each year because they don't run fast enough, awful injuries in races, etc.

      Sunday 23 October 2011

      TOP 10: Dystopian Movies

      Having been to see Contagion earlier today today, I thought it would be interesting to compile my Top 10 Dystopian Movies.

      They're not in order of money grossed or awards won but, quite simply, my order of preference!

      1. Planet of the Apes

      2. Blade Runner

      3. A Clockwork Orange

      4. Nineteen Eighty-Four

      5. Sleeper

      6. Total Recall

      7. Brazil

      8. Children Of Men

      9. Metropolis

      10. Gattacca

      What did I miss?

      What are your favourites?

      REVIEW: Contagion (12A)

      Such is the power and plausibility of Stephen Soderbergh's latest movie I found, to my cost, that when watching Contagion at a cinema it's best not to cough. People give you funny looks. In fact the quietest throat-clearing or little sniffle from someone sitting near you and your brain instantly wonders whether the events on screen are about to become reality.

      Contagion tells of a near-future dystopia in which a virus, similar in nature  to (but worse than) Bird Flu or Swine Flu sweeps from  casino in Hong Kong around the world killing millions and beginning the breakdown of society.



      The interweaving narrative threads reminded me, somewhat, of Crash, the surprise winner of the Oscar for Best Film in 2006.  It is a superb ensemble piece lead, if there is a headliner, by a great performance from Matt Damon.

      Few movies would hire Gwyneth Paltrow's services and then kill her off in the first 10 minutes, but this is a sign that this is story led and not star led. She's also not the only Academy Award winner or nominee to come a cropper during Contagion's tense 106 minutes. Other performances of note include Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Ehle and the sensational Kate Winslet, in what I would say is one of her best performances.



      There are some squeamish moments including someone being run over and someone else having their skull cut open (yuk!) and there is surprisingly little in the way of swearing - I imagine that in a world where social order was collapsing there could be a few more f-words!

      Atmospheric music that never distracts, despite often sounding like Schoenberg's reworking of the score to The Social Network, only adds to the tension.


      For me there were two weaknesses that stop this becoming a 10/10 Five Star movie:

    • Elliot Gould who, despite an illustrious career spanning many decades, fails to shake off being the bumbling and socially inept Jack Geller, father to Ross and Monica in Friends.


    • Jude Law is just awful in Contagion. He plays Alan Krumwiede, an internet blogger who wears quirky clothes, has an unfortunately timed Tin Tin quiff, dresses up in an amazing home made space suit and hats and has severe accent problems - worse than Russell Crowe in Robin Hood. He begins with a Dick van Dyke faux-cockney accent that has you waiting for him to say, "Cor blimey, Mary Poppins, what you going to do about this bloomin' virus?", turns into the Australian John Torode from Masterchef ("Viruses don't get any tough than this"), and then slipping freely between New South Wales and the Isle of Dogs until the movie ends. His character isn't necessary for the plot (it appears to be a little anti-internet rant from the scriptwriter) and this character should, I suggest, have met his end on the cutting room floor.




    • It's so nearly a great movie - it kept me, and the rest of the audience, enthralled for its duration and has so much to commend it. It's a shame about it's weaknesses, and it's particularly unfortunate about Jude Law.

      If you haven't see it, I'd definitely recommend it - it's worth watching and let me know what you thought.

      Friday 21 October 2011

      RANDOM THOUGHTS: My Last Supper

      If Harold Camping, the loon who keeps incorrectly predicting the apocalypse, is correct and today sees the end of the world and the Rapture, it set me thinking.... who would I have liked to be at my last supper.



      Yes, yes, please don't snooze off just yet - I know it's a tired old cliché of blog writers and jobsworth hacks desperately trying to fill column inches but, you never know, mine might be interesting! (OK, even I'm to holding my breath).

      So, if the fictional Jesus (yes, fictional, get over it) was allowed a dozen guests, I'm going to have twelve people plus myself for dinner. As this is pure fantasy and never going to happen the fact that our dining table can only possibly hold eight (and that's a bit of a squeeze) will be ignored. I'm also not inviting any family members or anyone I know in my day to day life - yes, they'd be there in reality but that mean that some dinner guests would have to eat their food from trays on their laps in the living room - and that's not good manners.

      Also, I'd like to make it clear now, I do not see myself as the Messiah - I'm sure many might say "He's just a very naughty boy!"

      So, dinner... my last supper... my fantasy guests:

      1. Tim Minchin - he's pure comedy genius, he's a fantastic musician and he has a similar viewpoint on religion, the environment, etc. as me.



      My wife and I went to see him live earlier in the year, accompanied by full orchestra - absolutely fantastic!

      2. Jeremy Paxman is probably the best interviewer on British television over the past 20 years - add to that his magnificent hosting of University Challenge and I think he would have a great deal to add to the evening's banter.



      3. My third dinner guest would be Michael Moore - film maker, rabble rouser, American leftie (well, leftie for America!) with a hatred of NeoCons and the GOP.



      4. My wife will claim that I have only chosen Dr. Alice Roberts because I fancy her - that aside, she is a breath of fresh air as a scientific broadcaster. Her programmes are always interesting and neither dumb down nor patronise.



      5. My second American round the table would be Jon Stewart - comedian, presenter of the Daily Show and, sometime presenter of the Oscars.



      6. Armando Ianucci is the one person on my guest list that I've met - indeed, whilst at university together, I was the President of the Oxford Revue Company wand he starred in the productions.


      Comic Relief 2007 Armando Ianucci by Barneyk

      7. My atheist (well, actually, antitheist, views are well known to anyone who knows me so I guess it's not a surprise that I would invite Richard Dawkins - he talks sense and, though some say they think he is slimy, talks down to people or keeps saying the same things over and over, I like him and its MY dinner party!



      8. Vanessa Redgrave has had an amzing acting career and has been an inspiration with her various campaigns on a variety of issues.



      9. Peter Gabriel is one of my favourite musicians from the rock/pop world - never shy to innovate, full of theatre and with a relevance beyond the recording studio with his human rights campaigning. A true Renaissance man and inspiration.



      10. John Adams is my favourite "classical" composer - I hate that term - it suggests someone who died back in Ancient Greece or Egypt. He is very much alive and producing music of great beauty and voracious rhythms.



      11. My last two guests might seem odd, or out of place. Firstly I'd choose Jeremy Clarkson who isn't the buffoon he increasingly makes himself out to be on Top Gear and in various newspaper columns and articles. He appears to love the role of pantomime villain and I think his generally right-wing agenda would enliven the conversation.



      12. Jesus had himself, 11 supporters and one betrayer around the table at his Last Supper. I'll have myself, 11 "heroes" and one person who I find myself increasingly despising: Sally Bercow. I would choose her because, in this company, it would show her that she's not as talented, well-educated, erufite, witty or profound as she clearly thinks she is. She's a bit of a nobody who is chiselling a career for herself on the back of her husband's job as Speaker of the House. Awful woman!



      So, there you have it. That's my fantasy dinner party/Last Supper. I know it will never happen but, if we do survive another Rapture today, I'll continue living in hope.

      Thursday 20 October 2011

      COMMENT: The Death of Gaddafi

      The rolling news channels have all forgotten about the clearing of the illegal travellers' site at Dale Farm as reports are claiming that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed, or captured, or... Well, nobody's actually too sure.

      Despite tha, the streets of Sirte, Gaddafi's home town, is full of moronic celebratory gunfire.

      Yes, Sirte has fallen to the NTC forces aft a two month siege, and, possibly, Gaddafi has been captured or killed but why fire bullets into the air? The bullets don't disappear into thin air, they don't leave the atmosphere and travel onwards to other planets... they fall back to earth and, fairly often, they hit humans. In Puerto Rico alone, two people die and twenty-five are injured annually! In the past few days there was a religious edict in Libya calling for an end to celebratory gunfire because of the deaths and injuries it caused.

      So, ignoring the idiotic behaviour of the men with weapons, should they be celebrating?

      If it is confirmed that Gaddafi is dead there can be no real justice. It will be the same as when Osama Bin Laden was killed (and his body rapidly, and rather stupidly, disposed of people celebrated.

      It will also mean a lot of information is lost - including the truth about the Lockerbie bombing'

      If he had been captured I think there is something to celebrate. A trial, however lengthy, could take place and some extent of justice could be seen to be done. Simply killing him, as seems increasingly likely, prevents this.

      It seems, whether he is alive or dead, that Gaddafi has fallen and the NTC (heavily assisted by NATO) have won the war. That is something for Libyans to celebrate - some element of normality mig be able to return in a country that has been torn apart by civil war over the past few months.

      But is it something for the world to celebrate?

      I don't think so.

      The NTC is a very strange coming together of opposing factions. The plan is for democratic elections in two years. I won't hold my breath.

      And then there's Al-Qaida....

      Let's hope my pessimism is ill-founded. Let's hope for a peaceful future for the people of Libya - and for the other nations that had an Arab Spring uprising.

      For me, I hope Gaddafi has been captured. His death, particularly if NATO were responsible, which seems likely, would make things more problematic. I fear how the NTC will rule the country and I do not see this finishing Libya's troubles.

      As Anne Frank wrote in her famous diary:

      This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

      Tuesday 18 October 2011

      OPINION: The Second Reformation

      Little did Martin Luther suspect that, when he wrote The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 he'd be setting a trend for has-been and washed up groups from the 1990s to give things another go in the Noughties and 2010s.

      Yes, when the musical history of the beginning of the 21st Century comes to be written it will, I suggest, be called the Second Reformation.

      This week alone we've had announcements from Steps and The Stone Roses - two stellar groups from opposite ends of the pop rainbow.

      The Steps reunion and comeback has been manufactured via a tortuous reality programme on Sky Living.



      I really don't understand the point of so-called "reality television programmes, like Steps Reunion when the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Why else would they bother? They all earnt a small fortune - take a look at "H"'s house!

      But I guess some of that wealth has dwindled and they think they can get another few big pay days before they, inevitably, split again.

      Cynical? Moi?

      Why does ANY group reform? Isn't it always about the pay cheque?

      Today The Stone Roses, a seminal group from the Madchester movement of the early 90s, has been outlining their plans for two "big events" next summer preceding a world tour. The Stone Roses have always been he darlings of the music press - tantrums were considered all part of "artistic differences" and bad behaviour was because they were temperamental artists.

      Only two years ago John Squire, of The Stone Roses even produced an artwork stating, quite categorically, that I have no desire whatsoever to desicrate the grave of the seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses. Two years on and there is his in a press conference joining with Ian Brown et al announcing future plans.



      Was he lying back in 2009? Is his heart not in it now? What's happened to change his mind so dramatically?

      Ironically The Stone Roses have already had an album released called Second Coming , so is this the Third Coming?

      Of course, unlike Steps, The Stone Roses are promising new material. Quite how much and whether it is any good has yet to be seen. I'm not convinced that the seminal group will be able to recreate the success of their former incarnation and will end up simply re-working their hits - after all, isn't that what the punters want?

      With many reunions/Greatest Hits tours that is all that the fans want. They want one final, or two final, chances to see their idols live, they want one final album with a few new songs. They want to re-live their teenage years.

      Some groups, of course, would find a reunion tricky - The Beatles and The Doors clearly have a few insurmountable problems for a proper reunion! Queen have, of course, managed a reunion of sorts despite the loss of their iconic lead singer and 2Pac somehow still churns out songs from beyond the grave - ingenious!

      At the same time, it's only a matter of a couple of years before Oasis are back together!

      The big reunion, one that might never happen, of course, is ABBA. Wouldn't it be great to have Benny and Bjorn weave their musical magic one more time with Agnetha and Anna-Frid?



      Some groups have come back stronger than before. The best recent examples of this have to be Blur whose live performances built on their earlier successes as well as the extra-Blur work of its members, and Take That who have, mostly thanks to the maturing songwriting talents of Gary Barlow and a live show budget that must be the envy of many small nations, come back stronger than their 1990s selves.

      But for every Blur, Take That and, yes, even Steps (their latest greatest hits album entered the charts at Number One last Sunday) there are the others who fall by the way side - they saw a nice injection of money into their bank accounts, a pension top-up that just didn't happen.

      The Stone Roses and Steps are both reforming for one thing and one thing only - they should just be honest about it, but let's hope that someday soon, the music industry will invest in new talent - because without new talent who will we have to reform in 2030?