SENSE AND INSENSITIVITY

 

 Oi! Where's your mask?

I’m not saying that the government haven't  cocked things up with their handling of the pandemic; they have. But after Lockdown Episode One I went back to work, which involves travelling across London. I saw many many people oblivious to Government advice/instructions. Not conspiracist’s trying to make a misguided point, just bleedin’ ignorance. People that don’t understand what 2 metres is or how to wear a mask properly. Basically people who couldn’t care less. 

As we do not live in a country where a police presence or the military on the streets is part of a cultural awareness, we’ve had to rely on the common sense of the great british public but without public guardians, who were dispensed of in the eighties, there is no one to question the behaviours. Shop assistants and bus drivers probably feel that they are not paid enough to risk being abused or assaulted if they refer non compliers to the rules.

During Lockdown 2 : Electric Boogaloo I had a mixed work pattern which meant travelling twice a week across London and to my dismay there were still large numbers of people blithely not adhering to guidance. Thankfully a bike and British Rail provided travelling sanctuary.

Now we are in Lockdown III I am confined to the environs of North London and I have to say that I am seeing far more people following the guidance and not being so selfish. Could it be that the penny has dropped or is it that different parts of London think differently? Who knows, but here's the thing; people are and have been dying and a little bit of unselfish thought could help to stop further people from dying. a bit of sensitivity for those that are struggling.

It's getting boring now, this situation that we have been in for what seems like an age, and I would hope that the Great British Public can show what we have shown countless times in the past; Common sense and a spirit of unity. 

 That's more like it!

DISTINGUISHED COMPETITION

I spoke about my appreciation of Marvel comics the other day and how my early exposure to them helped ignite my love of reading. Their stories and characters were a great escape from trying circumstances in my younger years. Thing is that you can't really talk about Marvel without talking about DC (the Distinguished Competition as Stan Lee referred to them).

DC have always had the blue chip characters in Superman & Batman, and to a lesser extent Wonder Woman. Characters that most people know or have heard of.

The thing about Superman for me was that I found the character, well, boring. He could do anything and basically could not be harmed, except by Kryptonite, which I think was probably introduced to bring in a bit of jeopardy. Superman was too much of a Goody Two Shoes for me. I did enjoy the fanciful stories generally involving his girlfriend Lois Lane and his pal Jimmy Olsen.

Batman on the other hand seemed more realistic and I imagined him in the world of Marvel with Chicago replacing Gotham and Falcone forming an alliance with the Kingpin.

Wonder Woman was all about the divine Lynda Carter playing WW on TV as I found the comic book version somewhat drab.

Mind you, perhaps DC's greatest strength has always been it's array of Supernatural/Horror characters. They seem to have attracted the best writers and the most inventive artists and are an untaped source for the DC cinematic universe, which unlike Marvel's slate of films has not really delivered since the halcyon days of Superman The Movie.

DC also boasts it's Vertigo imprint which gave us what, for me, is one of the greatest contributions to sequential art storytelling 100 Bullets. DC also gave us the seminal Watchmen and The Darl Knight Returns. But these came when I was no longer a kid and seemed to fit in with my getting older as the form got older.

Both Marvel and DC, as the dominant publishers of comics, have a vast catalogue and I guess which company one prefers is just a matter of personal taste. I think the best of both speak for themselves and they have allowed many people to be influenced to start the diverse independent Comic Book scene.

The irony is that while the big two are multi million dollar companies, with entertainment and resort interests, now in many ways the independent scene has overtaken them in terms of relevance and creativity. What's clear is that the world has changed considerably since I was a nipper and therefore the Comic book world has changed accordingly. What I might find a bit jaded now about the output of Marvel & DC is there to be discovered by new readers and hopefully inspire them to read, create and open their minds.

I'll end this post with a quote from perhaps DC's greatest achievement Watchmen written by Alan Moore: 

"We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from another's vantage point, as if new, it may still take the breath away"-Dr Manhattan

WHERE'S THE BASS?

 

The Radio is a place where we can engage our brains if we chose to or flex our imagination muscles. Conversation, education and elucidation are all there freely accessible  It's also a place to listen to music. Chose the right station and you can hear great music both old and new. 

Then there is the sort of radio that seeps into ones earholes via shops and other public places. The sort of radio that seems to consist of high pitched caterwauling and so called rappers of limited talent on top of a compressed musical backdrop that can be created at home on the above average laptop. It's produced for those awful iPhone headphones, Laptop speakers and the speakers on Samsung mobile phones.

The likes of Robbie Shakespeare, Bernard Edwards, Jah Wobble, Chris Squire, Patrice Rushen, John Entwistle, Mick Karn, Fred Thomas, Peter Hook, Mark King and Gail Ann Dorsey would be surplus to requirement in this new music landscape as Bass seems to have been made redundant.

High frequency is the new god of popular music it seems. Electronically altered vocalists rule the roost and deep tones have been banished. The bleed from cheap headphones is a buzzing wasp. The cars that blare music loudly (and it seems a self evident rule the volume of said music is commensurate with the lack in quality) produce the sound of a factory lathe at 78 rpm and Bass is the casualty of modern popular music.

Pop music is and has always been important and is in no way the poor man of music; look at its contribution to all sorts of things from politics to racism. It's just that now Popular music  lacks depth both musically and metaphorically it seems less important than it has ever been, and it is like those pesky wasps in the summer; irritating and pointless 

SLOW TV FOR DANGEROUS DAYS

Reality TV? awful isn't it?. The thing is that reality TV morphed into a scripted pseudo reality, a route for civilians to become Z List Celebrities. The real reality is documentary in form and there are many excellent examples being made on all platforms.

What Reality TV, in essence, is now Art & Craft TV. From The Pottery Showdown to the Repair Shop via Masterchef we are now entertained by people being creative with their hands; now there's a concept for you. Jeff Ross and his Painting is an oasis of calm that has been rediscovered and is an antidote to the manufactured drama of the fare on ITV2 and The Reality Channels. George Clarke and his  Amazing Spaces features diverse people using their imagination as does Escape To The Chateau and they share an enthusiasm for working with ones hands.

Easy to be cynical about this new Art & Craft TV movement, and of course, there's money being made, but what's inescapable is that these programmes show us people actually making stuff.

This renaissance reminds me of Vision On, Out Of Town and How, of Jack Hargreaves, Tony Hart and Fred Dineage. These shows represent simpler times in challenging times and I find most of them highly therapeutic. 

PUNK THOUGHTS

 

Was the punk scene/movement the last dance of youthful rebellion? given what came after, it may well have been the last movement that had a major influence on youth culture.

In it's wake came post punk, The Madchester scene, rave culture, Two Tone, Rock Against Racism, Girl Power, New Romantics and a "Punk" aesthetic that is used to refer to a number of things in popular culture.

Cynics say it was a manufactured performance art piece, but lets make a distinction. I'm not talking about the artistic pretentions of the Warhol influenced New York scene of Johnny Thunders, Tom Veraline, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, CBGBs and Max's Kansas. I am referring to the UK Scene.

My view is that the essential Punk band was The Sex Pistols, who in turn influenced the loosely connected likes of the Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Adverts, Generation X, Siouxsie And The Banshees, X-Ray Spex and the Damned. Yes, there were many bands that took the Ramones style as their blueprint but these acts were short lived.  If you look at some of the members of the audience present at The Pistols 1976 gigs at Manchester's Lesser Trade Hall you will see a some of the movers and shakers of what was to come.

The Sex Pistols were the light that burned twice as bright but lasted half as long. From their formation in 1975 there are many that say that it was all over by December 1976, despite the Barnstorming God Save The Queen, the Poptastically subversive Pretty Vacant and the generational touchstone of Never Mind The Bollocks being released in 1977.

Certainly with Glen Matlock's departure and the replacement of him by Sid Vicious the writing was on the wall.

What those who weren't around at the time maybe miss out on is the sheer exhilaration, excitement and power of the Sex Pistols in mid Seventies Britain. Being a teenager and hearing the Sex Pistols was inspiring and felt like something unique to us. There were those whose main criticism was that they couldn't play, or that they were yobs and enemies of the state. When you're a teenager those claims are heard with glee. Rock 'n' Roll is meant to be dangerous, teenagers love such thoughts. The look was great as well in those earlier days before the stereotypical Punk uniform and Jamie Reid's Sex Pistols artwork captured the mood perfectly.

The Clash are often given more love and it's easy to see why, but they had time to develop and expand. The Pistols were an explosion.

So many of the things that spoke to young people post '77 were based on the do it yourself idea, the ambition of youth regardless of background. This is the legacy.

The likes of PiL, The Cure, Joy Divsion and XTC have made some of the most interesting music to be produced in the UK and they owe much to Punk. The three minute thrash brigade were never going to have longevity and satellite bands that were 'Punk by association' were able to push careers forward.I won't go into the whole 'sell out' argument, after all music is a business, but there were many bands that didn't go mainstream and stayed as independent entities, Crass for example. The 'sell out' argument has always been used as a lazy way to complain about artists making a living. Most of the bands I mentioned have had pretty long careers and produced the music that they wanted to.

Like a lot of moments in time it's hard to cast an eye if you weren't there, but if you were in the right place at the right time back then it was a glorious time.

MARVELLOUS!

 

"Make Mine Marvel!" that was my comic book motto growing up. In these days of multiple comic book movie blockbusters featuring rampaging CGI and multi strand marketing opportunities I still refer back to the glory days of Marvel Comics where character development, unique art and the birth of defining characters was the motivator for my habit. I still have rose tinted spectacles when it comes to Marvel Comics.

When the films first came out it took me ages to get over the fact that I was finally seeing these characters, that I had grown up with, in the flesh as it were. The casting of these films has, by and large, been great and they have mostly managed to capture some of the original Marvel spirit but clearly a major influence is the Ultimates line that reinvented the Marvel universe for the modern era.

But back to basics. I loved the old Marvel comics, they were a fun but serious they were the Star Trek to DC's Star Wars. So many touchstones from that era that knitted this universe together. The fact that most stories happened in New York and other real cities. The Baxter Building, Yancy Street, Dr Strange's Sanctum Santorum, Avengers Mansion, Daredevil's Hell's Kitchen, The Offices of The Daily Bugle; these places felt real. 

"Avengers Assemble!" , "Flame On!", "By The Hoary Host Of Hoggoth", "It's Clobberin' Time!", "Imperious Rex!", "For Asgard!", "Hulk Smash!", these and many more were the exclamations that punctuated the action and added to each characters personality.

Every hero needs a nemesis and many and varied were the antagonists that kept popping up to try and thwart our heroes. Dr Doom, J.Jonah Jameson, Kang The Conqueror, The Skrulls, Doctor Octopus, Kingpin, Namor, Mephisto, Magneto, Elektra, Electro, Mysterio. These are some of the names amongst the plethora of villains we were introduced to.

Great writing from the likes of Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Len Wein was complimented by the outstanding artwork of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, John Buscema, Herb Trimpe, Marie Severin, Gil Kane, Neal Adams, Barry Smith, Jim Steranko and a host of impressive draftsmen and women.

I guess that ones formative years are defined by the interests we have and one of mine (and still is) was Comics and Marvel comics in particular. They gave me stories of Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Love, Intrigue and much more. Those comics helped me to enjoy reading and escape from my reality which at that time was something of real value.

Marvel comics will always be a major part of my growing up, and remain an interest, as important a part of popular culture as Cinema, Popular Music and Television  and those that can't see that are missing out in my view.

Thanks Marvel. Nuff Said

A 2020 CINEMA REVIEW

 

Yes, I did manage to get to the cinema in 2020 and for the most part my visits were successful. Some were spent in near empty independent cinemas amongst face mask wearing patrons and some were in new chain cinema's that had undergone face lifts. I ventured to the BFI iMax and the Prince Charles as well as my regular trips to various Everyman cinemas and Picturehouses. I am focusing on films seen at the cinema so here are my reflections on my big screen experiences last year.

• 1917 - Technically interesting but lacked personality
• The Gentlemen- Richie doing what he's best at. Witty and easily digestible
• Jojo Rabbit-A good film this, not wilfully quirky like a Wes Anderson film, more like a dark humoured Tin Drum
• Uncut Gems- Excellent, anxiety inducing tale of greed
• The Personal History Of David Copperfield- Dickens seen through a prism. A warm rendition of a classic tale
• The Holy Mountain-Seeing is believing. There is no film like Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain. Needs to be seen with an audience and an open mind. Truly unique
• Queen & Slim-I am a big fan of the 'Lovers On The Lam" genre and this entry stands up well. A promising Director at play here.
• Bombshell- Great performances from the three female leads in this timely story ripped from the headlines.
• Parasite-Having seen it in 2019 on a flight to The Turks and Caicos i was keen to see it on the big screen. As good as the hype suggests and on a personal note I am so happy that Korean cinema finally found popular acclaim with this film, seeing as I have been banging on about it for two decades.
• The Invisible Man-Very good, better than expected. The original film 1933 version of H.G Well's classic is one of my favourites so it was good to see this modern take.
• Greed- A pretty much overlooked film starring Steve Coogan as a Peter Green type. Had some very good moments but lacked something.
• Dark Waters- A story of corporate greed told well.
• Calm With Horses- My pick of the year. great performances all round but particularly outstanding is Cosmo Jarvis. Bleak and profound, darkly tragic. Recommended
• Saint Frances-Terrific film about female relationships, growing up and independence.
• Tenet-Strong contender. Visually and sonically marvellous. Seemed to have a backlash before it was even released, which is strange. For those of us who had missed the cinema during the lockdown this was a great cinematic experience. I fear that much will be lost when viewed on the small screen.
• Saint Maud-Superb modern horror with a strong lead performance. It's mixture of the mundane and the gothic is perfectly pitched.
• Pixie- An Irish caper movie with a sense of mischief. Twisty and turny with heart.
• Akira-Seeing Akira at the BFI iMax really is an experience. This film has stood the test of time and in anime terms is hard to beat. Still original, thrilling and thought provoking 
• Mank- Good but left me feeling somewhat short changed
• Falling- Family life with it's ups and downs captured marvellously with a great turn from a cantankerous  Lance Henriksen.

As I said I have seen many films on Netflix and Amazon and perhaps this year I will keep a record. But my favourite of those streamed films  was Brandon Cronenberg's Possessor a surreal body horror thriller that leaves a lasting impression

As for this year, hopefully it won't be long until I can venture back into the magic of a dark auditorium and see some more films the way  they are meant to be seen.

APOCALYPSE? HOW?

 

A nice picture of humanity

In the annals of bad years this has been right up there, I’m sure many of us have had bad years for personal reasons; death, break ups, mental health crisis, tragedies and so forth, but 2020 has been a shit show for the globe, an apocalypse, now.

But how did we get here, and how do we change things?

Maybe eating Bats, Pangolins and such like, kept and sold in horrific conditions wasn’t a good idea. Anyone with a moral compass, sense of compassion or basic common sense could see that this was a ticking time bomb. How a nation treats animals its citizens and the planet is an issue of culture and responsibility and in this regard the country where Wuhan, the birthplace of the globe spanning virus is located, needs to look at it’s part in this world event.

Now before anyone starts throwing around phrases like “its not China’s fault” I am not saying blame lays at the door of the Chinese people, I’m saying that a nation emboldened by the fact that they supply the world with cheaply made products has a government that appears to not really give too much of a damn about a number of things.

The West, needing to consume products at an ever-increasing rate, turns a blind eye to human rights and other matters that should cause concern. Yes every nation (pretty much) has its issues of personal interest and the way in which the virus has been dealt with in some countries emphasises this, but the reality is that if lessons aren’t learned from the Wuhan Wet Market catastrophe we face a repetition. 

Aside from the terrible number of deaths, economic disasters and mental health issues across the globe the knock on effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is and will be far reaching. 

Things will never be the same. 

We have seen the best of us and a worst of us. We have seen kindness, self-sacrifice, love, triumph over adversity and a togetherness rarely seen, but we have also seen selfish panic buying, disregard for mask wearing and social distancing alongside an alarming ignorance of the basics of epidemic control.

Our government have shown an incompetence that is in sharp contrasts to the amazing competence of the NHS under such hard conditions; both ends of the spectrum come into focus at these times. 

Is 2020 the year that was waiting in the wings for the planet, a planet full of nations run by governments who put there own interests before their citizens, their wildlife and the very land on which they stand?

Who knows?  But what should be a top priority for governments around the world is looking at how this pandemic can be controlled, minimised and ultimately eradicated and, vitally, how something similar can be prevented from ever happening again. However, self interest may be a barrier that will never be hurdled in achieving this.

A bit of a ramble today dear reader but that reflects my confusion as to the how, what and why of the situation. Roll on 2021. It may only be a symbolic change but let's invest in the idea that the turn of the year makes us all feel that there is a hope on the horizon.

DEPALMA FOR PRESIDENT

 

I love a conspiracy theory me, and one of the enduring ones is that Stanley Kubrick filmed a faked moon landing at the behest of the sitting President. We all know about Leni Riefenstahl and her use of her considerable filmmaking skills to promote Germany's despot in the 30's so  it occurred to me that maybe Trump's presidency is being managed by Brian DePalma. 

"Yes, but what proof do you have for your theory?" I hear you say dear reader, well, what can't speak can't lie, so i give you the following compelling evidence. Behold; 

What more proof do you need? The Master of post Hitchcock suspense has been quietly beavering away behind the scenes for years building up to his greatest triumph. Who needs Carrie, Tony Montana or Al Capone when you've got Donald Trump!

IDIOTIC TIMES

 

The more idiots you have the more chance there is for an idiotic culture, an idiotic mindset and an idiotic leader. 

Case in point Donald Trump; he doesn't even appear to be an idiot savant, just an idiot. The Hollywood community don't like him. The two actors held as, probably, the best living actors have been vocal in their dislike of the man, and Trump's assertion that Streep is an average actor does little to challenge his credentials as an idiot.

The reason I mention the Hollywood Community is that in America they are pretty much the only thing they have that comes close to an elite establishment that people listen to (rightly or wrongly). The irony that Trump, the arch showman, should be vilified by those who perform for a living should not be lost. Perhaps they can see through his man of the people, certain people that is, persona for the bad actor that he is.

When popular culture recognises an idiot for being an idiot you know that there is something wrong. Most creative people in the US don't like him, be that in the arts, music TV or cinema. I cannot recall a. sitting President having shows like The Good Fight, The Comey Rule and The Trump Show actively point out their failings; its pretty much unprecedented (see what I did there?). Most vitriol for Presidents has been presented in dramatic and documentary form after that President has left the White House.

In popular culture terms Trump is an Andy Warhol of a political leader; he seems like a piece of performance art. He is a Mr Magoo of a President, stumbling from one bad situation to the next, he's a less trustworthy Chauncey Gardiner without the charm, a Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.

Trump has proved that Pop will, and does eat itself and I can only conclude that Trump got in to power in the first place because he was just the right idiot in the right idiotic place at the right idiotic time

T E N E T I N V E R S I O N T H E R A P Y

                  

A Backlash is a backlash and generally when that involves cinema then the backlash starts before a film is even released. This was the case with Christopher Nolan and Tenet. The blockbuster with brains that was supposed to repopulate cinemas.

"is Nolan all that?', "yeah but Nolan films lack emotion don't they?", "can anyone understand the plot?". These were some common mitigations for the backlashers and the answer to all those questions is an emphatic "don't be ridiculous!"

Tenet is a fantastic movie, its so unabashedly brilliant that any flaws in it can be accepted like a tiny bit of sediment in a delicious pint of ale. Its therapy for those that have missed the big screen experience; its food for the starved.

Tenet is Nolan dialling up many elements to 11. It's touchstones  are Craig era James Bond, Mission Impossible, Heat and even Starship Troopers, but they are assimilated into Nolan's unique world view: one that is obsessed with time and space as his previous work shows. Hitchcock was known for exploring suspense and human nature and he is rightly lauded as being one of the very best film directors. Nolan has shared themes in his work too but let us not forget that his work covers many genres: Action, War,Period, Science Fiction, Superhero, Neo-Noir, Serial Killer and Mind Bending Thriller.

What makes Tenet so good? It's the fact that all the elements work perfectly together, The performances are very good and yes there's lots of exposition but, hey, this isn't a small arthouse movie after all. The Score by Ludwig Goransson is electrifying and adds tension (really high tension at times) and grandeur. Nolan's direction is seamless and the multiple plot twists and exemplary action sequences are extraordinarily well handled.

Where's the heart? the protagonists all have there own issues that they are dealing with and John David Washington is the 'Cary Grant North By NorthWest via Jason Bourne' of the piece. Washington to is both a lead with humanity and a bloody good action hero.Yes I like Tenet and I think Nolan is a very talented young British director. He's yet to make a bad film and Tenet is right up there with his best

Tenet was worth the trip back to the cinema. It was worth the anxiety and trepidation though some may not be ready to return to the Pictures (which is understandable) this is  a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. If there really was inversion  we would all be able to see it at the Cinema in an alternative time line but maybe it will find its biggest audience when its streams. That 52" TV may just be worth investing in after all.