My auntie was a nurturing, supportive, entertaining, educational and reliable auntie. I didn’t get gifts on my birthday or Christmas, but she always tried her best to do something special. And, although she was auntie to more than just me, I always felt a special bond that made it seem…
Discussion Of A Rubbish Movie, As Seen On TV There are 3 reasons I watched this film. 1. I'm a London boy, born and bred, and hoped this would be a valentine to it, like Manhattan was from Woody Allen. 2. I think Stephen Fry is a genius. 3. Jack…
Adaptations are tricky things. They have to adapt a story for a new medium and fit in with the narrative constraints dictated by it. Douglas Adams knew this: he had successfully created HHGTTG on radio, making full use of the possibilities of an audio performance; he then transferred the tale…
Something a little different. As this blog has become more review-oriented, I thought I would include the first review of something that I can remember writing: REVIEW OF THE MALE TOILETS IN UNIVERSITY BUILDING (1993) There are some factors in life that are constant and, as such, become more than…
Edited by Michael Chabon, written by various (obviously), illustrations by Howard Chaykin A collection of short stories by top authors? Yes, please. A literary buffet for sampling the skills of different wordsmiths, with some nice art by the stylish Mr Chaykin. Somebody had a good idea there. Glen David Gold…
Have you ever had one of those weeks? Where the people who pay for your comics and cinema habits ask for that bit extra? Full-on work days, staying after hours, draining your energies so much that you have to take the entirety of Saturday to recover? Well, I just had…
Midnighter #1–6 by Garth Ennis and various artists Issues 1–5 ‘Killing Machine' Midnighter doesn’t strike me as the type of character who requires his own series. He is a Batman analogue, taken to the extreme, who works well by brooding and being deliriously violent at appropriate junctures. Probably the only…
Criminal #1–5 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Crime comics have always worked well – this could be the fact that superhero comics are based on the whole ‘fighting crime’ concept, I don’t know. There has been a good ratio of quality to noise in the pure crime comics, even…
I probably only watched this because it was mocked by Ben Affleck in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. I’m weird that way. I think it’s a case for a novel that should have stayed as a book, probably a good book at that, that didn’t translate to the big…
Cinderella Man is, essentially, Rocky with a little more depth, a more accomplished director and a more articulate and audible leading man. How much you enjoyed Stallone’s based-on-fact fiction will probably give you an indication as to how much you will enjoy this factual film. James Braddock (Russell Crowe) was…