Yes, I’m back. After a bit of time off in December, I had planned on posting again in January but various events put the kibosh on that idea! Nevertheless here I am, ready for what 2010 might throw at me.
With a bit of luck…
Nov
18
I’m no fan of Disney or of their animated version of Alice in Wonderland. However I am a fan of Tim Burton.
His version of this classic tale (with Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham-Carter) is due out in the spring and although the trailer currently doing the rounds is a bit short, it looks really promising.
However what’s really impressed me is the beautiful poster for the film, released yesterday. The detail is amazing and I do think that some film posters are almost an art form in themselves…
Oct
14
Yesterday I received an email telling me that the fanclub release of Foxbase Beta, Saint Etienne’s Richard X re-produced 2009 version of their 1990 debut album Foxbase Alpha, had been posted. And this morning, defying the gloom of the forthcoming postal strikes, it dropped onto my doormat!
And it’s lovely…With cello and string arrangements, choirs and re-discovered lyrics adding an extra layer to an already excellent album.
Some might say; why bother? But it’s a nice thing and although it won’t change my opinion of the original (awesome), it’s a great companion piece and Girl VII, Stoned To Say The Least and Like The Swallow are awesome in their new forms, the latter in particular feeling like an epic with it’s beautiful child chorus.
Sep
28
From Digital Spy…
Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney has compared the recent leak of their new album to ‘being raped in prison’.
The Seattle rockers released their new record Black Gives Way To Blue today, although the LP surfaced online over two weeks ago. Kinney told Chicago radio station WKQX-FM: “It’s like going to prison – you’re know you’re gonna get raped, but you’re not ready for it. You think you’re all prepared for it, but you’re not really prepared for how violent that rape is. It’s like, ‘Wow! He’s really giving it to me’.”
Yes, that’s exactly what it’s not like, you tit.
Sep
24
I’m currently reading Halfway to Hollywood, the second volume of Michael Palin’s personal diaries. Here we cover the post-Python and pre-travelogue years of 1980-1988. The Missionary, Time Bandits, A Fish Called Wanda etc are all covered here and, if anything, I’m finding this more interesting than the Python-centric first volume (although Python, naturally enough, is still very prominent).
One of the things I’m really enjoying are Palin’s thoughts and comments about HandMade Films. Having recently re-read Robert Sellers’ excellent book about the spectacular rise and fall of that company, Very Naughty Boys, it’s fascinating to match the two.
The only thing I’m not enjoying is the hideous, hideous cover. I thought we’d left the days of this sort of cut and paste jacket far behind…
