Twinbee

It’s possible to hold more than one viewpoint simultaneously. It will no doubt be eye-poppingly gorgeous, funny, exciting and great fun. I will watch it with my family and we will all love it. It *also* undermines the main gag of Toy Story, that Buzz was a boardroom-devised mass-market toy, with a generic name and dumb catchphrase. I really hope it doesn’t ‘do a Solo*’ and imbue heavy meaning into every aspect of the character (“ooh, so that’s how he got his iconic, but presumably also standard-issue, blaster!”) *I also really liked Solo, it was a lot of fun

Harglow, by Harglow. Atmospheric, Carpenter-meets-Reznor vibes. Perfect for this time of year.

Have watched 4 episodes and am starting to regret letting my almost-14-year-old watch it. It’s getting nastier by the episode. He’s a mature kid, but it’s on a different level to the Robocops and Nightbreeds I watched underage as a kid.

Black Sabbath. Like Nirvana, most photos of them are them messing about and being silly, but they took an awesome moody photo when they wanted to.

The Supremes, Paris, mid-60s. I first saw this pic in a big Motown coffee table book I got my mom. Motown used to have a ‘deportment consultant’ to teach their artists how to carry themselves. Love the colour combo of the outfits, too.

The original Japanese version of Ring is on there too.

Disappointed that logo doesn't just say "Jonathan"

I just love it. Performances are great, it looks fantastic. Avoiding spoilers, but one of the last two episodes that had a very specific stylistic difference, was really smart. It feels more like a play, than a telly show, which I’m guessing is deliberate, given Martin Short’s character’s profession. But maybe it’s also the sets, and the small cast. Either way, it’s cracking.

I’ve just checked an old Argos catalogue, and Ghost Castle was £7.95 back in 1985.

I think the big Waddingtons board games were still pretty expensive back in the day - I’d get one for Xmas in the 80s, like Frankenstein, or Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs (and eventually Heroquest). I don’t know how comparable the prices would be inflation-wise to now, though £120 still definitely raises an eyebrow.

They made an Open All Hours game???

Just watched the first episode of Only Murders in the Building. Really enjoyed it. The characters already have a good chemistry, and I really like the comic tone, with a bit of drama mixed in. Opening and closing credits very classy too. Like an animated New Yorker cover.

Watched Assault on Precinct 13 for the first time since my student days. Absolutely loved it again. I looked up the death row antihero actor, Darwin Joston, who was really charismatic. His Wikipedia entry features this heartbreaking line:

Thanks both – he already has some Titan, and tonnes of the DVDs. We know someone who has shelves of One Piece too 🙂 Is that Battle Angel Alita, @Broker? I seem to remember that been advertised in Manga Mania (a short-lived UK publication that serialised Akira, Godzilla, etc, in the early 90s that I useed to enjoy). If so, do you just start at volume 1? I realise this is probably my last chance at introducing him to something he won't already know about. I'm conscious that trying to get him into Akira was a bit like if someone handing me a Led Zeppelin album when I was into grunge in the early 90s. Kids have got to find their own thing.

Can someone recommend a good manga series for my son (planning ahead for Xmas)? He’ll be 14 by then, got into Death Note, but that was quickly superseded by his favourites – Tokyo Ghoul and JoJo’s. I’m not wild about manga, despite Akira being my favourite ever comic, so it’s hard for me to judge. He’s managed to nab a couple of Chainsaw Man books, which alongside Tokyo Ghoul, seem to hit the sweet spot of mature-ish content and some humour as light relief. I lent him Akira, but he wasn’t crazy about it, but I think he’s getting to the age where he is more interested in discovering things himself. He read a few One Piece books which we borrowed, which were fine, but didn’t hook him. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Thanks @PK - he’s a reasonably mature kid for his age. We’ve watched things like Blair Witch, Shaun of the Dead, Attack the Block, etc together. He watches a lot of anime, and the likes of Attack on Titan, which is pretty gross at times. I might preview an episode or two and make a final decision. Cheers.

How brutal is this (I’m guessing quite)? Son (13.5) is intrigued, but the Netflix content warning signals a full house of bad things (including sexual violence, etc).

Actually that’s a good point, it’d be really helpful if folks mentioned where they’ve watched films. I need to know whether to get excited or not depending on what’s (legally) available to me 🙂

Finally got round to watching Hereditary last night. Needed a rare window where: - partner wasn’t in (tricky in the pandemic) - kids packed off to bed at a reasonable hour - I wasn’t knackered I enjoyed it. Looked and sounded fantastic, Toni Collette was incredible. Didn’t *quite* live up to the hype for me, but very good. I’ve already seen Midsommar, and I’m really looking forward to what Aster does next.

I think I still prefer Dark Castle over Dark Sector. The remote combat (shooting and flanking) seems more of a faff, and kinda removes the immediacy in Dark Castle’s combat. Which seems to defeat the object, when pulse rifles or whatever are meant to be exciting.

It’s not Dean-esque, it’s an actual Roger Dean! I’d sit and stare at this sleeve as a kid for ages. Would love to know the conversations that led to its commissioning.

Visited my mother, whose husband died at the start of the year. She’s been having a clear-out, and has said I can have any vinyl records I want. It’s mostly Glen Miller / James Last stuff they both likely inherited from *their* parents, but I found a few gems that will now have a good home. All very played-with, but will all now continue to be enjoyed.

All the Studio Ghibli films have been on Netflix for ages, but I've only just got round to watching When Marnie was There. A really beautiful, animated film based on a children's book. An outcast girl goes to live in the country with distant relatives for her health, and befriends another girl that we can't tell is real, imaginary or a ghost. A nice, gentle story to watch as a family (though I watched it by myself before the kids got up), sentimental without being schmaltzy, and some of the best, most detailed animation you'll ever see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WASWpDAFOe4

Finished this now. Very much enjoyed it as a family watch (very much at the top end of what we’d watch with our youngest, who is nearly 12, but quite sensitive. I personally have a real beef with series that end on a cliffhanger - please please just give us a satisfying ending to the chapter. I do question the ethics of: Other than that, good fun, a loveable central character, Big Man is ace, and we’re looking forward to S2.

8-year-olds will absolutely lap those figures up. They look fantastic.