Drag Race UK Series 8 – Family Makeover Time

Flesh and Flash crush it in the makeover challenge. What an emotional week. The family makeover is always heartwarming, regardless of the outcome, as it’s lovely seeing the queens reunited with loving family members, but this was a close call, in terms of styles. Naya Thorn and her mum as River Thorn were a realContinue reading “Drag Race UK Series 8 – Family Makeover Time”

A Bad Week And The Antidote

This week was bad. Horrible news, shit weather, and a bad reaction to my medication, meaning I couldn’t cover a dance show which looked beautiful. But then I remembered an image. One to gladden the heart more than kittens, hot buttered toast and hot chocolate, and the music of Alien Sex Fiend. An icon, quickContinue reading “A Bad Week And The Antidote”

Film Review: In Fabric (2019)

Are you being unnerved? There’s always been something creepy and a feeling of being stuck in a time warp about going through department stores. They are the cockroaches of the high street: nothing, but nothing,can kill them: not influencers, fashion blogs, or even ordering online. Still they stand, an uncanny relic of the past, stoic,Continue reading “Film Review: In Fabric (2019)”

Album Review: Current Joys- Rosebud

Current Joys, headed up by Nevada musician Nick Rattigan, are best when they crank up the distortion, but that’s not to say there’s no merit in their sweeter moments too. Rattigan has a way with a bubblegum melody line, which he smears in glitches and crackles. So ‘Rosebud’ is very much about the duality. TheContinue reading “Album Review: Current Joys- Rosebud”

Too Much Nostalgia

Recently, I heard a radio interview with Adam Curtis, the brilliant documentary maker, whose style is that of cross-reference and visual metaphor. Broadly speaking, his intertextuality focuses on politics, lived experience and the way media is consumed. Often, he’s been criticised for a bleak worldview, a tendency to zoom in on all things Orwellian. ButContinue reading “Too Much Nostalgia”

Overlooked Classic: The Phantom Band- Checkmate Savage (2009)

Produced by The Delgados’ Paul Savage, who cheekily gets his name mentioned in the title, this debut album by The Phantom Band saw widespread critical acclaim, but has been a little sidelined in recent years. I’m sure it’s because its various members have gone on to different projects lately. What a fully- formed masterpiece though.Continue reading “Overlooked Classic: The Phantom Band- Checkmate Savage (2009)”

Film Review: Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

Peter Weir’s 1975 masterpiece, adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay, has baffled successive generations by letting the viewers work out if the story was true for themselves. It definitely wasn’t, but the notion that it could be only added to its everlasting allure. In Valentine’s Day, 1900, three young college girls and their governessContinue reading “Film Review: Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)”

Film Review: Jennifer’s Body (2009)

“Hell is a teenage girl”, is the opening line from ‘Jennfer’s Body’ . Penned by Diablo Cody, and directed by Karyn Kusama, it’s like a gender-flipped vampire tale set in senior high school. Megan Fox, foxy Megan, is the titular body, and hellish indeed: the local small town hottie with a nasty attitude. She’s theContinue reading “Film Review: Jennifer’s Body (2009)”

Film Review: Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

Jesus And Mary Chain, neon pink, Bauhaus poster, set of hair crimpers and a novelty telephone means we’re firmly in the 1980s, in a teen horror comedy. But this is penned by Diablo Cody, so it’s much smarter than your average ‘American Graffiti Risky Time Machine Scream’. In actual fact, it’s more like ‘Sexy Beetlejuice’.Continue reading “Film Review: Lisa Frankenstein (2024)”

Film Review: The Witch (2015)

Anya Taylor-Joy (above) as Thomasin and Kate Dickie (below) as her mother Kate. Robert Eggers doesn’t make conventional mainstream period films. Instead, like a spider spinning a complex, intricate web, the director creates moody pieces which mess with your subconscious state , unfurling at a stately pace. ‘The Witch’, set in the 1630s, has anContinue reading “Film Review: The Witch (2015)”