Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate’s mockumentary is one of the most lovely family films I’ve ever seen. In the hands of Disney, it probably would have been a treacly exercise in trite sentimentality, but leave it to independent filmmakers to create something pithy, poignant and rather beautiful. Marcel (adorably voiced by Slate) is indeedContinue reading “Film Review: Marcel The Shell With Shoes On”
Tag Archives: Pop culture
Young
And just like that, I’m catapulted back in time, back into the mid-nineties. Social media means phoning your friends to talk about films, clubbing is still the preferred choice of our weekends, and we can handle drinking culture and the occasional pill or spliff. Pulp, Bjork and Husker Du ring out on the dancefloor. It’sContinue reading “Young”
Bad Cover Versions: The Damned- See Emily Play
Oh… Dear. The Damned have always been a huge source of joy and affection for me, as they were the first live band I ever saw, back in their ‘Phantasmagoria’ era. They were great, even though they were already past their best by then. And I love the original version of this by Pink Floyd,Continue reading “Bad Cover Versions: The Damned- See Emily Play”
Overlooked Classics: Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Years before ‘Trainspotting’ cemented its place in literature and film history, auteur Gus Van Sant, along with screenwriter Daniel Yost, created a brilliant film about a bunch of junkies and the rigmarole of fixing. Here, the setting is Portland and the decade, the early seventies. Matt Dillon is the lead character, Bob, putting his broodingContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Drugstore Cowboy (1989)”
Legacy Acts
At the end of last year , I was unfortunate enough to hear the most recent single from David Byrne, ‘T Shirt’. It’s made of thin material indeed, and I say that as someone who likes some Talking Heads work and his projects with Eno and St Vincent. Likewise Kylie and her insipid Christmas single,Continue reading “Legacy Acts”
Fallen To Earth, Low But Not Down
“It’s very, very sad… Very romantic” , David Bowie explained to a bemused Russell Harty in one of their many infamous awkward chatshow exchanges, after of course the pompous host remained fixated on the aesthetics and not substance, yet again. He was of course referring to The Man Who Fall To Earth. Low, the albumContinue reading “Fallen To Earth, Low But Not Down”
Ten Years Gone…
And missed every day. Bowie was the best. It’s the dawn of 2026, and Trump has ICE agents firing at cars. Where are we now?
Film Review: Bjork -Cornucopia Live
On massive screens behind Bjork and her fellow musicians, flora and fauna burst into kaleidoscopic life in Technicolour. Birdsong and insects provide looped natural percussion, reflecting the singular artist’s twin obsessions: the natural world and technology in symbiosis. Bjork herself, in trademark masks and sculptural costumes, is almost a secondary character amid the visual overwhelm.Continue reading “Film Review: Bjork -Cornucopia Live”
Lost In Music: Grace Jones – A One Man Show
As I’ve undoubtedly stated before, I often gravitate towards art that frightens me. Grace Jones ‘ A One Man Show created in 1982 by Jones with then- partner Jean Paul Goude, is one such example. Channel 4 screened it a few years later and I was still in my early teens. It remains a formativeContinue reading “Lost In Music: Grace Jones – A One Man Show”
Alan Partridge Is A Prophet
I realise that it’s officially silly season, and that Andy Warhol beat Alan Partridge to the curve with his assertion that “in the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes”, but it seems that the fictional broadcasting dickhead also came up with some prophetic words. Okay, sure, his most recent TV series, ‘How AreContinue reading “Alan Partridge Is A Prophet”
Hit The North 