The return of Black Books did a very neat thing. It reminded us of the relationship of the three characters by splitting them up. It also did a tremendous sight gag without ever having to show it. The plot was simple. While Fran was on holiday, Berna[…]

THE ICK FACTOR: confirmed
There were always two problems with my First Iron Law of Cinema, that “No Good Film Has Ever Been Made by Someone Whose Name Ends in the Letters I C K”: i: You had to do some fancy (not to say fraudulent) spellin[…]

The Marriage of Figaro, Hackney Empire
Whole cities have been built in the time it has taken to refurbish Hackney Empire. It has reopened to muted fanfare aware that a big gap in the outer brickwork doesn’t add to its aesthetic value. Inside, h[…]

HERBIE HANCOCK – Zippit
Imagine if you will that you are a jazz musician (horrible thought I know). You’ve played with the – ahem – greats such as Miles Davies, Canonball Adderly and Quickdraw McGraw. You have even survived th[…]

Lite Brite, Schmite Brite: At first, I thought sciencists were jonesing on a scatological gene-splicing tip – “And for our next trick, we will breed pigs with break away tails! And then cows with incisors! Sharks with opposable thumbs![…]

MEME OF THE MONTH: it could replace “Use Other Words Please”!!
(you have to read right to the last line – worth it I promise)
(well, unless you already came across it, it is a meme after all)[…]

I’ve spent a very pleasant evening writing entries for Popular, which you might have noticed became rather neglected. I’ve now got a backlog for the first time in ages, and will keep adding too it this weekend, so that – fingers cro[…]

KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES
Or this:

will fall on yr head and you will see these:

(haha that wacky astromechanics jargon: “it will wind up in a tumbling state”)[…]

I Crave Salad.
Not a publog regular shout but I’ll let you know how it went tomorrow. Will it be Caesar, Waldorf, tomato? Will it be lime juice and coriander, will there be meat, fish, potato salad or croutons? I can guarantee however, there wi[…]

Infernal Affairs starts with a quote from the Buddha regarding the nature of continuous hell being like hell, but goes on forever. This quote potentially exists merely to justify the otherwise relatively tortuous title. The title, like the film, is a[…]