There’s an effect in Shrek 2 that I don’t remember seeing elsewhere, though it doesn’t even need a completely animated universe: It switches scenes by keeping the lead character in close up, and simply fading one background out and […]

FT Top 100 Films
67: DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD
Now there is a title to conjure with. Put your best foot forward, sock them with an audacious title and maybe they will come back for me. And in the most part the film does fulfill[…]

Mini iPods “available internationally on July 24”
NUM NUM
[edit extra]
Got one of those horrid oversize white iPods? Get a “Retropod” case to protect it. ;-)[…]

Player agents – greedy money grabbing bastards bleeding the game dry, or necessary evils to help players counter the clubs always out to shaft them? It’s a debate that generates much heat, and until now, very little light.
Following on […]

THE BREAKFAST OF GRAMPIANS[…]

Normally, during the week, the only breakfast I manage is an alpen cereal bar, usually walking through the park on the way to work. this morning however I’m working from home, so I should be able to have a proper breakfast, or so i thought.
I […]

I always used to eat breakfast as a kid, going through the various cereals marketed at kids. As an adult, I kind of got out of breakfast in that ‘eat-at-home-before-leaving-for-work’ way. I’d have a cup of tea, and then grab a choco[…]

Notes towards a working definition of Film-Rockism — 1 [reg req’d, I think]
‘People employed to write about film are like cinema punters in one respect: in a time of deluge they will cling to anything buoyant that passes their way. […]

the JULIA LENNON PRINCIPLE revisited:
(recap: the debate is, who, in a JUST world, gets paid band-royalties for creative contribution? the guys on-stage, the guys on-record, the gals behind the guys? “who wrote the song?” vs “who m[…]

The Burglar In The Library by Lawrence Block
I’ve talked about Block here before, in glowing terms. So why do I need to go on about him again, and about a Bernie Rhodenbarr novel, probably his most lightweight series (he has several, in case yo[…]