Phil Denille

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It’s difficult to explain to complete strangers how we have certain extreme hobbies or collections, but I’ll try. Im63 years old now , and like most my age, I first heard Bowie as a result of Space Oddity being used as coverage for the moon landing in ‘69. I was only 7, but I loved it. Far from it being his major breakthrough, he disappeared into his own artsy clique writing folk rock for a very small few followers. I next heard him reciting the terrifying ‘future legend’ on Diamond Dogs, that was it. I’ll get to this book soon, I promise. I’ve bought every official album, on every platform, including Heroes on an imported DAT , and someone’s pirated collection on mini disks. There…my credentials. I’m a fully paid up disciple of the Bowie family. Books filling shelves of every size and quality, a cool 17 unauthorised biographies , and varying content books on his art, clothes, periods and eras. So to the Nicholas Pegg book. Are you a real fan? Because if you want to know the name of the pub in Warrington he played a gig in 1967 , how much he was paid, what the set list was… then that’s in here. So is every advert he acted in, every mime performance, stage play, support act he joined, college hall of 7 audience members…all here. As is the crew and set designers of Glass Spider, Serious Moonlight and 1980 floor show. If you aren’t looking for how many times he farted in bed on the 16th November 1972, then you can luxuriate in the richly written story behind every album, every song he wrote. Nick Pegg had a truly unique relationship with Bowie. They weren’t buddies, but every updated edition …he’d send Bowie a signed copy, and Bowie always replied with “ incredible body of work Nick, amazing… even if most of it never happened” this was his gentle ribbing of Pegg because Bowie admitted it was definitive even if it wasn’t his own words. If you haven’t got this? Shame on you!

The Complete David Bowie

It’s a strange one this. The Big Bang theory was a a huge success and I was a big fan, watching every episode, and even the repeats. When I heard about Young Sheldon, I was invested from episode 1. But here’s what’s strange for me. The novelty of seeing how Sheldon grew to be the oddball genius was entertaining, but, the rest of the cast grew and grew with each series. The family, neighbours, and regular appearances were all fully formed and well crafted. I find myself watching the final series (7) and being so heavily invested in Young George and Mandy, Me-Maw and the gambling Den, young Missy’s teenage angst… even simple Billy next door. Sheldon is actually a distraction from the Cooper family and the extended cast of wonderful people. I know what’s coming for George Snr, and I’m dreading it. He’s a lovely man. A great dad and a good husband. Throw in Mandy’s father and those two had some great stories to offset both their … wives. I’m hoping they do a spin off of the spin off. I’d love to see Missy, young George, baby CiCi, and MeMaw all develop into their own futures. Their characters are now way more interesting and entertaining than Shellybean. I honestly rate this series a deserving 9.5 out of 10 . I’ve docked half a point because I wanted more of all the rest of the cast.

Young Sheldon

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Short on backstory, far too long on reveals. There’s a reason Paranormal Activity and its sequels were so successful, they left 90% to your imagination. This horror by numbers is far too willing to give up the goodies in full screen reveals…. Showing tatty black wigs, terrible makeup and toothy evil smiles. I’m struggling to be bothered writing a critique, when it’s obvious the writers didn’t exactly make much of an effort. Family moves into a new house, ghosts start flinging books around, setting off burglar alarms, and generally being a nuisance. Sensitive kid sees a ghost, cracks his head, and makes a wise choice to give up on this movie and head off to live in the other world. Family move out to a different home with comatose kid still off in lalaland , unsurprisingly, it all kicks off again in the new house. This time, grandma, dad’s mum shows up and starts in with the ‘ this has happened before’ , and recommends the local ghostbusters led by some headmistress type of leader. No mr Staypufft or Temple of Zuul this time, just the news that it’s dad who is the ghoulie magnet, so he has to head off into other world to save his son. Lots of screaming, lots of meh and blah, the kid is saved… everyone’s happy…except…. * cue onerous impending doom tune* … it’s not over yet. Zzzzzzz!

Insidious

I stumbled across this by accident. What genuinely caught my attention to stop channel flicking were two opposite anomalies. 1. The stunningly beautiful leading lady. And 2. The equally laughable, portly, ageing leading man. I had zero idea what the film was about, what its title was, but I’m a sucker for any Christmas theme or scene in movies, so I followed the opening sequence.. into the Higgs Boson Hadron Collider and an unfolding mess of Hallmark tv quality acting in an, at first, unfathomable twitches of Sci-Fi and nano budget FBI intrigue. I should have turned it off after 20 minutes, by then the creaking of the wooden actors and aromatic pungency of the turdlike script had fully announced this as a total waste of time. But. I’m stubborn. I’d invested 20 minutes and I was genuinely curious as to how much worse could it get. My stubbornness paid off. I made it to the end… so hopefully after reading my review, you don’t have to. I wish I could say I was baffled by the science, by the projected timelines and futures. I wasn’t. They were basic paradox riven reboots to achieve a particular outcome. No, what baffled me was …why? Ok, so, it’s an independent film, and I’m all for such Hollywood shucking entrepreneurial spirit, so plaudits for that. But, I’ve got a sneaky feeling it was an Indie was because the driving force behind the project , mr Durham, had worn out hundreds of stout walking boots schlepping the streets stopping anyone who looked even vaguely connected to the tv/movie world, and could barely raise the budget for a burrito and fries, let alone a Pepsi to wash it down. Any saving graces? Just one. The leading actress was a joy to dreamily watch. The rest of the experience? Well, there’s 90+ minutes of my life I’m never getting back.

95ers: Echoes

A fairly riveting action disaster movie with some incredible special effects. No, it was never going to challenge for Oscars or awards, but it’s far, far better than the stuffy po-faced ‘critics’ want to admit. The acting, by all involved, is more than passable, with the cheese content limited to the last 30 seconds of an unfurling Stars and Stripes and The Rock earnestly telling his wife ‘ we rebuild’ . They should cut that, and gain another 10% ratings. My wife and I really enjoyed it, start to finish….and fiction it may be, but the power of Mother Earth is not to be underestimated.

San Andreas

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