An excellent spot by Steve Hardy regarding a lost Tony Hancock 'Masterpiece' from 'The Rebel'. It was thought the paintings were destroyed after the film, but this was spotted in an episode of Department S.
Now that's what l call being eagled eyed, and rather sadly, l'm pretty damn pleased the painting is hopefully still out there somewhere. I've got a copy of another one from the film ('Self Portrait') sitting on one of my dusty shelves.
I watched an old Ealing Studios comedy last night that l hadn't seen before called Barnacle Bill (Released as 'All at Sea' in the USA), starring Alec Guinness. Whilst l enjoyed it (Red wine had been taken), it could have done with this little ditty by Hoagy Carmichael as it's theme song, as it's one of my favourites.
Here's the earliest recording from 1928 by Frank Luther and Caron Robison
I certainly love songs with a lot of noise and a bit of an edge, which is one of the many reasons l love The Velvet Underground. I do however, also love their more tender tunes from the pen of the now sadly departed Lou Reed (of which there are many).
One of these l had not played for a while came on unexpectedly (for me at least) as the credits rolled at the end of the 2017 film 'Daphne', which l had just finished watching. I very nearly missed it as l was just about to delete the film, but l'm glad l didn't, as it reintroduced me to the rather wonderful 'I Found a Reason', which can be found on the Velvet's fourth lp 'Loaded'.
Here it is in all it's magnificence.
Enjoy!
As l've said many times - l love the 1967 Jungle Book film, despite it being a bit too long. Anyway, to celebrate the genius of Milton 'Milt' Kahl, here's some of his sketches and drawings for the characters and film. Also, Buzzie and Flaps are shown, but to save you looking it up, the other two birds are called Ziggy and Dizzie.
It's been a week since Netflix released their Martin Scorsese produced Rolling Thunder Revue, featuring a 'Bob Dylan Story'. I've watched all of it three times since, and parts of it numerous times, and l absolutely love it.
The live footage has been cleaned up and looks amazing, and there's pretty much just the right amount of newsreel crap to emphasise the story. Dylan is on top form, and it's probably the last time he has been so engaged on stage. There's been a bit of a debate online about some of the interviews, as they are related to events or people that are made up, and that uses up time that could be spent showing more live footage, but that sort of obfuscation just makes me chuckle, as it's in the spirit of the Renaldo and Clara movie from the same period, and, although it would be hard to believe, amps up my love for Dylan even more. I can't wait for the (hopefully) DVD and loads of extra footage
Here's the trailer, plus a couple of clips from it.
Witness the majesty of his Bobness (and Scarlet Rivera).
Avoid Jail, Go immediately to Netflix and watch the full film now!!
Had a bit of a shock the other day watching the film about The Sleaford Mods - 'Bunch of Kunst'. There l was, in the front row of the audience at their gig at The Duchess in York. It was only for a brief moment, but nevertheless, l am now a TV star. You'll have to guess which one is me.
Here's some of my favourite Spider-Man comic front covers, the first three especially have magnificent, heartbreaking stories inside, and are well worth checking out, even for freakish people that are not into comics. The first two cover the death of Gwen Stacey, and the third one has the death of (spoiler alert!!) Peter Parker / Spider-Man's aunt Mary. The last two feature the artwork of Todd McFarlane, who revolutionised the franchise when it was getting stale in the 1980's.
As a side note, the comics are so good, it pisses me off when the films don't stick to them, as it's such a no brainer to follow the stories that have already proven to be so successful. Bastards!
Get reprints though, or read them online, as they are getting pretty expensive these days.
So the great Albert Finney has passed away (last week). In all of the tributes to his great body of work, one that seems to have been forgotten is Charlie Bubbles, written by Shelagh Delaney and featuring some long forgotten Manchester sights, including what Manchester United's Old Trafford used to be like, before it evolved into the 'Theatre of Dreams', and kids could still afford to attend en mass.
Reminds me of when l was a lad, back in our day when it was all bomb sites etc blah blah blah blah blah blah......
Thinking about Elvis and Las Vegas (post below), reminded me of these monstrosities which were done in hotel photo booths in Vegas a few years ago. They photograph you and your partner, and then mix it up a bit to supposedly show what your children would look like.
You have to have confidence to wear a pair of pants that Iggy Pop is sporting in this photograph.
It makes me admire him even more.
Despite the fact that l'm not too keen on the shoes and no socks look he is also sporting, he was ahead of his time not just with his music, but his footwear as well, as that's what the fashionista are wearing these days (Idiots).
Here's the trailer for the Jim Jarmusch documentary on Iggy and The Stooges - 'Gimme Danger'. I'm biased as l'm besotted by them, but it's highly recommended!!
It's funny what you can find stashed away in old books bought from charity shops.
Here's a recent example - a photograph of a singer who looks a bit like David Essex in 'Stardust', but the back of the photo has 'Al Perman 1966' written on it. That could be the photographer or the singer, as l have no idea. I tried a quick Google search but with no success, so it is likely to remain a puzzle.
Here's David Essex playing Jim MacLain with The Stray Cats in 'Stardust'
Here's David Essex's 'Rock On' (a favourite of mine)
And here's the later day Stray Cats doing the 'Stray Cat Strut'
These pictures are probably old news now, but l never got around to posting them when l first got them. Ricky Gervais as David Brent, for sale in the shops, but looking suggestive next to Sausage Party, followed by a tweet from Ricky himself.
As myself and a friend thought that The Death of Stalin was only being shown in a few cinemas, we decided to have a drive down to Harrogate and watch it at The Everyman cinema there. The Everyman was expensive and posh, but it was a funny, fast paced film film, only partially ruined by a woman further back laughing hysterically at every joke or humorous situation. The film was good, but nothing could have been as funny as she found it. Our money was she was probably an ex student who had studied Russian politics, and wanted to let everyone know she understood every bit of wordplay or ridiculous scene more than the rest of us plebs.
Then again, myself and my friend are just cynical and bitter, so we could have misinterpreted it and were in the wrong.
Doubt it though.
I stayed up last night until the early hours and watched my recording of 'A girl walks home alone at night' an Iranian film from 2014, and was so glad l did, as it was one of the best films l've ever seen.
Bear in mind that l enjoy films which are foreign, slow paced and quirky, subtitled, and unlike other films. Oh, and with a good soundtrack if possible. This film ticked all of the boxes to the degree that l have not deleted it yet, as l will watch it again pretty soon, probably more than once (because that's how sad l am).
One of the best uses of music in a scene was the one below, 'Death' by White Lies, which was not just atmospheric, but really moving, especially if you knew what went on before this scene. I think l may even have got a bit of dust in my eye while watching.
Go check out the film, and put on subtitles to understand the lyrics of the foreign songs to enhance the experience.
On a related note, the atmospheric combination of music and a slow paced scene from above reminded me of another classic by Rob Dougan from the French film, 'Clubbed to Death / Lola (im Technoland)' - 'Furious Angels'. A film l first watched years ago, alone at night and on acid. I absolutely loved it (still do), and l cried like a baby at this scene. Happy days!
Remember kids - don't do drugs.
Compare and contrast.
I finally got round to watching the 'A Monster in Paris' animation film the other day, and loved this song by the giant flea ( Francoeur). The lyrics appealed to me the most, to the extent that l checked in the end credits to see who it was by, with the intention of downloading it.
As a massive (in more ways than one) Beatles fan, you could have knocked me down with a feather (Clever Trevor) when l discovered it was by Sean Lennon, son of John.
Anyone who knows me will now be aware that l will have to dig out all of Sean's solo stuff that l have listened to briefly in the past and then stashed away, in case there are other undiscovered gems to be found.
It's a hard life being interested in everything (and time consuming).
Here's the song with lyrics
And here's the animation version
Also, Vanessa Paradis (as Lucille in the film) sings a pretty fine version of La Seine.
Here's the slow French version, which l, being a cool and trendy dude, prefer.
