Rats' tails

Listening: Podcasts "Thin End Of The Wedge" (latest research in ancient Middle East studies) and "Lords Of Death" (true crime where journo has a personal connection). Also revisited the 1988 goth-rock album "Children" by The Mission. While I still dig the music, the lyrics do nothing for me now. Off to charity it goes.

Watching: Season 2 of "Love Village", S4 of "Yes, I Do", and "Love Is Blind - Argentina". First was beaut, second is going well, not sure I'll finish the third. Besides keeping up with many of the new anime series ("Dan Da Dan" is #1), I'm binging "After-School Dice Club", which I've raved about to a few of you privately :-)

Playing: With my new-old gaming group - "The Quacks Of Quedlinburg", "Guillotine" (a blast from the past!) and "Rent A Hero". Discovered I'd sunk more than 700 hours into "MTG Arena", so uninstalled it immediately. No doubt I'll stay away for a few sets, before being tempted back to update all of my fave decks...

Doing: Went to an impressive art exhibition about birds and checked out an unfamiliar comic store.

OK, time for more seven-word fillum summaries, for whatever they are worth.

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* "Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy" (2024) [Netflix]: Style heavy. Does contain revelations. "Portal" ending.

* "Canary Black" (2024) [Prime]: International espionage-er falls apart under slightest analysis. BUT: Goes fine with chicken casserole and wine.

* "Civil War" (2024) [Prime]: Near-future speculation pretty effective. (Limited viewpoint.)

* "Demons" (1985) [Kanopy]: Weird, sometimes stylish, extreme, patchwork, laughable, memorable.

* "Fight To Live" (2024) [Netflix]: Aussie fighter's toughest battle was domestic abuse.

* "Freud's Last Session" (2023) [Foxtel]: Imagined eve-of-destruction intellectual debate. Provocative.

* "The Speedway Murders" (2023) [Netflix]: Sensitive investigation into puzzling unsolved '70s crime.

* "Woman Of The Hour" (2023) [Netflix]: Chilling. True. Arty though "empty". Kendrick excellent.

<<< Pick of the bunch is "The Speedway Murders". >>>

Recent viewing & listening

Listenation: Revisited the albums "The Turn Of A Friendly Card" (1980) by The Alan Parsons Project and "Heaven Forbid" (1998) by Blue Oyster Cult.

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So, on to my patented 7-word movie reviews...

* "Aces High" (1976) [YouTube]: Doubly nostalgic. Simultaneously quaint, absurd and harrowing.

* "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024) [Disney+]: Like eating junk food while channel surfing. 

* "Doctor Who - The Daleks - In Colour" (1963-4/2024) [Blu-ray]: New film version a largely successful reinvention.

* "Kill" (2024) [Foxtel]: Murderous train bandits versus lovesick commando, buddy. AND: Hero pushed from merely incapacitating to SLAUGHTER.

<<< Pick of the bunch is "Aces High". >>>

Heart Strings XIII

* The immortal Marilyn Monroe in a shot said to be from 1951.

* AEW wrestler Julia Hart in a promo.

* Alexandra Powers as Olivia Hackshaw in the '91 film "Cast A Deadly Spell".

* Cosplayer Nami as a "Monster Hunter" videogame chara (from her Twitter).

* International foot archer Orissa Kelly (from her Insta).

When sentiment is left to chance

A thing I like to do on YouTube is search for covers of a classic '80s track. When I'm in that sort of mood, I'll listen to 10-20 of the results, hoping someone has made new magic with the old hit. The latest song I searched for renditions of was Sade's "Smooth Operator" (1984). As sometimes happens, most of the covers I sampled either weren't a patch on the original or were good but too similar. This one stood out, though -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn--PQRbvGA

On point in every department. They really make it their own. For some reason, "Smooth Operator" brings to mind a video arcade of my youth that was half games and - of all things - half tropical-themed juice bar. Maybe it was the first place I heard Sade's lovely voice. I tell ya what, this lass more than holds her own. Cracking group of musicians, too. I raise my glass of fresh-squeezed pineapple juice to you, Feeling Blue.

Why did it insert them in reverse alphabetical order?

Turducken is a turd inside an ucken.

So much cricket on the box at the mo'. It's heaven.

Shows: "The Day Of The Jackal" (hurry up, Episode 6!), more of those art-contest programs.

Listening: Series 3 of "Jenny - The Doctor's Daughter".

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* "Abigail" (2024) [Foxtel]: Uneven but enjoyable, original heist-horror hybrid.

* "Lights Out" (2024) [Foxtel]: Army vets, underground fights and corrupt cops. AND: Makes you care about its honorable characters.

* "Tarot" (2024) [Foxtel]: Death curse-er with verve, touches of verisimilitude.

* "The Tiger's Apprentice" (2024) [Foxtel]: Identity discovered via mystic arts. OK audiovisuals.

<<< Pick of the bunch is N/A. >>>

Phantom prayers

Shockingly, I didn't watch moveez last week. I did hear the colour black poetically referred to as "the thief of light", which I liked. And learnt this lovely Welsh term -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiraeth

I randomly recalled an aspect of my Roman Catholic upbringing... Strangers brought a portable shrine to our house. Then, a night or so later, a gaggle of different strangers came to say the rosary with us, kneeling in front of the open shrine (which held a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus). Then the original strangers returned and whisked the box away to another home in the parish. It was all very solemn and - to a young child - a classic case of adults behaving oddly.

Shows: Recent seasons of "Great British Menu", "Portrait Artist Of The Year" and "Landcape Artist Of The Year".

Listening: "Doctor Who - Daughter Of The Gods", "D/W - The Four Doctors".

You mess with the bullshitter, you get the hornswoggling

Heading unrelated to blog entry. Just playing with words.

Speaking of play, on Friday night, I reunited with one of my old gaming groups for the first time since before the Pandemic. We played the boardgame "The Princes Of Florence", plus several hands of the original "Fluxx" card game. Buddhists say that if there's a thing you can't give away, you don't own it - it owns you. I'm far less attached to material possessions than I was in my younger years. It was hard giving up said group for four years, though, and I'm extremely glad to be hanging out with them again. Hopefully on the reg.

Shows: "This Is The Zodiac Speaking", "Like A Dragon - Yakuza".

Listening: Anthology "D/W - You Are The Doctor" while walking, "Swamp Ophelia" by Indigo Girls, "Beavis & Butt-Head Do America" soundtrack. The two CDs are now off to the charity shop. Thanks for bringing back the '90s vibes, but I don't care for you anymore.

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"Da Vinci" a rewatch.

* "Borderlands" (2024) [Prime]: All feels off; forced, unfunny. Sorry, Cate!

* "Damaged" (2024) [Prime]: Maniac resurfaces elsewhere. Unsubtle, unbelievable, ultimately unsatisfying.

* "Justice League - Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part 2" (2024) [Netflix]: Neither boring nor thrilling. Decent character moments.

* "The Boogeyman" (2023) [Disney+]: There's competent traditional horror under the bed.

* "The Da Vinci Code" (2006) [Foxtel]: Howard, cast earnestly tackle religious-conspiracy escapade. BUT: In hindsight, what was all the fuss?

<<< Pick of the bunch is N/A. >>>

Rambling

James Acaster likes to annoy fellow comedian Ed Gamble by insisting EG got diabetes as a result of falling into the Thames. Years ago, a colleague showed me a depression in her skull suffered in a car accident. You couldn't see it, but you could feel it under her hair. I remember thinking, "Is that why she's so wild?" I suspect my wacky brain was equating it with bullshit theories about trepanning opening a person's "third eye". The wildest thing that happened this week was, while I was preparing the double block for mowing, finding a scattering of cable ties. What have people been doing in our yard late at night? Nothing. The ties woulda been dropped by birds who'd pinched them from somewhere (perhaps a construction site) as nest-building material. We've observed nests containing all sorts of man-made items, including coloured ribbon and electrical wire. A number of Aussie bird species are known for doing this, whether for practical reasons or as a decoration.

Minimal mooveez this time as I've been smashing shows. "Comedy Revenge" (you definitely need to see "Comedy Royale" first), Season 6 of "Divorced Singles", the "Tomb Raider: The Legend Of Lara Croft" cartoon... Listenation: revisiting 2009 album "Forever Is The World" by Theatre Of Tragedy, failing to be grabbed by "Space 1999 - Breakaway" on my daily walks. BITD, I stuck a big T/O/T sticker on my company computer. A coworker who had little tolerance for anything that wasn't classic or desert rock took one look at it and said, "*You're* a bloody Theatre Of Tragedy." Haha, maybe I was/am/always will be. Surprisingly, "Martial Law" (below) wasn't a rewatch. I had a female cousin who was a huge Cynthia Rothrock fan and aspiring martial artist herself. Unfortunately, we lost contact with her years ago. Not by choice - messy family bizo. I hope she still trains. I now get why she dug CR, who's cool in a kooky way.

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* "Caddo Lake" (2024) [Foxtel]: Gritty swamp drama develops into temporal tangle.

* "Killers Anonymous" (2019) [YouTube]: Assassins' support group goes awry. Ritchie-ish. Skippable.

* "Martial Law" (1991) [Prime]: Kungfu cops. OTT crime boss. Tasty cheese.

* "The Bad Guy" (2024) [Kanopy]: Effects of shootings/drills on teachers, schools.

* "Twisters" (2024) [rental]: Exciting, engaging. Pretty much the ideal sequel.

<<< Pick of the bunch is "Twisters". >>>