Off Topic The Review Thread

A couple of recommendations.

Just watched Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe, which I found very funny if sometimes a bit too childish.

More highly recommended though is what's coming up shortly on BBC Four - Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love. This is Nick Broomfield's story of the love affair between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen and it's heartbreakingly beautiful.

BBC Two - Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love

 

Brooker’s ‘Death to 2020’ is very watchable. A bit woke and leftie at times but in a humorous way.

 

Some good news tonight - the fabulous "Withnail and I" is on Film4 at 23:15 - let's see if we can do the drinking challenge whilst seeing in the new year

 

We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now!

 

Tears rolling down our faces watching STVs tribute to Billy Connolly - so funny. Featuring some of his best clips over the years, with contributions from many celebs including Paul McCartney, Dustin Hoffman, Lenny Henry and Russell Brand, it's a farewell to the Big Yin as he steps away from public life. We were lucky enough to see him on his last tour a few years ago, an unforgettable experience, and it's sad to see him in his battle with Parkinsons. A must watch

 

Whilst looking for something a bit different to watch, came across "Tehran".

I know little about this theatre of operations, so was intrigued. It follows the story of a Mossad agent who infiltrates Iran and attempts to hack into the electric network to enable Israel to carry out a bombing raid. Things go awry pretty quick, and she's stranded, away from her support network as she tries to get out of the country and back to safety.

Tehran actually looks like a nice city to visit, although pretty sure we wouldn't be welcome. Some pretty good acting from relative unknowns (only one actor I recognised) it's a nicely paced espionage thriller. Eight 45min episodes, and left fully open for a follow up.

 

Iran/Persia would be a fantastic place to visit if it could be done without fear of arrest to be held hostage for a government debt......

Women outnumbered men in my house over Christmas, so Bridgerton was binge watched by the majority. I saw a bit, harmless fun with lots of highly attractive people cavorting in a spotlessly clean version of regency England. All the fuss is about the casting of black and Asian actors in many prominent roles. After about 10 minutes I didn’t notice this at all, which is as it should be, they are all actors pretending to be something they aren’t, regardless of skin colour. This programme was not pretending to be historically accurate, but I don’t think those more ponderous, po-faced efforts would suffer from doing the same thing.

 

Still the funniest comedian I have ever seen live (Hammersmith Odeon) - literally had me crying with laughter for ages.
The most fantastic story teller.

 

Anyone been watching Traces on BBC last couple of nights. Quite an intriguing cold-case murder mystery by Val McDermid, all in Dundee.

As an aside, we saw Martin Compston walking round the local park last couple of days with his wife and new baby - must be a bit of a comedown coming back to his hometown of Greenock after living in LA!

 

David Bowie: The Last Five Years just finished on BBC 4. A real tearjerker.

What a man.

David Bowie: The Last Five Years - BBC Music

 

Looks like it’s a big Bowie weekend, the five year anniversary of his death. Seems like yesterday, but time does go faster as we age.......

If anything I think his stuff, from all eras, is sounding better than ever.

 

Today would have been his 74th birthday.

I was thinking exactly the same about how amazingly good it all sounds, probably better than I had recognised at the time.

 

On the telly now they are playing a clip of a later incarnation Bowie playing Ziggy Stardust with quite a big band. He’s great but the band sound really plodding and heavy compared to the original Spiders. Three guitarists can’t get close to the crisp sound of Mick Ronson.

 

Jamming good with Weird and Gilly.

 

To be fair, not many come close to the late Mick Ronson (in my opinion). That man created some of the greatest riffs ever.
The Johnny Marr of his time... or maybe I should say Johnny Marr was the Mick Ronson of his time!

 

I bought some old Bowie stuff (Ziggy Stardust and Legacy) for the missus on vinyl for Christmas just gone, sounds a lot better than imagined it would.

 

Lots of Bowie stuff on 6 Music today, interviews etc...