Apparently the Covid alert level was downgraded this week; remember when Boris found cause to solemnly update us all on its status during an unmissable live 5pm broadcast?

It barely makes online news outlet sidebars now.

Good.

Quote from: David L on May 20, 2022, 05:16:22 PM

Quote from: Slim on May 20, 2022, 03:00:55 PMNo cause for alarm.

Isn't that what WHO initially said about Covid-19?   

It's probably not what Chris Smith initially said.

It's pretty straightforward for me:

It's a fcking masterpiece.

Just like its predecessor MP, but of course in a different way.

And what an extraordinary coincidence that the two best songs ever released by anyone ever happen to be the first two tracks of this album!

What are the chances?!

Quote from: David L on May 19, 2022, 02:03:27 PMJonathan Van-Tam has been forced to miss the ceremony for his knighthood after falling ill with....Covid-19. Hmmm, I'd have thought he'd been vaccinated............four times, I'd wager 

Yes, so likely preventing symptoms much more serious.

In other news, there's still no cure for seasonal flu, either.

It doesn't appear to be about the story any more, just about the "message" - because, clearly, audiences are just too stupid to discern things for themselves.

Interesting that Mark Kermode - with whom I rarely disagree - really didn't like this film.

Also interesting was the backlash his review caused, for which he stuck to his guns but offered a magnanimous response. Classy guy.

What cracking fun this is for its 2 hours or so!

The Ghostbusters legacy is wonderfully taken up by Ivan Reitman's son Jason here, delivering a beautifully executed mix of fan service, nostalgia, laughs and easter eggs (some obvious, some contrived, some obscure, but all zipped through in a featurette on the blu ray).

It has the added bonus of getting right all the many things that were very wrong in the dreadful 2016 movie, even if that one isn't strictly canon; for a start, there are no hints of clanging, over-compensatory identitarian agenda in Afterlife, which almost certainly explains why a curiously niche but loud section of critics panned this.

As usual, they have missed the point colossally: this is quite simply a beautiful, heartfelt, perfectly-pitched and deftly executed love letter to the original 80s film and to the late Harold Ramis.  And its damn fine entertainment along the way - right to the very, very end of its running time.

Rating: ****

Quote from: Slim on May 16, 2022, 12:57:35 PMWell back-to-back wins by Everton make them less likely to go down now I must admit, even after their debacle this weekend against Brentford.

I think Burnley could well lose their remaining two games (Villa and Toon) which would leave Leeds with nothing to do to stay up.

At this stage I think Burnley are on their way down.

Yes, while part of another utterly atrocious display by Rodrigo led to Brighton's goal, a dramatic last-gasp equaliser from Struijk might well turn out to be their saviour.

I do hope so.

Fri 1st Apr - STEWART LEE, Leeds Playhouse
Sat 16th Apr - The Vaccines, Leeds Academy (chaperoning)
Fri 6th May - STEWART LEE, Bradford St George's Hall
Friday 17th Jun - YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Wed 22nd Jun - YES, York Barbican
Sat 17th Sep - KING'S X, Holmfirth Picturedrome
Fri 28th Oct - FM, Bradford Nightrain
Sat 19th Nov - THE SAW DOCTORS, Leeds Academy

A solitary stalls seat in the second row placed right in front of Steve Howe came up at Manchester, plus it's much more conveniently on a Friday, so I've changed plans accordingly.

If anyone fancies my now spare York ticket I'm open to offers. Paid £65 all in (face £55).  Good seat, centre-ish stalls, row K.

Quote from: Slim on May 14, 2022, 01:01:56 AM12th May, 1982

The QE2 leaves Southampton for the Falklands carrying 3,000 soldiers from the Scots Guards, Welsh Guards and the Brigade of Gurkhas.

I remember watching that on the telly. I was 9 years old.

As mentioned, my eldest brother was helicoptered on to the QE2 from Ascension Island.

Pretty sure he has a framed photo at his house of a group shot of him and his colleagues in full uniform on the ship as they make their way south.

When the first sentence of a review of mine contains the phrase, "I was really looking forward to this..." it usually indicates disappointment and, unfortunately, that was the case here.

My first visit to Halifax Square Chapel Art Centre's Copper Auditorium began auspiciously: the building itself inside and out looks and feels resplendent after its substantial renovation along with the adjacent Piece Hall, with amiable staff and surely the most pristinely clean and fragrantly-scented public toilets in Halifax (yes, leading with my chin there, I know).

However, the screening auditorium itself is more of a multi-purpose performance and exhibition space, hence a far cry from the bespoke boutique style screening room I anticipated. The film played on a temporary screen, which during dark scenes suffered from some light pollution from the emergency exit illumination and revealed kinks in the material.  However, the screen itself was large enough and the sound rig punchy enough to override the shortcomings.

I'm very mindful I'm at risk of discussing the actual visit to see the film more than the film itself, but then this can be taken as a measure of my disappointment.

The Northman is directed and co-written by Robert Eggers, who made the superbly eerie and deranged The Lighthouse (and the just-okay folk-horror The Witch), so I came to this with high hopes.

Unfortunately, this sort of arthouse Game Of Thrones underwhelmed; it's as technically accomplished as you'd expect from the formidable talent involved, but the actual story from which everything else pivots just isn't terribly gripping. It's a standard revenge tale with a pinch of mysticism set in grim, brutal times that left me shrugging my shoulders in the end.

Rating: **

Council tax cash reimbursement has landed. 

Cheers, Dishy! I think.

Quote from: David L on May 11, 2022, 07:14:33 PM

Quote from: Matt2112 on May 11, 2022, 06:13:49 PM

Quote from: David L on May 11, 2022, 04:03:51 PM

Quote from: Matt2112 on May 11, 2022, 01:57:50 PMI must say my preference nowadays is for blondes (yes, yes ) and APAs.

Of the latter, Ossett brewery's Silver King is a real classic.

Yes the American-style pales are really tasty. Have you tried Goose Island (available in Waitrose)?

They do the Chinook, right?  Another tremendous beverage.

No, I think that's Elland Brewery, Yorkshire

https://www.ellandbrewery.co.uk/cask/chinook/

https://www.gooseislandshop.com/

Ah, the Chinook I was thinking of is by Goose Eye brewery, based in Bingley.

I used to live round the corner from Elland Brewery; they produce some real corkers too.

Stopped watching not long after Peter Davidson's stint.

Quote from: David L on May 11, 2022, 04:03:51 PM

Quote from: Matt2112 on May 11, 2022, 01:57:50 PMI must say my preference nowadays is for blondes (yes, yes ) and APAs.

Of the latter, Ossett brewery's Silver King is a real classic.

Yes the American-style pales are really tasty. Have you tried Goose Island (available in Waitrose)?

They do the Chinook, right?  Another tremendous beverage.