Near five hour doc in four parts about the making of RoboCop (1987) has turned up on Amazon Prime. It’s good.
Expensive headphones for a bargin price
FYI
klatre Bone Conduction Headphones, Open-Ear Sports Earphones with Mic, Bluetooth 5.2 Wireless Headset, IP55 Waterproof, Sports Headphones for Running, Fitness, Cycling – Rock
I have these. I like them and have no real complaints except they have limited volume, the battery isn’t amazing and you can’t wear hats that cover your ears. They cost about £100 circa a year ago. Currently they are £30. In my opinion these are expensive headphones for a bargin price. They might be cheap as they are being replaced with a new model an dthese are the dregs of the stock.
Down In the Groove: A Vinyl Documentary (2021) on Amazon Prime
Solid amateur documentary about an interesting subject.
From IMDB: A Documentary film exploring the history and evolution of vinyl records. Featuring Interviews with the experts, musicians and fans alike, ‘Stuck in the Groove’ takes you on a journey of vinyl-mania, music and nostalgia.
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Also Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis (2023) on Netflix: Competent and enjoyable documentary that told me nothing I didn’t already know.
Sheryl (2022) on Amazon Freevee
Good documentary about Sheryl Crow (mostly just a feature length interview with her). I learned a few things. It’s not exactly deep and probing as it’s another one of those self-produced and therefore controlled docs that are more of a vanity project or advertisement. Having said that it was good for what it was.
Very good 1996–2006 pop music Kindle book £1.99 today only
I’ve read it. I recommend it. Amazon link at end of this post.
Reach for the Stars: 1996–2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party
Blurb: Using the arrival of the Spice Girls as a jumping-off point, this fascinating new narrative will explore, celebrate and contextualise the thus-far-uncharted period of British pop that flourished between 1996 and 2006. A double-denim-loving time before the glare of social media and the accession of streaming.
The bastions of ’00s pop – armed with buoyant, immaculately crafted, carefree anthems – provided entertainment, escapism and fun for millions. It was a heady, chorus-heavy decade – populated by the likes of Steps, S Club 7, Blue, 5ive, Mis-Teeq, Hear’Say, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, Craig David and Atomic Kitten, among countless others – yet the music was often dismissed as inauthentic, juvenile, not ‘worthy’ enough: ultimately, a ‘guilty pleasure’.
Now, music writer Michael Cragg aims to redress that balance. Using the oral-history format, Cragg goes beneath the surface of the bubblegum exterior, speaking to hundred’s of the key players about the reality of their experiences.
Compiled from interviews with popstars, songwriters, producers, choreographers, magazine editors, record-company executives, TV moguls and more, this is a complete behind-the-scenes history » Continue Reading.
Do you use ClipChamp? (free video editor with Windows 11)
I just saved 120Gb!!! It turns out it doesn’t delete old video files once you have deleted a video project. That is a really bad and big design flaw.
FYI Why is Clipchamp taking up so much space on my computer? There is an option to Reset the app and delete the app’s data in the advanced options of the app. 1-Click on Start then click on Settings 2-Click on Apps then click on Apps & features 3-Search for the Clipchamp app and click on that 4-Click on the three dots(…) and select the Advanced option 5-Scroll down, then click on Terminate then click on Reset 6-After this all app data should be deleted
The curious afterlife of pop stars once the fame has gone
Exit Stage Left: The curious afterlife of pop stars by Nick Duerden is 99p on Kindle. Could be good.
You own Audible narration for this Kindle Book
I bought two Kindle ebooks for the first time in six months. Both times I got this message on the confirmation of purchase screen: “You own Audible narration for this Kindle Book”. This to me means that the audiobook is included with the ebook.
I clicked on the PC Audible link to see my library and it is totally empty.
Am I misunderstanding something?
FYI Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny At the Table by Claire Powell
60s books that I assume are now very much unread
I have a collection of old books that were left mostly undisturbed for circa 40 years under the stairs in my father’s house. I would say his collection was from the 60s (with maybe a little from the 70s) and is made up of westerns, sci-fi, spy thrillers and film and TV tie-ins. The stuff looks, to my eye, to be very dated and of no interest to modern readers.
I need to dispose of it. No one in the house is going to read them. The local library took a stack of westerns but had no interest in the rest. I don’t want to sell things online as it will take years even if it results in any takers, which is unlikely. The charity shops are overloaded and certainly don’t want tat from the 60s when tat from less than 15 years ago probably doesn’t shift. There is one last option before I put them in the recycling bin to be pulped. The local library has a red waste bin for donations. I don’t want to take the effort of hauling large numbers of books over to them and leaving them with unwanted books they can’t give away. » Continue Reading.
Kindle Unlimited – 3 months free (UK only)
Cheap Trump book
A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America (published Jan 2020) by Carol D. Leonnig, Philip Rucker only £1.99 (Kindle Edition). I haven’t read it but it looks very promising. It was about £10 only a few days ago.
Also a very, very obscure film called Choose Me (1984) is ‘free’ on Prime (or 99p to rent). Someone on the Word blog recomended it to me over a decade ago so it came to mind. It’s in SD 4:3 full screen.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081715187/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster only 99p on Kindle
Good podcast about music
Interesting podcast about someone trying to find a song that he can’t find any mention of online despite knowing some of the very specific lyrics.
I strongly recommend it if you own a CD collection
Her Smell (2019) was really good despite its awful and meaningless title.
Elisabeth Moss convincingly plays a Courtney Love-style 90s grunge trainwreck rock star. It begins rather average but it becomes more powerful as it progresses. It’s structured like Steve Jobs (2015) as five long scenes set years apart. So in scene four we get the film Last Days (2005, a film I’ve not seen) condensed into circa 30 minutes. I recently watched a doc called Hits So Hard (2011, streamed for ‘free’ on UK Amazon Prime) about the drummer in Hole and you can tell that film was a reference point for this.
I’m not a fan of long meandering movies but this is a rare example were the 135 minute running time is probably for the better.* It allows it to stretch out and be indulgent in a good way. I’m not sure if a tighter edit would have made the movie significantly better. The bumpy tight close ups (more wide shots please) and the constant ‘atmospheric’ oppressive noisy soundscape is cliched and obvious in its effect but they are annoyances that didn’t annoy too much.
I strongly recommend it if you own a CD collection.
UK Amazon: » Continue Reading.
FT Money section – when is it published?
Someone has asked me what day the Financial Times publishes the money section. I think it’s called FT Money. Does anyone know? I assume it’s on Saturday.
I could give you context to this question but it’s not interesting.
Artistic funding website Patreon
I’m considering signing up to Patreon to support something. Anyone with any experience using it. Yay or nay?
Very rare movie Looking for Mr Goodbar (1977) is on TV tonight
The Diane Keaton/Richard Gere film Looking for Mr Goodbar (1977) is on TV tonight! Apparently it’s a good film that has been ‘lost’ (not even a US DVD release) because of copyright issues to do with the music. I was very surprised to see it listed in my TV guide. It’s on Paramount Network at 11:35pm – 2:25am in the UK tonight.
153 Sky SD 188 SD / 187 HD Virgin 132 Freesat
It should be worth recording as it might disappear into the vault for ten years before you get another chance to see it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_for_Mr._Goodbar_(film)
Wrestling with musical notes
How Does It Feel?: A Life of Musical Misadventures by Mark Kermode is 99p on Kindle.
Also I’m currently really enjoying I’m Sorry, I Love You: A History of Professional Wrestling [Kindle Edition] by Jim Smallman. It’s £3.99 and fascinating if you ever watched WWF in the 80s and 90s.
Brian’s first-time buying experience at FOPP was unsatisfying.
I need confirmation on a piece of grammar. When referring to a person’s first time doing something, such as the sentence above, should ‘first time’ be hyphenated? Google kind of confirms it but not definitively.
You don’t want this guy as your enemy (Boris Johnson is a twat, but worded more elegantly)
Impressive character assassination (of an admittedly easy target).
Your advice is need concerning a modern Kindle
I’ve recommended buying a Kindle as a gift to someone. It would be for reading books, not for watching video.
My Kindle is circa 5 years old so I’m not up to date on what to buy for reading. Is the below an appropriate choice (increased Gb and 4G will be decided on price).
Kindle Paperwhite – Waterproof, 6″ High-Resolution Display, 8GB – without special offers
Donald Trump’s favourite movie (probably)
Death Wish 3 (1985)
SMALL SPOILERS
With quasi-police acceptance a vigilante (Charles Bronson) cleans up a rough neighbourhood.
Oh boy, what a strange movie. It’s scary this was made by adults as it depicts the world view of a five-year-old. There isn’t even the slightest hint of reality. It’s naive to a stunning degree with ludicrous thugs and useless law enforcement that are better at harassing the honest citizens than in dealing with the street scum. The thugs openly harass, rape and murder with impunity while also looking incredibly silly with face paint and costumes. It’s conceptually, artistically and technically incompetent and clumsy. Michael Winner has no taste and so the whole thing is a parade of bad taste. The visuals are ugly. He loved distorting wide-angle lenses, putting objects in foregrounds and cheesy zooming. The camera zooms a lot in this film. It looks grotesque and amateurish. Also the editing was sometimes a bit choppy. The music (by very talented Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page) is hideous and deeply unsubtle. It’s a perfect package of horrible music, ugly visuals and childish thinking.
The script is dumb and clunks like crazy with bad dialogue. The action climax goes » Continue Reading.
The Dawn Wall (2017) – Free Solo related
Two climbers spend multiple years planning to scale a rock face.
The Dawn Wall (on UK Netflix) was excellent. In my opinion it’s a much better documentary than Free Solo (2018) as the climbers could articulate what and why they were doing what they were doing. Plus the journeyman-like slow ascent lasted longer (in real life and on-screen) and was arguably more dramatic and exciting than the virtuoso display of technique shown in Free Solo. I liked Free Solo but this is much more gripping in my opinion. I could engage with the human element much more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hc8tB9uhho
Free Solo (2018)
A climber tries to scale a very tricky, near vertical mountain without any ropes etc.
Amazingly this Oscar winner (for best doc a few weeks ago) is on TV tonight. As far as I’m aware it was still in cinemas only last week. Reviews suggests it’s the tensest, most terrifying thing you’ll ever see as its 90 minutes of real life live or die endangerment. One misplaced foot or hand hold and he’s dead.
It’s on National Geographic at 8pm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4F3JK7oHn0
Free Solo (2018)
A climber tries to scale a very tricky, near vertical mountain without any ropes etc.
Amazingly this Oscar winner (for best doc a few weeks ago) is on TV tonight. As far as I’m aware it was still in cinemas only last week. Reviews suggests it’s the tensest, most terrifying thing you’ll ever see as its 90 minutes of real life live or die endangerment. One misplaced foot or hand hold and he’s dead.
It’s on National Geographic at 8pm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4F3JK7oHn0 https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjMwYjcwNWQtNTQ5YS00MzVlLTkxYzMtNDIwZWIxZTE4Zjg2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Solo
