2018 year in review

So I set myself some goals for 2018. Let's see how I did and how what I've got planned for '19.

Rollercoasters: Ride 100 new ones and reach 2000

I rode 102 and reached 1999, which is a real stinker of a number to finish the year on because now it looks like I will choose the landmark one when I didn't really care which ride it ended up being. I'm taking a break in 2019 from coastering, having removed myself from most of the groups I was in. For 2019 I'm setting myself the goal of only riding 1.

Gigs: See 100 live acts.

I saw 102, following a hasty bit of emergency scheduling in December. My favourite acts were Red Snapper, Anna Meredith, Despacio (does that count?), They Might be Giants & The Chemical Brothers. I'm quite chuffed with this one and will aim to do the same in 2019.

Films: See 100 new ones.

I saw 125, although some I had seen before but not on the big screen. Within these I did a few back-to-backs including the Qaatsi trilogy, John Wick double-bill, a mystery all-nighter, a modern horror all-nighter and a John Carpenter all-nighter. My favourites were Fatal Deviation (yep), The Villainess, Don't Breathe & A Quiet Place  I'm quite happy repeating this one in 2019.

Countries: Visit 5 new ones.

I managed 4: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Morocco, Andorra and Montenegro. I did Bosnia twice though. It was a good year for holidays as I also went to Croatia, France, and the US twice. For 2019 I'm looking at keeping things closer to home for the most part with trips to some of the principalities and small islands I've yet to visit.

US States: Visit 2 new ones.

 I got 3 new states (West Virginia, Michigan & Rhode Island). This leaves me with 5 to get.  I am toying with the US for a themed-trip in the Summer though it'll be to cities I've been to before. The new states will need to wait until another year.

Cirque du Soleil. See 1 new show.

I saw Luzia in Boston and very good it was too. I'd like to do another for next year but think I may be able to do a trip with more than that.

Travel 1000 miles on a treadmill.

This is a new one, and I won't be running from the start but I need to get a gym routine in place and figure this will be a nice goal to aim for. 

Gig #102: Joe Goddard @ Phonox

My final "gig" of the year ended up being a Joe Goddard DJ set at the Phonox nightclub in Brixton, which I knew as Plan B many years ago. I thought I'd get there late but the venue was still dead when I entered. I hung around for an hour or so and as I gave up and left there was a big queue gathered outside.

The music was good and the club sounded and looked great. The crowd however were a clubbing crowd and not a Hot Chip crowd so I didn't really feel the right vibe, hence the early departure. 

Gigs #100-101 Blackbyrds & Digitalism @ The Jazz Cafe

A plan to attend a Digitalism DJ set became a chance to see 70s Jazz/Soul combo The Blackbyrds as I got into the venue early and this band were on first. They sounded really good with lots of Motown sounding stuff coming from an excellent live band.

After they finished a big chunk of the crowd cleared out to allow Digitalism to take to the stage. At least I think it was them. There were 2 guys playing and I don't know what they looked like. I left after an hour and once on the train had a horrible thought I'd left during the house DJs set.

I'll never know.

Film #125: Free Solo

Nothing to do with Star Wars but a documentary about a man who climbed El Capitan in Yosemite without a rope.

Gripping stuff!

Gigs #97-99: Brutallixmas @ The Monarch

Having missed some acts on Saturday I needed to play catch up so saw this free event at The Monarch pub in Camden Town. 3 rock/punk acts, so not my usual thing but it was a night out.

Lakes were up first and my favourite of the three. They did a nice cover of E17's "Stay Another Day".

Adults were up second and weren't that great. The lead singer wasn't sure what was going on and kept introducing each song with "which one are we doing now".

Up last were Brutalligators who I didn't like only because their guitarist chose to stand and block my view for the other two acts; some people have no awareness.

Film #124: Aquaman

Roman Reigns calls his brother a dick who in turn calls him a bastard. Another baddie got his costume from Power Rangers. Someone covers Toto's "Africa" terribly and Amber Heard discovers grapes whilst looking hot. Halfway through it turns into Indiana Jones.

I liked it.

Gigs #95 & #96: Thundercat & Flying Lotus @ Brixton Academy

A chance to see a bunch of acts in one venue was quickly thrown out when our group chose to remain in the bar drinking and when we went to the venue 2 hours after opening, the queue was going around the block so we went back to the bar.

When it was time to try again at 11pm it was just me left, the others had given up. So of all the acts on the card I only got to see 2.

Thundercat was too bass driven for my liking.

Flying Lotus had no progression, and his 3D show wasn't as impressive as a remember it being when we saw it in the Summer. Although I did like he played some Twin Peaks.

Coupled with my first attempt at getting glasses resulting in a broken pair and a free for all to get another pair and a venue so packed I barely made it past the bars at the rear of the venue I'm surprised I stuck around for as long as I did. 

Gig #94: DJ Yoda @ Winterville

An impromptu gig on the way home as I found out DJ Yoda would be playing a Cut n Paste 80s mix for free at Winterville in Clapham. Considering how much I've seen him over the last couple of years it was a little weird that I hadn't seen him at all in 2018. So it was good be reacquainted.

The set opened with 99 Red Balloons and finished with Sweet Dreams, and throughout we had some of the cheesiest, 80s classics including J. Geils Band, Kraftwerk, Foreigner & Toto.

and for someone who usually plays an hour set, it was great to see him going nearly 2 hours tonight.

Fun!

Film #123: Spiderman into the Multiverse

Oh, this is really really really good.

A different take on the Spiderman story, beautifully animated, a well written story and some bizarre twists. I liked it much better than any of the other Spiderman films...well, except the classic 70s one that is.

Film #122: Bad Times at the El Royale

An ensemble film that features a group of characters meeting at a run down motel. Why are they are there, who's going to die and who's going to survive? I like these sort of collection films, Smoking Aces being another, and I did enjoy this. There are a couple of OMG moments and all of our showing jumped at one particular bit, which doens't happen that often.

Strong acting from the cast, and a nice contained story made this enjoyable. 

Film #121: Assassination Nation

A rather odd film that takes social media data leaking to its extreme as a group of four friends are terrorised by their fellow townsfolk. The film has an energy and vibe that wouldn't be amiss if Charli XCX had been asked to create a film. Strong female roles with an FU attitude.

But what starts off as a modern take on Heathers, becomes a mess in the final third.

It's worth seeing but it lacks the legs to make it a classic.

Gigs #91-93: Disco @ Electric Brixton

A disco themed night in Brixton.

Norman Jay was ok, a great selection of obscure records mixed with the occasional anthem, but he couldn't mix. I guess when you're an MBE for your contribution to music you don't need to.

Nicky Siano was terrible. He played with the EQ as if he was an EDM DJ faking a set, and destroyed some great produced music with his meddling. He did play Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". I wish someone had.

Marshall Jefferson gave the venue the much needed kick it needed and really took it up a gear, but with his set starting at 2am we were too tired to make it through his entire set.

A great crowd helped the night go quickly.

Film #114-120: John Carpenter All-Nighter @ Prince Charles Cinema

Another excellent all-nighter at the Prince Charles this time celebrating the films of John Carpenter. 

Assault on Precinct 13 is great, a tense shoot out between a mixmatch of characters and a gang outside. It's memorable to us videogaming nerds as providing the sample to Bomb the Bass's Megablast which found its way into Xenon 2.

Halloween is not my favourite in the franchise but it does have the creepy intro where the camera pans away from the young boy holding the knife.

The Fog was too slow for me but did bring back memories of being freaked by it when I watched it as a kid. 

Escape From New York is a romp, so much fun with Donald Pleasance and Snake. 

I've seen The Thing so many times now but it's still sooo good.

Big Trouble in Little China was a nice comedic break from the slow burns of the previous films.

and I fell asleep during They Live, due to me seeing it so many times and not being blown away by it ever...

Film #113: Possum

Garth Marenghi makes a horror movie and it's odd.

It already starts with a guy in the middle of some sort of nervous breakdown, returning home to confront some demons that have probably contributed to his condition.

He carries a bag that contains a weird puppet which haunts him throughout the film.

It's slow, silent, brooding and creepy but quite enjoyable but it'll test you. The soundtrack by the Radio Philarmonic Workshop is a big part of the creepiness.

Film #112: Action Point

I watched this on the flight home from Orlando. I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

Johnny Knoxville runs a rule-free park and is under the threat of takeover by a corporate theme park chain. There are stunts and schadenfreude based laughs, there's a weak plot, and I'm sure it's more a chance to dick about on camera and have some producer fund it. 

It's not Jackass.

Gigs #86-90 Nina & Friends @ Soundbar Orlando

An opportunity to catch some SynthWave stuff in downtown whilst on holiday in Orlando.

Watch Out for Snakes was first up, a diminutive keytar carrying bundle of hipster muscle that struggled to have any stage presence whatsoever, but who's music served fine as an opening act. I quite liked some of it! At times he seemed to disappear within the output of the smoke machine.

Second up I think was MoonDragon, a local lad who mixed his synth stuff with some classic 80s visuals including lots of Top Gun. I liked his music.

The surprise of the night was ACP PRO, 2 guys whose music didn't really fit the theme of the night but who had some absolutely stunning tracks within their AV set. Their track Q*Brick could easily have been an Orbital production and it sounded incredible. They seemed genuinely pleased when I told them this, and I liked that they thought I was informed in the genre based on my accent alone :) 

Parallels are really good, I'd seen them in London before and liked their stuff, but they were missing the drummer tonight, Holly said her brother had had visa issues. She seemed happy I had come to see the band and that I'd also seen them in London.

Nina played her standard style of set, her singing and keys and another woman doing drums and backing vocals. It's alright.

So, a good night and a nice way to escape the theme parks for a night.

Film #111: The Night Comes For Us

The crazy martial artists from The Raid films are back in a ridiculously violent over the top film, and it'll be one of my favourite films of the year.

A mercenary gets a conscience, and is hunted down for not completing the mission he's tasked to do. Tracked by a bunch of assassins the guy tries to survive.

Intense fight sequences, a great selection of weapons and some holy shit moments throughout this is an incredible addition to the Netflix lineup.

Gigs #83-85: Lebrock, ORAX & Robert Parker @ Camden Underworld

Another synthwave night at the Underworld and I had 3 acts tonight.

Lebrock were more on the rock side but sounded pretty good. 

Orax was probably the better act of the night but not much to see on stage, just a nerd behind a laptop.

and the only thing I can remember about Robert Parker is that he had a big 80s hairstyle

Event: The Grid

An immersive experience that has you hacking a company office to get their secrets. Part cocktail tasting, part escape room and without giving too much away it was a good way to kill a couple of hours, and being told I was the first to complete one of the puzzles was a nice thing to hear too!

Gigs #81 & 82: Rosko & Haiku Hands @ Corsica Studios

This one came out of the blue but having heard "Not About You" a year or so ago and really liking it an opportunity to see them play in London couldn't be turned down.

Support came from an OK band called Rosko who had a pretty entertaining lead singer doing his best to work with a very small crowd, most of them friends of the band. There was one entertaining section where a suit-clad friend clearly coming to the gig from work was given an opportunity to rap into the mic and he was pretty good!

The main act were excellent although I think they're missing a member. I'm sure in the video there were 4 members, but here we only had 3. I'd got to the event early and they were taking photos outside in their multi-coloured jumpsuits. On stage they were a bundle of "don't really care, we're having fun" attitude with their silly dance routines and shouty shouty rap. But I was wanting to be entertained and I got it. Great crowd participation with them entering through us and their final song Super Villain having them come back into the crowd to dance with us. 

Probably my most fun little gig of the year. They deserve a bigger stage though!

Event: Magic Circle @ Red Lion Theatre

A small play that's part of a horror season in London. 

Written by Kim Newman (who I only know from Bizarre magazine, but who has written books) and starring James Hyland and Michael Shon we have a battle of wits between a police investigator and occultist at the site of a mass killing.

It was pretty good with great performance but very heavy on the dialogue and tough to keep up with at times.

Film #110: Mandy

When the Prince Charles Cinema announces a run of a film you've not heard of, you know it's likely to be something special and that's exactly what Mandy is! Miss it at your peril.

Nicholas Cage plays a lumberjack who's wife is killed by cult who have the ability to call on a bunch of dark demons on motorbikes. Nick gets angry and his revenge on the lot of them.

Visually bizarre and bonkers to boot.

Event: QEDCon

Another excellent weekend up in Manchester for QEDCon, the annual get together for skeptics and the like. A couple of days full of interesting talks, lectures and opportunities to meet like minded folk.

Best summed up by the rather excellent intro video.

 

I'll be back in 2020 as they're having a well deserved year off.

Film #109: A Quiet Place

The final film of the marathon and a chance to rewatch what I think will be my film of the year. Emily Blunt and her real life husband, whose name escapes me play a couple with some kids, and one on the way who find themselves camped out in an area overrun with alien creatures with an acute sense of hearing.

An incredible bit of cinema that shows the power of silence..

Film #108: The Babadook

Probably the worst of the films shown tonight; not because it's bad; I just found it uncomfortable to watch. A single-mum struggles to deal with her autistic kid who is convinced The Babadook, a monster from a book, is alive.

There are some very tough scenes and I hope the kid actor was protected during some of the more tough scenes. Incredible acting but unbearable at times. 

Film #107: It Follows

It Follows was a film I hadn't seen before and I quite enjoyed it.

The horror in this one comes from a curse passed from having sex that comes in the form of a shape-changing demon that kills you if it catches up with you.

I like that the monster walks slowly but never stops. A clever variation on the endless running from a monster we usually get.

Currently it's the highest rated horror on Rotten Tomatoes and there are plans for a sequel; it doesn't need it.

Film #106: Don't Breathe

The third film of the night was a mystery choice and a great one, getting a nice little cheer from the audience as it started.

3 teenagers break into an blind veteran's house to steal some money he has stashed away. They misunderstood how savvy, and alert he is. Then they realise they've underestimated how twisted he is.

Really good!

Film #105: You're Next

2nd film in the modern horror all-nighter and a great one. It was really good to see this film a second time.

A bunch of grown up kids and their partners go and visit their parents and a group of sadistic hunters crash their party. Some excellent scares, a good story and some nice twists and turns made this one of the better films of the night.

Film #104: Get Out

Part of a modern horror all-nighter and a film I'd seen earlier in the year but a good one as we get the story of a black guy who's taken to meet his white girlfriend's parents who are a bit too friendly towards him.

A great debut from the director who is onto greater things.

Now I'll just go and make myself a cup of tea.

Gig #80: Chemical Brothers @ Alexandra Palace

My second time to see the Chemicals where following an excellent first show at Blue Dot I got to see them on their London leg of their European tour. Much the same show with the incredible visuals and great track selection. The set is so tight I don't know how live it can really be though.

Film #103: Venom

A slight spinoff from the Marvel universe has Tom Hardy playing Eddie Brock, a man who's lost his job and is taken over by a symbiote.

Great effects but Tom acts too hard, and a little more tongue-in-cheek feel to the film would have been preferred. It's instantly unforgettable.  

Gig #79: They Might Be Giants @ Barbican

A night for the 90s music geeks as TMBG rolled into London as part of their World Tour. A band I think I saw at Reading many years ago but one that has changed over the years with dozens of albums to their name though; I'll admit to be being a big fan of the earlier ones though.

Tonight we had two sets and a couple of encores that ran for almost 2.5 hours, great for the fans, and moreso because it was a sitdown show in the rather excellent Barbican theatre; which served as my graduation ceremony location and a KLF Y2K gig I saw in '99.

The band were excellent with an absolutely incredible jazz trumpeter Curt Ramm who has played with the likes of Springsteen in the past. 

The track selection was really good too with welcome nods to the earlier tracks as well as some off the more recent albums. I left happy!

Film #102: Climax

Gaspar Noe's latest film is an absolute ride with a great soundtrack and really bizarre camerawork.

A party goes downhill when someone adds LSD to the sangria. A perfect family movie for Christmas.

Film #101: A Simple Favour

Anna Kendrick raps Ante Up and Blake Lively has the best answerphone message. 

Vlogger Kendrick befriends a rather shifty Lively and then searches for her after she goes missing.

One of the better films I've seen this year. Really good writing, especially for Blake's character. 

Film 100: The House with a Clock in the Walls

The House With a Clock in its Walls: Avoid comparisons with Harry Potter by making a film based on a book about a socially inept young boy with glasses who loses his parents and is adopted by his uncle moving to a new residence, full of magical creatures where he learns magic from a large bearded man and kills an evil guy who wants to destroy everyone.

Fortunately it won't have any sequels.

Film #99: Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam

A film that I've been wanting to see for a long long time (see what I did there) but have not been able to find a good copy. A group of guys had the same challenge so decided to restore it using a salvaged 35mm reel and versions uploaded to the internet. It's not perfect but they've done a bloody good job.

The film also known as Turkish Star Wars is so named because the director shamelessly stole footage and soundtrack from a bunch of 80s films.

The story doesn't make much sense, something about the planet earth being destroyed but being held together by the willpower of the human race, and 2 of the finest Turkish spacemen are sent to kill The Wizard who leads the enemy race. 

Filmed in Cappadocia, the effects seem to stretch to really bad furry costumes and lots of running through the caverns. For inexplicable reasons there's a scene advocating Islam as the way forward.

Totally bonkers, but entertaining and another fun crowd in the cinema too.

Film #98: Real Life

Tonight's Mystery Film showing at the PCC was this really good film that I'd never heard of. It's slightly meta in the same way Spinal Tap was, in fact some of those guys feature in this. Albert Brooks, who I know for The Simpsons, directs and plays the director of a film documenting the average American family. As is ever the case in these sort of films the best intentions gradually become a car crash.

Another excellent selection from the PCC programmers.

Film #97: American Animals

4 bored students with a love of Reservoir Dogs and the Beastie Boys Sabotage video plan to rob a library. Was not aware it was a documentary of real events but it's a very well put together documentary.

Film #96: John Wick Chapter 2

The second John Wick movie has Keanu with a new dog and a destroyed car having to repay a debt from another hitman which results in an obvious double-cross and him upsetting the hitman fraternity.

A lot more CQC, and that's not a bad thing...and an interesting lead-in to the next chapter.

Film #95: John Wick

Part of a double-bill starting with the first one in which some bad guys make a big mistake in taking Keanu from his mourning by stealing his car and killing his dog.

Lots of CQC, and that's not a bad thing.

Event: Bug X @ Greenwich Comedy Festival

A second chance to see the 10-year anniversary show of Adam Buxton's Bug show which is currently on a hiatus from its usual BFI gig. With it being part of the comedy festival the content was more on the humour than the videos but the selection was still on point and the crowd had a great time.

Please come back next year!

Film #94: Bleach

A film based on the Manga, which I've not read and know nothing about. I'm not sure I'm much the wiser after watching it. Some guy is pulled into a world of demon killing and transfers into the world through some sort of out-of-body experience, which I liked. The demons can only be seen in this realm and they're pretty cool. 

So good effects but I guess the story being as condensed as it must have been isn't that clear.

Film #93: Hard Ticket to Hawaii

Tonight's Crap Film Club showing was one of Andy Sidaris's classic movies featuring Playboy models in next to nothing acting like James Bond. It's famous for having 2 "wow" scenes. One featuring a skateboard riding assassin hiding behind a blow up doll, and a henchman with a penchant for frisbee. A suitably bonkers choice for the event.

Gigs #75-78: Futurecop & Friends @ Underworld

A second attempt to see FutureCop who no-showed a synthwave event earlier in the year. Would he show up this time? The night was a synthwave themed event which I'm starting to get into. I'm not quite sure of the demographic it's pulling yet but the music is really good.

Crimer were up first. A band surrounding a bit of a showman lead singer. The venue was really empty for their set but they did a good job working the small crowd that was there.

Knight$ were similar with a lead singer dressed like Don Johnson in Miami Vice. The music again was really good and the crowd started to fill up.

Support act was Anoraak, a couple of French guys who have tapped into the same X-factor that works for Daft Punk and they were excellent, really really good.

and for the main event FutureCop did show up. One chap behind a desk of synths and he smashed it. His visuals were particularly good with loops of so much 80s stuff from Breakfast Club, Ghibli, Star Wars and so much other great footage. I did find it quite amusing that the cheering of "FutureCop, FutureCop" sounded uncannily like "You Showed Up, You Showed Up". A shout of one more tune was met after he got the OK from the production guys, so thank you for allowing that!

Film #92: Blackkklansman

Spike Lee occasionally hits the mark, and a lot of the time misses it completely. 

He's back on track with this one telling the true story of a black cop who infiltrated the KKK. 

The ending, which I'm not sure was intentional, hits us hard.

Film #91: Upgrade

Quadraplegic mechanic gets an implant from a tech-womble that turns him into John Wick with a Knight Rider KITT internal dialogue and the walk of 80's Robocop. Black Mirror meets Loony Tunes.

Film #90: Killing Gunther

A Netflix film that features a group of assassins getting together to make a documentary to capture the assassination of the best assassin, a mystery guy called Gunther. 

It's not very good.

Event: Found Footage Festival @ Soho Theatre

Another visit to the UK from the FFF guys for another hour-long show full of embarressing, dated, and just plain weird videos. This one opened with an incredible police training video entitled "Sudden Birth" that definitely woke the crowd up. Then we had sex ed videos, wrestler intros and all sorts of other nonsense.

Film #89: The Breakfast Club

A classic from the 80's sees 5 kids from different school-groups in detention together. This is a film that is still enjoyable 30 years after it was made. At some point in everyones' lives you move from liking Molly to Ally.

Film #88: The Happytime Murders

Meet the Feebles with a budget. If you've been waiting for a muppet take on 'that' scene from Basic Instinct then you're in luck. It took a little while to get over the shock of seeing muppets swear and there's a scene where silly string is used as ejaculate.

I laughed then questioned if I should have.

Film #87: Rumble in the Bronx

A perfect film to finish the marathon, sees Jackie Chan in his first US made film. This one has him moving into a Chinese community and having a run in with a local gang. The stunts are great; this is the one where he broke his ankle leaping onto a hovercraft and gets smashed in the mouth through a step ladder.

Film #86: Go!

The 4th film in the mystery marathon.

This film from the late 90's features 3 storylines all tied together by the word "go".

There's a girl who becomes a dealer for a couple of cops, a couple of kids who travel to Vegas and have a run in with a gangster, and a couple of cops hiding their gay relationship from their workplace.

I remember seeing this when it came out and enjoyed it. I did this time too. It's holding up quite nicely.

Film #85: Rollerball

Film #3 in the mystery movie marathon.

and a film I recognised from the opening shot. I love this film, it's such a classic and if you've not seen it, do so. Avoid the remake.

Film #84: The Odd Couple

2nd film in the mystery movie marathon.

This is a classic comedy from the late 60's starring Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau as two guys living together after one become suicidal following a break up. The two English women they try to partner up with a bizarre. I don't really do old movies but will admit to liking this one.

Film #83: After Hours

Film 1 in a PCC mystery movie marathon.

This is an early Scorsese film, that tells the story of a guy who meets a girl in a diner and the night with her goes all astray with enough coincidences across a small number of characters that this could be a play. Part serious, part dark, part comedy. The ending was particularly amusing.

Film #82: Equalizer 2

Everyone's favourite neighbourhood-watch vigilante Denzel is back, killing a PC-friendly ethnically-diverse group of bad guys who murder his friend. One of them, a back seat hitman is especially inept.

Almost made me want to break the ankle of the kid behind me who thought it was OK to put his feet up on the headrest of the seat next to mine. Justice should be served!

Film #81: The Spy Who Dumped Me

Meg Griffin and her friend puke and poop their way through Europe being chased by a lonely gymnast assassin and good and bad intelligence agencies (it's confusing to work out who's who). None of the cast are stretched in their performances but they all seem to have enjoyed making it. It's more entertaining than Spy.

Film #80: Unfriended - Dark Web

The second in the skype-style scary movie. Like the one before it this one isn't scary but gives a good warning of what might happen if you procure a second hand ipad. You don't sympathise for any of the characters and the ending (of which there are two apparently; mine was the big brother ending) was nuts but made sense. 

Event: Anjunadeep @ 3 Mills Island

A stage decorated with plant-covered palette boards and a music selection where I named 2 tracks all afternoon. When I booked this I thought it would be more Anjunabeats than Anjunadeep but that didn't pay off. The sets were good but there was nothing to look at. I need visuals to look at rather than a DJ or two posing between mixing tracks. 

The venue was cool though, a nice circular plot of land in Bromley.

Film #79: Hotel Artemis

This film snuck out from nowhere, I don't recall seeing any publicity for it.

Jodie Foster runs a hospital safehouse for criminals. Someone important is looking for a bed. Are the other guests there to recover or perform a hit? It felt a bit like Smoking Aces but much darker and with a more tighter plot. The performances are all good and I felt this had the making of a franchise behind it. It feels like it may have been a comic book at some point.

It disappeared from the cinema after a week, I guess Ant Man & Mission Impossible stole its potential crowd which is a shame. 

Film #78: Heathers

A film I loved when I was younger gets a re-release as part of it's 30 birthday celebrations (man, I feel so old). Winona is the girl trying to fit in with bitchy girls all called Heather. Christian Slater doesn't want to fit in and wants to kill some people.

Some people die, and we all laugh. It's very dark and still really good, although some of the homophobia references are now showing their age.

Film #77: Jumanji

A Jumanji double-bill gave me the opportunity to see the first one and I don't believe I saw it when it was initially released. (Don't ask).

The CGI has dated really really badly but the story still holds up.

I did prefer the second one though...sorry!

Film #76: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

A film I had never heard of directed by Luc Besson, who I don't believe has done a film I've not liked. So one I had to see.

It's Besson's take on The Mummy franchise featuring a rich woman seeking an Egyptian mummy who has the power to bring her dead sister back; she died in a tennis accident.

There's a pterydactyl for no reason and a quite dark ending.

I really liked it and the Besson run continues.

Film #75: American Friend

This was seen just to kill time whilst waiting for my next film. A waste of time directed by Wim Wenders starring Dennis Hopper. It was really really slow, and writing this one month after seeing it I barely recall what happened.

Film #74: Mission Impossible Fallout

Zoinks Scoobs!! The bad guy would have gotten away with destroying the planet if it wasn't for that pesky midget with the face masks and his team of nerds.

It's a good film but the plot is too obvious and everyone makes a big hoohaa for Tom doing his own stunts again. He also manages to do a rooftop run from St Pauls to Blackfriars despite there being a wide road around the Cathedral (although it looks like the window he jumps out of on the way is in Mermaid House, my old workplace). In the last one I really liked Rebecca Ferguson, and it's cool that she's in this again but with a slightly reduced role because she was pregnant during filming. 

Film #73: Office Space

An old film from 1999 which I think it based on a comic strip. It's about a kid in an office who manages to do well by senior management despite being a complete slacker. A wise man once said give a hard task to the laziest person as he'll find the most efficient and optimal way to do it; that's basically this film.

There's a weird guy with a love of staplers who has a breakdown too. The comedy from him isn't as strong as the comedy from the good writing of the main character, but his scenes still made me laugh.

and for some reason Jennifer Aniston is in it and I'm not sure why. The ending is also quite abrupt, it could easily have gone another 10 minutes.

Gigs #60-74: Blue Dot Day 3

It was raining but I sat through Elle Mary and the Bad Men. OK, but not Lauran good.

Roberts Bakery Band were very good.

Park Hotel were OK

Lost Horizons, I couldn't get into them.

George Fitzgerald wasn't really my thing. A bit like a poor Bonobo.

Ummm, I'm not sure who this is.

Algorave is a lot of fun. Completely inclusive and random. They had a lengthy set that I kept going back to.

Warm Digits had a delayed starter and reduced set but were really good.

Levels seemed to be suffering from some syncing issues with the guy on the left being noticeably out-of-time with the rest of the band. But when they got it right they were great.

Boy Azooga weren't too shabby. I do like Girl Behind A Cigarette.

Snapped Ankles, weird.

The final headline act was the Chemical Brothers who were amazing. I'm seeing them again later in the year.

Henge are odd, just like in previous years.

Human After All was a terrible Daft Punk tribute act. They were severely impeded by the post-midnight volume lowering. Can we get the real Daft Punk please?

Gigs #47-59: Blue Dot Day 2

Opening Day 2 was Lauran Hibberd. Probably my favourite new act of the weekend and she's set for big things. 

Radiophonic Workshop playing for the second time. These old guys are really good.

Game_Program. Lots of cables and a very electronic set.

The Long Now were quite orchestral for a festival. I wasn't sure what to make of it.

Mancunian's Pearl City were very good.

Lamb is an act some friends always see when they play live but I didn't get it. I did now, despite them having technical issues that prevented them playing their own set. Their music needs to be heard live and they have such a presence on stage. 

Finishing the night with the bonkers fun of cassetteboy. Such was it's popularity we had to ditch the chairs to let more in.

Re-Tros were really good. I missed the start of their set but really enjoyed the end of it.

I can't remember which band this was, Fehm perhaps?

I'd seen Hookworms at All Points East. Their show was much the same complete with the lead guy wearing unnecessary cycling shorts.

Gary Numan sounded more Nine Inch Nails than Nine Inch Nails.

I'm not sure who this is either!

Headline act on Day 2 was Future Islands who aren't a main event band and their lack of any sort of show proved that. There must have been another act line up that fell through.