hardtack

I'm a big fan of stop motion/claymation work... have a lot of Aardman Studios early work on DVD as well as Svankmajer's shorts and his takes on Faust and Alice in Wonderland, David Borthwick's extremely disturbing Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb and finally the Quay Brothers animations. I have a number of the German Expressionist cinema works on DVD including Nosferatu, Cabinet of Dr Calligari (including the hand tinted colour version), The Golem, Waxworks etc.

It depends. I loved the original Japanese Ringu and Dark Water (American versions were terrible), loved the first Nightmare on Elm Street, The Others was clever, and I thought Descent was a very good film. Not into the franchises like Saw etc.

Well Saty, I don't consider directors like Lynch and Jarmusch to be typical of the American formulaic film and television production line or the Hollyweird factory - they are international directors/writers/producers who work outside of that framework. Regardless of where it was made, Twin Peaks (series 1) was a masterpiece (and if you want to see a superb piece of film making, take a look at The Straight Story) - I would be more disappointed in myself if I were writing off films and TV series based purely on where they were created.

I would agree to an extent that Twin Peaks was the greatest TV series ever made...that is certainly true of the first series, but I thought the second series was a little disappointing as he handed directorial (and writing?) control over to a number of different people, including (if I recall correctly) Dianne Keaton. To me this resulted in a lot of inconsistency in the quality of the episodes and didn't flow as well as the first series. I'm a huge Lynch fan, but strangely one of my favourites of his is The Straight Story...based on a true story about a guy who rides a ride-on mower across state to visit his dying estranged brother in the next state. A very slow paced, gentle film that is completely out of character with his usual fare, but which is mesmerizing to the point where it could only be a Lynch product.

From the moment I heard Ricky Don't Lose That Number, Steely Dan lost me completely. The fact that Skunk Baxter played for another bad that I could not stomach (Doobies) didn't help matters...I did however like Don Was with Was Not Was.

I'm taking my son to Barcelona, Paris and London for 3 weeks mid Sept to early Oct.

If you're traveling you will (or should) be too busy for watching a series... take a handful of movies instead, starting with What We Do In the Shadows. Where are you going by the way?

Wow, what a great clip! I was lucky enough to see Stephane Grappelli in the 70's at the Dallas Brookes Hall... he had ex Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge accompanying him. And speaking of Charlie Christian, he was the favourite guitarist of a bebop playing friend of mine who I worked with at Veterans' Affairs in St Kilda Rd in the late 70's.... don't know whatever happened to him (a guy named Steve Gunther), but he was a very very good guitarist who used to play at places like Bogarts in Nth Melbourne and The Grain Factory (was that the name of the place?). The last I had heard from him (decades ago) he was heading off to New York to study under bebop pianist Lennie Tristano.

Persevere... I loved it

I took my son to see Hunt For the Wilderpeople the other day (I had seen it on my return flight from NZ recently) and I have to say that it is one of the funnier films I have seen in a long long time... in fact, since Taika Waititi's previous film What We Do In the Shadows (a superb mocumentary about a share house in Wellington occupied by vampires). This film has a real heart, laugh out loud laconic humour, and the kid who played Ricky Baker (the overweight "bad boy") is brilliant, as is Waititi's cameo as a minister providing solace at a funeral. And Sam Neill is perfrect in the part as the hardened bushman "uncle" with a heart of gold. Just 4 words - Go and see it!!

I thought Fury Road was the best Mad Max film after Mad Max 2... really though, the only dud was Beyond Thunderdome.

Went to NZ for a few days (arrived back yesterday) and on the flight back watched "Hunt for the Wilderpeople"... it has to be one of the funniest films I have seen.... ever! After I saw "What We Do in the Shadows" a couple of years back,. I didn't know how anyone could make a funnier film...but somehow Taika Waititi has managed the feat. Can't recommend this highly enough (if this film doesn't raise a laugh, then you are officially dead).

Ok, I'll see your big noting and raise you... Firstly it should be understood that I have not seen any of GoT...not even a preview so I can't vouch for the veracity of this B.N.. Now, if you have seen the clip of my song that I posted a link to here for YouTube (song was Don't Blame Me), the guitarist in that clip Steve Ralphs is the advisor on correct use of long bows (he makes them) and has worked in that capacity on GoT since the beginning, or so I'm led to believe. Check out the credits and see if you can find him. Here endeth my big note.

Game, set and match OD ;-)

I recall he managed to kick goals against us...hopefully he can kick a few for us.

I've not seen a single episode.

I actually saw them back then (I think at an ANU union night in Canberra in the 70's) when they were known as The Keystone Angels. I thought they were great... wasn't so keen on the Angels though, I have to admit. I'm pretty sure one of the former Angels (can't recall which one) has been working in the indigenous communities assisting with raising money for dialysis machines etc.

I seriously believe that AC/DC should have gone completely away from tired old "rockers" (Brian Johnson was bad enough in my opinion) and gone down the route of someone like Nikki Hill... (and her husband is no slouch on the guitar either)... I saw them at Bluefest 2014 and they took the roof off the place! (they were so impressive that Bluesfest had them back again the following year in 2015)

If you love Primus, check out the Residents documentary "Theory of Obscurity",,, they were a massive influence on Primus and members of Primus feature during the documentary.

I agree with what you're saying Macca... I was more expressing my personal disappointment :-) However, if you want brass at its finest in a rock n roll context, try this on for size...

The first Chicago Transit Authority album was brilliant... they were a real contrast to Blood Sweat and Tears who were a very smooth sounding outfit... CTA at that time had a guitarist who was more influenced by Hendrix than any jazz greats and consequently the sound had a real edge to it. It was a shame what they became though.

"The Revenant" I liked, but to be honest, I much preferred his last film "Birdman"... the bear scene was extremely well done; exhausting to watch in the same way that Deliverance was exhausting to watch when it first appeared. Other than that, I just found some of the scenes a little too contrived and I was a little disappointed when the director used the "meteor" in one scene... it must be some sort of metaphor that he has become attached to as he also used it in "Birdman". In recent times, the films I have given repeat viewings are "Birdman" and "St Vincent"... both excellent vehicles for their aging stars in Keaton and Murray respectively. Another film I thoroughly recommend is from the French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) called "The Extraordinary Voyage of the Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivett; completely unheralded but an absolutely brilliant film! I just can't stop watching it over and over. Also, last night I watched one of the better music BluRays I have seen for a long long time in Elvis Costello's Detour... he is performing for the most part solo to a smallish audience in an opera house in Liverpool and recounting stories regarding how he came up with particular songs, his family life, his father and grandfathers influence on him musically speaking etc etc. He also brings on two guests in Rebecca and Megan Lovell (on mandolin and lap steel guitar respectively, as well as vocal harmonies) from the band Larkin Poe; together they combine to turn out some of the best versions of EC's songs I have ever heard... uplifting to say the very least.

I missed that concert... I went to the first Sunbury in January 1972... interesting sums it up best, I think. Some great music, but lots of drunk yobbos beating the crap out of each other and lots of stoners who didn't seem to know where they were.

Certainly a far cry from Sunbury where they were all but run out of town :-)

To my mind, Murder Ballads is one of the greatest albums recorded... however, I'm afraid Queen have never done it for me... in fact, I would go so far as to say their supposed masterpiece Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most pompous pieces of crap ever committed to vinyl/CD.