Lord of the Fans

Archive for November, 2010

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Movie Review

When the decade started with the release of “24 Hour party people” we saw a great film about the popular music in Manchester but since then there has not been too much to think about until now. Enter the movie Sex and Drugs, and Rock and Roll and we are back on track and away from the mundane and sanitized biopics that seem to overanalyse our Godlike rock stars.

Sex and Drugs, and Rock and Roll is directed by Mat Whitecross, the famed director of ‘Road to Guantanamo’, and tackles the life of Ian Dury. The film focuses on the rocker, who can be called gobshite and a proto-punk, and his rise and fall.

The movie is a combination of colours galore, clattering noise, absolutely foul language, and adverse imagery. Yes it contain everything its titles seems to suggest and plenty more. The movie is a no holds barred expose and hides very little about the rocker. So Dury is shown to be a lyrical genius, who is disreputable, dishonest, verbally abusive, and fascinating especially with regards to his exploration of his past. He informs us all about said past but offers up no real explanations concerning is current life and music.

Dury is played by Andy Serkis in the movie and his former spouse ‘Betty’ by Olivia Williams. The movie follows Dury and his stepping away from Kilburn And The High Roads, his old band and also his split from Betty and also his taking up with teenager Denise played by Naomie Harris. It shows how Dury tries to mix family life with the fame, alcoholism, and his own selfishness.

There is no sugar-coating any of Dury’s problems and his good sides. This helps to make this move authentic and intriguing.

So watch out for the poster about this movie, who knows you may even see them in the Bristol Airport parking area among others.

Spaced

Spaced

Spaced is a sitcom written by the now-famous Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes and directed by Edgar Wright. They later went on to work on Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but Spaced is where it all began and where I think they were truley at their best.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced

The setup for the show is simple – Tim and Daisy are both looking for a flat and find a nice looking one available to “professional couples only”, so they go to look, get accepted and move in. What follows is two seasons of eight shows each that explore the relationships of the people who live there and Tim and Daisy’s friends.

The show explores a lot of pop culture, referencing popular TV shows, Sci-Fi and comic books in original and innovative ways. However even without a prior knowledge of such shows the razor sharp whit and fast paced, original script will keep you enthralled.

I originally found this show via a recommendation from a friend. We were driving round Bristol airport looking for Bristol airport parking when he made a joke about Jaffa Cakes and I asked for further explanation. That’s when he explained about Spaced, about it’s incredible sense of humour and original style and since watching it I haven’t turned back.

Edgar Wright has now moved on to direct such huge movies as Scott Pilgrim VS The World, and Simon Pegg is already an actor in his own right with movies such as Star Trek and Burke & Hare to his name. As they both continue to advance their own careers a third season of Spaced looks less and less likely, but I can only hope that one day they find everything they need to make another TV show of comparable quality because to my mind, Spaces is still one of the funniest British TV shows ever made.

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