Stranger Things 3 is the current undisputed watercooler king of Netflix. Attracting a record 40 million Netflix account views, the show has a lot going for it, including one Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) who, once again, when he’s trying to stop his daughter Jane/Eleven/El (Milly Bobby Brown) and Mike (Finn Continue Reading
TV
Mutants, job obsolence, and new phones: Rocko’s Modern Life – Static Cling
SNAPSHOTAfter being in space for around 20 years, Rocko and his friends attempt to conform to an even more modern life in O-Town, where coffee shops are on every corner, food trucks offer multi-layered tacos, touch-screen O-Phones are being upgraded on a near-constant basis, an instant-print kiosk has replaced Rocko’s Continue Reading
Fear the Walking Dead: “Still Standing” (S5, E7 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … RADIOACTIVE ZOMBIES AND SCARED KIDS AND HOPE DYING … AND NOT … We all like to think of ourselves as good people right? Cross at the lights. Give old ladies our seat on the train. Stand up to demented racists with orange hair (no one in particular; Continue Reading
50 years of Sesame Street: It’s always time to “Sing”, sing a song
Apart from its commitment to teaching kids ABC and 123 basics in a way that’s creative, fun and meaningful, and being the absolute boss of pop culture pop culture videos, Sesame Street has always placed music front and centre over its 50 years of time on the year. A parade Continue Reading
Dialling up the horror and growing pains: Thoughts on Stranger Things 3
That sound you hear as you hit “play” on episode 1 of Netflix’s mega monster hit (literally in ever sense of the phrase) Stranger Things 3 – the Upside Down world of this franchise, you don’t have seasons, just numbers, as if the new episodes are breeding up a storm Continue Reading
Video essay: Buster Keaton – the Art of the Gag
He was, and remains, a comedy legend, and for very good reason. Many, in fact, but one thing that Buster Keaton (1895-1966) did brilliantly well, was execute a gag to near-perfection, his timing always on point and his innate ability to tell how funny something might be, especially done a Continue Reading
Christmas in July … Reading Paddington and the Christmas Surprise
Paddington Bear, who first appeared on 13 October 1958, courtesy of creator Michael Bond, in the children’s book A Bear Called Paddington, is precisely the sort of person (and he is in every way that matters) I would want to do anything and everything Christmas-y with. Innocent, free-spirited, determined despite Continue Reading
Fear the Walking Dead: “The Little Prince” (S5, E6 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND A LITTLE KINDNESS WHICH GOES A LONG WAY … AND REALLY, *REALLY*, CLOSE-UP ZOMBIES … Goddamit but Fear the Walking Dead has made kindness muscular and sexy! That’s quite a feat and not simply because kindness is usually the preserve of Care Bears, Hallmark cards and Continue Reading
Christmas in July … watching Yogi Bear’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper
First airing, in seasonally-appropriate style, on 21 December, 1982, Yogi Bear’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper was the third and final festive special for Jellystone Park’s favourite pic-a-nic loving resident. (Yogi Bera is voiced by the legendary Daws Butler) Gathering together a panoply of Hanna-Barbera characters from the well known likes Continue Reading
What’s it like being Doctor Who-level famous? David Tennant tells
We have all heard the stories of fame being as much of an albatross around the neck as it is a bright and shiny Christmas bauble, normally couched in the context of a bio pic morality tale where someone realises their dreams of fame and fortune only to find the Continue Reading