F.R. Jameson's Blog, page 8
February 11, 2019
Doctor Who reviews (Extra) – Goth Opera by Paul Cornell
The Peter Davison era of DOCTOR WHO is the one I grew up with.
I did start watching the show in Tom Baker’s last series (and have clear
memories of watching ‘The Keeper of Traken’ and loving it; but I also remember already
knowing who Romana and K9 were, so must have watched it before), but really
Peter Davison was The Doctor when my love for the show truly cemented. And yet –
despite owning the DVDs – I never really go back and re-watch that era. It’s
not that I find it bad necessarily, it’s certainly not the gaudy car crash the
same team would soon produce with poor Colin Baker (which, even as a pre-teen,
I realised wasn’t good), but still I find something insubstantial about it. The
episodes get nowhere near my memories of them and the main emotion I take away
from any re-view is disappointment.
Still though, reading Paul Cornell’s lovely capturing of the
era was like sinking back into the cosiness of childhood. The Doctor is here
(and maybe a slightly more dynamic version than often appeared on screen),
Tegan is here and perfectly captured and Nyssa is given much, much more to do
than was oft the case. The story is big and grand and has more ambition (and
let’s be fair, blood and gore) than would ever have been pulled off in the real
Nathan-Turner era.
It’s a grand tale of ancient evil, mischievous time lords,
Earth in terrible peril and The Doctor being the brightest person in the toom.
Just the way I want it.
With a whole year of no DOCTOR WHO ahead of me, I imagine I will be dipping more and more into my book collection (kept in a geeky box until my bed) and my word, GOTH OPERA is a good place to start.
My debut novel, THE WANNABES – which has been out of print for a little while – is now available for free! A supernatural thriller of beautiful actresses and deadly ambition in London town, it’s well worth your time. You can get your copy here!.
Doctor Who reviews – Goth Opera by Paul Cornell
The Peter Davison era of DOCTOR WHO is the one I grew up with.
I did start watching the show in Tom Baker’s last series (and have clear
memories of watching ‘The Keeper of Traken’ and loving it; but I also remember already
knowing who Romana and K9 were, so must have watched it before), but really
Peter Davison was The Doctor when my love for the show truly cemented. And yet –
despite owning the DVDs – I never really go back and re-watch that era. It’s
not that I find it bad necessarily, it’s certainly not the gaudy car crash the
same team would soon produce with poor Colin Baker (which, even as a pre-teen,
I realised wasn’t good), but still I find something insubstantial about it. The
episodes get nowhere near my memories of them and the main emotion I take away
from any re-view is disappointment.
Still though, reading Paul Cornell’s lovely capturing of the
era was like sinking back into the cosiness of childhood. The Doctor is here
(and maybe a slightly more dynamic version than often appeared on screen),
Tegan is here and perfectly captured and Nyssa is given much, much more to do
than was oft the case. The story is big and grand and has more ambition (and
let’s be fair, blood and gore) than would ever have been pulled off in the real
Nathan-Turner era.
It’s a grand tale of ancient evil, mischievous time lords,
Earth in terrible peril and The Doctor being the brightest person in the toom.
Just the way I want it.
With a whole year of no DOCTOR WHO ahead of me, I imagine I will be dipping more and more into my book collection (kept in a geeky box until my bed) and my word, GOTH OPERA is a good place to start.
My debut novel, THE WANNABES – which has been out of print for a little while – is now available for free! A supernatural thriller of beautiful actresses and deadly ambition in London town, it’s well worth your time. You can get your copy here!.
February 6, 2019
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Despite the promise of its name, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is an oddly subtle film. Considering the implement and the title, the violence is actually quite muted compared to gorefests today. Its violence is most shocking for how brief and sudden it is. What’s really unsettling about the film is the constant air of dread; the suspicion that we have stepped into some terrible realm of evil and immorality and there may be no way out.
So, yes, subtle is a word one could use to describe the original.
But subtlety – or any variation thereof – is not a word one
would ever use in relation to the sequel.
This is a film which gives ‘gauche’ a bad name. It is loud,
brash, going for gross out humour more than horror, and so unfettered from the
normal rules of plot and character as to feel like absurdist theatre. After the
muted tones of the first film, this is like a fever dream.
(Full disclosure, I watched this while ill, which may have
added to its hallucinatory quality for me.)
Two dreadful young men are murdered on the road by Leatherface and his family. They’re on the radio with a local DJ at the time, and their death leads her into contact with a Texas law-man – Dennis Hopper – who lost family members in the original Texas chainsaw massacre and who has sworn revenge. That’s the set up of the plot, but it is also basically the plot. As beyond that, there’s just screaming and running around and chainsaw duels as the whole descends into a terrible mess.
[image error]
Did I like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2? I honestly find it hard to say yes to that question. I watched the whole thing (although as I say, I was ill, and finding it hard to move), but it was with a horrible fascination of where on earth it was going to next. I was repulsed by it at points, but never amused when it wanted me to be. Nor was I overly bothered by the fate of the characters, even though I really like Dennis Hopper as an actor. Here though he’s sleep-walking, his off-beat sensibility seemingly switched off. Any bland actor could play that part in exactly the bland way he’s playing it.
Beyond upping the meat-eating satire of the original, it’s
hard to see the point of the film. Indeed, it feels like a director who has no
real ideas for a sequel but suddenly has money for a sequel, screaming at his
audience: “You want a follow-up to my
most famous film? HERE’S a follow-up to my most famous film!”. And then
turning everything up to a neon-drenched hundred and eleven and seeing what
happens.
My parents didn’t actually like the first TEXAS CHAINSAW. They thought all that running around with a chainsaw was like something from a MONTY PYTHON sketch. But no, Mater and Pater, this is the film that feels like a MONTY PYTHON sketch gone awry. And if Graham Chapman had walked out in his army uniform at any point in the last hour and stopped the film for being too silly, I wouldn’t have been surprised, in fact I’d have been relieved.
[image error]This film is very silly!
My debut novel, THE WANNABES – which has been out of print for a little while – is now available for free. A supernatural thriller of beautiful actresses and deadly ambition in London town, it’s well worth your time. You can get your copy here!.
February 4, 2019
We Have Lost the President by Paul Matthews
WE HAVE LOST
THE PRESIDENT contains maybe the most pleasant, home-spun dystopia I’ve ever
come across. In other hands, a future Britain which has lost technology like
mobile-phones and the internet, and where the royal family has been exiled to
Canada, would be the basis of a hand-wringing tract about the dreadfulness of
the modern world. Here though we have a home-spun attitude of make and make do which
adds to the general good humour of the piece. This is a Britain that may have
gone somewhat to the dogs, but as a long as large pies and pints of Guinness
available, it’s citizens will survive.
This amusing
tale of the British president having gone AWOL, draws on James Bond novels, plucky
journalistic derring-do and – of all things
– the Granita Pact between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, to create a
funny mystery/adventure story through this strange new Republican London.
The plot?
Well, it’s almost there in the title, our President has disappeared and it’s up
to his PR man – and newly minted secret agent – to find him.
Of course,
in our post Brexit Britain, the notion of a universally beloved leader of
Britain born in Poland, now seems a little strange and dated. But given the
depression I feel most days at the news, I feel throwing our whole broken system
in for a President and several hundred Vice-Presidents could be a way to go.
I wouldn’t want to lose the internet, but there’s some stuff here I would most definitely be willing to embrace.
My debut novel, THE WANNABES – which has been out of print for a little while – is now available for free! A supernatural thriller of beautiful actresses and deadly ambition in London town, it’s well worth your time. You can get your copy here!.
January 29, 2019
The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972)
Giallo, for the uninitiated, is a type of Italian
horror film that thrived in the early seventies and focused on people – most
particularly women – being menaced by black gloved, masked serial killers.
That description might be queried by some people, but I’ll cheerfully confess that I am no expert. Until now the only Giallo I have really seen is that directed by Dario Argento, the name most internationally associated with the genre – to the point where his most famous film, SUSPIRIA is frequently described as Giallo, when surely its way too supernatural to fit the billing.
Again, I’m happy to be corrected if that is wrong.
THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS is my first dip into
non-Argento Giallo and I am pleased to fine that it’s good scary fun. As well
as absolutely bonkers.
Fashion models are being brutally slayed in a
high-rise apartment block. But is the killer the architect with an aversion to
blood? Or the lesbian next-door neighbour? Or her violin playing father? Or the
old lady with the secret?
It’s like Agatha Christie, although with more violent
deaths and frequent nudity.
If the description above doesn’t sound mad enough, we
also have a stamp obsessed police officer who advises one of the delectable
targets of this psychopath to keep living in the apartment block without police
protection to lure the killer out. That is clearly terrible policing. Then
there’s the moment where a stabbed lady collapses into a gentleman on the
pavement and he makes the acting choice to stare bemused around the streets as
if hunting for her killer. Which given that she’s still in the process of literally
dying in his arms, can’t seem more than a bit heartless.
Those moments just add to its charm though. Anyone
with a stern fidelity to logic is not going to enjoy these films, but if you
want a fun slasher movie (made before they became a big thing in The States)
then you can do a lot worse.
January 27, 2019
Vinyl Detective: Victory Disc by Andrew Cartmell
The Vinyl Detective may be my favourite series of books currently being written. Certainly, it’s the only one I can think of where I actually make a point of reading each new installment not long after they come. I’d genuinely feel bad if I ever fell behind.
Undoubtedly there’s a certain silliness to the whole enterprise, the set-up requires some suspension of disbelief. It’s a series of tales about a collector of old records who – through the simple act of gathering old vinyl (often from charity shops) – finds himself involved in all kinds of crime, skulduggery and international intrigue. It’s essentially Nick Hornby meets James Bond. But as a somewhat geeky middle-aged man (although not one who collects vinyl records or who has any particular liking for jazz) and a fan of spy novels, this is thus very much my kind of book.
This one takes place in more of a minor key than its predecessors. (That doesn’t mean the tension is any less though – indeed, there’s one terrifying near death scene that Fleming would be proud of, if he sent Bond out more to the English countryside.) Our hero is hired to find some old 78 records from the Second World War (so actually pressed on shellac, rather than vinyl), but he still stumbles upon an old murder, neo-Nazis and historic espionage.
Of course, they’re in no way realistic, but if you’re tired of the endlessly gritty crime dramas which populate TV these days, then you can do worse than curling up with a book that’s light and breezy and – even as its protagonist heads off on his latest life and death case – knows not to take itself too seriously.
If you’re interested in my own writings, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND OTHER STRANGE TALES – my frankly must read collection of scary and quirky short stories is available for free now!
January 23, 2019
The Girl with all the Gifts (2016)
This cheap
British zombie film (with a bizarrely starry cast) tells a gripping story with
some admirably weird touches. Whereas scenes of zombies (or ‘hungries’, in the
parlance of this film) congregating in shopping centres, is straight out of the
big ‘Let’s turn George Romero’s work into clichés’ manual, zombie children and
dangerous plants growing up the side of BT Tower feel like something more from
J.D. Ballard.
A fungus-based
virus has decimated mankind, turning most people into carnivorous monsters.
Except there are some children in this new world who seem to be both zombie and
human. Scientist, Glenn Close, wants to experiment on these children; soldier,
Paddy Considine wavers between guarding them and destroying them; while
teacher, Gemma Arterton is the voice of compassion.
Undeniably it’s a flawed film. The ending is oddly cheesy and, given how crucial the part is to the narrative arc, Arterton’s role feels oddly unwritten (or at least, like a lot of it has been left on the cutting room floor). Yet in amongst a lot of stuff you’ll have seen already if you’ve watched zombie films, there is some true originality which makes this film well worth your time.
If you’re interested in my own writings, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND OTHER STRANGE TALES – my frankly must read collection of scary and quirky short stories is available for free now!
January 21, 2019
Death of an Actress by Antony M. Brown
In 1947, a young (and unknown) actress, Gay Gibson sailed from Johannesburg to Southampton. Except she never actually reached her destination. One night she disappeared and foul play was immediately suspected. A particularly amorous stewards was questioned, but it was the answers he gave when back on shore in Britain which really shocked and launched this case into the public imagination.
It’s seventy years since all this happened and so it’s not surprising that the story has slipped from the public imagination. (I had never heard of it.) Anthony M. Brown does a good, if unfussy job of placing the details of the case before us, and his matter of fact tone – if anything – makes the whole seem all the more eyebrow raising. It could have been melodramatic, but instead it seems coldly brutal.
The conceit of this book (and the others in the series, so it seems) is that the evidence is put in front of the reader who can then decide whether he or she thinks the accused is indeed guilty of the crime. If I’m honest, I think Brown is probably trying to sway the jury a little towards one particular theory, but this is still an entertaining and informative read of a forgotten part of British history.
If you’re interested in my own writings, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND OTHER STRANGE TALES – my frankly must read collection of scary and quirky short stories is available for free now!
January 16, 2019
Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
#Stands up and applauds#
FOREVER AND A DAY genuinely feels like a lost James Bond
novel.
Fleming in his writings always went forward, but if he had
gone back and slotted in some early adventures, this feels like the kind of
book he’d have produced. There’s the beautiful, mysterious woman who’s swayed
by Bond’s charms; there are two villains, one of whom really does have his villainy
emphasised by his appearance; and there’s a twisty European plot, including a
visit to Monte Carlo for a spot of high stakes gambling. And of course, there’s
treachery and sexual sadism. All of this builds up to not only a nerve-sheddingly
tense conclusion, but also a great restatement of British stiff upper lip
values. Possibly the one obvious Fleming trope that isn’t here is racism,
although that’s probably for the best.
It’s a great ventriloquist act. I did enjoy Horowitz’s
Sherlock Holmes book, THE HOUSE OF SILK, but I was conscious throughout that it
wasn’t really Conan-Doyle. There’s no such distancing here.
Part of the book’s success is attributable to using an old outline that Fleming wrote for television, although that’s undoubtedly downplaying Horowitz’s contribution. As Horowitz has done a magnificent job, not just in the character, but in the genre and the whole milieu. One can almost smell the sea salt of the French coast and taste the cordite when the danger starts.
This is not only a fantastic spy story, it’s a spot-on James Bond novel.
If you’re interested in my own writings, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND OTHER STRANGE TALES – my frankly must read collection of scary and quirky short stories is available for free now!
January 14, 2019
My Life so Far by Jane Fonda
Like a lot
of my interests these days, I was inspired to read this book by the ‘You Must
Remember this’ podcast, which did a fascinating series comparing Jane Fonda and
Jean Seberg – two American actresses who made films in France in the 1960s and
were targeted by the FBI for their activism in the 1970s. It was listening to
that which prompted me to read the former’s autobiography (the latter was found
dead in a car in a Paris before she had chance to write one). To find out about
this woman who is so famous and successful and – in some quarters – absolutely loathed.
What I found was a book at turns fascinating and exhausting.
[image error]
There’s an
intensity to Jane Fonda on film. All her characters have a determination, which
echoes in her activism. And that stridency is right there in every page of this
book. As such it can be quite exhausting reading it as Jane charges through her
life with an energy and fury which few could match. Not that she doesn’t have
doubts or flaws or worries about what she’s done or what she’s going to do.
It’s just that despite the normal human foibles, there is a relentlessness to
Jane Fonda which is truly admirable, even as it’s that little bit terrifying.
I write books about actresses (although mine so far have all been British) and so reading this was a research opportunity. And for an author, it would be harder to find a better template for a complicated character. This isn’t a lady who is trying to whitewash her past and just celebrate the glory of her career, but nor is she here to whip herself in public for her mistakes. Instead she is trying to live the examined life: to work out why she did the things she did.
[image error]
Which makes
the way the narrative of her life tails off towards the end of this of this
2006 memoir decidedly odd. As when she marries Ted Turner, she seemingly
disappears from her own story. Where we had a strong strident protagonist, we now
have a void. What makes this really interesting is that she was already
divorced by the time she wrote this, and it feels like she still hadn’t worked
out what to say about the experience. Maybe she just needs a bit of time and I
am happy to give it to her.
As of course, since then we’ve also had a career upswing for her and so obviously there’d be more to say. I’d have to steel myself before I picked it up, but I’d be more than happy to read it.
If you’d like to find out about the actresses I write about, then there are worse places to start than picking up ‘An Interview with Charles Ravens‘ (which is available completely for free). Charles knew them all and some of his insights are most insightful…
