#The Two Ronnies dvd

[spryfilm]

DVD Review: “The Two Ronnies” (1971 – 1987) 

[yusuke-of-valla]

The thing about watching Operation Overdrive as an adult when it was probably hyperfixation for you as an undiagnosed autistic child (I would always get the DVDs from the library and watch them over and over again I don't know if that counts)

Is that when I was 8 these were cool adults who were clearly mature because they were allowed to play on the pool table, and our grandpa never let us use the pool sticks in case we scratched it, and then as an adult it's like "oh. These are 18-23 year olds. They're fucking stupid."

And Tyzonn is the fucking most of "oh these characters are not as mature as they appeared to me when I was 8" becuase as a child I was convinced that he was like a 1000 year old warrior monk because he talked funny and the flashback in his introduction was kind of grainy so clearly. This meant it was a really long time ago.

So imagine my fucking surprise watching the series again and realizing Tyzonn just had The worst long weekend ever

His team is killed by the Fearcats and he makes it his personal mission to defeat them (he's not like any sort of cop or solider or anything that's not his job)

He follows them to Earth and is wandering a desert until he runs into Moltor

Tyzonn has no fucking clue who this dude is and why he's bothering him, but Moltor breaks the matching bracelet he has with his girlfriend who died like. Yesterday. and Tyzonn gets pissed and they fight and Tyzonn becomes a lizard

Ok so now he has to help this fucking weird dude get some weird map ok. whatever. Except the fucking guys he has to work with won't stop attacking civillians "YO CAN YOU CHILL"

Various things happen involving the map and Tyzonn learns this is the map to the fucking Corona Aurora like one of the most dangerous items in the galaxy and he can't. Let moltor have that even if he would like to not be a lizard please

So he teams up with the Overdrive rangers to find the jewel and gets turned to normal but doesn't join them because he wants to focus on his (self-assigned) mission of destroying the Fearcats (which he decided to do two days ago)

the like next week or whatever. Who knows what he was doing or if he thought through the "follow the fearcats to another planet" thing he runs into the rangers again and divulges his tragic backstory that happened at most a week ago and says he will never put another team in danger after losing the other ones a week ago.

But he eventually does join the team after Ronny makes an impassioned speech and also they save his life.

Presumably he also liked the idea of actually having a house and income because, again, it's unclear how much thought he put into following the terrorists who killed his team to another planet he knows nothing about

The moral of the story is if we're talking Power Rangers characters who are fucking insane you have to include Tyzonn because he hides the fact that he's one of the most unhinged motherfuckers in the franchise with his stupid puppy face

[allthistrashtalkmakemeitchin]

30 Days of November

taglist: @myloveforhergoeson @partiallypearl

10. cozy

While other teens went out partying, Ronnie stayed inside. She pulled out the box of movies and looked through the various DVDs. Tonight was one of those nights when she would stay in, cuddled up in fuzzy blankets, and sip hot chocolate. It was also one of those nights where she gets stoned off her ass and binges on movies all night. A knock at the door alerted her, and she tripped over herself to open it.

Kendall was on the other side. He scrunched his nose up and leaned away. She smelled like a skunk.

"What? Did you get sprayed with something?"

"Don't act like you don't know," Ronnie rolled her eyes.

"Okay... Well, I was wondering if you were doing anything tonight?"

"I planned to binge-watch movies if that counts."

"Cool! What movies?"

"I dunno..." Ronnie shrugged and scratched the back of her head. "You can pick out a movie from the box," She moved into the kitchen and opened the door.

"Where's your dad?" Kendall asked as he hesitantly stepped inside. He closed the door behind him. Mr. Clark seemed to hate him the most out of everyone in the band.

"Work." Ronnie grabbed two mugs from the overhead cupboard. "Do you want hot chocolate?"

"...Sure?" Kendall knit his brows in confusion.

"Go choose a movie while I get this ready,"

"Okay..." Kendall went to the couch and sat down. The box on the coffee table in front of him was large. It would take him quite a while to pick a movie he wanted to watch. She had an assortment of genres.

30 minutes later, Ronnie returned with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and Kendall had yet to decide. She set the mugs down on coasters and plopped down next to him.

"Do you need help? Friday the 13th is a classic, but only if you're in the mood for horror. X-Men Origins Wolverine is... okay, but my dad loves it. Johnny Depp was hot in Public Enemy."

"That, I can agree with." Kendall chuckled. "But you have a lot of slasher movies..."

"Of course I do!" Ronnie leaned back and propped her hands behind her head. "The slasher genre is my favorite. It doesn't matter if it's a shitty movie or horrible CGI; regardless, I'll be entertained while hate-watching it."

"Let's watch an action movie." Kendall's eyes scanned the titles; he randomly pulled one out and turned it around. Underworld Rise of the Lycans. "Ugh, werewolf movie..." He whined.

"You picked it," Ronnie snickered and plucked the DVD from his hands. She struggled with the box for a minute or two until she finally opened it and put the DVD in the player.

In the middle of the movie, the songwriter gets cold and slots herself next to Kendall. He is like a human space heater. For a split second, he reminded her of Curt, but the thought is chased away as soon as it surfaces. She snuggles into his side and grabs a blanket to wrap around her shoulders.

"You know, you're a good guy. I don't say it often..." She mumbled, her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

[superheroauthor]

Who Needs A Superpower?

CHAPTER THREE - Fencing With Sid

   I went down to see Nesbitt about a toaster. I had told Suzy I was looking one and, if I did not follow up, she might think something was odd. More so as I was one of the few around when she changed her typed note.

   I mean, everyone knew that scared bloke Tony could not be The Green Dragon, he was too nervous of everything. It was better though to make everything appear normal.

   Sid Nesbitt was a fence, that has to be said but he did have a code.

   He ran a little shop in the centre of the estate where a line of shops stood. He got legitimate trade buying and selling almost anything. Jewellery, electrical goods, crockery and cutlery, DVDs, clothes, as I said almost everything.

   Most of his money though came from the stolen goods. He had two rules. He had to know whether the goods were bent or straight and the goods could not be the proceeds of a burglary. He did not like burglars, he thought them to be scum who ruined people's lives.

   So he paid for moody goods. He classed it as the three main types. Off the back of a lorry, literally. A bloke goes into to make a delivery and his van is unloaded while he is gone. That is one type. Shoplifted goods. And the ones stolen from shops when they were closed. Ram-raids or break-ins.

   When you shopped with Sid Nesbitt the new stuff usually was still in its box. Of course, you could not use the guarantee.

   A seller got paid one price if the goods were straight and a lesser price if they were bent. And it was the same when he sold them. You knew if the goods were moody and paid less for them. After all you were taking a risk too when you bought them. Not that the coppers around here minded a few moody items as long as no-one took it too far.

   And it has to be said Old Nesbitt was fair. He did not try to rip you off like Freddy Ipsden used to do. Everyone got a fair price whether buying or selling. As long as you followed his rules.

   You sell him snide gear as legal and then he found out, well he would never trade with you again. Sell him something from a burglary and the same.

   In this neighbourhood that was a big thing!

   Everyone around here trooped in and out of Nesbitt's. He shifted an awful lot of gear and he was local.

   The biggest and best thing of all was he was trustworthy. From what I have heard finding a trustworthy fence was the hardest thing of all in the criminal world.

   The police did not bother him however unless there was something special that they were looking for, usually the proceeds of a burglary. But if was special gear stolen from a shop and gone through his hands he would not grass, even if cost him trouble.

   If it was still in his hands, he would tell the law to come back at a certain time and he would get it for them. He would then move it to the shop and hand it over. As he said he did not need the hassle. He just wanted a quiet life.

   So, into Sid’s I went for a toaster . . . and a gossip. The old girls around the estate would tell you time and time again, have a gossip with Sid for a while and the price will drop.

   "Hello Sid, got a toaster?"

   "Not a toaster, sold the last one of a batch yesterday. Lovely they were. Those four slice adjustable ones. Sell you a mini-oven. You could use that to toast."

   I smiled. Sid was a trier.

   Why was I not shutting him down you ask? He was a crook, of that there was no doubt.

   It was simple, knock off gear was perfect for an estate with hardly any money. And it was properly robbed stuff, no houses ransacked, no people upset, just some companies. In his own way he was actually good for the community.

   "You heard about the notice board in the pub?" I asked him, not actually wanting to buy anything but gossiping with him to seem as if I was, to seem like a normal customer. "It is covered in requests for that Green Dolphin bloke."

   "Green Dragon, yeah I saw. What do you think about that one about Ronny? Surely that can't be true."

   "Well true or not, I hope that matey catches whoever is doing it. And keeps an eye out for others too. Otherwise not a woman around here will feel safe after dark." I replied.

   "I reckon it could be Ronny." Sid told me. "He is a wrong 'un. I have seen the way he looks at women. Not as people but just objects. And I knows he has given his missus a clout now and then, usually if she ever says a word about him cheating on her."

   "Oh well, if he hits her, I hope the Green Dragon person rips out his throat." I replied the slightest growl coming out of my throat.

   "What, because it proves his guilt? Shows him to think of women as just animals?"

   "Nope. I just hate wife beaters. Scum of the Earth. Keeping women in terror for their lives. They can't say a thing but it is wrong and gets them a clout. Get the blame for everything even when they have done nothing."

   "Stay and have a brew. I like the way you think." Sid said and I nodded.

   Sid put the kettle on and waved me to behind the counter. There were brand new wide screen tellies there. Mostly in their boxes and stacked but two were out and were in the process of being put on their stands.

   "I can do you a deal on one of those if you like. One of the game lads off the estate offered them to me. Got a lock-up half full of them. I think he is fencing them for someone else. Maybe the Hell's Angels down in Broughton. They do truck robberies. That's the way I figure it." Sid told me.

   He fixed us some tea and made up a plate of biscuits and slices of cake. He sat down and put the plate on the table between us.

   "So, what do you think should happen to wife beaters?" He asked.

   "Let the wives deal with men who beat, all the wives at once. Get Big Patsy to hold the bloke and let the women have a go. Even knock the bloke down and give him a kicking. And then run him off the estate so others cannot fall for their charms." I told him.

   "I like that. Let the women get their own back and show all of us men that hitting them just ain't on." Sid said with a smile. "Now you wanted to buy one of these tellies off of me, I remember you saying."

   I didn't but what the hell. He had to make his money.

   "Hmmn, looks to me they are at least five hundred notes in the shops. Might be worth having one in the bedroom. Give you twenty quid for one." I said trying it on.

   "Hey! They are fifty quid plus stand. They might be wrong 'uns but they got everything, 3D, Freeview, surround sound, backlighting whatever that is." Sid told me. "These are the dog's bollocks of tellies."

   "Well, they do look good." I replied. "But I am no good setting those things up. I can't even wrestle them into their stands. And I am not lunking one of those across the estate. I would get mugged before I went ten yards, Green Giant or no Green Giant."

   "No worries for an extra tenner I will get Chip to take one over to your place. He will then put it in its stand and set it up. It's Chip, so if you want it on the wall he can do that too."

   "What Mike the Chippy?" I asked and Sid nodded.

   Mike Batthurst or Chip as he was known around here used to be a chippy, a carpenter, on the sites. Carpenters on sites make good money, I mean really good money. Usually, they were flash bastards with gold rings and medallions.

   Chip however had fallen on hard times. His missus had run off with a used car salesman and she was now living in Birmingham. That had left Chip bringing up three young children. So, not being able to get cheap childcare for the kids, he looked after them himself. He now did odd jobs for people. You wanted a wardrobe with carved scrolling and looking 200 years old, Chip could make that for you. In fact, he could do nearly anything like odd job wise. Electrical, carpentry, plumbing, on a good day he could even fix your car for you.

   For these smaller jobs one of the wives around would look after the children for him. It was not like site work, go out at six in the morning and return at six in the evening. It was a few hours here and a few hours there. We had all taken Chip to our hearts when his missus buggered off and left him in the shit.

   And Chip was such a good father to his kids. They adored him. They were having it hard too, missing their mother. So, he would surprise them with silly costumes all the time, Father Christmas, Robin Hood, a clown, a soldier with a broom for a gun, anything that would make them giggle. Only last week he had dressed up as a French maid and stayed that way all evening, serving them their tea like that and running around the house following their orders having them in fits of giggles.

   "Well, if it helps out Chip, I will take two, one on a stand and the other up on the wall in my bedroom." I said and Sid looked delighted, well until I added. "At 30 including the stands."

   He looked a bit nonplussed by this so I carried on our conversation.

   "So, this vigilante? What do you make of him? Good for the neighbourhood or some lunatic who likes to hurt people?" I asked, changing the subject.

   "I don't care what is in his head, he had been good for this estate. It was totally wrecked a couple of months ago. Even I got robbed. This shop cleaned out. A young man holding a gun to my face whilst two others loaded all my stock into a van. All wore those masks, those knitted ones but I bet young Harry Cummins was one of them. I am sure of that. The one with the gun. I sort of recognised his voice but I can't be sure. Most of my attention was on that gun. Big thing it was, a revolver, like something out of the Wild West."

   "So, what did you do about Harry Cummins? Tell his dad? Stop dealing with him? Confront him?" I asked breathlessly.

   "Oh no. You know the code around here. You get away clean and without harming anyone and there are no comebacks. Slate wiped clean. And I cannot be sure it was him."

   That was the code of course, no harm, no foul but I didn't like that there was a gun involved. That was stretching the code to its limits.

   "I tell you when that scumbag loan shark got his comeuppance by that Green Dragon my arsehole twitched. Freddy was not liked much but he was a trader like me. What I do is not exactly legal. I was scared I was going to get a visit too." Sid confessed. "But nothing. Not a peep. Think I am in the clear. Like the pub selling Es. Just part of the community."

   "Yeah, I think so too. He has not gone after any of the small trade, only the bastards that were ruining the estate. You provide a service. Knock off goods at knock off prices. There are precious few on this estate can afford a brand new telly, most cannot afford a brand new toaster. And what's this I hear you started doing easy terms for people?"

   "Oh, the tick? Only for the really badly off and only those that are trustworthy. You know, the ones that will make two payments out of three." Sid said and then added quickly. "No interest. I ain't a loan shark or trying to con them. They only pay the price we agree on but on easy terms, over weeks, rather than on the day. Some have got quite a lot on tick so it is not good business sense really but you can't let them go without. Some are even without a telly to stick the kids in front of."

   That was why Sid was so well liked. He had a heart and he had been on the Ripper Estate even before the tower blocks went up.

   "You keep that up and I can't see any reason that vigilante would come after you. You not only help the community, you are part of the community, if you see what I mean. You are like an institution, a part of the place, like the pub is. What would life be like without the pub?” I told him.

   Years ago, the pub had been called The Lamb on the Green. As it was unlikely to ever be any lambs around this way the people of the community had stopped calling it that. Now it was just the pub.

   "So, you reckon this bloke is good for us? I must admit I like the muggers gone and the dealers too. Turn every corner and there was another one insisting you buy his drugs. I did too, a couple of times. I was that jumpy." I confessed.

   And I had. But in sight of others so they thought me nervous and weak.

   "And they were bad for trade. All the junkies trying to sell me stuff that was plainly taken out of people's houses. One of them had the contents of Ma Stott's handbag. I threw him out. Threatened him with the police. Luckily Geordie Tom came in just after and I told him. Geordie went after the junkie and after a short discussion involving what I believe was a head-butt to the nose the junkie gave it all over to Geordie who gave it back to her."

   "It looks like the estate was already on the turn before this bloke turned up." I replied, not sure of this at all.

   "It was and it wasn't. We were scared of the dealers. They had guns, some of them. No-one was going to tackle them. That makes it good he turned up. He has made all our lives better. Oh, I will sell you the tellies, at the price you said, thirty quid fitted and ten extra for Chip to put them up and install them."

   I nodded.

   "How about a laptop. Mine is ancient. Again, I will need someone to set it up. The last time I had to install one I nearly threw it out the window it was so complicated." I said.

   "Got three types, all moody. Top of the range 120 quid, middle range 75, cheap and cheerful thirty. Fitting by that hacker kid, Saul. He is an extra tenner."

   "I don't know Saul." I said. "Is he from around here?"

   It was a simple rule, trust those from around here, meet anyone else with suspicion.

   "Dolly Mason's son. Little git got nicked for hacking into the school computer and changing people's grades. The other kids were paying him to do it. The police said it was a school matter and did not even charge him. Don't worry, he is safe. He does all my computer stuff. He fixes computers too for people, makes a tidy little amount. Most of us don't understand the bloody things but we like to use them."

   "A hundred for the laptop, the best one and take a tenner for the kid to fit it." I said, never one to pay the asking price.

   "You will bankrupt me." He said but totalled up what I had bought at my prices and I paid him.

   "Ah, we were just talking about you Mrs Stott." He said as an old lady came in the shop.

   "Get her what she needs plus a few luxury items. Maybe a telly." I said and peeled off one hundred pounds and gave it to Sid.

   They both looked shocked. Her shock turned to disbelief and then delight seeing the money changing hands.

   "Have a meal and a drink in the pub as well Ma." I said and put a tenner in her hands. "If we can't look after our own then who can we look after."

   I left them to it.

   Tonight I would have a lot of work to do but today was about being part of the community. Blending in.

   Chip came over first and put a telly up on the wall in the bedroom and one in the living room. I asked if he could take the old one away and gave him a twenty. I know he would have done it for nothing but it was my way of letting him have a couple of quid. He just smiled, pocketed the twenty and said it would be his pleasure.

   After that the kid came over with the lap-top. I say kid, he was about sixteen, greasy hair and tall but nice with it. He offered to put some software on my computer for me. A few necessities a tenner, all I could need twenty, bumper bundle thirty. These were applications like Office and such like for the basics. Those, some more apps and lots of games for twenty and a chunk of the hard drive filled with apps and games for thirty.

   I knew this software would be moody.

   "These won't get me in trouble, will they? With the law, or on the internet, checking passwords and shit like that." I asked concerned.

   "Oh no. None of that. All the programs have been hacked so they just appear to be straight ones. I collect them and sell them on in the packages. You won't get no trouble from it, honest. The prices for this stuff online are just bloody silly. You wouldn't not be able to afford most of this stuff, even working men can't afford it. Office can set you back a hundred quid. Bloody ridiculous that. And there are loads in there more expensive than that. It’s my 'no bother, no charge' software. You just pay me."

   He was grinning like a loon but I did believe him.

   I was a trained interrogator. I usually knew when someone was lying to me.

   "Give me the lot then. I spend a lot of time at home and need ways of keeping busy." I said.

   "Oh right. You are the squaddie. Oh for you, I will do the bumper pack for a tenner. You need to keep busy and this stuff will do it. I will come round again when I got more."

   Well, it near broke my heart. This kid off the estate looking out for others.

   "Here kid." I said and gave the thirty. "If you help a couple of others I will give you the same again. I got some cash, Army pension, but there is quite a few around here without a pot to piss in."

   He smiled a mischievous smile.

   "Okay, give me an extra twenty and all this week the poor ones get the bumper pack." He said.

   I smiled and handed over the twenty. It made sense. He could not get more than the basic amount out of the poor ones so giving them the lot would not hurt his pocket, not as long as he was not paying for it in the first place.

   "And if you want to fill in time, get some DVDs. Not the films, the boxsets. My Ma gets boxsets of all the TV she remembers from when she was younger. Films can cost a tenner, or more, for just one but a whole series can cost the same. Hours of watching. And you can get boxsets for four or five series that only cost twenty or thirty quid. Cheap as chips on Amazon. I got five series of something from yonks ago for my Ma and it only cost me fifteen quid. And if you are a little brassic like and can't afford the series of your choice, you ask me, someone on the estate will loan it you or I will get it copied for you."

   I can tell you that was weird, this young lad, sixteen or thereabouts, trying to look after me. I am pretty sure it should have been the other way around.

   The day kept on coming with the weird. At five o' clock or thereabouts Geordie Tom knocks on my door with a plastic bag in his hand. I let him in and he went to the kitchen and got out of the bag a big covered pot of thick meaty stew. Then a plate with cling film over it which had a big treacle tart in it, homemade by the looks of it. Then six cans of bitter, Tetley's no less.

   "Food is from Ma Stott and the cans are from me. She is telling everyone how you helped her out and that hacker kid is too. Giving him a bit of cash to put extra programs on people's computers. You do know you don't have to throw your cash around to make people like you, don't you? We all like you already, half the estate would do anything they could if it would help you."

   I grinned at him.

   "It is not like that. I get a good pension from the army. More than minimum wage. Some people around here are potless. I am just trying to help the poorer ones. You grew up poor, I grew up poor. Not as poor as some of them on the estate at the moment, they are little better than beggars. Kids being bought up in squats, people so in debt their clothes are ragged, hungry all their lives. I want to help, help them all, I just don't know how."

   "You can't help everyone Tony. Life don't work like that." He told me.

   I could see pity in his eyes. I could just imagine his thoughts. Here is a soldier come back from doing his bit on the front lines, trying to protect everyone and now he was back home. Now he was home and trying to do the same. Now he was home and he could not function properly, was scared out of his wits most of the time.

   "There is that tax that the Green Dragon put on Freddy the Loan Shark. It was meant to keep the kids of the estate busy and getting on. But some of it could be used to help the community." I must have looked eager as his face softened more as he spoke. "Maybe it should be used to help the community, a good chunk of it. Father Calhoon and Reverend Pritchard have been in charge of it but it hasn't even got to the working out stage. I will send them around and see if you can work something out."

   He left, looking sorry for me.

   I did not mind his pity. I did not mind if they all thought me weak and cowardly. It all added to the illusion.

   I mean how could this do-gooding coward ever be The Green Dragon?

   It was impossible, right?

   And even though I was not a coward, I was a do-gooding idiot. I did want to help everyone on the estate, everyone in need that is.

   I got a phone call that the priest and the vicar would coming around at eight to have a chat to me. They arrived together on the dot of eight.

   I seated them in my living room, giving them tea and cake.

   "Geordie Tom tells us you have a need of some of the money that was donated to the new community fund." The priest, Father Calhoon, said.

   "Yes father." I said most respectfully. "How much is in the fund?"

   "Oh, about five million pounds." Said the vicar eagerly. "And it seems that there might be more to come."

   "Oh my! Where did it all come from?" I asked innocently.

   "That loan shark donated it, the old one, Mr Ipsden. I think that vigilante persuaded him. He certainly hurt Mr Ipsden in a very cruel manner." The priest said.

   "Ah Father, so you do not think much of this Green Dragon's violent ways, even if he is trying to help us?" I asked.

   "There are ways of doing things and this is not the right way. Violence only breeds violence. Yes, the area is safer now. Yes, it feels like the area is somehow cleansed. I will admit that. But the man is a danger to us all. He must be a madman to do what he is doing." The priest said earnestly.

   "I agree Father, I too think he might be insane even though he is helping us." I added thoughtfully.

   "Well, I disagree with both of you." The vicar cut in, his voice strong. "This estate had become crime-ridden. It was like a disease that took over. And that man, that vigilante, was the cure for that disease. He is a hero and should be treated as such. You Tony, I do not mean to make light of your condition but how could you hope to cross the estate after dark. Even the most hardened men were becoming scared. And this money he extracted from that devil-like man, well that is mana from heaven."

   To hear a man of God speak like this was a shock I can tell you but it did have the ring of truth.

   "As you can see me and my colleague have differing thoughts on this matter. But that is not why we are here. I hear you wish to use the fund to help people of this area." Father Calhoon said, quickly interrupting the vicar.

   "Well, me and Geordie talked it over. I want to help the poor, yes. Help any of the underprivileged around here. I have not worked out what I want to do yet but can't we start a soup kitchen or a food bank? There is plenty of money from what you say. Enough to make sure no-one goes hungry on the whole estate." I said fervently. "And that would just be my start."

   "What more would you do for them?" The priest asked.

   "Make sure everyone has shelter for a start. In this area, you can't pay your rent and the council just kick you out. Have you seen how many homeless we have? Not just the ones on the streets but in the squats too and under Marrow bridge. These are people who have slipped through the cracks of the benefits system. Or working people who got into so much debt they got booted. It is some of the working people who need the food bank. Lot of minimum wage jobs around here. And don't get me started on how much the government thinks you need to live on. The benefits are a disgrace and . . ." I stopped talking . . . I realised I was becoming frantic trying to get my words out, possibly sounding, well, odd.

   "But if we try to help everyone that money will soon be gone." The vicar said quietly looking at me with sympathy.

   I must have raving in my speech for him to be looking at me like that. But I did believe in these things.

   "Well, the soup kitchen would not cost a lot. I set one up in my last posting." The priest said. "And to supplement the groceries for a food bank we could ask the local shops to give us anything that is going off. The labels these days stating the ‘off date’ are too early. There is at least a couple of days of freshness left in the food. And we can cast further afield too, other shops, maybe supermarkets."

   The priest too sounded enthused now.

   "Well, the new charity will be able to afford some of that." The vicar said. "As long as we don't go too wild. We do have to keep the money to help the young ones on the estate. That was the initial purpose told to us."

   "But Cedric, we could modernise the youth club for a pittance, well a pittance compared to what we have been given. Thirty thousand and it will be gleaming like a new pin. The problem there is keeping order. Mr Macclesfield the last manager of the youth club is still in the mental hospital. He is vowing never to come back to, as he put it, 'that pack of wild animals'." The priest said to his friend.

   "Get some of the men to attend the youth club." I told them. "Join in or stand at the back, it don't matter, as long as they keep order. I know a youth club is supposed to be a place away from the adults but these kids abused that so some stability has to be ensured or you will never get staff. Chip would be perfect if you can get someone to look after his kids. They are too young for the youth club but he is good with youngsters, does not mind making a prat of himself and as hard as nails."

   "No, let Chip take the kids with him." The vicar said. "There are some teenage girls who would likely attend that would dote on those kids. And that would be no bad thing for them, as long as they realise they are too young to have kiddies themselves. We might even be able to let Chip have a little cash in hand if it was a regular thing."

   I liked that! A bit of money for Chip would be only too handy for him.

   "And if we can get Geordie Tom in as well . . ." Said the priest. " . . . we might actually stop them taking drugs. I mean, it was not just spliffs before, it was Es too and speed. You walked in and each of the little bas . . . cherubs had a spliff hanging out of their mouths, girls too."

   "Find a way of making it special. Not just a normal youth club. Something they really want to do. Something they would not miss for the world." I said.

   "Ah, special events for those that turn up regularly and behave themselves. Go-Karting down at Morton or driving lessons. Learn how to do their forms and interviews and they might even get a little adventure holiday of some type." The vicar said.

   "And a good clump around the head for those that try to cause trouble. That was the way Father Sheen did it when I was young and in a youth club. Of course, that was only for minor things like swearing and playing up. You did something really wrong and he grabbed you by the scruff of the neck and out of the door you went. And no returning that night. You could come back in the next night as long as you apologised to the whole club. That was an embarrassing thing to do but as all your mates were in the club it was something you did." The priest told them.

   "You can't hit people these days Father." I said with a smile. "They can charge you with assault, in this case assault upon a minor and no-one wants to go down for that, makes you sound like a nonce. If you want that, to clip kids around the head, you will have to do it yourself."

   "I am still getting over the fact that Patrick here was ever a young man." The vicar said smiling.

   Which got chuckles from us all. He did speak and act like he had been born in his forties and just got older from there.

   "I will have a word with our local constabulary. They will understand a little . . . roughness will be needed to make the youth club work again. And we do need that youth club or our youngsters will be back to drugs and stealing cars." The priest said mildly.

   "True, true, true." I said, thoroughly agreeing with what he said. "All true. But we do need things for the whole estate too. Kids that grow up in extreme poverty never lead normal lives and we can't have that. You two cannot have that, as you are men of God and I cannot have that because it ruins lives before they have lives. I know life is unfair but we have to try. I have to try."

   Both looked at me as if I was a soppy old sod that needed a little holiday in the funny farm but I did not mind. As long as it got them to do something. Green Dragon had done his part, was still doing his part, now it was the time the community did its part and I said so.

   "It is not just up to us three sat here. It is up to all of us on this estate. Well at least all we can get interested in it. You both have congregations, flocks. When you get up in your pulpits on Sunday, you tell them of the Good Samaritan or anything you think will work." I encouraged.

   "We will do that. And as trustees to the charity, we will get a soup kitchen sorted in the next few days. That at least can be achieved quickly." The priest said sympathetically.

   He nodded at his colleague and they left.

   I did not mind the way they looked at me. I had tried to put some fire in them. All I could do is wait and see if they tried to help the community.

   And I had other things to look out for . . . muggers, rapists and racists.

   Time to get out my evening clothes!

[batmannotes]

Gomer Pyle Blu-Ray Box Set Review

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.— The Complete Series includes all five seasons of the classic sitcom. This 20 disc set will provide hours of entertainment and laughter.

This hit spin-off from The Andy Griffith Show took one of the hilarious side characters, Gomer, and set a fresh new show around him that would exceed the hilarity which started in way back in Mayberry, North Carolina.

I still rank this comedy in my all-time top 10 list. The naive, but loveable country boy Gomer (Jim Nabors) and loudmouthed Sergeant Carter (Frank Sutton) play incredibly well off each other. This is probably the 20th time I've watched most of these classic episodes and I still gleefully appreciate the comedic genius of this old tv show.

The series is presented in HD for the first time in this 20 disc Blu-Ray set. The first season is in black and white with the rest in beautiful color. The transfer is solid and crisp, especially in season 2-5. Actors and actresses faces and overall presentation have never looked so delightfully clear. You'll even notice set pieces and landscapes in the background like never before. It's amazing when you realize these episodes are over 60 years old. Although this is presented in a 4x3 aspect ratio, it never hinders your appreciation for this series.

VIDEO QUALITY 📽️ :  B+

For only a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track the sound is actually quite pleasant. It might be because I long enjoyed these episodes on an old picture tube television for years without complaining, but I can not find anything wrong with the mono mix here. I am also aware that not all of the music originally found from this series made it to this release sadly due to rights of usage.

AUDIO QUALITY 🔈 : B-

As far as the extras go, there aren't many (see below). There are also no dvds or digital copies available with this set either. While the disc extras here aren't numerous, I can understand that more than the lack of digital copies for the episodes.

Season One, Disc One:

Pilot Episode "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. from The Andy Griffth Show (480i, 28:09): The episode that debuted the character and concept. Includes the option to play the episode alone or with the "Sales Presentation" which is also included separately (see the next supplement below).

Sales Presentation (480i, 2:39): Jim Nabors introduces and closes out the episode, as is optionally seen with the episode above.

Season One, Disc Two:

Audio Commentary: Ronnie Schell, who played "Duke" on the show, discusses the first episode on the disc, "Gomer and the Dragon Lady."

EXTRAS 📀 :  D

FINAL GRADE:  B-

Clocking in at 3786 minutes, this is one box set that viewers both young and old can sit around and savor together for literally hours and hours. Even with the lack of extras here, this release gets my 100% recommendation. They don't make them (comedies) like this anymore.

Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. Blu-Ray Box Set is now available at Amazon.

[muldoonlives]

"What is wrong with Danny Glick?"

The first window scene is what people remember the most about 1979's "Salem's Lot". I at least watch the film once a year or skim through the DVD. First seeing it at 11 going on 12, I worried about what was going to happen to Danny Glick. In my experience, people who were attacked by vampires died or became one right away. They didn't get "sick" and go to the hospital. As soon as I saw the fog outside the hospital window and Ralphie glide through it, my question was answered. I knew Danny was going to be a dead kid. Well, an undead kid.

Ralphie's hypnotic power seemed stronger during the second visitation. No fear turned to smiles from Danny this time around. He robotically got out of bed to open the window like it was a nightly ritual. As he flew towards Danny, Ralphie looked content like a hungry vampire should when they find a host. His facial expression abruptly became a grimace as he raised his head and bobbed down to sink his teeth in to Danny's neck.

It was something different to see. Up to that point, evil kids I saw in movies and tv shows spoke with arrogance and acted like mini-adults. This kid who looked truly scary was a silent predator. Hell, he wasn't even a kid vampire to me. Ralphie was a creature. The only sound he made was a bat-like screech right before he made the kill.

Danny was the first vampire to speak, but it didn't make him more human to me. The moment Mark grabbed the window latch, Danny let out a short gasp of delight. He reminded me of a dog watching its owner dragging a bag of kibble to the dish. Another creature pretending to be a kid. "It's okay, Mark. I'm your friend."

This was late 1999 when I first watched "Salem's Lot". "The Shining" remake was released two years prior, and I had a feeling The Lot would be revisited in the future. I knew it wouldn't happen, but I desired to play Danny Glick in a remake. Almost five years later, the remake premiered on TNT, and I recorded it on a VHS player. After it ended, I wasn't disappointed that an Australian actor got to wear Danny's communion suit(what the character was buried in according to the novel). Andre De Vanny did a good job, and the window scene was more accurate to King's telling of it. Although, the updated version as a whole just wasn't very good. No scares and the changes made to the original story weren't impressive. It was simply okay and worth a watch.

I'm happy The Glick Brothers haven't been forgotten. Custom made toys and clothes with their likenesses is something I dreamed of long ago. The only thing needed is official action figures by Neca so I can pack out my bedroom some more.

This is something I never have told anyone except my dad once. A few months after watching "Salem's Lot" for the first time, I had a dream about it. I never really had nightmares about scary things I watched as a kid which is why this dream was such a standout. In the beginning of the dream, images played out like scenes on television. Loud speakers were shown installed on the power poles of my neighborhood. The next scene was Ben and Mark inside a rundown building. They stood behind a desk cluttered with sound equipment.

"Ten minutes until sundown," Mark said to Ben. Ben craned his neck towards a microphone, but the scene cut off before he delivered the message. I was finally in the dream then. I heard Ben's message over the speaker. For some reason, I was about to leave my bedroom, but I opened the door to see Danny Glick standing in the hallway. The dream ended with me wrestling to close the door on Danny.

"He commands it!" whispered Danny as he peered in while leaning against my door. After that, I woke up. I don't like to speak on things like this. Some people really have dreams like that while others bullshit for attention. I always fear being thought of as the latter.

Brad Savage and Ronnie Scribner were credited at the bottom of the cast list, but their performances were top-notch.

“The town knew darkness…but no one dared talk about the high, sweet, evil laughter of a child…and the sucking sounds…”

[landlordrecords]

Films, Films, (TV), Films: Next Batch

Now been looking after my folks for a year & a half, so movies are one of the main things I can do...sometimes. Some of the TV & docs might be missing &, as ever, if I haven't said so, it is a first watch, as I don't rewatch that many things. I probably said before, but if I don't click with something, I just move on, so these are all good in my eyes).

Reading the last blurb, I feel the urge to mention that Cully's World in Blackpool is currently 8 DVDs for a fiver, but that I hear they are shutting again soon, so go scoop stuff up.

Also, Plex gets The Gasface for making such a hash of dropping he Facebook log-in that I ended up accidentally nixing my account, with all its bookmarks and ratings, and Tubi gets a tentative thumbs-up for being a decent replacement.

So, April 2024 onwards...

Best In Show (rewatch, but I reckon I only half-watched it the first time - very funny, prob the best one by them next to Spinal Tap, I guess)

Playtime (Ebert said something like you have to watch it once in order to get ready to watch it, which makes sense to me - all the comparisons to extremely funny silent comedians seem a bit over the top being as Tati barely raises a chuckle, but it IS, of course, extremely well laid-out and choreographed. I look forward to going again in the not-too-distant future)

Sightseers (I'm not quite so rhapsodic about this as some people, but great fun, v British)

Pictures of the Old World + extra shorts (good, atmospheric)

Scoop (not bad, none of these things hit the mark quite as much as the OG interview)

The Whistle Blower (Caine, solid enough)

Streetwise (1984 doc - I am a sucker for these type of things, but very good, well worth seeing)

Extras (glad I've seen it. Not quite as totemic as The Office, but entertaining throughout)

Ice Grill (a So Bad It's Good one I actually located all by myself. 'Urban', near-impenetrable plot, appalling cheap CGI, but half-decent music by a hip-hop semi-name, equalling quite mood piece in a way)

Nathalie (saucy!)

American Gangster (very good stuff)

Bronson (didn't really twig what sort of film this was first, and was impressed)

Anchorman 2 (I was a bit mean about the first one last time - the whole set-up is pretty funny really, and the nitpicking in the reviews bounce off if you like Will Ferrell, & at this point I have to accept that I LOVE Will Ferrell)

The Kingdom (I kinda just watched this cos I'd got it, but there were plenty plenty more in that pile that I didn't, so I would say tis was pretty good all told)

Eddie Murphy: Delirious

Talladega Nights (I'd been avoiding the Ferrell American sports & politics ones cos...impenetrable...but of course, it isn't in his hands. A very good one if you like him)

The Sinner season 3 (with the missus)

Two Ronnies best-of DVD

Some Mothers Do Ave Em (series 1&2? Picked up some DVDs. Possibly no other fictional character closer to my own)

The Black Panther (I started this ages before and the bit where it went a bit dreamy in the middle sort of jumped the shark for me & I switched it off, but glad I went back to it, as it is a Brit classic really, I guess)

Jour De Fete (I might actually prefer this to Playtime, it is certainly more LOL, & a very entertaining watch)

Elgar (the classic doc, intellectual chore)

Analyze That (extremely close readers might remember I started watching the first one, realised I had seen it before, continued & still liked it, so thought this was worth a go. Obvs cash-in, but I enjoyed it)

A bunch of Alan Bennett TV plays, the one which stayed with me the most being the one about the old Leeds couple moving to Morecambe in retirement...Bleak!)

Wings of Hope (I had forgotten all about this, but it does stand well with other Herzog docs)

Red Road (I started this about three times, partly due to the print quality I could find, but very good I thought, reviews a bit overly picky)

Wake Up Ron Burgundy (that extras-make-a whole-'nutha-film thing - final proof I must have enjoyed the saga overall)

Miss Marie Lloyd (saw a bit of this on telly years ago & was looking forward to it. The Eastenders lass will hold a place in my heart forever for it - a good representation of music hall, one of my favourite music genres)

Zoolander (rewatch - another I think I only half-watched the first time, pretty funny)

True Detective season 1 (with the missus)

An old Cock ESP tour DVD

Common Ground (little local fen historical thing I found in a book swap phonebooth - considering its origins, pretty good/odd, I think)

Hatton Garden (good cast, good stuff)

Drop Dead Gorgeous (really really enjoyed this. Hadn't been aware of it before. Shall watch again)

Solondz season...Welcome To the Dollhouse (rewatch)

Happiness (rewatch)

break for...Le Diner De Cons (had been totally unaware of this - I'm not majorly into French film overall, but I do love their comedies)

Storytelling (rewatch)

Palindromes (rewatch)

Mesa of Lost Women (infamously cut into other appallingly bad films- realised I had it on a triple-bill DVD & thought I should watch it. Dozed in & out of it, which kinda added to the trippy effect. I liked it)

Rocky 2

Rocky 3 (stopped after that, but I was still rooting for him)

Baby Reindeer (yeah, def worth seeing)

Dawn of the Dead (rewatch - I trust I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, with all these second viewings, v unlike me)

The Phone Box (seemingly famous TV short I hadn't known about til recently. Pretty balls-out)

Land of the Lost (obvs purely Ferrell trying to cross into the children's market, but I kinda enjoyed it)

Viridiana (from the ridiculous [above] to the sublime to the ridiculous? Total classic obvs)

David (Ferrell short)

Knights Electric (short off the free bit of the BFI site, & something to do with those people who made the early 80s horror with the children's film school. Evocative for people like me who spent childhood holidays in Great Yarmouth, & pretty cool soundtrack)

A load more BFI shorts

Force Majeure (majestic)

Dinner For Schmucks (the remake of Le Diner De Cons - still pretty funny)

McDonald & Dodds catch-up (sorry not sorry)

Bottle Rocket short (I don't really like that guy's stuff, sorry, but I thought I would at least squeeze this in)

The Love Has Won doc (loonies)

Tropic Thunder (very funny)

A couple of Dave Gorman DVDs

The Tower series 3 (not amazing, but kinda drawn in now)

Gone Girl (they deserve each other)

The Budding Prospects pilot, and

Louie Bluie (very good - making the not overly-productive Terry Zwigoff only the second director I've completed on after David Lynch)

Chasing Shadows (old Reece Shearsmith detective series that seemingly didn't get picked up for more, leaving it hanging annoyingly)

Sometime around here, I also watched virtually the whole of Shakespeare & Hathaway (sorry not sorry)

Dark Horse (second try - kinda put off by the music at first, which I read a great explanation for afterwards)

Damsels In Distress (into this)

Wild Tales (good stuff)

Thursday's Children (extra on the If DVD. Safe to say it would be...erm...made differently these days)

Scratch (turntablist doc)

Entr'acte (very early experimental short, nicely trippy)

I Confess (I think the main complaint about this at the time just shows how insular people used to be [still are?] about other faiths - I found it totally convincing, & kinda gripping)

The Wrong Man (another Hitchcock gripper)

Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu (considering how generic this looked for a chance DVD-for-pennies find - only really picked up for the bonkers title- I thought this was jolly good. Made me think I ought to watch more like it)

London (finally got through the Keiller doc on about the third go. The conceit of the storyline was kinda annoying me to start with, but I will forgive it!!)

Grosse Pointe Blank (neither should be as forgotten as it seems to be on the whole nor as cult as it is to some. Decent watch though)

Devil & the Deep (very early Cary Grant performance in this. I was gonna turn this off but it got left on, & I'm glad it is. Stagey, but solid)

The Wrecking Crew (one of those extremely bad ones with Ice T in. A kinda So Bad It's Bad chore)

Ciao Ciao (another chance DVD find, & a very happy one. Fairly recent, & worth seeking out)

Wild Gals of the Naked West (I persevered with this early Russ Meyer, & I'm not sure why really, cos it is complete rubbish!)

Ms 45 (on about the third go - something a bit artificial putting me off at the start I think - once it gets going, pretty brutal stuff)

Fear City (another Abel F - bit glitzier, but in a sleazy way. I liked it)

Schlock cinema doc

Intolerance (started this loads of times, looking for a half-decent print. Found the optimum one in the end. Extravagant sets of course, but not exactly one for most modern cinema viewers, very clearly upgraded in recent times because people can't bear to say that Birth of A Nation is The One anymore. None of this is to say it is bad though, because it most certainly is not)

Gun Crazy (so glad I finally found this. Awesome)

The Bakery Girl of Monceau (if I was the bakery girl of Monceau, or indeed, the other girl, I'd have binned him off on principal, for spending most of the 20 minute run time littering the streets of Paris with pastry wrappers)

Le Samourai (very stylish)

Murder By Contract (only just read about this before I watched it - another film noir banger)

The Big Boss (pretty brutal Bruce Lee one, but leavened with goofy humour, like leaving man-shape holes where he punched people through walls etc!)

Fist of Fury

Doc on Roger Corman's version of The Fantastic 4

Made In Britain (a pearler)

Death Wish 3 (when I went back & realised I had got this far in the series & that this one is considered a So Bad... one. And how! Deffo looking out for this on DVD, would really enjoy a rewatch sometime. Bananas)

The rest of Dekalog (I was a bit unfair on this before, saying it is overrated. I love Kieslowski, & it is absolutely excellent, it is just that you get the slight whiff that it is like Finnegan's Wake, more referenced than actually seen, or whatever, destined for greatness for the (admittedly excellent) concept, & for the bleak Eastern European vibe (just reading a book on him & apparently he made it LESS so by leaving out queues, ration cards etc), but it IS restrained by the TV format, & unlikely to be grasped all at once cos there's so much of it. So many great ones though, & thoroughly rewatchable, I'm sure)

What About Me (I've been trying a load from that wave recently & this is the only one I got through - kinda charming in its own way, & every few seconds it is like "Hey, isn't that...?", she must be real personable to get all those faces involved)

The Family Friend (a friend has tried to get me to watch Il Divo & I kinda need to concentrate on that, with its labyrinthine politics, but this earlier one by the guy is something of a triumph- what a creation the main character is!)

Life During Wartime

Wiener-Dog

Fear, Anxiety & Depression (last 3 all Solondz - I persevered with this barely functional last one [his first] in order to say...Solondz is the THIRD director I have completed on!)

The Campaign (another good Ferrell one, I think, although I have also rejected a few of his under the radar recently - generally cheapo early stuff or when he is trying to do more dramatic stuff)

Downhill (the Ferrell version of Force Majeure, which I know I shouldn't like & certainly isn't the original, but I still did)

Doc on I Spit On Your Grave

Multiple Maniacs (did take a couple goes, but once you get into the swing of it, impressively bonkers/sleazy)

Serial Mom (the easier version of the above vibe!)

La Chienne (glad I came across this, referenced as the origin of a later one I forget the name of - really tophole early French one, quite visceral)

Boudu Saved From Drowning (same director & lead as above? Very funny)

While the City Sleeps (solid+ Lang)

Wonderland (more for the story than the chops, but impressive names on the cast)

Touch of Evil (double-sleazoid)

The Steamroller & the Violin (the first Tarkovsky I've made it through, I'm afraid, & it's a short feature, but I certainly liked it)

Grown-Ups (really loved this Mike Leigh TV play, with a superlative cast of Leigh regulars. If you like him, seek it out)

Meantime (also v good from Leigh)

Some early Alan Clarke TV plays

A bunch of Kieslowski shorts

The Short & Curlies (excellent Mike Leigh short)

Some Svankmajer shorts

Some classic experimental shorts, most notably Conner's Report, which is hardcore

Ordet (banger)

Shadows In Paradise (great joy to see another wonderful Kaurismaki, must really get more of these seen)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Within (2016)

2016’s Within a.k.a. Crawlspace is a horror film devoid of imagination. While watching, you’ll swear you’ve seen it before but you probably haven’t. The movie doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page so it’s pretty obscure. It’s just that you’ve seen this exact story done so many times you can predict every beat with your eyes closed.

Recently remarried, John Alexander (Michael Vartan), his wife Melanie (Nadine Velazquez) and troubled teenage daughter Hannah (Erin Moriarty) decide to give their lives a fresh start by moving into a new home. Unfortunately, things aren’t exactly idyllic in this house. Even after their neighbor Ray (Ronnie Gene Blevins) changes the locks, doors still open up on their own, objects don’t stay where they’ve been left and overall, there’s an air of unease. Could it be linked to the family murdered there 10 years ago?

This kind of movie only offers two possible paths. It's got to be a variation on a ghost haunting the home or some creep is breaking in and spying on the family. It won’t take you long to figure out what’s going on. Your initial instinct might be that Ray is the culprit. The guy’s so sketchy anyone would send him to the electric chair without even listening to the charges. He looks shifty, he practically drools when he sees Hannah in a semi-tight shirt and when he’s alone with Melanie, it’s like he thinks he’s the star of a poorly-written porno. No. Even in this lackluster horror film, he would be too obvious. The answer must be that there’s someone living in the walls. It explains why food randomly disappears, why the furniture next to that grate in the kitchen keeps moving and why there are weird noises coming from the attic at night.

Except there’s no way some creepy stranger could be living in the attic. Why would they be staying up there unless they were 100% deranged? Assuming it’s someone related to the family who was murdered, that was 10 years ago. What have they been doing? Living in an attic for a decade? Pooping in bags and sneaking downstairs clandestinely to flush them while everyone else is asleep? Bathing out of water they gather from storms? Eating leftovers hoping no one would notice… for ten years? Give me a break. It doesn’t get any easier when there’s no one living in the home either. What have they been eating while the house was vacant? Rats and pigeons? This would have to be a pretty badly written story for all these logical questions to be ignored…

Oh wait, this IS that kind of bad movie. That’s why John never told his family about the murders committed in the house, why we never find out what happened to their cat (I assume it was eaten by the hungry man living in the walls), why Hannah’s boyfriend can be murdered while in the house and his death goes undiscovered. See, they’re the kind of teenage couple who never talk or text, which is why boyfriend's cellphone can be left in the house for days, just waiting to ring at the right moment to let everyone know what kind of trouble they're in. So much of this plot could’ve been solved if the characters did normal things like bring a flashlight when going up into a dark attic.

Within lasts 88 minutes. Only about 10 of them are worth anything, and these are towards the end when the film is at its most intense. There’s a lot of crawling in narrow spaces that makes you feel claustrophobic and it’s all very stressful because Hannah is being chased at the same time. The parents are frantically yelling through the walls, trying to carve holes in them so she can escape and all the while, she’s in her tormentor's element so it achieves the intensity it aims for. It’s why I’m going to award the film one star. The rest is utterly forgettable, frustrating and dull. (On DVD, August 25, 2021)

[world-cinema-research]

Final Project Preparation:Historical Evidence by Ronnie Bitzer

A central historical evidence of Bonnie and Clyde was the movie poster and how it depicts the central theme of the movie was violence and how crime and violence are interrelated and one can't exist without the other."They're young, they're in love and they kill people."

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/24779/bonnie-and-clyde/#overview Links to an external site.

One of the central pieces of evidence for Solaris is the tagline and how it talks about courage and hardships man has to face against what is inside of his conscience."Let us take you with us to Solaris, planet of mystery, embodiment of man's latent conflict with the unknown. Man face to face with his conscience, and with his past."

Solaris (1972) - Taglines - IMDb

Solaris (1972) - Taglines from original posters and video/DVD covers

IMDb

The relation of two of the taglines for each movie are giving accurate pieces of themes and central messages on what the movie is going to be about and what each genre of the movie is based on the movie poster.The differences between the two movies are the themes how Bonnie and Clyde's theme relates to violence and how Bonnie and Clyde rise up to be criminals. For Solaris it talks about human conscience and how we feel emotionally when we are brought up with painful memories that can bring us down.

[natromanxoff]

The Vancouver Sun - April 8, 2006

Credits to Royal Blue and Queencuttings.com

MUSIC | Frontman Paul Rodgers promises a '70s-style blast when Queen hits the Coliseum

[Photo caption-1: Frontman Paul Rodgers joins guitarist Brian May for the Queen world tour. The super group comes to PNE Coliseum Thursday.]

A chance to experience Queen as it was

its heyday, it may be the closest opportunity to experience Queen as it was. For Bohemian Rhapsody, Mercury makes an appearance on the video screen, to tackle one of his most signature songs.

"We said at the outset that it was never going to be a permanent thing, and there's no question in my mind of replacing Freddie Mercury or any of that," says Rodgers. "And I think the fans have been accepting of that, they understand, in the same way they don't expect me to be Free and they don't expect Brian [May] to be Jimmy Page or Mick Ralphs, my former guitar players. So it's very much being accepted for what it is. And it is a full on, very large rock show."

His collaboration with one of the '70s most campy rock bands is a brilliant step forward at a time when other rudderless rock veterans are turning to reality television and fame-seeking 20-somethings for their frontmen. (Hint: the initials are INXS).

It's a far better idea to ramp up one's classic rock cachet by pairing up with another survivor of the '70s. In order to reclaim the arena rock throne, Rodgers needed a band and Queen needed a leader. They'd been without one since Mercury died from AIDS complications in November, 1991.

The idea to collaborate was born out of a concert that marked the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. That night, Rodgers also played with Ronnie Wood and Joe Walsh. A few weeks later, he, May and Taylor played together again at the UK Music Hall of Fame Awards.

"But we never thought of putting myself with Queen until the moment came," says Rodgers. "I said to Brian, 'Do you think you could do All Right Now for me?' And he said, 'Oh yeah, but you've got to play for us, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. And I said, 'Sure, that sounds great, because those are two songs I can really rip it up on.

"And we did that, and everybody came off stage and we all said, "Wow, we gotta do this again,' which does often happen and then nothing may well come of it, because you go your separate ways and life takes over.

"But we actually did pursue it, and we talked on the phone and we talked about the idea of doing maybe a couple of shows in London just for fun. And people got very exited — promoters, management, record companies — and it turned into I think it was a 28-day arena tour of Europe. And it has now turned into an entirely full world tour, and here we are."

And so Queen with Paul Rodgers was born as a live CD/DVD as well, which has reignited the careers of Rodgers, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, who'd all released solo material following the peak years with their respective bands.

There are a few concert surprises, too. They've written a new song, they play a Queen song called The Show Must Go On that never did get played live because Mercury didn't live long enough (Rodgers takes an Otis Redding approach).

And although they were initially reluctant, May and Taylor take turns singing because Rodgers encouraged them to. The fans would want it, he told them.

If their collaboration works, it's due in part to a mutual respect among talented musicians. Individually they might not be the world's most famous faces, but they are musician's musicians, and for music fans, they are rock 'n' roll luminaries.

"They do tell me that in their early days when they first were starting out Fire and Water was one of the Free albums, and it was their musical bible, etcetera. And they would listen to that. They obviously went a slightly different way," he says, laughing, because Queen sounded nothing like Free.

"But yeah, I've always admired them from a distance. I can't put my hand on my heart and say I've always bought all their albums, but I have always respected them a great deal whenever I heard their music on the radio."

The Queen collaboration is merely one in a long string of such unions for Rodgers, who also played with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page as The Firm, the output of which was two albums.

In the early '90s, he joined former Who drummer Kenny Jones for The Law, which featured artists like Bryan Adams and David Gilmour. He's released albums of Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix tunes, being a credibility artist with a penchant for the blues and soul.

But most famously, it's his rock output that's earned him a name, hits such as All Right Now, Can't Get Enough, Feel Like Makin' Love, Rock Steady, Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy, Shooting Star. The Rodgers biography reads like a family tree of the influential artists of the 60s and 70s, and if he hasn't played with most of them, he's come close.

He tells the story of meeting a young Robert Plant at a working-class dive in Birmingham, in the days when Alexis Korner was playing with Free and before Led Zeppelin even existed. He remembers Plant singing (he does a hilarious falsetto impersonation) and got talking with him about how Plant was about to go down to London to work with a new artist named Jimmy Page. Rodgers had heard all about this session musician who was creating a buzz, but cautioned Plant that instead of taking the "30 quid a week" offered, he took a percentage instead.

It’s probably the best advice Plant ever got in his life.

But Paul Rodgers (right) has toured consistently, even when he wasn't fronting a major marquee name.

It's not the '70s anymore, which means touring is no longer synonymous with words like insanity and self-destruction.

"For me it's a lot more sober, and therefore I remember more of it," says Rodgers.

"In the old days, it was sort of full-on party central and wall to wall etcetera. But it has always been about the music to me 100 per cent, and all those other things really are distractions and they can get to be so distracting that they effect the music to its detriment, you know.

"So, I stay focused on the music and I like to stay fit. As I mentioned earlier I meditate and I do yoga and I work out in the gym. These are things that I like to do anyway and fortunately they've stayed me in good stead and enabled me to handle the pressures of this full on tour."

They may not be a permanent group, but Rodgers hints at the possibility of another project.

"Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if we did something bluesy in the not too distant future," he says.

As in an album?

"I don't know, I don't know," he says, coyly. "I will say we sound-checked the Hendrix 12-bar Redhouse the other day. And it was just smokin'."

[Photo caption-2: At left, new frontman Paul Rodgers (right) and Brian May of Queen perform in London last month at the start of their European tour.]

[Photo caption-3: Paul Rodgers (right) has toured consistently, even when he wasn’t fronting a major marquee name.]

[plus-size-reader]

Somewhere to Go

Veronica Lodge x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1770 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Ronnie gets in a fight with her dad and needs somewhere to go.

——————————————————————————————————

Hiram Lodge had a lot of personality, and unsurprisingly, so did his daughter. They were passionate people, who knew what they wanted and would go to any length to get it, and that was one of the things you loved most about Veronica.

She was strong and confident, almost never backing down when she set her mind to something but where her dad was concerned, it was a different story.

In all the time that you’d known him, you had to admit that you liked Hiram. All of those wonderful things you loved in Veronica, you could see in him and it didn’t hurt that he was kind to you.

You had been so nervous to meet him the first time, sure that the news of Ronnie seeing a girl wouldn’t go over well, but he was more than accepting. Frankly, of all the things he had to deal with, who his daughter fell in love with didn’t even crack the top fifty.

That was something you were glad for, but there were things that went on in the Lodge household that had nothing to do with you, things that you couldn’t control. One of those things, among the many, was your girlfriend’s relationship with her father.

After all, it wasn’t exactly a secret that he and Veronica didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye, especially not from you.

The two of them frequently fought and were known to butt heads on even the smallest things, and when that happened, Ronnie had been known to show up at your house.

What you had to offer her wasn’t exactly the four seasons, but at the very least, it was away from her dad.

...And as an added bonus, you were there.

At first, you had been nervous that she wouldn’t like your place which was small and not as lavish as she had grown accustomed to. You did your best to make sure that you always had the things that she would need if they got into it and she decided to stay with you for the night, but it wasn’t an exact science.

Veronica was pretty particular, and you were worried that she wouldn’t like your house. Though, as the nights ticked by and she kept showing up, holding only her handbag, you decided that it couldn’t have been that bad.

At the very least, you had a warm bed and your parents weren’t often home. It meant that you could have her over as much as you wanted and you didn’t have to answer to anyone about it.

Besides, you and Hiram had a longstanding understanding that if she left their house, she would more than likely be with you. It wasn’t ideal for him, knowing that she always had somewhere she could run off to when she didn’t want to be near him, but at least he knew that she was safe.

Of all the things in his life that he could control, Hiram was finally starting to understand that Veronica wasn’t one of them.

“Coming!” you called, offering little else as you made your way over to the locked door. When you checked the clock, it confirmed your suspicions, it was almost eleven at night, not that you let that bother you.

There was only one person who would be knocking on your door at this hour, and you were more than happy to have her.

“We really need to get you a key, Ronnie” you sighed, not even bothering to check the peephole before letting her in, a small smile on your face as you pulled her into a hug.

She was still in a huff over whatever it was they’d gotten into, but as soon as you had her in your arms, she let out a heavy sigh. You were sure she’d been holding that in, ranting to Smithers the entire drive over, but saving face until she could talk to you.

Veronica was strong, and put on a brave face most of the time, but when it came to her dad, it was different. There was just something about Hiram, she wanted to prove herself to him, to have him respect her, and she would do anything to make that happen.

However, you knew that even she was aware that wasn’t going to happen. Her father was just the sort of man who only played the game when he held the winning hand, and she was no exception to that.

He had to be in control.

“This is it! I’m never going back” she huffed, stomping a bit too aggressively as she made her way into your living room, tossing her handbag down on the couch. It was the same thing she said every time they fought.

She’d come in here, ranting and raving about how she was never speaking to him again, and how she was going to move in with you to avoid him for the rest of her life, but they always found a way to work it out.

It just took time, and a little distance, for them to get over whatever they were fighting about.

“I know honey” you hummed, gingerly rubbing her lower back in small circles in a gentle attempt to calm her down. You knew that she was just frustrated, but holding this all in was what got her into trouble in the first place.

That was part of the reason why coming here worked so well for her. Within these walls, Veronica didn’t have anyone to impress, she didn’t have to be daddy’s girl or put together, she could just be who she was.

Without something like that, you were sure her head would have exploded by now.

“I just don’t understand. When is he going to learn that I’m not a little girl anymore” she grumbled, resting her head against your shoulder, not even bothering to ask before she took a seat on your waiting lap.

This was a well rehearsed routine between the two of you, and she didn’t have to ask anymore.

“I’ll tell you what. It’s pretty late, so why don’t you go get a shower and then we can lay down and watch some tv?” you offered, knowing that was the best way to get her to relax. Veronica had always been a sucker for cuddles, something you learned really early on when you started dating.

It was like instant stress relief, and coupled with a cozy shirt of yours to wear and some cocoa, she would be all better in an hour or so.

You knew just what to do.

“Yeah, that sounds good” she agreed, smiling at you in the way she always did when the two of you were together, the kind of smile that spread to her eyes as she looked up at you. She was truly the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen, and knowing that she loved you back was the greatest feeling in the world.

Gently, you brushed a stray lock of her raven hair behind her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before urging her on her way.

Knowing Ronnie, you would have an hour or so before she got out of the shower, time that you would use to make that cocoa and find a comfy nightshirt for her to sleep in when she was done.

You were getting good at this.

In all the time that the two of you had known each other, you had always had a special way of talking to Veronica, something that you weren’t even aware you were capable of until you started dating, that calmed her down.

It was like a superpower, and you were more than happy to use it for good where the love of your life was concerned.

Without so much as a word, Veronica took off toward your bedroom, and the adjoining full bath that she’d always liked. It was where she kept all her fancy bath salts, towels, shampoo and conditioner; all things she’d bought just for occasions like this.

You were sure that it would be just what the doctor ordered after the night she’d had.

~

An hour had been a generous guess.

As much as Veronica loved snuggling up with you and just relaxing, her entire showering routine coupled with lotion and perfume and all of that, which took time. However, you understood that perfection took some time and when she was finally finished, none of that mattered anyway.

All that you cared about was making sure that she felt better after the vastly stressful events of the day.

“How was that? You feel better?” you asked, sitting up against your headboard so that the dark haired girl could sit down near your feet. Veronica didn’t answer right away, focusing on toweling off her wet hair, before she flopped down at your side.

As soon as she did, you were greeted by her coconut shampoo, even before she snuggled up into your chest. It was a scent that you’d grown to associate only with Ronnie, and breathing it in brought you incredible comfort.

Though, it was true that everything about Veronica had that effect on you.

“It was perfect” she hummed, snuggling up even more to you as she spoke, nuzzling her face into the crook of your neck from where you were sitting.

You had already pulled out all the stops on what she liked, with everything from mini marshmallows in the cocoa and all her favorite movies on DVD. However, as much as you wanted to put in a movie, it seemed like that wasn’t what Ronnie needed tonight.

All she wanted was to cuddle you, and you weren’t exactly going to argue with her over that. After all, whatever she wanted was what you were going to do, just like you usually did when she came over here.

It was your job to make her feel better, and that was what you were going to do. You knew Veronica, and by the morning, you were sure that everything would be all better. You’d done this a million times over, and it was the same every time.

...But that didn’t matter.

No matter how often this happened, you would always be here for her, whenever she needed you.

“Goodnight Ronnie” you smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before settling in beside her for the night. It was late, and the poor thing was tired, so you were sure that she was going to be passed out within a few minutes or so.

You just hoped that she would sleep well, after such a hard day.

[phant0m-l0rd]

thank you so much for the tag @lonesomecipher !! ✨

1. What is the first song you remember hearing?

Definitely a classical music piece, most likely Prokofiev or Mozart cuz my mom would play loads of classical music for me to fall asleep to as a kid.

2. What is the first band you got into?

The Beatles, when I was 11. Back then I was super into 80s pop music, and then my interest started shifting to even older music.

3. Do you collect any physical music?

Yes! 99% of what I collect are albums in CD form, and just a couple vinyls, one of which was gifted to me, cuz I have nothing to play vinyl on. Even though I try not to indulge too often, I do love going to the record store and buying albums a few times a year.

4. What is your favourite piece of music memorabilia?

Probably this Metallica Ride the Lightning flag I've got hanging on the wall above my bed. One of my favourite albums of all-time. And it moves with the wind when I open my window :')

5. The favourite concert you've been to?

I've been to 3 concerts in my life and although seeing System of a Down live was incredible, Metallica was my favourite concert purely because of how ecstatic I was to see my favourite band ever live. And they were amazing, as well. Only made better by the fact that I was able to share this fabulous experience with my mom, as all the concerts I've been to were with her. <3

6. If you could see one artist who is no longer alive in concert, who would it be?

Tough question cuz I could give so many answers, so either Queen with Freddie Mercury or Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio.

7. Have you met any musicians?

No, those concerts were the closest I got :D

8. What's your go to album when you're feeling sad?

There's actually quite a few, but the first one that springs to mind is Morningrise by Opeth.

9. What's your go to album when you're feeling happy?

Nothing in particular- on the contrary, when I'm happy is when I'll listen to anything and everything cuz I'll just be in the mood for music in general.

10. One music documentary you love?

I could list all the Metallica documentaries. I don't have a specific favourite that comes to mind right now.

11. What is one concert DVD that you love?

Quebec Magnetic.

12. Do you prefer listening to playlists or albums?

Albums 100%. I never make playlists and don't have any. I usually either listen to my entire music library on shuffle, click on specific artists in my library or listen to specific albums.

13. Do you listen to albums in order or on shuffle?

When I listen to an album, it's always in order. It would feel wrong otherwise. Plus many artists think so carefully about the order of their songs and the way they flow into the next song in order to tell a story, so I have to listen in the right order.

14. What is your favourite deep cut song by your favourite artist?

I keep saying it but either Ever Be or Starting Over by Korn, both of which are on their very underrated Untitled album. Idk why fans of the band never gave this album a chance- perhaps because it's slightly different from their original style, but in my opinion it's a musically more mature and complex album than what they'd done previously, and those two songs are beautifully crafted.

15. What is your favourite CD/ cassette/ vinyl you own in terms of its packaging?

For this question I must include a picture of said album I own- an Opeth limited edition My Arms Your Hearse tin case that contains the album.

I got it second hand a few years back for a ridiculously low price cuz apparently its previous owner had sold it to the record store I often go to. I immediately jumped on it. It's beautiful, in good condition, and I love the embossed Opeth logo.

tagging @dy3rs3v3 if you ever feel like answering these, and anyone else who might be interested ~

[glassbxttless]

hey cece, happy litha! if it's not too much trouble, could I possibly request making honeycakes with ronnie?

I’m sorry this is so late! But i did finally get it out 🤍

Ronnie Peterson x Reader

Word Count: 389

Warnings: Litha centric

Ronnie is smiling brightly as he pulls out all of the baking utensils you’ll need as he references that honey cake recipe you’d printed and taped to the cabinet for him. You’re smiling yourself as you admire the Star Wars tank top and comfy blue plaid pj bottoms he’s wearing. He’s been excited to help you with your baking since you mentioned it to him last night. He pushes his glasses up on his nose as you begin to pull out ingredients for your baking night.

“Thank you for letting me help.” Ronnie smiles over at you as you begin to combine dry ingredients together, asking him to start on the honey glaze topping. “I’ve never gotten to celebrate with you before.”

“We haven’t lived together before.” You smile at him, nudging his side a bit. He’s watching your movements as he folds the honey into the glaze he’s been mixing. “We could maybe have some tea by the fireplace too?” You ask softly as you place your cakes into the oven, cleaning up the mess you two have made.

And Ronnie’s putting the kettle on, grabbing pillows and blankets afterwards to set up a cozy spot for the two of you to enjoy yourselves while you finish up the baking. You glaze each cake and place them all onto one of your nice porcelain dishes, and you douse your own cup of tea with honey as well. You place the dish and cups onto a tray, carrying them into the living room. You see the small space Ronnie’s set up in front of the fireplace, blankets and pillows and even the portable DVD player. “Happy Litha, pumpkin.” He smiles happily.

You shake your head, utterly in love. “Thank you.” You place the tray down on the stone lip in front of the fireplace and pull him in for the gentlest and most loving kiss you could muster. “I appreciate this. I appreciate you.”

“I cleared off the dresser for your altar too.” He says against your lips. “Know you said offerings were important.” You smile again at him and sit down, getting cozy in your swaths of blankets, as he pushes in a DVD. And when you’re wrapped in Ronnie’s arms, munching on a honey cake while watching Star Wars for the millionth time, you feel at peace.

[maticide666]

so i got tagged by @lonelyvomit to do this shit. thanks!

1. What’s the first song you remember hearing? Lobo-hombre en París by La Unión

2. What’s the first band you got into? Maná. Led Zeppelin if you're talking about fandom.

3. Do you collect physical music? not really. i really should, though.

4. What is your favorite piece of music memorabilia? my Megadeth t-shirt. it's really comfy

5. What’s your favorite concert that you’ve been to? i actually don't have one. turns out that going to concerts is Really Hard around here if you 1) can't drive, 2) don't have anyone to go with, and 3) are broke.

6. If you could see any artist that’s no longer alive in concert, who would it be? either Nick Menza (former Megadeth drummer) or Ronnie James Dio

7. Have you met any musicians? no

8. What’s your go-to album when you’re feeling sad? Time I by Wintersun (I guess. I usually pick specific songs for this type of stuff.)

9. What’s your go-to album when you’re feeling happy? Stand Up And Fight by Turisas (again, i don't usually pick entire albums for this)

10. What is one music documentary that you love? none come to mind right now, but I really need to plan to watch A Finnish Summer with Turisas at some point.

11. What is one concert DVD that you love? Live Shit: Binge and Purge by Metallica

12. Do you prefer listening to playlists or albums? playlists. i do tend to be picky about what songs i want to listen to.

13. Do you listen to albums in order or on shuffle? in order

14. What is your favorite deep cut song by your favorite artist? The Way of the Fire by Wintersun - one of their two unreleased songs that have been performed live.

consider yourself tagged if you see this. i'm too tired to find folks to tag right now.

[horrordirtbag]

Friday the 13th fan survey

saw this from @insanityincarnated (I added my own little question at the end)

1. First F13 film you ever saw? Jason Lives when I was 11, but I had been a fan without actually seeing the movies since I was 7 when my grandmother (who is a huge horror fan, go figure) told me stories about Jason when I asked about her poster she had put up for Halloween; it was literally like the campfire scenes in the movies (except in a kitchen) and I wouldn’t want any other way to have been introduced

2. Last F13 film you saw? I'm not sure if this means in theaters or just last one you watched recently, but either way the answer is part 4 lmao

3. How many F13 movies do you own? All of'm on DVD, getting the new bluray boxset soon.

4. Favorite film in the series? Jason Lives, which isn't a unique answer, so I'll give a special shoutout to Freddy vs Jason which is probably my ~3rd favorite.

5. Why? Jason Lives: Need I give an explanation? The movie is incredibly fun, clever, and it overall feels like a celebration of the character after fans missed him in part 5. It's a loveletter to the franchise. Plus, I love zombie Jason.

Freddy vs Jason: Everything the fanboy in me could ever have wanted, my two favorite boys sharing the same screen. The fight is just incredible, and the story is really fun. The fact that we got this movie at all is surreal. This film gets way too much unnecessary shit, but I guess fans are impossible to please.

6. Least favorite film? Jason Goes to Hell

7. Why? It sucks

8. Favorite actor to play Jason? Kane Hodder, the guy owned the role. I've seen people say he makes Jason TOO angry which... doesn't make sense to me lmao, Jason IS one angry motherfucker, and Kane captured that perfectly.

9. Least favorite to play Jason? I don't want to say any of them are my "least" favorite, because they all did great, and they all seem like really sweet people. I will say I have some issues with how stiff Ken Kirzinger was at times in Freddy vs Jason, but I mostly attribute that to Ronny Yu's poor directing, who told him to act like Frankenstein.

10. Favorite story line? F13 isn't exactly known for unique storylines, lmao, but there are standouts. It's a toss between Jason Lives or FvJ, again. Jason Lives has a very basic premise, but it absolutely nails the Friday the 13th formula like no other movie had or has been able to since.

Freddy vs Jason simply doesn't get enough credit for how well it blends both franchises. When you read the OTHER scripts they had considered for the crossover, you really appreciate Shannon & Swift's screenplay that much more.

11. Best kill? It's really hard for me to choose, so I’ll just list off a few of my favorites: heart punch in part 6, head crush in part 3, cooked alive in the remake, face smash in jason x, sleeping bag kill (duh)... i could really go on all day LOL

12. Worst kill? I don't think there's any particularly "bad" kills. Probably one of the offscreen deaths (but even those can be kind of dramtic & cool, especially the ones that play with shadows). I guess when non-Jason-morgue-guy slashes up a girl with a razor. Barely see shit and it’s not even Jason

13. When people say “ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah”, you…… This is where all the gamers in the audience would yell "AKSHUALLY IT'S KI KI KI MA MA MA" but honestly I just don't give a fuck, I'd just be glad I'm talking to someone who knows the movies lol

Bonus: Unpopular opinion you have?

The only bad movie is Jason Goes to Hell, all the other ones are enjoyable and I think often get too much hate (notably Jason Takes Manhattan and FvJ), and I don’t think the series should retcon any of the movies so that fans can make their own personal timeline since none have any baggage that would effect the series going foreward. Also zombie jason > human jason (but I love both)

[bjsmall]

30.10.20

We watched Disney Pixar's Up (2009) IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049413/ Up is a 2009 computer animated adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centres on elderly widower Carl Fredricksen and a young boy named Russell. Carl ties thousands of balloons to his house and sets of to fulfill his dream to see the wilds of South America and complete a promise made to his late wife Ellie. The complete story can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(2009_film) The film was directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Bob Peterson. The music was composed by Michael Glacchino who also composed the music for the Incredibles and Ratatouille. Up was released on May 29th 2009 and opened the 2009 Cannes Festival. The film grossed over $735 million dollars becoming the sixth highest film of 2009. The film received worldwide acclaim from critics and audiences, with many calling it one of the best animated films of all time. Up recieved a staggering 98% approval rating with an average of 8.7 out of 10. It has won two awards at the 82nd Academy Adward For Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Docter and 11 other Pixar artists spent a number of weeks in Venezuela researching and sketching the landscape and environment the film was to be set in, including climbing Angel Falls. 

In the film, it is called Paradise Falls. Angel Falls wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Falls While Pixar usually designs their characters to be exaggerated, in Up it was even more so. Carl's large square head symbolises his containment within the house, whilst Russell's head is rounded like a balloon. Pixar animators studied their own parents and grandparents to understand how old people move. 20,622 balloons are used for the house lift off sequence and each one being twice the size of Carl. In real life it would have taken 23 million balloons to lift the house. My two favourite characters are Dug the golden retriever and Kevin the snipe bird. I like the way Kevin interacts with Russell, makes funny noises and has brightly coloured plumage. https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Kevin I like Dug due to his funny voice, great sense of humour and playful nature. Dug makes an cameo appearance in Ratatouille as a shadow on a wall that barks at Remy. https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Dug I first saw the film on Blu-Ray in about 2010 and have watched it many times since. I liked Up for a variety of reasons including the South American landscape, unique characters and emotional story line. Up is shown in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The Blu-Ray and DVD release of Up features an animated short film called 'Dugs Special Mission' which is a 4 minute short directed by Ronnie del Carmen. Up was released on 4K Blu-Ray on March 3rd 2020. Interestingly there has been no sequel to Up meaning the film and its story line has not become tired and diluted. Many of the Pixar team behind Up also created the 2015 film Inside Out. Both films were directed by Pete Docter and scored by Michael Glacchino. Both these films explore the emotions of human nature and create a connection to audiences of any age group.