celticman's blog

Amsterdam (2022), Prime, Written and Directed by David O. Russell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_(2022_film) Amsterdam screenplay claims to be based ‘mostly on true events’. What it means by that is there was a first world war and a second world war and there is a place called Amsterdam. Hokum stretched thinly over two-and-a-quarter hours. Anyone that watched Scooby Doo knows how this film will end with those industrialists plotting against American democracy unmasked. It had me thinking there may be...

Jan Murphy (2023) The Psychic Fairy Queen.

I’m blessed enough to have a roof over my head. Blessed enough to have light and warmth on Christmas Eve. Blessed enough to be able to sit and read The Psychic Fairy Queen from start to finish without interruption, other than the necessary gallons of tea. I used to love books like this. I was brought up in a big Catholic family. There’s a joke in there about a small Catholic family not being Catholic enough. Not much call for Gwyneth Paltrow’s...

I am a Witch, Prime, produced by Frankie Guerra and directed by Andrew Castruita.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0B8SRF16V/ref=atv_hm_mys_c_cm9Ytn_1_16 Blurb: Witchcraft is mainstream. The rise of Witchcraft has been steadily rising and for good reason. Hear from practicing Witches on how being a modern day Witch is not what your parents warned you about. For better or worse, Witchcraft is here to stay. Reading is what I do. I’m reading (and enjoying) Jan Murphy (2023) The Psychic Fairy Queen . I’d guess she would...

Disco: Sound of a Revolution, BBC 2, BBC iPlayer, Director Louise Lockwood.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001tkyf/disco-soundtrack-of-a-revolution-series-1-1-rock-the-boat https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001tkyp/disco-soundtrack-of-a-revolution-series-1-2-aint-no-stoppin-us-now https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001tmjk/disco-soundtrack-of-a-revolution-series-1-3-stayin-alive ‘It’s so important people know this. This is history .’ Here is the music test. What do you listen to when driving? I grew up...

The Burial (2023) Prime, Directed by Maggie Betts, Screenplay by Doug Wright and Maggie Betts based on The Burial by Jonathan Harr.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0B8MWYS6Q/ref=atv_me_inc_c_nPGsgV_brws_1_33?jic=8%7CEgRzdm9k https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burial_(film) This is Erin Brokovitch in the undertaking industry. Black and white. Good versus bad. A story of triumph we expect when the little guy fights corporate corruption that so rarely happens in real life (as this is purported to be) it becomes memorable. The Set up. Calvary of Love Baptist Church,...

Rick Rien (2023) Viva Nothing

Rick Rien (a pseudonym) sent me a copy of his book, Viva Nothing . The title comes from a virtual race. He fancied the name, placed a bet, and won. Usually, he loses. It’s in the title. Rick’s addiction is gambling. Most of us know someone that is addicted to something. ‘Some of my best mates are drunk drivers,’ is a line I used in one of my longer stories, Ugly Puggly. Smoking and drinking used to be the big-hitters. Drugs (legal, illegal or...

Rosie (2021) BBC3, BBCiPlayer, Script by Roddie Doyle, Director Paddy Breathnach.

Rosie (2021) BBC3, BBCiPlayer, Script by Roddie Doyle, Director Paddy Breathnach. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p09lk76z/rosie Roddy Doyle makes you smile. You just need to think of that line from The Commitments , ‘We are the black men of…’ whatever it was. I’m never that grand at remembering. He wrote about the housing crisis in Dublin. But they can’t be that bad that Conor McGregor threatens to lead a posse of Irishmen to deal with...

Words on Bathroom Walls (2020), BBC 3, BBC iPlayer, Screenwriter Nick Naveda, based on novel of the same name by Julia Walton, Director Thor Freudenthal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001sg02/words-on-bathroom-walls https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sg02#credits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_on_Bathroom_Walls Words on Bathroom Walls was a 2020 release and mainstream movie. It had a budget of over $9 million. Yet it only took around a third of that at the Box Office. If it looks like a turkey and sounds like a turkey… But it’d be a mistake to think that. Some movies like Pretty...

Ben-Hur (2016) Film4, Screenplay by Keith Clarke and John Ridley, Based on Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) novel by Lew Wallace, Directed by Timur Bekmambetov

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/ben-hur-2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Hur_(2016_film) I was flicking through the channels. I couldn’t understand why they were putting Ben-Hur on in a premium time slot. I’d fond memories of Ben-Hur, being generally a sucker for Biblical epics when I was a kid in the La Scala. The type where Jesus’s shadow touches Victor Mature’s face in The Robe . I can’t really remember what happened next. No doubt...

Three Faces, BBC 4, BBC iPlayer, written, directed and produced by Jafar Panahi

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001swt5/three-faces https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001swt5#credits This is one of those films I watched which I didn’t really enjoy. For some reason I believed it would be cartoonish. I was thinking of something or somebody else. But it was a conventional film. I’m not sure certain why it was called Three Faces? Perhaps three faces of Iran (I’m not sure what they are either). I’ll do what I usually do...

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