Home Sweet Home
Come on in! Sit yourself down and cut yourself a slice of cake!*
After nine years and three months stinking out DVDReviewer, I've decided it's time for a change of scenery and a change of web presence.
Over that past nine years, I've probably been on DVDReviewer at least once a day, and I've seen it change. I've seen familiar names come and go, colleagues join the magic band of pixies that write the reviews none of the forumites ever read, and other colleagues wander off to do something more interesting after a while.
DVDReviewer has always been a special place on the web for me. It was never as hostile as AICN (what is?), as snooty as DVDTimes, as insidery as Roobarb's or as anal as the Home Theater Forum. All right, so you couldn't have a good techy discussion without somebody threadfarting a nerd alert or hijacking the thread to discuss the football, but it was always a friendly, chummy sort of place where you could share your troubles and there was always a sympathetic ear.
Was.
I'm hoping that the spirit of the old DVDReviewer can be found here at MyReviewer and the Sprocket Hole. I'm going to concentrate all of my efforts on making more frequent blog entries and on a wider range of topics than just DVDs and old movies and television. I'm still going to write the odd review - the odder the better - and make passing comment on current affairs. All the sorts of things I used to do on the DVDReviewer forums. That will include the very occasional obituary in tribute to a personally respected personality which had better not degenerate into a series of catty and irrelevant comments about one role in their career.
*"Sit yourself down and cut yourself a slice of cake" was something of a catchphrase for my old maternal great-grandfather. Whenever one of my grandad's sisters would bring home a feller, he'd greet them with the line, and chortle to himself as the unfortunate suitor would look around for the non-existent cake.
I come from a long line of nutters.
After nine years and three months stinking out DVDReviewer, I've decided it's time for a change of scenery and a change of web presence.
Over that past nine years, I've probably been on DVDReviewer at least once a day, and I've seen it change. I've seen familiar names come and go, colleagues join the magic band of pixies that write the reviews none of the forumites ever read, and other colleagues wander off to do something more interesting after a while.
DVDReviewer has always been a special place on the web for me. It was never as hostile as AICN (what is?), as snooty as DVDTimes, as insidery as Roobarb's or as anal as the Home Theater Forum. All right, so you couldn't have a good techy discussion without somebody threadfarting a nerd alert or hijacking the thread to discuss the football, but it was always a friendly, chummy sort of place where you could share your troubles and there was always a sympathetic ear.
Was.
I'm hoping that the spirit of the old DVDReviewer can be found here at MyReviewer and the Sprocket Hole. I'm going to concentrate all of my efforts on making more frequent blog entries and on a wider range of topics than just DVDs and old movies and television. I'm still going to write the odd review - the odder the better - and make passing comment on current affairs. All the sorts of things I used to do on the DVDReviewer forums. That will include the very occasional obituary in tribute to a personally respected personality which had better not degenerate into a series of catty and irrelevant comments about one role in their career.
*"Sit yourself down and cut yourself a slice of cake" was something of a catchphrase for my old maternal great-grandfather. Whenever one of my grandad's sisters would bring home a feller, he'd greet them with the line, and chortle to himself as the unfortunate suitor would look around for the non-existent cake.
I come from a long line of nutters.
Your Opinions and Comments
Just finished listening to the third Torchwood play for Radio 4 and now listening to the new Lost in Space play which debuted on radio 4 last Saturday.
Can't wait for the lovely 5 days of Torchwood coming up.
I think I might like to rejoin you old-bloggers on this lovely site.
Good times we had...
pass the sandwiches love...
I miss a lot of the stuff on the radio because of timing. The Lost In Space play sounded interesting because I've been chasing up the old telly show with Jonathan Harris and the Robot. Checked the Radio Times. Journey into Space. Oops. :D Still very interesting - one of the earliest bits of British sci-fi. Real Dan Dare stuff.
I'd like to see more retro-sci-fi. I think the sci-fi of Star Trek, Star Wars and the heavy metal stylings of stuff like Alien has had its heyday and it's time for something different. I've been introduced to the delights of steampunk by the bods over at Roobarb's - stuff like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - but I'd also like to see more stuff styled like kitsch 1950s sci-fi. I've just picked up a model of Forbidden Planet's Robby The Robot from Play as a bit of inspiration.
Roll on Monday and the start of Torchwood week.
I used to love the Chaos Engine on my Amiga once upon a time. I'm going to recommend an anime, but before you scream and hide, it's right up your alley, once you get past the daft movie and character names. It's called Steamboy. I've reviewed it on the site, if you're in the mood for excessive prose.
But Steamboy is made by Katsuhiro Otomo, who made Akira, but this is more family friendly. It's set in an alternate Victorian age, where steam power is researched to a greater degree. Aside from the fact that it's animated, it's not like a lot of other anime, instead it has a very Hollywood heart to it, playing out more like a James Bond film. Also, it's one of those rare anime where I prefer the English dub, and with actors like Patrick Stewart and Al Molina voicing the characters, it has an authenticity to the British setting.
As for other steampunk, I can only think of LXG and Wild Wild West, which to put it diplomatically, were disappointing. As for kistch 50's sci-fi, it's been a while since I've seen Mars Attacks. You've also just reminded me of one of my fave sci-fi movies when I was a little boy, Robinson Crusoe on Mars.
Wild Wild West had possibilities, but had been hijacked by Will Smith, who was doing for the 1990s what Eddie Murphy was doing for the 1980s - hijacking completely unsuitable projects as starring vehicles. I also think Kenneth Branagh's villain was a huge mistake.
I've been reading a couple of anthologies of Steampunk short stories - Steampunk, and Extraordinary Engines. They're interesting, but they lack whimsy which I think is very important in a story.
I'll keep an eye out for Steamboy.
EDIT: Went looking for Steamboy and found only the theatrical cut in the bargain buckets - around a £5er. Looks like the DC is OOP, or only available for silly money from Amazon Marketplacers.
Steampunk is a strange genre or should I say sub-genre. With my SF Crowsnest hat on I read a couple of Steve Hunt's books and I think he has finally made it into Waterstones now but I is not character led so I enjoy the jolly tale but don't get emotionally caught up in it.
Can I come back and be your grumpy old woman on here?
Sue
x
I think the very finest movie to capture this pre-war Buck Rogers 'airships and steam powered industry' angle of sci-fi is the breath-taking (and grossly under-rated) 'Casshern'. I picked this Japanes movie up for under £3.00 - and WOW!! Talking about a complete visual feast! Apparently produced in a modest budget, the movie exudes production value rarely seen in anything other than multi-million dollar block-busters. Although it occasionally looks like a very cleverly directed pop video, and is a bit ponderous, I'd say this was one of the finest movies I saw last year and thoroughly recommended. (Currently £0.78 used on Amazon marketplace for 2 disc special)
(Reaches for second digestive...)
Jitendar - I've picked up the Theatrical Cut from Sendit for £4.89, and I'll keep an eye out for a cheap copy of the DC.
Stuart - Casshern, eh? I shall investigate.
Next time I'll bring Jaffa Cakes. ;)
It's good to see lots of classics and good stuff being reviewed here-we did get sent some steaming piles of crap in the old days.
You're all doing very well as Mr Grace used to say...the less said about Mrs Slocumbe's pussy the better...
Still waiting for Sendit to ship the Steamboy single-discer.
My card gets frauded, so I have to cancel it and order a new one, London goes on a postal strike for three days, just when the summer sales start in earnest.
Someone's trying to tell me something, and I'm trying desperately to ignore them.
Jits - do you want me to order it and send it on?
I'm happy to do the honours though will need your address again. I'm away for a couple of weeks but I think I could get it sent directly to you?
Incoming transmission from the Big Giant Jit
When I saw Casshern I was bored but at that price it'd be rude not to as it probably needs another watch.
Just ordered it, so another to put on the pending pile!