Lost_Johnny

Winter Men #4 is finally here - Fantastic, my favourite series of last year.

I am weeping with childhood longing...echo Bionic Man, animated Star Trek, Space 1999 eagles, chopper (not chipper!), star wars figures, a few off the top of my head (more, much more tomorrow)...

everything to do with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

 

Airfix Flight Deck:

 

All of 'em! (but what kind of missile is that!!)

 

 

especially Size of a......

Stop whinging and get a new one fitted...

 

 

 

I hope it's not too bad otherwise I'm going to look like a right shit

What's a Party Seven?

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sorry 70's British nostalgia. They used to do huge 7 pint (3.5 litre) cans of warm british bitter (beer) called Party Sevens.

 

The best bit was that you had to pierce the can lid in two places to make the beer flow out, so if you can imagine drunkenly stabbing a huge tin of beer that has been shaken with a chisel... there was usually a huge explosion everyone round the can got soaked in frothy crap beer, the person with the chisel stabbed themselves in the hand and everyone else pissed themselves laughing... oh aye we knew how to party in those days.

 

Shawn don't take no shit off that harsh Mistress of Life, take her by the arm, march her down the pub and do us all a favour by reminding her how to enjoy herself again!

To my mind, the best thing about 3 was the calibre of the cast. There's a certain quality of scenery-chomping ham-artistry that only British luvvies can really pull off, and there's a great deal of it on display in that film.

 

's far from the only good thing about it too - at risk of opening myself to further chest-ripping, I have been known to rate it above Aliens.

 

I freely admit to holding deeply non-standard opinions about the Alien films :D

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Bloody Hell Tom, keep this up and you'd better expect this lot to turn up soon...

Kill me dead if you like, but I thoroughly enjoyed Alien vs Predator.

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The last person who said that....

Why did they made such a bad film out of two such magnificent characters?

Money in my view... they took took two of the greatest Sci-Fi franchises ever, which between them had not produced a film without an adult rating and produced something that, in the UK at any rate, got a 12 rating (ie. teens could watch) in order to try and make a quick buck.

 

OK there were a lot more reasons than that but it boils down to a massive lack of respect for both franchises.

 

And the Pred. films?

I saw the first when i was younger but i cant remeber much. Is it good? And the second one?

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Predator was absolutely superb in my view, it could have just been an excuse for Arnie to flex fis biceps and then lots of random acts of violence (and there were plenty of both ) but the way the suspense is built and the sheer arrogance of the alien adds so uch more to the film, but, as you know Hags what is one man's cup of tea is anothers can of Skol lager.

 

Predator 2 is seen both most as a disappointing sequel but I can quite happily waste a couple hours of my life watching it when it's repeated on TV

Happy Birthday Shawn

 

I've brought a Party Seven...

Ade told me to boast about this, so I will.

 

I got Mike Carey's new novel, The Devil You Know, from the publishers last week*. It's excellent. Far better than I expected it to be, and my expectations were pretty high to start with.

*Did an interview with him for Leeds Guide magazine.

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Rub our faces in it why don't you, well I want to pay my hard earned cash for it, so that struggling artists like Mike can put stale bread and unbottled water on their tea crate at least once a week!

 

PS. I'm going to order it from Amazon at the same time as the King Kong DVD, hopefully this means that everytime someone looks at the King Kong DVD they'll get that "Other customers who purchased this also purchased The Devil You Know". Spread the word brothers and sisters.

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That's rather cunning.

Did you get that mailer for it Amazon sent out with the blurb from a Tom Holt novel of the same title on it, rather than whatever it says on the back of Carey's book?

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Yep, I must email them, they really do fuck up a lot of the time with cross over listings, sometimes though it can be good - I got the complete Blackadder DVD series for the price of The Cure's greatest hits CD! Then when I thought I was being clever because I had spotted that they had listed the deluxe verson of the complete Walking Dead series (£45) for £6.50 I got sent The Ultimates instead - it was worth a shot though.

Ade told me to boast about this, so I will.

 

I got Mike Carey's new novel, The Devil You Know, from the publishers last week*. It's excellent. Far better than I expected it to be, and my expectations were pretty high to start with.

*Did an interview with him for Leeds Guide magazine.

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Rub our faces in it why don't you, well I want to pay my hard earned cash for it, so that struggling artists like Mike can put stale bread and unbottled water on their tea crate at least once a week!

 

PS. I'm going to order it from Amazon at the same time as the King Kong DVD, hopefully this means that everytime someone looks at the King Kong DVD they'll get that "Other customers who purchased this also purchased The Devil You Know". Spread the word brothers and sisters.

I'd agree that this felt like an issue designed to steady the arc, that's not a criticism, for me it feels more like a way of changing the pace slightly. The story had a frenetic start with an almost staccato method of storytelling (something that I loved), jumping from section to section, leaving loads of questions while the need for the journey emerged, this allied with John's unease over his newfound empathy left a great unsettled feeling.

 

Now as the journey progresses I feel like John is starting to regain his composure and relax into the inevitable crisis that is coming, and so the pace of the story has started to relect this, much like a long journey where your nerves have settled down and the hassle of arriving has yet to kick in. I know it sounds bizarre but it reminds me of Withnail and I.

 

Everyone seems to agree that you just can't go wrong with a mad monks sub-plot, ace! And Manco is still bringing home the bacon. Also, unlike GI John Doe , I thought the cover looked great in the flesh but yeh, he's fucked lighting that fag!

 

Now this is where I sound a bit dense (or more dense than normal at any rate), the Archbishop reference - is this meant to be a I haven't got a fucking clue what's going on here teaser or am I suffering signs of mental fatigue and it's bleedin obvious innit!

 

8/10

My problem with the ending wasn't that it was hackneyed or unconvincing (both of which it was) - it's that it totally undermines two of the most significant character arcs in the book, and along with them, the ultimate point of the story.

 

Over the course of the novel, both Evey and Finch undergo a series of trials and challenges which are explicitly paralleled to V's own experiences. As a result of this, Finch ultimately destroys V, while Evey replaces/becomes him. In the film version, Finch has absolutely nothing to do with V's death, and everyone in London becomes V except for Evey, who just sort of vanishes from the story following the destruction of Parliament. It's hard to imagine how much more wrong they could have got it, really.

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The Evey change didn't worry me too much, as I always saw her transformation into V as a representation of the need for the everyperson to rebuild/heal society after a period of oppression, whereas the film makers chose the less subtle (and less effective) route of turning the everyperson into V.

 

The change to Finch on the other hand was a real shame, I still expected V to stumble into him after being shot and for some kind of dialogue to emerge to complete the circle of their flawed but similar characters. I'm guessing they must have felt that having shown the good character of Finch arrive at a similar conclusion as V, was enough to question the morality of V's actions, but it wasn't. Nowhere as good as it could have been, but even so, still not a show stopper for me. Incidently the two people I went with who have never read the novel, loved the film, apart from, in both cases, the satirical TV show and the inclusion of the martyrs at the end.

...it got me through a rough patch, maybe that helped...

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it's the best of reasons Sethos, maybe they should prescribe Nik Cave on the NHS , I'm with Mark on Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus although I probably play Murder Ballads more for some reason.

Is he dead, or did and suffering in hell, or has he been demonized?

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He got told off at nursery today for sitting on someone and not letting them get up, but apart from that he's ok.

I've been expecting the worst for so long that I'm amazed to say that I enjoyed the film. I actually enjoyed it quite a lot, which is bizarre as reading through the all the faults listed in this thread, I agree with many of them but even so, somehow, for me the spirit of the original series still seeped out.

Does any of this chuntering remind anyone of the cabbie scene in "Hold Me"?

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Heh, get a new mind...

 

Actually reminds me more of

 

Mick, have opinions, but don't let The Sun and The Daily Mail be your only source of reference, you really can't take everything at face value. Questioning our politicians and their policies doesn't show a lack of pride in your country, if anything it shows you actually give a shit about what is supposedly done in your name...

 

and read 1984

Seriously i am quite scared with all these terrorists lately i really think we should do something now because it's getting rediculous, there all getting giros, were paying the bastards to kill us!

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You're being ironic right? As none of them were illegal immigrants and I've seen no evidence that there (sic) all getting giros. If not, then you want to get out a bit more Mick, we're not quite slap bang in the middle of that crucible of terror that our government and the US have encouraged for our safety.

 

And thanks for the concern John, I'm happy to report that me and mine are all OK, but living in constant fear.

Know how it feels, sorry Ade. ouch

 

What am I on about... no sympathy

 

by the way, I'm in that picture of fans protesting.... right at the back out of harms way, peacefully protesting

Wonderful art Tim. What process have you used? Is it painted straight onto a canvas or is there some sort of print process that is then painted on? Or, most likely, am I talking complete bollox?

 

The hill with the tree on reminds me of a place near Worcester where I used to go and sit when things got too much (usual hippy shit) called Whittington Tump or Crookbarrow Hill, here's a picture...

 

Look forward to seeing your stuff at Bristol.

Happy Birthday Abhi...

Have a good un!

I really hope the Lauren departure has not arisen due to concern from the team about upsetting any particular brand of faith. It would set an unwelcome precedent.

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The precedent was already set when DC refused to print the Rick Veitch Swamp Thing issue that had Swampy meeting Jesus.

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True. I hadn't come across this before (I've only ever read the Moore ST volumes) and I was looking at it with my Hellblazer blinkers on, but it's a totally valid point. I'm just concerned that for a publication which I enjoy partly because of its cynical take on things that it would be a shame to see it shy away from religious based subject matter, due to fear of the possible ramifications of upsetting those hardliners who are so insecure that they fear a straightforward debate (such as Charlie is championing in the other section).

Debbie Harry was my first true love, I can still remember seeing her performance of Denis, with a red and white striped bathing suit and a black jacket that she kept slipping off the shoulder in the most erotic way known to boy or man. I was 10 at the time and something awoke that day They were the first band I saw two years later courtesy of my mates older sister and watching Atomic on Top of the Pops was a landmark in defining my music tastes as well.

 

Look I've found the video for Denis Ok it was a bit cheesey but still Whoo-ah! as Pacino would say.

 

oh Charlie wat have you done...

 

 

Anyway as for others who have still have it for me, well she's not tha old but disappeared from my thoughts after entrancing me in Bladerunner, only to come back as Nurse Elle Driver...

Something about eye patches, I'd better stop now...

 

Nik, get the nurses uniform out...

Unconditional love...

Guinness I mean...

 

oh and...

beacause I do.

There's a storm brewing. The cover has got its faults, for me the skull in the coat and the car do not work very well but I'm guessing others are correct in saying that it was probably a last minute call - but I actually do like the slightly oversize hands and face, especially the facial expression and both the shielding of the fag in a force 9 gale and the stormy sky are ace.

 

I really hope the Lauren departure has not arisen due to concern from the team about upsetting any particular brand of faith. It would set an unwelcome precedent.

 

I dig the monks section, the writing and the art is really capturing that feeling of old British horror folk tales. I expect to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing battling it out in future issues.

Why the fuck hasn't the guy got an axe in the picture though?

 

That's not Druss on the cover, it's...um....the guy who ends up donning the Bronze Armour. I'm hooked on Gemmell's stuff - juvenile fantasy at its finest...

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Ah yeh it's all coming back to me now, well not all but tiny fragments... The one I read, which must be 20 years ago now, had a cover with one of those Greek type Spartan helmets (Bronze, smooth with nose protector) and a huge axe lying next to it - nothing else I think. But yeh, I really did enjoy it... good storytelling.