By Roy Mathur, on 2024-07-08, at 23:48:57 to 00:24:35 BST, for Captain Roy's Rusty Rocket Radio Show
This show has always been far more personal than other podcasts, frequently uncomfortably so. I have said many times that I wish this pod to be a haven away from outside woes, not a place they fester. That was, however, the unfortunate direction I travelled last time for reasons that have now been addressed and hopefully I can put behind me.
Of course, I'm still Non-Linear Roy, and prone to wild gallops into Off Topic Forest, but I'll make a determined effort to reign my steed in.
Our Disney DVD collection grows ever more complete with the fantasy movie The Black Cauldron (1985), based on American author Lloyd Chudley Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain inspired by Welsh mythology. An incredible voice cast includes Freddie Jones as Dallben, Nigel Hawthorne as Fflewddur Fflam, John Hurt as The Horned King, and John Huston as the Narrator. I watched this at 2100 on Sunday the 7th July 2024, with and at my mother's request.
It concerns Taran---assistant to a pig keeper/wizard, who has dreams of being a heroic warrior---and his magic pig Henwen trying to prevent the Horned King using an evil black cauldron to raise a world-conquering zombie army. Along the way, Taran befriends a small furry creature, is helped by a princess, obtains a magic sword, frees a bard, and triumphs. There are also witches, fairies, and a nasty imp.
There are too many characters with not enough to do in such a simple story of only eighty minutes, the script is anaemic and not at all funny, and the small furry creature, Gurgi, is as annoying as Jar Jar Binks.
On the plus side, I find the film dark in tone and look and I especially appreciate the grim foreboding art-style of the castles, mountains, and skies. The use of reflections on water are beautiful.
The overall story is promising, but poorly executed.
Cillian Murphy is Dr Julius Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's epic 2023 biopic of the brilliant, stylish, but tortured physicist, whose directorship of the Manhattan project developed the atomic bomb.
Clarity of dialogue was not as egregious as Tenet, though I would have enjoyed it far more had I actually been able to hear everything. I had to significantly boost the centre channel, though my player was already set to emphasise speech, and yet I still missed parts of the script. Such poor sound design at this level of filmmaking is inexcusable. Other than that enormous issue, I found the experience cinematic, even at home, and Murphy's acting was excellent as usual.
I forgot to share this with you months ago. Amicus Productions, run by Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg were makers of British horror and science fiction films in the 60s and 70s. Through Subotsky's genius in production scheduling, they recruited famous talent to star in portmanteau films of interlinked short stories, and other films, like the Doctor Who Dalek films starring Peter Cushing.
Last year, Amicus Productions was taken over by low budget filmmakers Hex Media. I wish them well in their endeavours, but trailers of Hex Media's previous output seems nowhere near the quality of the original Amicus. As a fan of old Amicus, I hope I'm wrong and they surprise me.
I speculated in 545 whether Qimir, Maes's comic relief, was a Sith or even Darth Plagueis. Episode 5 revealed him to be a Sith and the vurrrghing, powwing, splating Red Wedding my face. It was so exciting, I watched it twice. The drama, the fighting, the tragedy... incredible, amazing, stupendous. I've been telling everyone it's the best Star Wars fighting ever.
Episode six quietens down, as Qimir begins to seduce Osho to the Dark Side, but also shows us the awesomeness of a long whip lightsaber in action.
This is proper Star Wars, so the miserable naysayers can eat my Jedi robes.
I voted for a political party whose leader I have little confidence in, to remove a repulsive party and block a seditious party from power.
In France, Macron's crazy snap election did not end in calamity.
All is far from well, here and abroad, but it isn't a disaster.
I said in 546 that the Hammer House of Horror revisit, delayed due to health problems, was in the works and indeed it is. In fact, we are exclusively using this podcast to tackle the last four stories: Guardian of the Abyss, Visitor from the Grave, The Two Faces of Evil, and The Mark of Satan.