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New Forms by Ronnie Size

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4CD hardcover DVD-style box of Roni Size’s Mercury Music Prize winning and platinum selling New...

David McK (3801 KP) rated Extinction in Books

Aug 11, 2024 (Updated Aug 11, 2024)

I remember, back in the mid to late 90s, reading both 'Relic' and it's sequel 'Reliquary', and quite enjoying the both of them.

(The movie 'Relic', on the other hand, was a bit of a dud).

They're the only 2 novels by Douglas Preston I'd ever read, until I decided to give this one a go based on both the premise (extinct animals being brought back to life) and the blurb.

I knew it wouldn't be a 'Jurassic Park' (which is name-checked) scenario; wasn't quite sure what it would be. What I got was an enjoyable enough read that put me in mind of something from the late Michael Crichton: I also have to say that, whilst I didn't get either the specifics nor who was behind it (or the reason), I did see what was coming from just over roughly the halfway mark!

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David McK (3801 KP) rated Star Wars X-Wing: The Krytos Trap (X-Wing #3) in Books

Oct 26, 2024 (Updated Oct 26, 2024)

Now considered part of 'Legends' rather than canon, this is the third in the 90s series of Star Wars: X Wing books by MMichael A Stackpole, back before the sequels and even before the prequels were a thing!

Here, this novel primarily deals with the fallout from the conquest of Coruscant (or Imperial Centre, as it was originally called in the films), with the main character of Corran Horn captured by Ysanne Isard and believed dead by his comrades.

Isard, meanwhile, has unleashed a deadly contagion upon the denizens of the city planet in a plan to stir up foment amongst the various species (and leaders) of the New Republic.

While the novel does show its age somewhat - Jedi had family, no Padawans (remember, written before the prequels!) - this is still an entertaining read that, I feel, stands up well amongst several of the 'newer' novels.

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David McK (3801 KP) rated Twisters (2024) in Movies

Dec 1, 2024 (Updated Dec 6, 2024)

Twisters (2024)

2024 | Adventure

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

There's no flying cow.

I remember going to see the original 'Twister' movie in the cinema, in the mid 90s.

This is a reboot/continuation of the same, with the prologue here having a group of students trying to launch Dorothy into the sky in front of a Tornado, with disastrous consequences.

That's about the only link to that earlier film, with this one then moving on a few years from the prologue and following a new generation (or, rather, 2 groups) of storm chasers - 1 in it for the science, the other for the thrill. Or so the lead character initially believes until she discovers that things are not that straight-forward ...

I missed this in the cinema; only catching it on the small screen.

Which, I feel, is a pity - it would have been so much more impressive on the big screen, particularly on an IMAX.

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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Lake Placid (1999) in Movies

Mar 9, 2022

Lake Placid (1999)

1999 | Action, Comedy, Horror

6.7

(18 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Lake Placid has a lot going for it. Great creature effects, snappy pacing, and Betty White being an absolute savage, more so than the giant fuck-off crocodile that is eating everyone.
The whole cast is great actually. Bridget Fonda and Bill Pullman are likable enough leads, even if they're generically molded to specifically fit this kind of film. Oliver Platt and Brendon Gleeson are incredibly entertaining supports and definitely make the movie more fun that it would be otherwise.
The legendary Stan Winston's effects work is top tier, and honestly, the flashes of CGI haven't aged too badly when all is said and done.

Lake Placid is certainly a product of its time, but it's a relic worth remembering. A unabashed, on-the-nose, 90s creature feature that did the double monster fake out before The Meg made it cool, and it's kind of glorious in its own special way.

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David McK (3801 KP) rated Captain Marvel (2019) in Movies

Mar 29, 2019 (Updated Apr 24, 2022)

Captain Marvel (2019)

2019 | Action, Adventure

7.6

(165 Ratings)

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Nick Fury (0 more)

<<updated review>

'The as-yet-to-be-released Avenger: Endgame was released a few years ago now!

<original review below>

The first female- led Marvel movie, released between the events of Infinity War and the as-yet-to-be-released Avengers:Endgame, this introduces us to the character that Nick Fury was paging just before he dusted at the very end (after credits) of Infinity War.

ThIs is set during the 90s, and has Brie Larson's Carol Danvers rediscovering her identity (I'll admit, I was a bit confused what was going on during the start of it) alongside Samuel L Jacksons Nick Fury, who is given more to do here than in any other Marvel movie to date (including Winter Soldier).

I will admit to thinking that, by the end of the movie, Captain Marvel is just a tad overpowered: effectively, the Marvel equivalent of Superman

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David McK (3801 KP) rated Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1993) in Movies

Feb 5, 2023

Finkle and Einhorn, Einhorn and Finkle ...

Early 90s comedy movie starring a then up-and-coming Jim Carrey (before he completely went off the rails), round about the time of Dumb and Dumber and the Mask.

Of those three, this has probably aged the least well - I would be shocked if they could get away with some of the stuff they did here nowadays (particularly the whole Einhorn and Finkle plotline).

Anyway - provided you're not too easily offended - Carrey plays the eponymous Ace Ventura, a detective who specialises in finding missing animals, and who is hired (by none other than Courtney Cox) when the Miami Dolphins mascot - an actual Dolphin - is kidnapped on the Superbowl weekend.

Which probably means more the American audiences than any other.

The film does still raise the odd wry chuckle, but I was obviously easier amused back in the day ...

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Colin Newman recommended The Amateur View by To Rococo Rot in Music (curated)

"How I got to know about it was through knowing their original record label Kitty-Yo and working with people in Berlin and going over there, and then I met Ronald, and this album summed up a moment for me. Dance music had so completely dominated the 90s. Really you could only ever talk about music in terms of the beat. There was techno and electro and then there was drum & bass, and they were so dominant; there was no other music. I remember thinking at the time, at the height of drum & bass, why would you listen to any other kind of music besides drum & bass? That's the only kind of music there is. There's Britpop, but that's rubbish. And then towards the end of the 90s all that started to fade and there was Tortoise suddenly appearing with what Americans who didn't do dance music did as instrumental music. And then from Germany you had To Rococo Rot. I think they gave me that record, because I think the version I've got is a promo. And again it's one of those records we just listen to over and over again. Wire did a tour, I think it was in 2000, and when we started we hadn't provided any music to go on before the band. And in every venue they were playing something like Soundgarden. Sorry, but I can't stand Soundgarden. I can't take it. So then we said well why don't we give them some music to put on? And I had that album, so we had that on before every show and it was really good. It was like you have some thrashy support band and then some thrashy dirge playing after that and then Wire coming on and it's like an evening of dirge. So to lighten it up we put something else on that puts the audience in a different space. And it also set us up in a different way. We got to feel differently about what we were doing. It was very effective for that"

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