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The Exorcist
The Exorcist
2012 | Play
7
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Show Rating
Brilliant set design
I went to watch The Exorcist at the Opera House in Manchester in October 2019. I've never been a huge fan of The Exorcist film, I think it's a tad overrated but I was intrigued to see how they'd bring a story like this to life on the stage. And they've put together a well produced and atmospheric show. The set design is brilliant and the effects are spot on, producing a chilly and at times scary show, which isn't something you'd usually expect in such a big theatre and a large audience. The show is that well produced that it's a shame it's rather let down by the acting. A lot of the acting seemed very over the top and exaggerated, and some was just plain poor. Which is a shame as there was a standout performance from Tristram Wymark as Burke who was downright hilarious and a welcome relief to the scarier aspects of the show. Also having Ian McKellen voice the demon is a work of genius. Hearing such a seasoned actor voice a horrible character is brilliant and the young girl miming him is impressively good, even if she does seem to overact at times.

Overall definitely worth seeing for the production if nothing else, and I would've marked a little higher had it not been for some of the acting!
  
40x40

Ed O'Brien recommended Screamadelica by Primal Scream in Music (curated)

 
Screamadelica by Primal Scream
Screamadelica by Primal Scream
1991 | Alternative, Indie
8.4 (8 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Listening to this in Brazil a few years ago was a proper Eureka moment for me. We'd moved to the middle of nowhere for seven months, and I decided to properly have some time properly listening to music, so got a lot of stuff off Thom on a hard drive. I was really into Burial and that side of dubstep back then. Stuff that works perfectly underneath railway arches at 3am strangely enough didn't resonate on the edge of the rainforest, though. What did was Screamadelica. 

I'd first heard Loaded when I was studying at Manchester University in 1990. I remember it coming out after 'Fools Gold' and 'Hallelujah', and seeing Primal Scream on a double-header with Looper. I remember thinking, ah, this is good, a bit different for them, but they're jumping on the bandwagon, aren't they? Later, 'Don't Fight It Feel It' became the ultimate tune of that time for me. But away from that time, this album still stands alone. It's so colourful. It's like gospel dance music. It's got all the euphoria of house music, plus the community and love. It reminded me that that moment in culture wasn't just about the drugs – those drugs were just there to pierce the veil. Music held the ultimate power to bring people up. I want my music to have that joy, that light, that sense of possibility."

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    Carmel by Carmel

    Carmel by Carmel

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    Album

    Formed in Manchester in 1981, this jazz/pop trio was formed by the eponymous Carmel McCourt on...

    Dugs n' Pubs

    Dugs n' Pubs

    Food & Drink and Travel

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    App

    The Dug App from Dugs n' Pubs helps you find UK Dog Friendly Pubs, Cafes and Shops. Scotland: There...

TF
The Front
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
59 of 230
Book
The Front
By Mandasue Heller
⭐️⭐️⭐️

 
When old school friends Lee, Mal, Ged and Sam decided to make some easy money, nothing could have prepared them for the catalogue of disasters that was soon to follow. Robbing a supermarket should have been an easy job; nothing could possibly go wrong. But it did. With one of them wounded and a dead body on their hands, could matters get any worse? They should have known that a small supermarket on a Manchester estate wouldn't make that much money; they should have known that the aisles of tinned tomatoes and loss leaders was just a cover up for something a lot more dangerous. But they didn't know. They had no idea that as small fish they had unwittingly plunged into a very big pond and were now swimming with the great whites of the criminal underworld. The shop they robbed, their ticket to an easy life, was merely The Front for something very bid indeed.

This book was so frustrating. I was really enjoying it and the build up towards the end was great but then it ended how it did and I was so disappointed with it. It so could have been a 4 star but that ending just wasn’t what I expected.
  
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
2013 | Comedy
9
7.9 (34 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Great fun
I’ll have to start off by saying i had the opportunity to watch them film this yesterday evening, and it is a hell of a lot of fun.

I’m not a huge fan of the original Countdown series, I’ll be honest I find it a little boring. However the humorous 8 Out of 10 Cats take on Countdown is hilarious. There’s obviously an emphasis more on humour than the gameplay itself, but this is actually much more fun. It’s good that it varies the teams and dictionary corner each episode, although it does often tend to be the usual suspects. Some of the humour can be a little oddball or risqué, and I’m not everything will appeal to everyone, but it’s such a fun programme and brings the letters and numbers game to a much wider audience.

For those of you that live in the UK, especially around the Manchester/North area, I’d highly recommend applying for tickets to watch this if it’s your kind of programme. Not only is it a highly entertaining day/night out, the tickets are entirely free! There’s obviously no guarantee you’ll get tickets, but it’s worth a punt. We got given tickets on a fairly last minute basis (found out Monday morning for Tuesday afternoon) and involved taking an afternoon off work, but it was such fun. We even got on the front row!