For Shame, I think I’m just too much of a prude

Despite the onset of adulthood, I’m still one of those people who squirms, then chortles or sucks through his teeth whenever a TV continuity announcer says that the following programme “contains sexual scenes from the start”. I do wish Steve McQueen’s new film Shame came with one of those as a preface. Or maybe, in […]

Roger? I still would…

Sir Roger Moore turned 83 today. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes but I always hold out a little hope I’ll meet him one day. He was my first pin-up hero, the first ‘person I wanted to be’. I’m not sure who bought me the giant Roger Moore poster on my wall when I […]

Tony Curtis 1925-2010

Very sad to hear of the death of one of my childhood heroes, Tony Curtis, at the age of 85. A handsome, rugged and stylish man, he was a surprisingly versatile actor in his younger days. He received an Oscar nomination for his performance as John ‘Joker’ Jackson in 1959’s The Defiant Ones, starring alongside Sidney […]

Afraid of the dark..?

I’m rather looking forward to the new Guillermo del Toro co-production, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, due out early next year. Rather bizarrely, it’s a remake of the TV movie of the same name from 1973, something of a favourite of mine. Del Toro has co-written the script too, and there’s a nice teaser […]

The first sign of madness

I talked to myself a lot as child. I would act out TV dramas on my own, playing all the parts, goodies and baddies (but obviously romantic entanglements were out because I couldn’t play women, and there was no such thing as ‘gay’ when I was growing up), always timed to last as long as […]

Coyote gorgeous

Look, don’t bother going to see Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. As if you were going to. It’s absolute rubbish. Even if you have children pestering you to take them to see it, avoid, avoid, avoid – it’s for their own good. However, if you really can’t say no to your little darlings, all […]

Dead Whingers Society

Originally published on SoundsXP, 4th May, 2005 Scene 13 – The Rector’s Office, St Xenolith the Pure, Boarding School of Music THE RECTOR IS SEATED IN A LEATHER CHAIR BEHIND A GIANT MAHOGANY DESK. ENTER THE DEPUTY, A TROUBLED LOOK UPON HIS FACE. THE RECTOR PEERS OVER HIS SPECTACLES AT HIM, AS THE DEPUTY ADVANCES […]

Making Radio Waves

Interview with Richard Curtis and Bill Nighy, Sunday Business Post, 19th April 2009 If there’s one line of dialogue that defines the message of The Boat That Rocked, Richard Curtis’s new film about pirate radio on the waves, it comes from the disc-jockey character played by Philip Seymour Hoffman: ‘‘These are the best days of […]