Amazon exiles discussion

Not sure which folder this thread should be under, so it's here for now.

Edit: Bugger, it's somehow created another "general" folder. Aaargh, still getting the hang of how this place works. Can't work out how to move it to the other "general" folder.

Anyway, there's a programme on Channel 4 next Monday (16th Oct), 9pm, about George Michael. Might be of interest to a few on here.

"An intimate look into the extraordinary life and career of the award-winning singer and songwriter. Narrated by the star, it features never-seen personal footage and interviews with music legends."

Helen wrote: "Anyway, there's a programme on Channel 4 next Monday (16th Oct), 9pm, about George Michael. Might be of interest to a few on here.

"An intimate look into the extraordinary life and career of the a..."

Thanks Helen ;o>

Gordon knows how to move it around as he has done it already with several Threads so that they would be much easier for everyone to find. I love the Melon picture on your Profile ;o>

'I love the Melon picture on your Profile' - I thought it looked a tad seedy?

Brass Neck wrote: "'I love the Melon picture on your Profile' - I thought it looked a tad seedy?"

You would! ... (*giggles*)

I'm looking forward to this Thread, as I have only just restarted watching TV this year after not bothering at all for over 4 years, and I found it so overwhelming and different coming back to it that I have played safe and mainly stuck to ITV 3, the Drama Channel, 5 USA and CBS Action.

I know where I am with all of the Repeats on things like all of those Detective Shows and watching many episodes of NCIS that I hadn't seen before - but now that I have my concentration levels more focussed I feel ready to try out other Channels and get to see other things now ;o>

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Gordon knows how to move it around"

Blimey! It must be a good thirty years since I last moved it around.

I've shifted this thread into a new folder, by the way. The situation with "General" & "general" folders is a bit of a nuisance.

Calling all 'Dwarfers'....

Anybody looking forward to the new series of Red Dwarf, tonight on Dave?

Doesn't the Cat look really good for someone over 50..now! Not so sure about the rest though...Kryten is getting weirder looking with each series!

Boys from the Dwarf! Ah Smeg! :-)

might give it a shot, duke, but t.b.h. i haven't enjoyed it that much since about series 7 - actually thought series 8, 9 and 10 were verging on the abysmal, previously wouldn't have missed an episode!

Hi Tech...ah now then....you lost interest when it did go a bit silly...cos that's when they ended up on Red Dwarf again (it went missing for two series)...and the show's writers brought back the entire ship's crew for series 8 (and it got a bit stupid). Since the series was revived a few years ago....it has been just been the four of them again...on Red Dwarf..and it's funny! The original writers and production crew are still producing it.....give it a shot..you might like it again....but just prepare yourself for how old they are all (mostly) looking now!

Series 8 was the worse of them all (& the second half of series 7 too..when they brought in the Kochanski character - never liked her)..series nine...the mini revival series Back To Earth..was confusing (I still don't understand WTF was going on!)...started to get better in series 10 & 11 and now it's looking good for series 12.

i will, duke, particularly as it's one of the few programmes that mrs t.s. and i both enjoyed (disnae happen much, you'll see me here when she's watching 'bones' or some such)

One of my all time favourite episodes was Backwards (episode 1 series 3)...as time went backwards! Also the first episode of Kryten & the female version of Holly in it. Must have taken the produces an age to get those backward scenes right!

I just found that Red Dwarf is on opposite two other programmes that I have scheduled to record, and I can only record two programmes at a time on my elderly device. The other two are on BBC channels, so I could watch them on the iPlayer, but I keep forgetting to do that before they expire.

I didn't manage to get through the whole of series XI and ended up deleting it. It was an awful lot better than series VIII-XI but I just couldn't tolerate the adverts (even when watching on catch-up). It's quite telling that a show that would be scheduled for 30 min on BBC2 and took up less than 25 min on DVD is scheduled for 40 min on Dave.

Yeah..i know..it's annoying....but I just flick over to another channel when the ads come on.

Ermm.....just a suggestion....but how many TV's have you got in the your house? You could watch all three at the same time...mibbe? lol!

I keep forgetting about iplayer and the other channels digital services.

Well....Dave being famous for repeating everything to death and back..if you miss the new series of RD..it won't be long before they rerun them......probably immediately after the series has finished..knowing them!

I love Red Dwarf - but I don't think I will be watching the new Series just yet as I've still got plenty of old episodes to enjoy catching up on first ;o>

Can't wait for XII! Thought series X was ok and XI well up to scratch. Nothing on the originals but great to be focussing on the core 4-some again.

Better Than Life is a high point

I really liked Cat's alter-ego character when they came into contact with the Despair Squid in Series 5 ... Dwayne Dibbley ... LOL!!! ;o>

Oh good stuff! Not a classic Dwarf but great ending. Happy to have them back :)

Did anyone watch Upstart Crow?

I know Ben Elton is a bit of a goit (Red Dwarf cross-reference there, oh yes!), and I didn't think I'd ever forgive him for The Thin Blue Line or for writing a Queen jukebox musical, but I really enjoyed this. The last episode ("Sweet Sorrow") was just brilliant, especially as it managed to incorporate both a lengthy English literature lesson and a sixteenth-century reworking of Elton's famous Saturday Live "double seat" routine. I hope this will be back for another series.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "I really liked Cat's alter-ego character...

Hi Suzy, I absolutely loved the Dwayne Dibbley episode too, prob my fave one ever.

I think I lost interest in Red Dwarf in the '90s, around series 7. Can't get Dave on my v limited freeview.

This Red Dwarf book is also hilarious: Red Dwarf Omnibus: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers & Better Than Life
Worth a read if you haven't already.

Gordon wrote: I know Ben Elton is a bit of a goit (Red Dwarf cross-reference there, oh yes!), and I didn't think I'd ever forgive him for The Thin Blue Line or ..."

First, I will confess to having a soft spot for The Thin Blue Line (so bad it's good), but Ben Elton is a bit of an honorary Aussie (I think he married an Australian), not that it makes me a total fan of his oeuvre. However, I will be queuing at the cinema doors to see this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8HoG...

Val wrote: "First, I will confess to having..."

Yep! - me too! ... it was way too ridiculous and yet it often made me laugh ;o>

Val wrote: "Gordon wrote: I know Ben Elton is a bit of a goit (Red Dwarf cross-reference there, oh yes!), and I didn't think I'd ever forgive him for The Thin Blue Line or ..."

First, I will confess to having..."

That looks brilliant Val.

Dunno if this should be here or in 'Lights, camera, action'.

Tomorrow at 1.10 am on Film 4 is -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Ruin-DV...

I think nc recommended this a couple or so years ago and it comes with my encomium.

The plot is fairly straightforward - a man whose life was ruined after his parents were murdered lives as a vagrant, estranged from his remaining family. He is then informed by the police that his parents' killer is about to be released from prison and he decides to set out to avenge the crime committed against his parents.
What follows is a revenge trail that goes anything but smoothly as he is not by nature a violent man used to smoothly wreaking havoc. Rather he is an amateur whose ineptitude as a killer leads him deeper and deeper into bad situations.
What makes this an enjoyable ride is the wonderful performances, (particularly of Macon Blair who is the main protagonist) and the streak of (very) dark humour running through the movie.
This is not a gun-glamourising action movie but a smart, authentic feeling indie movie which shows how ugly, corrupt and unpredictable violence and revenge can be.
One of recent year's best indie movies. Worth recording for later. Recommended.
4*s on 'zon reviews.

I do believe I did, RJ, well remembered. I may well watch it again, it is all you say in your excellent review, and richly deserving of your encomium.

I'll only add that the 'Blue Ruin' of the title is the main character's (he's hardly a hero) car.

Watch it, dammit!

On next week’s Jools - Hurray For The Riff Raff and (seemingly) everybody’s favourite performer - Richard Thompson.

I care little for him, les, that must come as a great shock!

When's it on, Lez?

10pm Tuesday 24th.
Stereophonics feature too.

Ta.

As always, found Jools disappointing. All these great artists doing one song each. Hardly worth them turning up.

nocheese wrote: "As always, found Jools disappointing. All these........"

I don't usually bother watching it, I can't stand his "presenting" style. I find it v annoying - prob just me though! Yes, does seem a waste to get them to perform just one song.

Not just you, he's very, very irritating.

shocker! i quite like him! it's when he insists on supplying boogie-woogie pianer for the likes of cradle of filth, whatever, i find a bit orf!

nocheese wrote: "Not just you, he's very, very irritating."

Yep! - I think so too ;o>

Makes you yearn for the good old days of Terry Christian:-)

Phew. Glad it's not just me! Hate the way he flits about the studio, I find his style....um, maybe shambolic?

If he's just stay still for a minute, relax his shoulders and lower his voice a couple of octaves........he'd probably still be annoying

;o> ... Terry Christian summing up the 1980's ...

"I thought the music was a bit rubbish. I liked The Smiths. I thought New Order were good. A few good bands, some good jazz-funk around. Other than that, all I ever think of is devastation and Margaret Thatcher. The only reason we didn't have a revolution was because of the fashions. You know, Pixie Boots. You can't storm the Winter Palace in them. And those big shoulders, you'd never get through the doors would you?"

Helen The Melon wrote: "Phew. Glad it's not just me! Hate the way he flits about the studio, I find his style....um, maybe shambolic?"

I don't mind genuine and relaxed shambolic presentation but contrived and edgy shambolic presentation winds me up.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "The only reason we didn't have a revolution was because of the fashions."

I always thought it was ironic that Spandau Ballet did a song called Through the Barricades. Imagine Tony Hadley & Martin Kemp storming the Bastille in those suits.

Derek wrote: "Makes you yearn for the good old days of Terry Christian:-)"

.....Or Sam Fox and Whatshisname Fleetwood presenting The Brit Awards.

Imagine Glam Rock bands attempting to storm the barricades in platform boots and wearing glitter

Derek wrote: "Imagine Glam Rock bands attempting to storm the barricades in platform boots and wearing glitter"

I wouldn't have minded seeing Kiss lead a charge against a strongly fortified castle bristling with cannons.

nocheese wrote: "As always, found Jools disappointing. All these great artists doing one song each. Hardly worth them turning up."

Didn't they used to do two songs each back in the day?

I think so, maybe the show was longer?

According to Wiki, the live programme has always been 30min and the recorded one, an hour.

wiki's baws! used to be an hour long, 'headliners' getting two songs , mibbe three, depending on who they were, minor acts getting a song each. one of these mibbe getting a second song, again, depending on status. don't think i've watched it since nick cave was on, at time of 'dig lazarus, dig'!

Extended ‘Later.... ‘ on tonight 10.45. Might be more of Mr Thompson.

Catching up
Red Dwarf peaked with series 4 and 5,' Back To Reality' is one of the most sublime pieces of comedy ever made. Without Ed Bye at the tiller the following series began to drift and rest on its laurels then with the further departure of Rob Grant the whole debacle slid very quickly into the latrines.
Much as I admired Squeeze I have always found Jools a tad too much tovtake even in smaal doses.
Up to date, Marvel's recent additions to the TV ensemble being The Gifted (Fox UK) and The Inhumans (Sky), two very contrasting programmes. The Gifted has got everything right, The Inhumans has failed miserably across the board, cheesy , juvenile plot and acting, I watched one episode and could find no single redeeming factor, so bad I don't think I could watch another.
The Gifted, step up to the plate a superbly crafted series so far, great acting and well casted, well plotted storyline with a refreshingly mature themed look at the trials and tribulations of a group of mutants in a hostile society that seems hell bent on eradicating them with a fervour that Hitler would have admired. Yes there are set pieces and mutant powers thrown into the mix yet they accentuate rather than overwhelm the whole. A series of brief flashbacks is woven into the series that add depth to characters without resorting to laborius origin themes. A complete departure from what has become a bog standard, by the numbers routine run of bland films and TV shows, even if you aren't a fan of the genre have a look, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.