torrascotia

I was just too young to properly engage with the UK punk scene, my only recollections of The Damned were a stint on The Young Ones. I do remember Captain Sensible bothering the charts in the 80's due to magazines like Look In. But I do like watching docs about bands from scenes which passed me by and regardless of the genre, the gripes are pretty much all the same.

This documentary does the usual origin story with a few famous talking heads. There are some tracks but not enough for it to end up a concert type movie, which has less interest for the non fans. The Damned seem to be one of these known bands, but not one that ended up with mainstream financial success. So its quite a downer of a documentary. This is about the guys who didn't quite make it, or had chances to but spurned them due to bad decisions. But who never gave up, probably due to lack of options. The problem with bands who are around for so long is their original fans will have matured out of being "into music" or will have died off. So bands like this are limited in earning potential or popularity. The lifestyle of being on the road at that age also comes across as a hard slog, not an enjoyable ride like it would be in your 20's. So its no surprise after 40 plus years, some of the band are no longer on speaking terms. At the end of the day this is nothing but a job. What does come across though is there are probably ways they could be more financially successful with the right management. The question is whether their punk mentality would get in the way, like it has since the 80's. An interesting watch, just not always a happy one.

If you are one of those "niche" individuals that has an interest in synthesizers, you are well aware that there isn't much in the way of documentaries which cover this topic. There is the obvious content on YouTube and one of two well known docs, but they don't come around that often. However this really isn't one of them.

This is really a personal story about the daughter of the man who invented the Resynator synth, which is as obscure as its spelling. Its not one that is constantly eulogised by the synth obsessed community. Which is probably for a good reason. Unlike the Roland TB303 for example, which was a flop at launch but found a second life later on. The Resynator simply flopped and that was it. Because the Resynator was more of a guitar pedal on steroids than an actual synth. Even if it obviously did what a synth does. Because what it did was weird. It was designed so that someone could play a guitar or other instrument and the resynator would transform it into something else. Great if you are a guitar played who wanted it to sound like another instrument, but not so great if you just wanted synth sounds without needing another instrument to play through it in the first place. So there's that. Which is what may put off its intended target audience. The other aspect is that this is really an emotional journey movie, so its actually less about the hardware than it is the daughter. And emotional journeys aren't really what the hardware synth community is about. Its currently sitting at 7 on here which I suspect will drop as more people see this. This is the first review.

I was genuinely perplexed as to why I had missed a Simon Pegg comedy which had the involvement of Monty Python. In addition to Kate Beckinsdale and Joanna Lumley. This was also Robin Williams final movie. Now on the digital dumping ground Freevee, I thought I would give it a shot.

What this movie has is many of the UK's well known, albeit older comedy faces and what looks like a decent budget for special effects. What it doesn't have however is a very engaging story or much in the way of good laughs.

The story is about a teacher who is given ultimate power to do anything as a test by aliens, who will blow up the Earth if he doesn't use the power for good. Sounds a bit like Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy? But this movie seems to use a few rehashed ideas. Particularly Python ones. It has an unhinged psychopathic American, that's borrowed from A Fish Called Wanda. There is an ongoing joke about one of the male teachers being pursued by a worshiping mob. That is straight out of Life Of Brian. Another issue is this is supposed to be a family movie but some of the humour is obviously a bit too adult. This is very similar in tone and failing to hit the mark like the recent Hitchhikers Guide. Lots of flashy effects but its not a good movie. Chalk this down to another Pegg movie that is easily forgotten. Robin Williams will not be remembered for this and thats not a bad thing.