I have been working from home for a almost a year now, and you would have thought I would have managed to get through lots of films, tv and audiobooks while working, but that really hasn’t been the case. I have got through a lot of podcasts though…
Bottom Series 1-3
Tv
Of course I have seen these series many, many times. But it’s nice to watch them every few years. It will lead me onto their stage shows next though…
Eddie and Richie are two pathetic, misogynistic, slobby flatmates living in a filthy, damp flat at 11 Mafeking Parade in Hammersmith, London. Mayall described them as “unemployed survivors”. They spend their time concocting desperate schemes to convince women to have sex with them, including buying sex spray, forging money, and pretending to be aristocrats. Their plans are never successful however, and the stress of their miserable lives can cause them to become irritable with each other. Whenever tensions hit a breaking point, Richie and Eddie end up fighting (albeit in a comical, Tom and Jerry-style, with adult themes). Both men are immature. Richie is a virgin; he is insecure and clueless on how to talk to women. Despite being a penniless slob, he occasionally projects a pompous sort of snobbery in an attempt to impress others and boost his self-esteem; he is sexually frustrated and obsessed with losing his virginity. Eddie, the more popular of the two, enjoys drinking regularly, and often secretly steals family heirlooms and cash from Richie, although he occasionally has inventive moments, like building a cash forger, an electric toilet, and a time machine. Eddie’s friends – the gormless Spudgun and Dave Hedgehog – both fear Richie, believing him to be psychotic. Although the four of them sometimes venture out, usually to the local pub, the Lamb and Flag, most of the episodes are set within the confines of the squalid flat.
The Watch Series 1
Tv
Now I’m a very big fan of the Discworld books. I have been reading them since the mid 1980’s. The first book was published in 1983(The Colour of Magic), and there’s not a time I don’t have one of Sir Terry Pratchett books queued on my ebook or listening to an audiobook. So the thought of a tv series seemed like a great idea, seeing the trailer I can see why its only based on the Discworld, and I going to say very loosely…..
The series is inspired by the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from the Discworld series of fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett. Set in the fictional Discworld’s principal city of Ankh-Morpork, The Watch was described by Terry Pratchett in 2012 as a “Pratchett-style CSI”; it was to have an episodic storyline, following the format of a “crime of the week” as tackled by the city’s police force under the command of Sam Vimes. In 2018, Narrativia described it as a “punk rock thriller”.
The Stand (2020)
Tv
Another author I’m a fan of. Based on Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague. The original mini series was aired in 1994 and I still remember watching it and being totally blown away by it. This new updated version I believe will be a little different over 9 episodes.
The Stand is described in CBS publicity as “King’s apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied by a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the nefarious ‘Dark Man.’
Ghost In The Shell
Films
There’s been a lot of Cyber punk out at the moment from films to games, so thought I might get around to watching some of these again. I have seen the first 2 anima years ago and of course I watched the Scarlett Johansson one, but I haven’t seen the four Arise parts.
Primarily set in the mid-twenty-first century in the fictional Japanese city of Niihama, Niihama Prefecture (新浜県新浜市, Niihama-ken Niihama-shi),[b] otherwise known as New Port City (ニューポートシティ, Nyū Pōto Shiti), the manga and the many anime adaptations follow the members of Public Security Section 9, a task-force consisting of various professionals at solving and preventing crime, mostly with some sort of police background. Political intrigue and counter-terrorism operations are standard fare for Section 9, but the various actions of corrupt officials, companies, and cyber-criminals in each scenario are unique and require the diverse skills of Section 9’s staff to prevent a series of incidents from escalating.
In this post-cyberpunk iteration of a possible future, computer technology has advanced to the point that many members of the public possess cyberbrains, technology that allows them to interface their biological brain with various networks. The level of cyberization varies from simple minimal interfaces to almost complete replacement of the brain with cybernetic parts, in cases of severe trauma. This can also be combined with various levels of prostheses, with a fully prosthetic body enabling a person to become a cyborg. The main character of Ghost in the Shell, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is such a cyborg, having had a terrible accident befall her as a child that ultimately required her to use a full-body prosthesis to house her cyberbrain. This high level of cyberization, however, opens the brain up to attacks from highly skilled hackers, with the most dangerous being those who will hack a person to bend to their whims.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Audiobook
Big fan of big space opera, always have been. Love the idea of multiple stories arching over thousands of years, and Dune is just one of them. Thought I would try and get through this book on audio (27hrs long) before the new film is out this year.
Dune is set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or “the spice,” a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug provides. As melange can only be produced on Arrakis, control of the planet is thus a coveted and dangerous undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.
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