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[Hail Caesar]

Hail Caesar
Finally caught up with this delightful bit of Coen brothers whimsy and really enjoyed it.

It's very slight; almost an exercise in how far you can coast on amusing performances from charismatic stars (and Jonah Hill) but it turns out that is pretty far.

A series of vignettes about life on a fifties movie lot, tied together by a day in the life of studio fixer Josh Brolin. Sadly a lot of the best gags were in the trailer but  it still generates good will and smiles as it progresses.

I'm off to YouTube now in the hope that there are longer versions of NO DAMES and LAZY OL' MOON out there.

Billy Elliot
That was more like it. Never seen the film so was expecting a story about a ballet dancing boy set against the backdrop of Miners Strike.

In fact it was a musical about the miners strike with a ballet dancing boy in it.

Ps: this was ages ago and I still mean to drag out the programme again and check whether Spidey Tom Holland was our Billy.

I thought that looked fun. I won't try and second guess what bits of TLJ they are running with and which they are ditching.

I particularly liked the look of a lightsaber fight on the half sunken remains of the Death Star. A nice opposite to the Revenge of The Sith lava fight.

Gigantic fleets of Star Destroyers don't seem to make much sense given the state of the First Order and Empire but the economics of Star Wars never stood up to much scrutiny.

And that totally looked like an older Rey to me... maybe her mum was a Sith.

So yeah, excited for this.  Is that Ok with everyone? Should I be jaded and cynical about it instead?

Laundry. And fixing a leaking toilet and a blocked shower.

Mundane chores? Yes, but I am just back from holiday.

Yes, agree. Black Summer wasn't all that. Despite some good set pieces all those cries of "It's The Walking Dead, done right" seemed way off to me.

I did like the random deaths element from the earlier episodes though. Oh, here's a character... Oh, nope, they are dead.

Just been at Tidbinbilla one of the deep space tracking stations where they have a lovely bit of moon rock and the sub reflector from Honeysuckle Creek (Just down the road) that received the moon landing pictures.

That does look interesting.

So given many of us find out tomorrow, how do we think Absalom is going to end? Inspector and Guv'nor both dead,    I'm sure, but the kiddies? Alive? Transformed into hideous monsters that Absalom has to kill? Dead since the start? Never existed at all, juse an excuse/trick for Absalom to pursue his war? Place your bets!

Absalom IS  his grand kiddies.

Many years ago at Moniaive I asked him what he thought of BATMAN BEGINS.

"Utter pish!"

He did acknowledge it was a well made film but fundamentally mis-understood Batman being self-made.

I remember the crushing disappointment many years later of learning that it wasn't really Britt Ekland's arse.

My first job as a body double. I thought I did quite well.

You do get some nice vegan "cheeses" but they are best not thought of as cheese. The options are deffo better now than they were 7 years ago. So I guess that's one reason to thank hipsters for all going vegan

Four episodes in and I am enjoying it. They manage to keep a lid on the misogyny and gratuitous sex, it's getting funnier but characters don't gel with the bits of The Boys I've read (first twenty issues about ten years ago I think).

But rereading first two issues (only ones still in the Tips house) and they are helluva talkie and a lot less fun than this show. So reckon they are doing ok.

"Eating meat less, and from locally sourced butchers, has just as much an effect as veganism."

I'd be interested to see figures. To be sustainable from locally sourced butchers I would imagine you'd get very little meat per person per week.

But good on you for making the effort to eat less and make sure you source everything locally and sustainably.

I'd still rather we stopped killing the poor buggers enirely though. It's for no reason other than habit/convenience. (Cases like IP excepted)

"Stop eating meat - it has a huge impact on CO2 emissions: this is the one I wish I could do, but a decade of digestive disorder has left vegetarianism an impossibility. (Mrs IP's also got a slew of allergies, meaning we had to dial things back at speed.)"

That's bad luck, and I hope it's not too bad for you,  because it really is one of the easiest things you can do with a big impact. Plus, you know, there's the ethical side. 

But nothing stopping the rest of you giving up meat, eggs and dairy.

<<ducks>>

[Spider-Man: far from home]

The boys from Clan Tips right enjoyed Spider-Man: far from home even the bizarrely essential end credit scenes (surely lots of parents with younger kids and weaker bladders missed these?)

Tom Holland is just fabulous - already a National Tteasure - and we thought Peter and MJ made a believable dorky couple.

Not really that big on the comics so not sure if MJ is meant to be girl next door or unachievable prom queen but this version of neither works fine for me.

And apart from knowing Mysterio was... you know... one of them... I know little history but, again, this incarnation seemed believable and a satisfying fit for this universe and a modern audience.

But they really didn't think the Snap/Blip thing through it appears... so do they just ignore it (which this did for the most part) or is there something bigger down the line coming (which would be ballsy!)