In the early hours of the 4th of January 2022, my world stopped making sense. There had been a few uneasy moments a couple of days before. Dad’s neuralgia had gotten far worse. He couldn’t eat or speak without shocks leaping through him. He’d had to spend New Year’s Day in hospital, having blood tests and being told it was time to start taking newer, stronger painkillers. On the Sunday, however, he’d called and we’d talked. He’d been fine. He’d been better. Monday saw even more improvements, from what I’ve been told since.
Read MoreNow, don’t worry, I’m not going to review Infinity War here. There is a near infinite number of people on the internet who are going to do that today. No, what I wanted to talk about was opening night. I love the opening night of a big movie. I truly do. The atmosphere. The anticipation. The reactions in the room, after the lights have gone down.
Read MoreAs I got older, my comedy compass shifted. Sometimes through the influence of friends, sometimes through late night TV surfing. I got into the uncomfortable pleasure of watching Alan Partridge fail and fail again. I saw Chris Morris skewer the world around him whilst he kept a sharp, straight face. Seinfeld and Sanders showed me how America was warping the formula its past masters had perfected. Whilst here Father Ted, Darkplace and Spaced were all merrily making up their own rules, breaking ground for an incoming flood of new comedy.
Read MoreGrowing up in the 80s, there was really no avoiding Stephen King. My parents never read horror, but his stories were everywhere. They were discussed on TV, they were whispered about on the playground. Carrie was already a palpable hit for both him and De Palma. The likes of Christine, Cujo and Firestarter were infamous. As was Thinner, sneakily written under that tissue paper thin alias he occasionally ducked behind. The Shinning was dividing people between preferring the book and the movie; an early precursor to so many comic book movie arguments that were waiting for us in the 21st century. As I grew up the names of his stories became the stuff of legend. Pet Cemetery, It, The Stand, Salem’s Lot.
Read MoreI want to talk about a man who’s been inspiring me since I was a kid. Mr Terry Gilliam. There are a lot of people who have shaped my brain. The Marx Brothers. Roald Dahl. Bill Hicks. Woody Allen. Neil Gaiman. Alan Moore. Arthur C Clarke. The list can go on and on, but Terry Gilliam is something special. In fact, he’s such a cornerstone of my desire to tell stories that I’d forgotten how big an influence he was until recently.
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