My Cultural Life - Mental

What's Up?

My initial words for this section of the weekly blog migrated to another blog for impact reasons. The strange thing about my politics blog is that usually it's read by more people than read this (although I think there's a different demographic at play). This meant that I had to come up with another intro and as I talked about winter last week and the USA the week before, I'm kind of wondering where I can go with this...

The private sector makes the public sector too expensive... How about that one? People constantly complain about paying higher taxes, but apart from defence and MPs salaries, where do you think all that tax money goes? Most of it on the public sector, one way or another. The reason taxes are high and public services are shit? Because of the private sector and the need to pay shareholders high dividends. The more the private sector craves for higher dividends, the higher the price to the consumer and all of our governments are just really big consumers; they don't get what they need for nothing, they pay pretty much the same as us. So a cost of living crisis is as damaging to a government as it is to an individual. 

The huge rise we've seen in fuel prices has nothing to do with the Ukraine war or COVID. We get most of our gas from Norway, who may have raised their prices because of what's happened, but not by the amount of money we've seen energy prices rise in the UK. Do a Google search and you'll see we have the highest energy prices in Europe and most of Europe got their gas from Russia. It's not really rocket science - we're being fleeced by everybody from energy suppliers to supermarkets to inevitably councils and governments. it's actually unsustainable unless the UK becomes some Third World European country like Albania. It's happening because we have no protection from the EU any longer - something else to thank Farage for...

So, the reason taxes are high is because if they were low you'd have more money in your pocket and you'd have no public services (and public services aren't just the ones you don't like), an even worse NHS, and the rich would still be getting rich, because that extra money in your pocket would soon be swallowed up by 'inflation' - a concept driven by capitalism and created by the rich. 

The reason the Labour government aren't doing anything about it is partly because they're scared of raising rich people's taxes, partly because they've been infiltrated by what are almost affectionately called 'right wing Labour MPs' and because there's probably very little they can do because companies and corporations have governments by the short and curlies. You get a right wing government back in power and the rich will get even more tax breaks, our public services will be destroyed, our right to protest about it will be removed and if we're not 100% British we could find ourselves on a boat to the country where most of our DNA originated.

We are fucked. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we haven't got the ability to have a government who will do anything to alter this and we probably will never get the chance to have a government who put people first, because the people who own the country won't let that happen. For fuck's sake, Labour are a much less cuntish version of the Tories who ruined the place and they're treated so badly in the British press you'd think they were raping babies in Trafalgar Square and live streaming it into your eyes. What hope does a Green Party or even a LibDem government have when they'll be crucified by the real people with power?

But as I said in another blog - the only thing brain dead morons are interested in is having less brown and foreign people here, because, you know, that will solve all our problems...

Wonder Wall

What does it say when Marvel/Disney releases an entire series in one go? With Echo and Ironheart it felt like getting it out so they could put it behind them. A kind of 'we made this but we're not terribly proud' reaction. Wonder Man feels a little like this. Like there was a lot of love for it but when it was finished and watched by the people who watch these things they went, 'We should get this out as quickly as possible, put some distance between us and it.'

I should point out that we watched the first two parts of this on Thursday night; my monthly pub quiz, on Friday, at my local pub, means an already thin viewing week is cut short even more, so I'm unlikely to see any more of Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) until next week. I expected a little more Marvel. We've got Damage Control, who seem a little more sinister than they've felt before and of course there's a lot of mention of the Mandarin, but this is about struggling in Hollywood, not saving the world from intergalactic trouble. I really don't know what to think, but presume that there's explanations and 'origins' forthcoming otherwise there's going to be an even greater feeling of putting distance between this and the rest of the MCU - however long that's going to last. I felt it needed something with a bit more oomph in the opening episode, so by the time we get to the end of the second part and still nothing much has happened, apart from a broken wall, I'm thinking those alarm bells are beginning to ring...

Growing

One of the best TV shows I've seen in recent years is back! Yay! This time with a double bill opener focusing on Harrison Ford's Paul, who is beginning to be debilitated by his Parkinson's. This is a series that doesn't shy away from schmaltz, but it also has a habit of being hard headed and unexpected; this season opener was almost like a recap for new viewers; every one of the characters did what you expected them to do, except maybe Sean (the lodger in the shed). It was like 'we've been gone for 18 months, so here's a recap of who you've been missing.' There is a poignant and wonderful cameo from Michael J Fox and the bastard thing that is Parkinson's is given an airing, a good carpet beating and not put away behind the special occasion stuff. It's going to be a factor in this series, like loneliness and depression have been the focus in the previous two. Yes, this was almost mawkish and everyone is so nice while being comedically bitchy, but this is the final season and I'm going to make the most of it, even if this did feel like it was copping out at times.

This One Goes Out To...

It's surprising how many films can fly under your radar. I mean, you can't be aware of everything that comes out but sometimes (a lot recently) there's something that you discover that just comes as a surprise. One of those things is the Mark Duplass and Elizabeth Moss high concept sci-fi dark comedy The One I Love. The only other actor in this is Ted Danson, who plays a marriage guidance counsellor who sends a married couple struggling with their relationship off to a country retreat to iron out their problems. So Duplass (Ethan) and Moss (Sophie) go to this idyllic place and everything seems okay until their doppelgangers turn up and start fucking with their heads as well as their bodies - and I mean that literally, as in sexual intercourse. It makes no sense and the harder the two try to work it out the weirder it gets. This is a wordy and very stagey film that feels like there's more to it than there really is. It's all right, but nothing special. 6/10

Dodgy Geezers

I've lined up something of a Guy Ritchie-fest for the next few weeks. A couple of films I've seen and a whole bunch I've not and that included Snatch, something I thought I might have seen but clearly hadn't. The first thing about this movie is that it stars a young upcoming actor called Jason Statham, someone who showed definite acting ability, especially when he was playing a London-geeza. In fact, while he was the person who went on to become Jaysun Stayfum that most definitely hadn't happened at this point in his career. Joining young Statham in this feature was Stephen Graham - looking almost embryonic - Lenny James, Denis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Benicio Del Torro, Jason Flemyng, Mike Reid, Alan Ford and Brad Pitt, as a Pikey who needed subtitles.

It's a comedy crime thriller about a missing diamond, illegal boxing matches and a story that is so entwined that you might need a scoresheet. It has a very high rating on IMDB (8.2) and while it was entertaining, I didn't think it was actually that brilliant. It's all right, I suppose and Statham is by far and away the most likeable character in it. I just wasn't completely convinced by it or its depiction of the gangster scene in London circa 2000. I'm glad I've finally seen it and that's about all I have to say. 7/10

Hedge Some Bets

So, the wife says, "What did you think of that?" asking about the second episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. "I'm finding it a bit boring, to be honest." I don't think this is funny - there were fewer laughs in this than the first part - and the story didn't seem to advance any, apart from Dunc taking a shine to a tall girl who acts. Egg is clearly avoiding the Targaryens (and I know why) and Dunc manages to get an endorsement from them to enter the tournament, which means he has to find some money to get some armour and assorted shit that you hit other knights with. Like I said, this is a bit boring and I think I might have just about given all my fucks about anything Game of Thrones related. 

Stark Revisited

It's getting to the time when some MCU Phase One and Two films will begin to be considered for watching again. This was mainly due to me accidentally seeing a clip from Iron Man 2 today and deciding there was enough in it I didn't remember to watch it again. The odd thing is we've watched the first one and the rather dubious 3rd one in the last few years and presumably didn't watch this one because it had been only a few years since we last watched it. As I said to the wife, "What do we do when we watch films, just zone out?" A lot of it was right there in my frontal lobe, memories leaping out like salmon on their spawning journey, but other bits, not so much. I remembered the fact that Tony found the secret to a new element on a scale model of some super city his father had been working on, plus I also remembered Mickey Rourke's Vanko, but only really the Monaco scenes. Maybe it's just because I'm getting old and my memory isn't what it used to be, but... I watched Field of Dreams a couple of weeks ago and was quoting dialogue from it all through the picture.

The thing is Iron Man 2 is a lot better than the 6.9 rating it has on IMDB. I mean with villains like Sam Rockwell and the aforementioned Rourke I can understand why, but there really should be more love for this 3rd MCU movie. It's got a really interesting story - about the USA wanting to acquire Stark technology even if he doesn't want them to have it - and I'd forgotten all about Tony's blood gradually being poisoned by the Palladium in his 'battery'. The overriding thing about this film is how much the MCU misses Iron Man. How the hero and Tony Stark were one of the cornerstones of this wonderful thing that was being created and with Avengers: Endgame that all came crashing down. If you haven't seen this for a while you really should give it another go and it has Scarlet Johansson as the Black Widow for the first time and that's almost worth the price of admission alone. 8/10 

Flop Out

I watched the penultimate episode of Fallout on my own. More happened in it than the previous six episodes. Ella Purnell in a yellow dress seemed odd (for a number of reasons). I don't care what happens next week, it'll be the last time I watch it.

Was It Marvellous, Really?

And so, we reach the end of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, it was a fine homage to early 1960s US television with added fucks. However, whether this was deliberate or not Midge Maisel became increasingly dislikeable and Suzy Myerson's 'manager' was nothing more than a comedy midget gangster without a penis. That said, the last four episodes were a little on the strange side... actually, most of the nine episode final series did some unusual things. The flash forwards to different parts of Midge and Suzy's future were a double edged sword - they answered questions, but also raised a few, such as why they based the entire show around three years - 1959 to 1961 - when it might have been more interesting to have made greater leaps in time.

The episode that was focused solely on Suzy in the 1990s was one of the best hour's of TV I've watched in a while and that's for a show I became increasingly frustrated at. The aforementioned last four episodes felt like the ending was rushed and didn't do enough. As usual large portions of an episode were focused on things you might not have thought warranted it. There was also this propensity for highlighting just how entitled Maisel (and those around her) was. The general Jewishness felt like it did the show few favours. Yet, for all my wavering love/hate for this show, the finale was excellent if a little schmaltzy. Midge got what she wanted by doing what she's always done and this time there were no setbacks. It didn't bite her on the arse and because of the flash forwards we know that all her dreams do come true. It is not a huge spoiler to say that Mrs Maisel became a Marvelous [sic] American treasure. 

What's Up Next?

The takeover of social media by AI - that's what's happening next. I cannot believe how 'improved' AI has become. Just a few years ago we had everything from morphing faces to seven fingered hands, but now it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell what's real and what isn't (and, of course, it gives wankers the opportunity to call anything they don't like 'fake').

On Facebook and Instagram there are 'reels' which have been specially created, which look remarkable, even if you wonder how the mind of the person who fed AI with the information works. I can see why people - actors - are growing worried about being replaced by something created by a typist and a 'script'. The thing is some of this 'slop' seems pointless; I've talked about strange animal videos of lions rescuing lambs or eagles saving a family of mice before, but now there are a huge number of mundane things appearing and that should worry people far more than anything else. Once the population no longer suspect a video it becomes the norm, so AI created 10 second reels of strange canal boats cruising the waterways or a man repeatedly clearing snow from a drive might just seem normal, but, you know, it isn't really.

Anyhow, the coming week is February and there's only four weeks of February and then it's March and winter can start in earnest 👍

Also next week - films and TV, what's not to like? 

A quick side bar, if you don't mind. I'm meeting people who actually read this. At the quiz yesterday one of my friends - our vet - was saying that I still haven't watched any TV that has her desperately wanting to see and someone else I know told me they had watched The Map of Tiny Perfect Things and also thought it was a lovely film. 

I really love doing my pub quiz. If you could attend it you'd know that it's a fun-filled night that is simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating, but I get a different kind of frisson when people talk to me about my blog, because blogging is often a bit of a faceless thing where you only know a fraction of the people who read it. If you're one of the readers who I don't know about - thank you for dropping by 😍