Multi-Coloured Link Shop.

 
What happened to the Fox films Disney picked up?
Simon Brew:  "Disney inherited a slate of Fox movies when it bought the studio up in 2019 – here’s what happened to one that survived the initial cull of projects."

Singer Chelsea Cutler shared her frustration about social media demands. It hit a nerve in the music world:

Emily Yahr:  "Struggling to constantly promote herself online, she posted that she’d rather just be a musician and a performer. Artists everywhere told her they feel the same way."

The Best Worst-First-Date Movie:

Howard Fishman:  "A look at Tom Noonan’s forgotten masterpiece “What Happened Was . . .”"

Neve Campbell Was Once Attacked by a Bear on a Movie Set:

Mia Mercado:  "Actors will go to great lengths for their art. Take, for example, Neve Campbell, who, at 17, was attacked by a bear while shooting a movie."

Movie Poster of the Week: Peter Bogdanovich in Polish Posters:

Adrian Curry:  "A collection of gorgeous Eastern European posters for the 1970s films of the late, great auteur."

Here's How Time Works in 2022:

Eli Grober:  "Here at Time, we have made a number of changes over the last couple years. Now that 2022 is here, we’re announcing several major updates."

Strong Brain:

Dayna Evans:  "Try it out at your next party."

The First Major Drama of 2022 Is Between a Bunch of Disney Adults on TikTok:

EJ Dickson:  "On this week’s episode of ‘Don’t Let This Flop,’ we talk Adult Disney pranks, “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings,” and the resurgence of 2014 Tumblr girlie style."

Liverpool life in 1992 captured in fascinating photos:

Lee Grimsditch:  "Pictures taken 30 years ago remind us just how much has changed."

How The Book of Boba Fett Evolved Star Wars' View of the Tuskens:

Jordan Maison:  "The latest Disney+ Star Wars series went to great lengths to infuse its Tusken tribe with influences from real-world Indigenous cultures."

How ‘The Eternals’ Score Captured the Sound of Space, Love and Its Deviants:

Abbey White:  "Composer Ramin Djawadi explains his approach to crafting themes for an atypical MCU movie, setting up a major twist through music and working with director Chloé Zhao on the film, out on Disney+ this week."

Single page of Spider-Man comic sells for over $3.3m:

BBC News:  "The work was drawn by Mike Zeck and featured on page 25 of Marvel Comics' Secret Wars no 8."

Lohri Links.

Why Eternals Deserves A Second Chance On Disney+:
Ben Travis:  "WARNING: Contains major plot spoilers for Eternals."

Africa Oye returning to Sefton Park for 30th anniversary festival:

Elle May Rice:  "The festival celebrating the music and culture of Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora will return after a two-year hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic."

Doctor Who: The Forgotten Fugitive Doctor Returns For New, 'Epic Adventure':

Thomas Bacon:  "Doctor Who will continue the story of Jo Martin's Forgotten, Fugitive Doctor - but she's jumping into a completely different medium in April!"

An extremely rare, 400-year old book of Shakespeare plays is on display in Vancouver:

Brendan Kergin: "The UBC library has been gifted a rare and important book: a first edition version of William Shakespeare’s Comedies Histories and Tragedies. Printed in 1623, there are only 235 left in the world; this one is only the second to come to Canada."

Mission impossible – how to make a museum for artworks that were never made:

Catherine Bennett:  "It was designed as a life-sized version of snakes and ladders, plastered across Bologna’s central square, Piazza Maggiore."

Bank of England exhibition reveals views from London's past:

BBC News:  "Picture the City uses landscape paintings acquired by the Bank of England over the years and places them alongside modern-day views."

The 400 Blows: finding that beach and the Paris locations today:

Adam Scovell:  "With François Truffaut’s French New Wave classic The 400 Blows back in cinemas, we went in search of the locations, including the beach where that famous final freeze-frame takes place."

Night Watch:

BBC Radio 4:  "... four women from different parts of Britain share stories of street harassment. Woven through this feature is a new, specially commissioned poem by Hollie McNish."

Disney’s Encanto and its unexpected UK Singles Chart success:

Mark Harrison:  "Three songs from Encanto have popped up in this week’s UK Official Singles Chart – with stats and waffle, here are some of Disney’s other chart hit crossovers."

QR code scams are on the rise. Here's how not to get duped:

Bree Fowler:  "Cybercriminals are increasingly using malicious QR codes to trick consumers."

Thursday Links.

 
Christmas pudding sales fall 30% in five years as mince pies fly:
Amy North:  "Christmas pudding sales have fallen by nearly 30% over the past five years, British Baker can reveal."

Bar (in Liverpool) creates 'safe space' where people can feel less alone:

Paul McAuley:  "Special night aims to support people like Iwan Steffan, who is still struggling with the effects of lockdown."

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on the BBC:

BBC Media Centre:  "Join BBC Sport this February for all of the best moments from the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games across TV, radio and online."

Pentagon launches new UFO office. Not all believers are happy about it:

Stephanie Pappas:  "They're definitely not saying it's aliens."

Surfable.app:

Sandoche & Farbod:  "Install any website as an app for instant access ."

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain puts cats centre stage in a film that’s filled with eccentric charm:

Philip Kemp:  "Director Will Sharpe proves himself to be one of the UK’s most individual filmmakers with a colourful biopic on Victorian cat artist Louis Wain, played by Benedict Cumberbatch."

[Editor's note:  Features a few spoilers if you don't know the actual life of Louis Wain and a reveals couple of casting choices, the surprise of which are part of the film's charm.]

‘I felt a sickening pain’: how the ‘first true Hitchcock movie’ almost killed its star:  

Henry K Miller:  "Alfred Hitchcock described his third film, The Lodger, as the true beginning of his directorial career but it would prove a near fatal screen debut for its leading light June Tripp."

Temuera Morrison has the only face that could bring Boba Fett back to life:

David Betancourt:  "Temuera Morrison vividly remembers the first time he tried on his Boba Fett suit."

BAFTA Unveils Longlists For 2022 Film Awards: Complete List:

Tom Gater:  "BAFTA has unveiled the longlists across all categories for its 2022 Film Awards. Scroll down to see them in full."

In pictures: British tank soldiers' final year in Germany:

Tobias Wilkinson:  "Nearly 75 years after the end of World War Two, the UK's last tank regiment in Germany, the Queen's Royal Hussars, returned home."

Tales of the Dark Times (Comic Creator).

Comics No matter how ardent the adult fan of Doctor Who, there are probably some elements which go ignored simply because they're not meant for our age group, and Comic Creator is a typical example.  Released in 2016 for ios, Amazon and Android, it's a more sophisticated digital equivalent of the rub-off transfer sets of the 70s and 80s, offering kids the ability to create their own stories using a predetermined set of characters and backgrounds.  It's produced by Scary Beasties, an award winning app creator who's worked with numerous licensees over the years including Disney and Nickelodeon and the BBC and it entirely pass me by until I had to download it in order to get part of the Time Lord Victorious story.

The Eight Doctor appears in two of the tales.  Chapter Three's set during his alliance with the Daleks as they encounter a suspicious looking ship which seems to have an all too easily digestible smorgasbord of Huon particles which leads the pepper pots down the road toward destruction.  Chapter Five is a multi-Doctor story with Eighth and Ninth on the hunt for Tenth.  They land on a planet and are surprised to stumble upon a suburban house which it transpires has fallen through the time fracture created at the close of play in Waters of Mars, aided by an inhabitant who's built a time machine.  Neither of the comics run to more than ten pages but both have a nice twist at the end.

Given the limitations of the format, it's surprising how well the writer of this, probably James Goss although it isn't stated, nicely captures Eighth's gentle sarcasm especially when he's bantering with the Dalek Strategist, a double act which is carried through audios and novels.  There's less chatter between the two Doctors in Chapter Five although it's clear they don't see eye to eye.  When Eighth says, "It's okay to change the universe when you change it for the better", Ninth doesn't look like he agrees entirely, although that could also be due to the limited number of facial expressions available for each of the characters and this just happens to be the one the artist chose to add some variety.

Placement:  They're set between chapters three and four of All Flesh Is Grass.  So for the sake of clarity, I'll split the entry for that novel into two and put this in the middle.

Wednesday Links.

Colors: Where did they go? An investigation:
Emily VanDerWerff:  "Why do so many TV shows and movies look like they were filmed in a gray wasteland?"

Marni Nixon: How Audrey Hepburn’s ghost singer was sworn to secrecy by Hollywood:

Alexandra Pollard:  "As the voice of Maria in ‘West Side Story’ and Eliza Doolittle in ‘My Fair Lady’, Marni Nixon should have been one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Instead, other actors got the credit and she became American cinema’s ‘most unsung singer’."

How old Ugandan negatives are bringing families back to life:

Damian Zane:  "Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine has made it his mission to preserve and exhibit the work of the late Ugandan studio photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo, who recorded the lives of people from the rural town of Mbirizi."

Words Invented or Coined by Shakespeare:

VizSweet:  "How many words did William Shakespeare invent? Probably around 1,000. Here are 400+ words Shakespeare invented or coined, a selection of the most interesting or notable." [via]

BBC Four celebrates the life of Sir Antony Sher:

RSC Press:  "An evening of programmes on Sunday 16 January, including a screening of 2014's Henry IV Part I, in which Sir Antony memorably played Falstaff."

Never mind the nose: what makes Cyrano de Bergerac a hero for all time?

Michael Billington:  "Edmond Rostand’s great romantic has drawn actors including Ralph Richardson, Antony Sher and James McAvoy to its lead role. It is a tale of glorious theatricality, glittering poetry and heroic self-sacrifice."

Sharon Stone Joins ‘The Flight Attendant’ Season 2 in Key Role:

Jennifer Maas:  "Sharon Stone has joined HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant” for Season 2, playing the mother of star Kaley Cuoco’s Cassie Bowden, Variety has learned."

Dancing in the Aisles: The Public Shaming of Canada’s Most Infamous Influencers:

Ivy Knight:  "A production company chartered a party flight to Mexico, but when their antics ended up going viral, the rest of the world didn’t find it so amusing."

Energy Company Sorry For Telling Cold Customers to Cuddle Pets for Warmth:

Jenny G. Zhang:  "One of the U.K.’s largest energy suppliers has been forced to say sowwy for sending customers what were supposed to be helpful tips for keeping heating bills down this winter, including some endearingly twee ones like cuddling for warmth and having a nice bowl of porridge."

The major art anniversaries to look out for in 2022:

Apollo:  "... There are many reasons for 1922 to be considered a milestone in the history of literary modernism, such as the publication of ‘The Waste Land’ by T.S. Eliot and Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf, but the publication of Joyce’s novel is the most compelling."

Tuesday Links.

Star of Christmas film sets up online boutique:
David Adamson: "Ellie Coldicutt, 24, starred as Beth in the festive favourite Nativity! back in 2009, charming viewers with the song Sparkle and Shine before going on to feature in the sequel as well as touring productions of The Sound of Music and the RSC’s Richard III."

How Peter Bogdanovich Shaped the Backstory of Modern Cinema:

Richard Brody: "One of the most original directors of New Hollywood, Bogdanovich was also a critic who expanded our cinephilic heritage."

How Fake Spies Ruin Real Intelligence:

Amy Zegart: "Espionage-themed entertainment is influencing policy makers, from soldiers fighting on the front lines to justices sitting on the nation’s highest court."

Man Invents Possibly The Worst Way To Play Doom:

Ian Walker:  "A Calgary-based programmer recently shared his work turning a rotary telephone into what may be the least effective video game controller of all time."

Notebook Primer: Screwball Comedy:

Olympia Kiriakou:  "Screwball comedy’s fast-paced battle of the sexes explored the socio-economic politics of the 1930s and 1940s."

Paris’s ‘House of Molière’ wishes happy 400th birthday to French theatre legend:

Laura Cappelle:  "The Comédie-Française is celebrating the 17th-century dramatist by recreating Tartuffe, the play that outraged the Catholic church and almost ended his career."

Can this new pressing plant solve the vinyl crisis?

Ellen Peirson-Hagger:  "Press On Vinyl, a facility due to open in the new year, has been dubbed “the communist plant of Teesside”."

What is a book?

Lisa Gitelman:  "Anyone who remembers making the transition from typewriting to word processing has probably thrown away a fair number of floppy disks and jettisoned more than a few computers since then. Bad for the planet, yes. But it also poses particular challenges for the stewards and denizens of archives."

Cheese Accounting 🧀  aka Dairy Diary:

Jessamyn West:  "I won a year's supply of cheese in a contest May of 2019."

Banksy stable at model village could fetch 'seven figures':

BBC News:  "The tiny building appeared at Merrivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in August, during Banksy's "Great British Spraycation"."

Plough Monday Links.

Art historian discovers that £65 painting on his wall is work of Flemish master:

Dalya Alberge: "Picture of Isabella Clara Eugenia, Infanta of Spain, is likely to be by Sir Anthony van Dyck, finds Courtauld’s report."

26 places in Merseyside everyone needs to visit at least once:

Elle May Rice:  "How many of these are on your bucket list?"

Michael J. Fox Snuck Away At Christmas To Watch Back To The Future For The First Time In A Long Time And Was Surprised By What He Saw:

Adreon Patterson: "What did the Back to the Future star think of his performance in the film?"

The James Webb Space Telescope is fully deployed. So what's next for the biggest observatory off Earth?

Elizabeth Howell: "The generational observatory is en route to its parking spot and getting ready to test its mirrors and instruments."

In Beanotown:

Mark Sinker:  "Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules (at Somerset House until 6 March 2022) consists of pages and tales from the comic’s eight decades, loosely organised into themes, along with work by some forty non-Beano artists that amplifies its characters, motifs and slapstick."

How TikTok Is Fueling Hollywood Marketing Campaigns Like Sony’s Epic Pitch For ‘Spider Man: No Way Home’:

Dade Hayes: "TikTok’s grip on young audiences is a well-established fact, but the social network has just released a new report detailing how that defining trait has made it increasingly attractive to Hollywood."

Gilgi, One of Us by Irmgard Keun (tr. Geoff Wilkes):

Jacqui Wine:  "I loved this novella, a striking portrayal of a determined young woman set in Weimar-era Cologne. First published in 1931, and subsequently banned by the Nazi authorities, Gilgi (One of Us), was Irmgard Keun’s debut novel, announcing its author as a powerful new voice in German literature."

Star Wars Hutts Should Never, Ever Be CGI:

Matt Singer:  "This week’s episode of The Book of Boba Fett introduced two new characters to the series’ cast, a pair of corpulent alien crime lords from the race known as “The Hutts.” Cousins of the notorious Jabba the Hutt, they are carried along on a sagging throne by a legion of footmen."

Tori Amos’s Little Earthquakes Still Resonates at 30:

Sal Cinquemani: "Tori Amos’s debut album, Little Earthquakes, helped reshape the pop landscape and the reverberations can still be felt today."

OH MY FUCKING GOD, GET THE FUCKING VACCINE ALREADY, YOU FUCKING FUCKS:

Wendy Molyneux: "Hi, if you are reading this essay then congratulations, you are still alive. And if you are alive, then you have either gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, or you still have the opportunity to get the vaccine against COVID-19. And holy fuck, if you aren’t fucking vaccinated against COVID-19, then you need to get fucking vaccinated right now. I mean, what the fuck? Fuck you. Get vaccinated. Fuck."

Sunday Links.

Stoke ditches curators for museums to become film locations:

Arts Industry News:  "Curators and management staff at the Gladstone Museum, with its famously recognisable brick bottle kilns where Channel 4’s popular Great Pottery Throw Down is filmed, and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery have been told that all their posts are to be deleted as the council seeks to cut £7.1m from its annual budget. Both were scheduled to re-open on January 18 after a Christmas closure lengthened by the Omicron Covid crisis."

Forget Sherlock Holmes and try these other Victorian detectives:
Clare Clarke: "Rivals, clones and parodies of Baker Street’s finest sprang to life in the late 19th century. Clare Clarke walks you through the best of the bunch, from Loveday Brooke to Flaxman Low."

Pokimane Receives First Twitch Ban, But It's Only Temporary:

Zack Zwiezen:  "The popular streamer was banned after streaming episodes of the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon."

A Guide to Rewatching Sidney Poitier’s Most Memorable Films:

Matt Zoller Seitz: "His image evolved and adapted over decades as the central contradiction of the actor and director’s life played out on screens."

Gemma Chan on the truth about her father’s life at sea: ‘He knew what it was like to have nothing’:

Gemma Chan:  "The actor knew her father had served in the merchant navy, but it wasn’t until she read about Britain’s mistreatment of Chinese seamen in the 40s that she understood just how much his experiences had shaped her family."

The secret deportations: how Britain betrayed the Chinese men who served the country in the war:

Dan Hancox: "During the second world war, Chinese merchant seamen helped keep Britain fed, fuelled and safe – and many gave their lives doing so. But from late 1945, hundreds of them who had settled in Liverpool suddenly disappeared. Now their children are piecing together the truth."

‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ just entered the public domain. Here’s what that means for fans:

Michael Cavna: "Luke McGarry began drawing a nude Pooh Bear as soon as he heard the news. The original, nearly 100-year-old “bear of very little brain” from the Hundred Acre Wood had rung in this new year by entering the public domain. Now quite humbly, McGarry’s creative appetite felt rumbly."

11 things I hate about Christmas:

Karyn Starmer: "I love Christmas I really do. I love a good party and a thoughtful gift. As a child, I was fortunate to grow up with all the anticipation of Christmas Eve, then the early morning excitement to see what the man in red had delivered."

Mouldy tomatoes 999 call to Welsh Ambulance Service:

BBC News: "Panicked patients dialled 999 after eating sandwiches with mouldy tomatoes in and suffering papercuts."

New chapter of hope: indie bookshops defy the odds to hit nine-year UK high:

Alison Flood: "Independent sellers have battled lockdowns, supply-chains issues and Amazon to reclaim their place in the industry. We speak to the people who opened their own."