Articles

And in the end... by Mat Snow
(from Mojo #179, p.70)
Mojo have heard some of the long-awaited Beatles remasters, three years (and counting) in the works. But they're nearly ready! I've never paid money for anything by the Beatles, so now (and by "now" I mean "when these are released") may be the time.

Born Again by Mark Blake
(from Mojo #179, p.82-95)
Long feature, marking the release of Queen's new album, that features remaining band members Brian May and Roger Taylor looking back at the group's late-'70s disco-influenced reinvention.

The Caped Cuss-Ader by Dareh Gregorian and Rebecca Rosenberg
(from New York Post)
First heard this story the other day, but this pun-packed title was too good not to mention. For those who missed it, DC Comics released issue 10 of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (it's a title and a half, ain't it?) with swear words uncensored. And this is America, of course, where "damn" is controversial. They've tried to have all copies destroyed (to be replaced with an appropriately censored version), but naturally not everyone's complied -- copies are going for as much as $250 on eBay. Holy instant collector's item Batman! (Sorry.)

Che It Isn't So by Page Six
(from New York Post)
This blog seems to have wound up following the story of Steven Soderbergh's Che -- I'm not entirely sure how, or why, but there you go. As I've already reported, the film will see a limited cinema release later this year; but the latest addition to that development goes thusly: it's "going almost straight to video. Soderbergh refused to cut the 4-hour-and-22-minute biopic... Given that the audience at the Cannes Film Festival was underwhelmed, no one wanted to give the epic a theatrical release. [But IFC] will release it in theaters in New York and LA just long enough to qualify for the Academy Awards, and make it available simultaneously "on demand." Che will later be available on video at Blockbuster." Just at Blockbuster? Or is that just One Of Those Turns Of Phrase. Also, the persistence of the term "video" -- of course, it technically doesn't just mean VHS, but that's still what comes to mind.

Review of Journey to the Far Side of the Sun DVD by James Gray
(from DVD Times)
"neatly bridges the gap between the two phases of [Gerry] Anderson's career. His first foray into live action cinema came about after the relative flop of his last two Supermarionation series... but while the film might star Roy Thinnes and Herbert Lom rather than Troy Tempest and Scott Tracy it is very recognisably a production from the same stable... Much like Space: 1999 several years later, its biggest flaw is [an] aloof detachment which means that, together with a script not as disciplined as it should be, this is a film very easy to admire for its visual style but almost impossible to like."

Straight Shooter by Mark Blake
(from Mojo #179, p.95)
A surprisingly detailed side piece about the genesis of Queen + Paul Rodgers, and what it was like creating The Cosmos Rocks. (My copy didn't arrive today. I'm annoyed.)