Flavours of the Month: November/December 2023...

Whammin' bammin' slammin' action, two very twisted brothers, and a flatulent cartoon quest are just some of what's been setting the tone of my November/December 2023...

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Flavours of the Month: May 2020...

While I have back-dated this blog post, you may have noticed my absence from the blog in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, we have encountered a family health emergency, which has turned all of our lives upside down and so, naturally, our focuses in our day-to-day lives have shifted. It happened in the last few days of May and since then we've been dealing with a lot of stuff, getting our heads around new things, and just trying to get things in order as well as take care of ourselves, too.

Expect blogging to be light and sporadic for the time being and we'll see how things go when stuff settles down, but for now here's some various flavours of my May 2020 before everything went upside down...

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Flavours of the Month: February 2020...

The trial of the century, a "dangerous" film, and on the limit at 200mph is just some of what has been setting the tone of my February 2020...

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Flavours of the Month: March 2018...

Bleak Russian sci-fi, hilarious cartoon sci-fi, and flesh-chompers of different hues are some of what's been setting the tone of my March 2018...

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Flavours of the Month: April 2015...

There's been a pervasive amount of Rob Zombie scattered throughout my April 2015, from his music (solo efforts and early White Zombie) to some of his cinematic outings such as "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects" ... but that's just a little of what's been tickling my fancy for entertainment.

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Flavours of the Month: August 2014...

Dark conspiracies, comedic priests, talking dogs, sardonic comedians, hard-boiled cops, and underground zombies ... just a few of the things that have been flavouring my August 2014 ... read on to see what else.

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Flavours of the Month: June 2014...

LOOKS:

South Park Season 16 - seasons 15 and 16 definitely had some dud episodes in their mix, but as I said last month, re-watching these shows on their own terms (rather than with the expectation that you have, perhaps unfairly, when new episodes air) does bring a new sparkle that you didn't see the first time around. One of my favourite episodes from season 16, and the series in general, is the Halloween episode in which Randy buys the local Blockbuster rental store and everything goes a bit 'Shining'.

Fargo - this limited-run 10 episode story from FX and MGM has been a real gold mine. I was unsure how it would work upon first hearing they'd taken the Coen brother's movie and turned it, somehow, into a television show, but after the first couple of episodes I was hooked and it just kept getting better. It wasn't really an adaptation at all, it was a spiritual successor. Unpredictable, truly stunning, filled with characters that you genuinely care about (or fear), and all written by Noah Hawley with such an easy flair and eye for gentle dark humour that he makes it seem effortless. Clearly a lot of thought and craft went into all aspects of making this show and it paid off in spades. A bright shining highlight for 2014 television drama.

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Flavours of the Month: May 2014...

LOOKS:

Twin Peaks - finishing off season two. There were about eight episodes after the reveal of Laura Palmer's killer where the show went off the rails and didn't have a new main story and threat to pick up the ball. Various subplots and side stories didn't really work, so for those iffy episodes only parts of them are working. It stopped being strange, it got safe and even a bit plain. That said, in the last few episodes it swung right back up again and found the groove for a grand finale. Good news too about the imminent release of 90 minutes worth of deleted scenes from Fire Walk With Me.

South Park Season 13, 14 and 15 - when South Park hits a home run, it really goes all out, but then you end up (unfairly) expecting every episode to be like the one where the Internet goes down, or the Facebook episode, or the World of Warcraft episode etc. However, watching these episodes for a second time on their own terms really frees them of any first-watch expectations you originally had. What was a tad underwhelming the first time becomes a rather good run of episodes with some forgotten gems hidden away.

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Flavours of the Month: October 2013...

LOOKS:

South Park Season 17 - recent seasons have seen a dip in quality, or perhaps expectations got in the way. Now though, after a slightly extended hiatus, we've had five good ones in a row - perhaps the apparent tweaks to how the show is written have paid off. Hopefully this upswing is set to continue.

The Walking Dead Season 3 (Blu-Ray) - TWD in HD, yes please. It's a shame there weren't more extras (and why they didn't include the making of featurettes AMC put on YouTube is anyone's guess), although I am yet to listen to the commentaries. There are some issues with the third season, mostly confined to the back half of the season - most specifically episodes 3x11, 3x13 and most especially 3x14, whereby pacing became incredibly mixed (both inside each episode, and across the overall arc of the season). I wrote on Homepage of the Dead about how some of these problems could have been tweaked. Not enough to sink the season by any stretch of the imagination, but they were unfortunate mis-steps in an otherwise satisfying season.

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