Mack Reed (aka Dave Allen) and Tom Jones
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Louis left a good luck message on the post of his childhood friend, boxer Dave Allen 1/9/23
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In light of Sherlock Holmes coming into the public domain, just reminding people of just how.. transgressive this sketch from "Dave Allen at Large" in the mid 1970's would have seemed, especially as it was broadcast on the BBC at a time when there WERE only three channels in total available in the UK.
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Fly on the Windscreen – Final
written by Martin L. Gore
produced by Depeche Mode, Gareth Jones & Daniel Miller; recorded at Genetic Studios (London) by Dave Allen, assisted by Phil Tennant; remixed at Hansa Mischraum (Berlin); programmed at Worldwide International (London)
Black Celebration LP, MC & CD – 17 March 1986
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The Dungeonmaster (1984)
Let me tell you about The Dungeonmaster, a film so thoroughly incompetent it has to be seen to be believed. You’re going to have to do some digging to get your hands on this one, but that search will only make it sweeter.
Computer technician Paul (Jeffrey Byron) has created an artificial intelligent/personal assistant named X-CaliBR8, whose abilities range from wirelessly accessing ATMs to changing traffic lights on a whim. When Paul's computer skills catch the attention of demon Mestema (Richard Moll), the fiend transports him to a realm of seven challenges. With the help of his computer, Paul must overcome them before he and his girlfriend Gwen (Leslie Wing) lose their souls.
What does a computer have to do with a demon who looks like a cross between Bela Lugosi’s Dracula & Severus Snape, and cackles like the Kurgen from Highlander? Nothing. If there's a word that describes The Dungeon Master, it’s “random”. None of the challenges Paul faces have any sense of escalation, continuity, or logic. Among the obstacles he must face are a giant stone statue, a sadistic rockstar, a serial killer and a werewolf. In any well-written film, you’d have the towering Ray Harryhausen knockoff towards the end. Armed with a laser or not, the walking monolith would be a formidable adversary for anyone. Not here. Opponents that should be imposing go down like a house of cards while mundane ones turn out to be… well, not difficult – but less easy to defeat than the mythical monsters faced previously!
Watching The Dungeon Master is like watching somebody else play a bad video game on "baby" difficulty... with cheat codes. Nearly every enemy goes down in a single hit. There isn’t even any variety in the way Paul takes down the zombie army, the Mad Max knockoffs, the shapeshifting goblin or Jack the Ripper (you read that right). It’s so easy you begin to seriously doubt Mestema's boasts of being Satan himself.
The writing is so poor you never have any idea where the story is headed, how far into the plot you are or how it’s going to end. Then, it suddenly cuts off, as if all seven of the picture's directors got bored and decided what they had so far was good enough. It’s so perplexing you’ll have to watch The Dungeonmaster a second time to realize just how bad the acting is or mismatched the special effects are. It’s such a bizarre picture you dismiss it as the kind of thing no one else in the entire world has seen… until you hear Paul utter the lines “I reject your reality and substitute my own”. Wait. This is where that line comes from?!
The Dungeonmaster is horrendous. I fell in love with it immediately. I plan on ordering a DVD or Blu-ray to replace this dusty VHS I have in hand (I hear that’s an alternate cut that’s R-Rated, which ought to be fun as there’s quite a bit of nudity hinted at, but never shown in this PG-13 version). Hopefully, the bonus featured includes some of the trailers that come AFTER the film. The least exciting is for Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers, in which the stoners play 18th-Century twin brothers who have a psychic link allowing them to feel each others’ pain. The one before is for New York Nights, a drama that screams “sexploitation” so loud it looks like a parody. The preview that baffled me the most, however, was for a film called The Party Animal, whose plot appears to be about a horny loser who trades his soul for the Midas Touch of arousal. The movie looks so horrible I kind of feel as though I need to see it. Even without them, The Dungeonmaster is a gem of the "so bad it's good" realm waiting to be discovered. (On VHS, April 8, 2018)
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Dave Allen shared a screenshot of Louis’ tweet and old photos of the two of them to instagram stories 3/9/23
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Gang of Four: Pioneers of Post-Punk and Harbingers of Peace
The Gang of Four, an influential English post-punk band formed in 1976, not only revolutionized the music scene with their unique blend of punk, funk, and dub, but also conveyed powerful messages about the social and political ills of society. Their music, characterized by a raw and rhythmic complexity, often carried an undercurrent of political activism, challenging listeners to consider the…
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