• POST-MODERN SLEAZE •

Marvel’s “grey villains”: Why Thanos, Killmonger and Loki work

Marvel have a villain problem. It’s not just long debated: it’s a fact. For far too long in the 18-strong franchise, villains more complex than your obligatory Big Bad were much needed and hard to come by.

Yes there was Loki, he of Asgard and adopted, emo brother of Thor, burdened by familial woes and self-righteous, glorious purpose. For a very long time, he was the sole purveyor of what could…

The weight of silence in A Quiet Place

It’s oh. so. quiet.

Shh! Shh! But wait – even a “shh” is a noise. Best to practise stifled breathing, in the world of A Quiet Place, for John Krasinski‘s directoral debut has an originally novel take on suspense.

Set in a world of a never-quite-explained invasion, the Abbott family are some of incredibly few survivors. The majority of the human race have been wiped out by ravenous alien…

"When something is written down, does that make it true?" ~ #Jackie: A Respect For History

“Do you know who James Garfield was?” “No ma’am.” “Do you know who William McKinley was?” The driver of the ambulance car carrying the body of the recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy knows neither. “How about Abraham Lincoln?” “He won the Civil War and abolished slavery.” Jackie Kennedy, still in shock, turns away and closes the hatch. She looks to Bobby Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard), sat…

Why going straight to Netflix may have been best for Alex Garland's 'Annihilation'

It sucks, doesn’t it, that online streaming services are fast becoming the last bastion of off-beat film? It seems that there is no place for the left-field in multiplex cinemas, home of the cinematic universe, goggle-eyed kids flicks and the Zac Efron vom-com. When Marvel debuted 2008’s Iron Man they cannot have known that in pushing the boundaries of scale and long-term vision they had in fact…

Between Peaks: The old bridges with the new in Twin Peaks ‘Part 7’ (Season 3)

We are so used to seeing Laura Dern in a gamine, wholesome and honest light through her career – including her more renowned roles including Dr. Ellie Satler in Jurassic Park, or Sandy Williams in Blue Velvet – that when she turns up as a sexually charged Lula in Wild At Heart or indeed, the long-awaited Diane in Twin Peaks: The Return it is with a jolt that you recall what a wonderfully…

Danger, death + discovery surmise "Don't Die". Read this week's #BetweenPeaks #TwinPeaks

“Don’t die” It’s a cutting phrase, isn’t it? One with a multitude of possibilities and a double-dose of apprehension. You have been duly warned and show writers Mark Frost and David Lynch plainly want you to know exactly what it is you are getting yourself into in episode six of Twin Peaks: The Return. Mortality is on pertinent display, all of the simplicities and complexities of living and what…

Amanda Seyfried makes her #TwinPeaks debut in this week's ep! Catch up with #BetweenPeaks

Twin Peaks has seemed a bit shy as of late. Not the show itself of course – no one could ever accuse David Lynch of being “shy” in his aesthetic output – but the town of its namesake. Outside of the sheriff’s department and the episode-end cameos of the Bang Bang Bar (seemingly a new right of passage for the muso-lover’s best kept secret), there has been little sight of the town, almost as if it…

#BetweenPeaks returns for #TwinPeaks parts 3+4! Three Coops and a Wally Brando? Go catch up

HELLOO-OOOO – Wally Brando! That name alone is the most baffling thing so far in season three of Twin Peaks. We digress (honest), but all in all, whoever presumed that Michael Cera’s appearance would be a cameo of Sheriff deputy Andy (Harry Goaz) and secretary Lucy’s (Kimmy Robertson) 25 year old son? (And just look at him; he could easily be their real life lovechild!) Sheriff Frank Truman…

Debuting our #TwinPeaks recap feature #BetweenPeaks! Today we get acquainted with 'Parts 1+2'

Between being the most feverishly analysed TV series of the past three decades, and the most longed for and anticipated to return, season three of Twin Peaks had a lot to live up to. In many ways it was the first “cult” TV show – or at least in the terms that we consider now – one that spouted reams of fan forums, celebratory creations and plenty of speculation over all of the plot lines that it…

Welcome to @postmodernityco To begin, @kaylwattson shares her love-letter to #TwinPeaks

So here we are… The time has come at last. It has been 27 years since Twin Peaks last graced our screens, and the irony is that I wasn’t even alive when the show first aired in 1990. I was but a bean in my mother’s midriff when the second season got cancelled, and for much of my life the only “Annie” I had concerns for was that of ‘Billie Jean’. I confess, I had a late renaissance. For a good…

Silver Rose’s Influential Albums

Originally published and still available on Born Music 13/12/16

Upon listening to the sun-soaked sound of SILVER ROSE, it is nearly impossible to ignore the rose-tinted homage that the delectable brand of rock pays to decades gone by. The music is the passionate love affair of songwriter and musician Carla Sariñana, who – over the past decade – has been writing songs and playing bass in her band…

Shy Girls: Portland Scene Report

Originally published and still available on Born Music 2/12/16

“I record all the vocals in my closet and I don’t have an engineer so I literally run in and out from the closet to the computer in between takes” says, Dan Vidmar, better known by his solo moniker SHY GIRLS. “On this album, I enlisted a co-producer for a few tracks, but for the most part I do everything all alone in my home studio.”

Originally published and still available on Born Music 2/12/16.

The past few years have been ones of discovery for LEWIS FIELDHOUSE. In 2013, the London-based singer-songwriter set off on a creative journey, one that began in his hometown and took him all the way to California before coming full circle, seeing him return a man with a new perspective on life, his work, and what he intended to do.