‘The King In Yellow’ by American author Robert William Chambers was first published in 1895.

The book is made up of nine short stories, beginning with a quartet of unsettling and haunting tales set in both New York City and Paris. A time-travelling adventure then follows, with the last four episodes set exclusively in France to finish things off on a rather bohemian note.

What is so weird about this book is the way it starts out – with Chambers delivering a handful of disturbing and macabre works – before it completely transforms into a piece of lightweight romance fiction.

Interestingly, the 2014 TV series ‘True Detective’ often referenced some of the more sinister aspects of this publication – namely ‘The Yellow King’ and ‘Carcosa’.

This would have to rate as one of the best TV shows aired over the past decade, and starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. If you haven’t seen it – put it on your must-watch list – but don’t bother with the later (unrelated) seasons.

‘The King In Yellow’ is an incredible read, even if it does fall away a little after the opening four or five stories. The sheer transformation from macabre story-telling of the highest order into tales of romance set on the streets of Paris is well worth the journey.

The paperback can be ordered at any online bookstore, including eBay. However, some of the kindle reviews claim that different versions are being sold, so it’s best to check out what the buyers are saying before choosing.

Screenshots courtesy of HBO.

It’s fair to say that Disney Star Wars is not in a great place right now.

I remember how much I enjoyed ‘The Force Awakens’ when it came out – in fact, I really liked it. I also couldn’t stop talking about ‘Rogue One’ for weeks after watching it at the cinema, but then I did not think highly of ‘The Last Jedi’ (except for the Snoke scenes). However, Disney would find some redemption soon after with ‘The Mandalorian’ seasons one and two.

So, I would say that up until 2020, Disney were doing alright – maybe a 7 out of 10.

Some of the shows released since have been passable at best, with ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ having a few highlights that I enjoyed, and ‘Ahsoka’ being mostly okay (thanks to the late Ray Stevenson and his Baylan Skoll character). But there was some really bad stuff too, such as ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, the ridiculous third season of ‘The Mandalorian’, and this year’s ‘The Acolyte’ – which overtook ‘Paradise Beach’ as the worst television show I have ever seen.

Which brings us to ‘Andor’ – the pick of the bunch – that was released in late 2022.

This show was well-written, well-acted, and I would say – now looking back at what has been produced since Disney took over – perhaps their best effort so far.

Being connected to the ‘Rogue One’ universe helps the show, as it reintroduces us to Cassian Andor during his initial forays into what would later become the Rebel Alliance.

The only criticism I might have about the show is that it is a little slow to get going, mainly over the first couple of episodes. That being said, it is a slow-burner but it does get to where it needs to be at a decent click from that point onward.

The good news is that the show has been renewed for a second and final season, that will be released in 2025. My understanding is that it will take place around the construction of the Death Star, and bring the story closer to where ‘Rogue One’ starts. Not only that, but it will feature the return of Director Krennic and K-2SO – but will we see Tarkin?

Although I promised myself after ‘The Acolyte’ that I would never recommend another ‘Star Wars’ show again, here I go…

‘Andor’ is available to stream on Disney Plus, and it is well worth checking out.

Screenshots courtesy of Lucasfilm and Disney Plus

I’m going to claim that UK pop duo Climie Fisher were a one-hit wonder – with their only success coming from the 1988 song ‘Love Changes Everything’.

Others may disagree by saying they did have another song in the charts the previous year – ‘Rise To The Occasion’ – which made the UK top ten. However, the difference between the two songs in both quality and catchiness is immeasurable.

Unfortunately, the band were not around for long and the two members – Simon Climie and Rob Fisher went their separate ways.

Climie would go on to collaborate with Eric Clapton and BB King, and he currently lives in the United States. Fisher continued to work in the music industry until sadly passing away in 1999.

As for ‘Love Changes Everything’ – I remember it getting a lot of radio airtime in Australia, and it almost cracked the top 20 here. It peaked around the same in the US as well.

The music video is very stylish and artistic, which was typical for that era – and there is a link below courtesy of the Bruce Hill YouTube channel.

Legendary Australian character Jack Karlson passed away this week aged 82.

For those not familiar with this man, he is best known for his arrest outside a Brisbane restaurant in 1991, which years later would be watched by millions of people on the internet.

Some believe that the police arrested the wrong man that day, but Karlson was well known to law enforcement at the time as a low-level con man and petty thief.

This remains one of the greatest – and most bizarre – criminal arrests of all time.

If you haven’t seen it, or want to relive the classic moment – please hit the link below.

Video courtesy of Russell Furman’s YouTube Channel

When the original version was released, I could only manage to watch around five minutes before I had to turn it off. Now the all-new Director’s Cut is here and I can proudly say that I lasted an impressive thirty-eight minutes – quite an improvement!

The problem here is that instead of this sequel hitting the ground running, it reverts back to the tired formula from Part One almost immediately – and saves some of its best slow motion, freeze-framing and ‘Blue Steel’ close-ups for an extended scene where the characters are performing a wheat harvest.

As is the case with Part One, this new cut has been given a different title – ‘Curse Of Forgiveness’ – and again, I’m not sure why.

Also, just like the reinvented first installment, a very graphic sex scene was included within the opening act. Completely unnecessary.

Because I did not watch the entire film, I cannot offer any kind of fair review. But what I can do is share some more excellent farming screenshots!

Rebel Moon: Part Two – Curse Of Forgiveness is currently screening on Netflix.

Screenshots courtesy of Netflix.

With an added hour of running time, the new ‘Snyder Cut’ of Rebel Moon Part One does go some way to explain a lot of things from the original version that did not make sense.

I won’t get into any spoilers here, as the movie only came out a few days ago – but what I will say is the new opening scene and other flashbacks and sequences that have been added do help with the overall coherence of this often-panned project.

Of course, the over-use of slow motion and close-up shots were still there, with operatic strains heard constantly throughout the film. They could have cut back on some of these.

The special effects were alright – but nothing to get excited over. I did appreciate the world-building and thought that some of the wider, landscape shots of the planets and the designs that went into the towns and settlements were quite good.

The levels of violence and sex have been turned up a notch, and therefore the film now has an R-rating. A lot of it was gratuitous to say the least – way too much blood and nudity.

Another strange thing about this movie is that the title has now changed from ‘A Child Of Fire’ to ‘Chalice Of Blood’ – and I’m not sure why.

Overall, ‘Rebel Moon: Part One Director’s Cut – Chalice Of Blood’ is an improvement on the original; but the issues of plot direction, character motivations and a strange reliance on slow-motion and freeze-framing still persist.

It’s a pass – two and a half stars out of five from me.

Rebel Moon Part One Director’s Cut is currently streaming on Netflix.

All artwork and screenshots courtesy of Netflix.

American musician Meco recorded a disco version of the ‘Star Wars’ theme back in 1977, and it would go on to become a worldwide hit.

However, the performance of this funky track by a local dance troupe on the Dutch television show ‘TopPop’ was an interesting interpretation to say the least.

Check out the screenshots below – and remember, this is supposed to be inspired by ‘Star Wars’.

I should point out that ‘TopPop’ was a serious music program at the time – the Dutch equivalent to our ‘Countdown’ here in Australia, or ‘Top of the Pops’ in the UK. The show had an impressive guest list over the years with artists such as David Bowie, the Bee Gees and Queen all performing live.

Link below for the original video at the TopPop YouTube channel.

All screenshots courtesy of TopPop – Netherlands.

I love this show, so I’m going a little easy on it – and I won’t give out spoilers, as the season only ended last week.

I will start by saying that after watching a couple of episodes I thought that ‘The Boys’ was gone.

It appeared as though the writers had stumbled down a similar path to other television franchises, with the amount of political allegory sharply rising – to the point where it became less satirical and more of a statement.

The levels of violence in the show were also turned up a notch, and there was a lot more sexual deviancy as well – with toilet humour and gross-out gags thrown into the mix.

Does this work, or is it just cheap point-scoring? – I don’t know.

Overall, there were enough glimpses of the old magic to see me through to the end of the season, but make no mistake – this has the look and feel of a show that is running out of ideas.

To be fair, that is completely understandable.

So, the show-runners need to ease off the politics, dial down the filth, and get back to some real entertainment – such as Soldier Boy singing ‘Rapture’ in season three – see video below.

Seasons 1-4 of ‘The Boys’ are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Video courtesy of Vought International YouTube Channel.

Screenshots courtesy of Prime Video.

To ‘celebrate’ the season finale of Star Wars: The Acolyte, a very creative person with an Aussie accent came up with this gem!

*LANGUAGE WARNING* – The F-Bomb is dropped a number of times during the music video.

This clip was originally posted by Film Threat – click below to watch the video on their YouTube channel.

Although I would not describe myself as suffering from acrophobia, I do get very uncomfortable with heights – especially in an open environment.

So, when I stumbled across this on Netflix the other day, I found myself immediately triggered to the point where I was shouting out words of caution to the characters on the screen. Of course, neither of the lead actors followed my advice, and I had to quit the movie halfway through.

I won’t get into an actual film review here, (for the hour or so that I was able to watch) but what I will say is that the visual effects – both digital and trick photography – are brilliant.

My understanding is that part of the tower was built on top of a mountain, and was only around 100 feet tall, allowing the film makers to create the illusion of great height, as seen in the photos above.

When digital effects are added, the results are incredible.

The number of ‘bad’ movies I have been unable to finish would be too many to count – but never have I stopped watching a film due to my (very mild) fear of heights – not until now.

‘Fall’ is currently streaming on Netflix – if you’re up to the challenge.

Poster and screenshots courtesy of Lionsgate Films and Netflix.