Whats New 7
What’s new
Podcast – Mr Ballen:
Are you a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious? That’s the questions Mr Ballen (John Allen) asks at the start of every episode which are released weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. Hell yeah! Is my answer. Since I was a kid I’ve always been interested in the unexplained, the strange and I know it’s grizzly but unsolved murders and serial killers. To this day the Jack the Ripper murders fascinate me, I think mainly because we will never know for sure who committed those hideous crimes all those years ago. FYI if you’re ever in London the JTR tours are well worth a go.
Originating as a YouTube channel Mr Ballen delves into some high profile cases and many that you probably won’t of heard of before. Some of these episodes aren’t for the faint hearted and at times it’s truly shocking to learn what us as humans are capable of doing to each other usually for money or jealousy. Recently there was a first hand account of the story of a 9/11 survivor who escaped from the 82nd floor and wait until you hear the ending to the “Terror In The Skies” episode.
Mr Ballen has a gift for story telling, and he always carries out these episodes with dignity and respect for the affected parties which I think is important. The pod is available in all your usual places and expected new episodes every Monday and Thursday
TV: She Hulk:
She Hulk is the latest MCU/Disney + show off the conveyer belt which, lets be honest, isn’t exactly pulling up the kind of trees we expected when this partnership was announced. She Hulk got off to a sticky start before the first episode even aired after the trailer/stills dropped as the CGI was way below the standards of what we are used to within the MCU. I get the budget for these tv shows isn’t what the movies get but CGI is Marvels thing and it’s been said that there was extra work put into the She Hulk graphics before release after this initial poor reaction.
Billed as a lawyer comedy with a short 30 mins ish run time over nine episodes I was excited about this one as these shows do tend to arc in similar ways over the course of their seasons with the brilliant WandaVision being a exception. Tatiana Maslany is charming enough and occasionally funny as unlucky in love lawyer Jen Walters who unintentionally gets infected with some of her cousins Bruce Banner (The Hulk) blood meaning she now has “Hulk Powers” and a green alter ego.
For a comedy there’s nowhere near enough laughs per episode and the supporting cast flit in and out as the season goes on meaning there’s no real continuity which makes us feel absolutely nothing for these characters. Dare Devil makes a appearance (probably the best episode) as does Wong who is quickly becoming a kind of go to cheap goes character in the MCU. Tim Roth seems to be having fun as Emil Blonsky who is now pretty much a completely different character from that original Hulk movie. As a whole I just don’t feel She Hulk landed in the way it was intended too and although there’s some nice ideas and important messages about female equality Marvel really haven’t got into their stride yet with their TV material.
Check out my MCU rankings on Letterbox at AdBart
Live: FUR
Fur are a band I’ve followed closely over the last couple of years. I spent 4 months working in Brighton during the pandemic which is where these guys originate from and whilst down there I think I found them through twitter or maybe a local podcast. At that point they had only a couple of EP’s out but have since released a album When You Walk Away in September last year.
I had tickets so see them in London last year but didn’t make it for some reason so jumped at the chance when I saw they were playing a small gig at Bush Hall at the back end of September. Bush Hall is a great little venue on Shepeards Bush high street originally a dance hall adorned with chandeliers and vintage decor.
This was my first time seeing FUR live and I was pleased that they played a mixture of songs from older EP’s and the album (I’ve been looking online for a setlist but can’t find one. If anyone has please email over) Angel Eyes being a personal favourite and defiantly the biggest reaction from the crowd that night. The band’s musically tight and vocally they match the heights live like they do on their records.
Support on the night came from Dutch Criminal Record who were new to me but were really impressive and anyone who likes discovering new music should give these guys a go.
Follow FUR and Dutch Criminal Record on their socials (below) and look out for future gigs.
@furbabyfur
@_DCR_Official
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