Hate calling stuff out on here, it's so not me, but with my emails now being ignored, I dunno what else to do. I invoiced
@RollingStoneUK
in early Dec for an interview I did with
@rickygervais
&
@StephenMerchant
. It's now nearly April and still no payment
The world lost Rik Mayall 10 years ago today. He’ll forever be remembered for The Young Ones and Bottom but British telly still hasn’t recovered from Lord Flashheart tbh.
As a
#Ghostbusters
fan, it's been great seeing
#ErnieHudson
take centre stage in the promotion of
#GhostbustersFrozenEmpire
, especially considering the rocky journey he's had with the character and the franchise itself over the years... 🧵(1/9)
I've messaged their team/finance department multiple times and now my emails to the latter are just going unanswered, leaving me out of options. So, as we all battle a cost of living crisis, I'm now forced to start a small claims court process, which comes with its own costs.
I’ve been going to
#Glastonbury
since 2009. 2024 was my first visit as a parent with a 10 month old coming along for the ride. The good news? Despite its epic scale, size and intensity
#Glasto
is *totally* doable with a baby. Here’s some tips that helped us make it easier. A 🧵..
Long story short: Other freelancers, beware pitching to them. I've written for loads of places for years and (thankfully) never experienced this - but their team must've known it was an issue before commissioning my pitch. Don't fall into the same trap. Not worth the hassle.
Seeing people complain about Peter Kay's lack of London dates is a slice of sweet delicious irony. Imagine the exact same travel situation for Northerners, except instead of a night out at a stand-up gig it's, oh I dunno, access to certain job roles.
Spengler was the brain, Stantz the heart and Venkman the mouth - but Zeddemore was us: the wide-eyed everyman who'll believe whatever you want... as long as there's a steady paycheque in it. (8/9)
So when you see Winston Zeddemore back and centre stage in
#FrozenEmpire
later this week, just know that of all it is down to Hudson's nailing of the character. (7/9)
Sad news about Richard Lewis - maybe the only guy who could go toe-to-toe with Larry David and give as good as he got. There’s something about their scenes together in Curb that has an extra-loose feel - and he never failed to crack Larry up.
Then something unexpected happened. While studio bosses didn't think twice about his character, Winston became a fan favourite. "It was the fans who really embraced Winston," Hudson says, "I’ve talked to a few people at the studio who felt almost a little surprised by that" (6/9)
Back when
#GhostbustersAfterlife
was released, I was able to speak to him about Winston's own afterlife - and also the marginalisation he was forced to endure both in front of the camera and behind it back in the day. (2/9)
Winston was originally set to appear much earlier in the first film; a character with a rich military background who eventually conjures the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man during its stream-crossing climax. "Then, the night before we were to shoot, all that changed," he told me (3/9)
Internal politics haunted director Ivan Reitman's film, switching focus onto the film's comedy trio of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and leaving Hudson - a single father who needed the job - with no choice but to go along with it. (4/9)
While we wait for the
#BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice
trailer to drop, here’s Michael Keaton talking about how he created Tim Burton’s bio-exorcist from the mold up.
Dare you return to
#Darkplace
? With Garth Marenghi's lost masterpiece turning 20 this week, I spoke to the man behind the specs,
@MrHolness
, about the creation and ditched future of one of (if not *the*) best British cult comedies ever for
@TheDailyBeast
With
#LinkinPark
trending and a new frontman possibly imminent - here’s that time Mike Shinoda brought 2018’s
#LeedsFest
to a teary standstill with a heartbreaking performance of ‘In The End’
British comedy shows are so weird which is why I love them. For US outlet
@SlashFilm
, I pulled together a list of UK comedy shows that folks across the pond need to see pronto inc.
#Taskmaster
,
@DaftLimmy
#StathLetsFlats
, Cunk & more
This was fun - to round out
#Spaced
's 20th birthday celebrations, I got all nostalgic with Jessica Hynes, Simon Pegg and Director
@EdgarWright
to discuss the zeitgeist-capturing power & long-lasting endurance of this classic 90s sitcom for
@LwLies
”The level of vulnerability they were asking for was terrifying” As lockdown began, I spoke to
@JustDemi
,
@TonyGoldwyn
& Dir
#JerryZucker
about how a comedy-drama about murder and loss became an unexpected movie classic. Read my 30th anniversary celebration in the new
@TotalFilm
.
Overall, planning is key. Give yourself more time. Pre-make baby meals & take lots of on-the-go snacks. Picnic blankets great for providing space & big umbrellas perfect if it’s sunny or rainy. Things take longer but there’s still plenty of time to see it all
#Glasto
has to offer
Too early to start watching this? It is *technically* December now…
Did you know
@DannyElfman
HATED Christmas before starting work on this film? He’s since said it helped restore his festive spirit 🎄
I spoke to him about it for
@LwLies
a few years back
Today in 2014, Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons aired! Written by
@rolldiggity
and directed by Joe Russo, the gang plays DnD again. I would have added Banks for a whole season just for this scene.
#OriginalAiring
Fun but far-too-brief chat with Matthew MacFadyen and Colin Firth earlier today, talking all-things spies and their favourite Bond bits. Two Mr Darcys for the price of one - and a Wambsgans thrown in for good measure.
If you're wondering how much patience the bard o' bone-chillers AKA Satan's Scribe AKA Hell's Pen-smith AKA Garth Marenghi AKA
@MrHolness
has for movie quotes posing as interview Qs, the answer is: not a lot - but that didn't stop me from asking him them for the new
@TotalFilm
🎃
.
@ThePeoplesJoker
has become one of the most talked about superhero movies - just not in the way its director was expecting. For
@screenshothq_
, I spoke to
@VeraDrew22
about her trans, coming-of-age Joker movie that Warner Bros. doesn't want you to see
Not to mention the amount of artists that come to the UK and only perform in London. Extra-special shout-out to the amazing Northern event organisers that go out of their way to bring artists up North. It's always a (sadly) rare delight.
Obvs, doing
#Glasto
with a baby means late night Shangri La is a no-go - but that doesn’t stop you visiting in the day. This year had live music/DJs doing day shifts so you could enjoy the area it AND get sleep. Plus we got free teas while feeding our baby in a quiet space (6/8)
And decent, soundproof headphones are a MUST. Glasto is an assault on the sense and very loud for small ears. It kind of goes without saying but baby headphones are essential (4/8)
Use the Kids Field. Only families can get in & alongside having the best kids entertainment (play areas, crafts, live music) it also has a baby NCT feeding/change/bath/quiet snooze space. Great for getting baby’s lunch in before heading out. Plus they have free food pouches (5/8)
It's nearly Christmas and everything's terrible so let's revisit a nicer time when
@Joe_Dante
told me about how he created festive classic
#Gremlins
for
@LwLies
. "The dog was convinced Gizmo was real - he gives one of the best performances in the picture!"
How did
#JimHenson
find his ragtag group of frogs, pigs, chickens & whatever the heck Gonzo is? What happened when
@TheFrankOzJam
sat down with his fellow original
#Muppet
performers for their 1st group interview? Find out in the ace doc
@MuppetGuysTalk
& in April's
@SFXMagazine
Me in On Cinema Tim voice: ‘Got tickets to the *checks card* tem heinder.. time hedicker.. err..’
Greg: ‘Tim Heidecker’
Me: ‘
@TimHeidecker
show in Erm.. Leeds’
Gonna preemptively give it five bags of popcorn and a little beer emoji, because it’s in a social club 🍿🍿🍿 🍿🍿🍺
Pick your crowd spot. The Pyramid stage is at the bottom of a hill so you can be far back & still have great sound/view/atmosphere. That said, we did found ourselves closer on other stages & people were very accommodating to us/our pram.
#Glasto
loves seeing a smiling baby (7/8)
Well that last post got wildly out of hand fast. Great to see so much support out there for journalists but sad to see so many others in a similar position.
This is really cool. Back when I was working on my
#BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure
retrospective for
@SFXmagazine
, Chris Matheson told me that one of his and Ed's original ideas was to have
#BillandTed
thrown through time via magic rings. Soon after they landed on the phone booth.
Fun fact about 1993’s
#SuperMarioBros
you may have missed: According to dir Rocky Morton, Dinohattan’s inhabitants drive electric cars because the idea of using their ancestors as fossil fuel is abhorrent. Delve deeper into this one-of-a-kind movie in my
@TotalFilm
celebration 🍄
"Community is
#DanHarmon
. If he feels there’s more story to be told, we'll tell it" says
@KenJeong
.
@CommunityTV
cast are up for more! What would YOU like to see happen in a
#Community
movie? As the show turns, 11 revisit Greendale in my cast Oral History
First things first: get a camper van. It’s obviously pricier than general ticket camping but makes life infinitely easier, especially if it has a shower/toilet. Getting in is quick, easy and without stress of carrying stuff - plus Blue Quiet Camping is great for families (2/8)
Had a wander around
@SIM_Manchester
’s ace new exhibition, Use Hearing Protection, earlier today. It takes a really detailed look at Factory Records’ early years and it’s overall impact on Manchester’s cultural identity. It’s packed full of really cool stuff. Would recommend.
Our original wedding plan was to get hitched and then immediately head to
@glastonbury
. Two and a half years and a global pandemic later - and while the music may be missing - we finally made it! Thanks for hosting our mini-honeymoon break,
@WorthyPastures
! ⛺️
For any
#Scrubs
fans sharing/liking this, check out my recent oral history of the show ft. new interviews with cast members
@JohnCMcGinley
,
@sarahchalke
, Judy Reyes and Neil Flynn
In 1993, Annabel Jankel & Rocky Morton made the first ever video game movie & it almost ruined their careers. 30 years on, with a
#SuperMarioBrosMovie
reboot hitting cinemas, I spoke to them for
@TotalFilm
about the whole ordeal & how their misunderstood film found an extra life.
“The night Donald Trump was elected, we saw a huge spike in people becoming members of the
#SatanicTemple
"
#Satanism
is on the rise & it might be more appealing than you think. I spoke with Temple leader
@LucienGreaves
& Dir
@LennyPane
about redefining Satanic Panic for
@Dazed
🤘
It’s at this point in
#GBBO
where we find out that Reece Shearsmith has secretly poisoned everyone’s biscuits and we’re actually watching a new episode of
#InsideNo9
Yesterday was
#BillAndTedDay
- bit late, but timing doesn’t matter so much when time travel is involved. To celebrate, here’s a throwback to my
@LWLies
oral history of
#BillAndTed
’s Excellent Adventure ft.
@ed_solomon
, Chris Mathewson,
@Winter
& more
Get a pram that isn’t going to let you down and can endure weather (sun/mud) + bumpy, uneven terrain. We got the Out’N’About Nipper and it was perfect. I even got it up to the Glasto sign, despite my calves hating me for it. Snooze Shade is great for blocking out crowds too (3/8)
#Spaced
is 21 today - and if there was EVER a time to lose yourself in pop-culture escapism, 2020 is IT. To celebrate, revisit my
@Lwlies
Oral History of the show, featuring
#JessicaHynes
, Dir
@EdgarWright
&
#SimonPegg
. What's your favourite Spaced moment?
Anyone else catch the news in
@Herring1967
’s new Rob Reiner pod-chat that Paul McCartney will be joining Spinal Tap in their new movie? Don’t think I’ve seen that reported anywhere yet. It’s like how more exclusive could that news be and the answer is none. None more exclusive.
Back in the infinite sadness of 2020's lockdown, I was lucky enough to speak to
#MichaelCera
& Dir
@EdgarWright
about the 10th birthday of one of my all-time faves,
#ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld
. Gain 1000 exp & an extra life by buying
@SFXMagazine
online or in shops & checking it out!
This’ll never not be funny. Hoskins had zero idea who or what Mario was before shooting 1993’s Super Mario Bros: The Movie. His bewildered delivery here is👌
I've been a journalist for about 15 years now; spoken to celebs & pop-culture icons, written for major outlets.. all hard to explain the significance of to parents. Thankfully, things changed today when my dad saw my recent invoice-gate thing mentioned in his fave mag Private Eye
@menace2theleft
Sure the fame factor probably played a part. Not including him in various promo things was kinda crazy though. The
#Ghostbusters
documentary Cleaning Up The Town does a great job of explaining how everything played out. Def worth checking out if you're a fan of the movies.
Amazing mini-honeymoon break
@WorthyPastures
. We were congratulated by random campers about 4 times during our daily wanders around the site (& once from a barista in Shepton Mallet) so that should tell you all you need to know about the welcoming vibes you can find here ⛺️ ☀️ 🍻
"Whenever Kermit was on screen, we all thought of Jim." Continuing my celebration of
@TheMuppets
Christmas Carol at 30, I spoke to former Kermit performer Steve Whitmire about the daunting task of inheriting an iconic green frog. Read more on
@LWLies
Writing about The Flintstones. Really makes me laugh that Hanna-Barbera's animation style was quite low-fi but every now and then they'd get a celeb in to voice a new character and go all out drawing their face so audiences knew exactly who they were. Case in point: Stony Curtis.
How cool is this: set bits from an unmade
#RedDwarf
movie went into making Sam Bell’s lived-in Lunar Base in
#Moon
. Also there’s a Dr in Australia that uses
@manMadeMoon
’s debut as therapy for those struggling with isolation issues. Still time to grab
@SFXMagazine
& find out more