Astenny_Bisto Reviews

Cutting Edge: Loansharks (1992) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

An under-rated comic classic documentary

[9/10 · 29 February 2024]

There's nothing I love more than a documentary that is made in a deadly serious style... only for it to become an unintentional comedy classic due to a cast of the amusingly afflicted.

John's Not Mad would be the most famous example, but my own personal favourite would have to be Elvis in Jarrow.

Loansharks falls into the same category thanks to a duo from the dregs of society who live for bingo and booze. They're a fabulous pair of comical clowns, and it's no surprise to see them drinking in the slophouse in the Glasgow slums known as Baird's Bar, the venue where Celtic Football Club held their press conferences when they wanted to intimidate journalists with awkward questions by surrounding them with a crowd composed of the mentally unstable.

It's a hidden gem, and it deserves greater recognition due to a clash of serious film-maker and lunatic cast that leads to several laugh-out-loud moments.

True, it's not Elvis in Jarrow or John's Not Mad, but it's far better than The Scheme.

Panodrama (2019)

Can't admire him, but I admire any work as good as this

[10/10 · 10 September 2023]

I am very critical of the "Robinson" figure's approach on most occasions. Not all of his concerns are without validity, but there is always an air of sensationalising, lack of sensitivity, disregard for what may follow, and even a cash-grabbing taste to things. I disapprove of it.

However, this is a wonderful piece. Suspicion seems justifiable, so to wipe that from this piece, and this piece only, he had to lay out truth on the BBC show at an inarguable level. He does so.

I suspect that this'll be the only time my hat's off to him, and I'm leaving the review to note what an eye-opener it was.

Citizen James (1960–1962)

The understudy done alright, whilst the Hancock star ended up with sh...omething else

[8/10 · 15 September 2022]

Hadn't heard of this until 18mths ago when it was mentioned on a forum discussion about the legendary HHH.

Not a Carry On/Bless This House fan by any means, so I wasn't sure what to expect... then I seen the names Galton & Simpson stamped on, like a TradeMark of Quality Guarantee.

First series is just perfect, and another example of G&S at their finest and their most prolific. Every bit as clever, expertly detailed, well-timed, well-judged, and well-worth-it as Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe & Son.

You can sense other characters developing as Series 1 progresses, and the last couple of episodes in particular leave you with the feeling that had it stayed G&S, with SJ and the majority of the supporting cast it really could've developed into something special and a series that would've been as significant in early-mid 60s TV history as HHH was for the mid-50s to the turn of the decade.

I've not done the reading to explain this, and websites don't say why, but it all then changes. Only 3xS02 and 2xS03 episodes survive, and my DVD is missing one but from the four that I have you just know that the writers have changed, and there's also a feeling that the budget was either slashed or Sid stuck it on trap six at Crayford! One thing that stands out is Sydney Tafler being much less effective as the S2/3 sidekick than he was in the S1 role, Sid's heartless, inhumane, and asking-for-it bookie.

But don't say no if you get the chance to see them, because even the post G&S episodes are dozens of times better than the toss that poor Tony ended up churning out on ITV a few years later.

Sid landed a good one, whereas Tony had to deliver quips that made you want to quit, and storylines weaker than a pensioner with brittle bone disease. (ATV Hancock has the wit and charm of a 2022 BBC1 sitcom, written by a woman and starring one person from each legally protected group, where each victim kicks an unemployed native Brit in the painful area!)

So, six classics that deserve a lot more attention than they've had, and four more episodes of an above-average nature.

If you see it reduced on a re-selling site, grab it.

Play for Today: Carson Country (1972) Season 3, Episode 3

Trademark BBC UK-funded, anti-UK production

[1/10 · 25 July 2022]

Carson? Northern Ireland? Sensitive topics. You need a reasoned individual from both sides, with each of them willing to admit their wrongdoing as well as being able to cite instances of his community being wronged.

The BBC freezing out one side to fund a Republican hit-piece that dehumanises Unionists doesn't sound like a wise approach.

(Not all Unionists! The token "tame hun" is here, mocking his own, and wishing to live together in perfect harmony... with the IRA!)

And it's not a wise approach. As far as obvious propaganda goes, they could've saved a fortune by giving An Phoblacht away free with the Radio Times that week instead!

Rumour has it that the writer approached RTE, who turned it down as it was far too biased and over-the-top in its anti-Britishness for their network to show.

Louder with Crowder (2015 Podcast Series)

"Intolerant" - Those who can't tolerate show's existence

[9/10 · 31 May 2022]

Not the sharpest humour ever, nor is it the funniest thing I've ever seen, but it provides a handy reference point as an alternative-angle response version of television's establishment figures who serve up nightly the same views as each other, which just so happen to be the same views as the current US political establishment.

Crowder isn't the funniest, nor do I align with him politically, but his in-house comic Dave Landau is very, very, sharp and more centrist in his outlook.

Had it been Crowder alone, I'd give it a 6, but Landau is the star of the show and the man who makes it a 9.

A lot has been said regards improper this, offensive that, but it's bog-standard Conservative stuff rather than the highly-objectionable extremist content they wish to portray it as.

There's a huge layer of irony here, as those who blast the show for its so-called intolerance seem to be doing so out of political disagreement, with an aim of denying the show its broadcast platform.

Rather than making their own points and indulging in the grown-up world of debate and discussion, they seem to set out to stop Crowder from having a voice, and that's something I believe none of us should tolerate.

"I may not agree with what you say," and all that.