Excelsior in Mac Format

Your very own Excelsior made it into this months "Mac Format" magazine thanks to the mighty Dave Bradley and the, self confessed, grump Alex Thomas. I'm delighted with the results, my sorry efforts never looked better. Enjoy.

Excelsior Out!

#TeamSalmon

Last Saturday the BBC launched it's latest series of "Strictly Come Dancing", to great viewing figures. Today I post a good luck message for actor,spiritual guru,would be dancer and my Twitter mate...Colin Salmon. He's a terrific actor with a magnetic screen presence, and all round good egg; and he and Kristina are more than deserving of your enthusiastic support.

Hope everything goes splendidly for you big man, the Mitchell family will be cheering (and voting) you, & Kristina, on all the way.

Always remember: Why did the good Lord give us mountains if not to teach us how to climb?

You have all our faith.

Update: Colin and Kristina have seen, and approved, this tribute. Two prints are winging their way to them as we speak.

Excelsior Out!

The Day of the Black Dog

An artist left us in the summer...for reasons known only to himself. The 19th of August 2012 saw a tragedy unfold that people are still coming to terms with. 

The tabloids had their customary field day, with the macabre guessing games, no surprise there. Other people (of which I am one) sat dazed and confused, but everyone struggled to comprehend why a man (blessed with conspicuous success and wealth) should choose to sacrifice it all so publicly. 

The Red-Tops painted Anthony David Scott as a "Punters" director, making loud, clanging, populist nonsense for brainless multiplex cattle. To those who would agree with this theory I suggest you need your heads examining. Anyone who thinks what Tony Scott did was slight, or easy, should spend five minutes in the hell that is "A Michael Bay movie" (or with any one of the hundreds of "Bay-Clones" currently stinking up the Blackberry's of today's Hollywood hierarchy) and then revisit "Top Gun", "The Last Boy Scout", "True Romance" or "Crimson Tide"...and bask in the thrall of an artist at the very top of his game.

Living, to some extent, in the shadow of his brother, Ridley, did not seem to faze him. He pursued his own singular vision in everything he did. Creating a style that was endlessly imitated (Michael Bay step forward) but never bettered. Always testing limits, stretching boundaries and innovating technically; while bringing his painterly eye to every frame.

He, and Ridley, are influences on me and inspirations for me...and always will be.

I mourn his loss and, selfishly, the loss of all his future projects: his western (a Wild Bunch remake), his proposed "Warriors" reboot, his take on Mark Millar's "Nemesis" and, I'm sure, his "Top Gun" sequel would have rocked...and reminded the world, if any reminder were needed, of his directorial credentials.

Ridley's son, Jake, talked in a BBC documentary about his father's dark moods, calling them "The Black Dog". Maybe that same "Black Dog" stalked Tony? We don't know...and probably never will.

So, I say goodbye (with my poor contribution above) with awe, humility, respect and love (from one Geordie to another) to an artist whose loss will be felt across the film world for many, many years to come.

Excelsior Out! 

World's Greatest Sitcom...Undisputed!

Today I'm posting an homage to my favourite sitcom, "Community". 

From it's eclectic cast, reference strewn scripts and drum tight direction it is a totally captivating delight. I came to it in the second season but have devoured every episode thus far...we stand at Season 3. Community is the gift that keeps on giving, repeated viewings are rewarded with quips missed and references unspotted.

The cast comprises of faces, both fresh and familiar, who inhabit their characters completely. The obvious glee with which they bat around the crackling dialogue is infectious. The situations are outlandish, daring and gut-bustingly funny...it is the only sitcom I can think of that is true to it's characters while hurling them, with childlike abandon, into radically skewed stories week after week.

Crazed matinee idol Joel McHale plays disgraced lawyer and sarcastic super-stud Jeff Winger condemned to slave for a degree at Greendale Community College. There he is surrounded by a cast of brilliant oddballs: Comedy God Chevy Chase as Pierce Hawthorne (Racist/homophobe/millionaire...but lovable?), dazzling Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett (sweet church lady with a dark side) stunning Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry (gorgeously kooky anarchist, intriguing & damaged) majestic Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir (he's "on spectrum" in a way that makes Jim Parson's "Sheldon Cooper" seem casually observed by comparison) the fairy tale that is Alison Brie as Annie Edison (simultaneously the simplest and most complex character of the bunch) pin sharp Donald Glover as Troy Barnes (Abed's best friend, sounding board and guardian)...supported by  the brilliant Jim Rash's camp masterpiece Dean Craig Pelton (much, much more than a running gag) and the peerless Ken Jeong as "Senor" Ben Chang (sinister,edgy and chock full 'o nuts)...it's a cast to die for.

It's like "Soap" + "Cheers" x "Monty Python" = Big Laughs!  

Season 4 is at the read through stage now and, in my house, expectation levels are at DefCon4. I wish the cast all the very best for this new season and long may they reign.

"Community" Rocks!!

Update: Yvette Nicole Brown and Gillian Jacobs have both seen, and loved, this drawing; giving it the official "Community" seal of approval. I sent two prints off to them a couple of weeks ago at their request. 

Excelsior Out!

Who gave Kim that chainsaw?!!!

Just a little illustrative tribute to a beloved film reviewer...Mr Kim Newman. Also a transparent attempt to get some work out of Empire magazine. Well you can't blame a guy for trying!

Excelsior Out!!

Ralph McQuarrie leaves us...dazzled!

The legend that is Ralph McQuarrie left this blighted planet recently, the better for him having graced it.

For those who are unaware of McQuarrie's work (you may not know the name but you will know the imagery) he is solely responsible for many of the iconic images that underpinned George Lucas' "Star Wars" trilogy. My favourite McQuarrie story though, is a one that Lucas tells often.

George was shopping his "The Star Wars.The Adventures of Luke Starkiller" all over Hollywood, and had been rejected at every turn. Not one Hollywood exec could "see" his vision, let alone believe in it enough to invest the $9 million (yep $9 million!!) required to realise it.

In desperation Lucas turned to industrial designer Ralph McQuarrie (who was working for Boeing at the time) and commissioned him to produce some conceptual paintings illustrating the script. This McQuarrie duly did and, in doing so enshrined a look (particularly for Vader) that would be adopted as lore for the entire series.

With McQuarrie's work tucked under his arm Lucas set up a meet with Alan Ladd Jr at Twentieth Century Fox. The script met with the same raised eyebrows but, when Lucas showed the paintings...well, let's just say that the film-making landscape changed irrevocably...and forever.

I love this story for two reasons. Firstly: it illustrates that Lucas has ALWAYS relied on the visual skill and imagination of others to bring his hackneyed concepts to life, Frequently standing on the shoulders of genius' like McQ to make himself artistically "Taller". Secondly: it confirms, as if confirmation were needed, the POWER of illustration. The crystalline simplicity of communication that is visual imagery and it's ability to stir the blood of the viewer.

Sail on McQ. Godspeed to you, sir...your immortality is assured.

Excelsior Out!

Look, this is the point!

Above is an homage to my favourite podcast! All power to "The Co-Host and Doctor Rant"!

Updated: Part "Un" of my "Three Colours Critique" trilogy... recently completed with the podcast crew from Empire magazine.

Update the Update: The good doctor has now seen this tribute, and approves wholeheartedly. He's promised to Re-Tweet it on Friday 12th October's radio show...what co-host Simon thinks is a mystery, thus far. 

The layout, as you've doubtless sussed, is inspired by David Bailey's "Kray Twins" photo (ooohhh the irony). As far as the likeness' are concerned: I was going for a judgemental, implaccable, "Easter Island-y" thing with Mark and a rag tag, mop top, unkempt, cheeky, quintessentially Dee-Jaay thing with Simon. Have I been successful? "Yoooo Deeeside!" (read in a Marcus Bentley voice)

Excelsior out!!