Pop-up Halloween greetings cards

Was passing my local TKMaxx today and popped in to see if there was anything new in worth buying - I found two hand towels covered in a jack-o-lantern design... and then on the way to the tills, noticed these rather good pop-up greetings cards. At £2.99 they aren't that expensive considering the work that has gone into them, and some of the designs are pretty good.

Friday 29th September 2017

Cinema in 1984 Part 2

Just a few more images from 1984. I must admit I can't remember the re-release of Raiders of the Lost Ark in March, but presumably it was to get people in the spirit prior to Temple of Doom over the summer holidays. I've never seen Nick Nolte in Under Fire, but strangely now possess a copy of the soundtrack on CD as it is performed by the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.

But the best of the crop or 1984 was Gremlins. Ghostbusters disappointed in my opinion. And the less said about Ewoks the better! I erred on the side of caution on that one and, not wishing to undermine any street credibility I may have had at the time, didn't go to see it.

Thursday 28th September 2017

Cinema in 1984 Part 1

Again... I was too young to get into an 18 or X certificate. 1984 was the first year I managed to sneak into a 15 cert. aged almost 14. So whilst others were able to see the likes of Stephen King classics of Christine, The Dead Zone and Creepshow, I was still enthusing about: Star Trek 3, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the 15 certificated, Police Academy!

Tuesday 26th September 2017

A slow start...

Usually by now, once the schools have gone back, the shops are awash with their halloween displays... but things seem a little slow. Wilkinsons have costumes and sweets out but no real decorations, likewise it's the same with Asda. Home Bargains have their usual costumes and decorations presumably aimed at a somewhat lower end of the market than even Poundland. However even at Home Bargains, they have had cheap pumpkin scented candles or pumpkin stencil books. This year's candles have a rather uninspiring and cheap looking design on them. The small, 99p candle with the open top at least smells of pumpkin, but the stopped larger jars have a peculiar smell not at all like a spiced pumpkin and somewhat citrusy. Sadly disappointing. Let's hope this is not a trend with all the shops this year.

Monday 25th September 2017

Cinema in Folkestone in 1983 Part 2

Well here are the rest of my Folkestone cinema adverts for 1983... and I'll start with two I actually went to see: 'Never Say Never Again' is a passable Bond movie, non-canonical, and basically a remake of Thunderball. Good to see Max Von Sydow as Blofeld and an up and coming Kim Basinger as a Bond girl... but the less said about Rowan Atkinson the better! Anyway, I enjoyed it more than Superman 3, which after the fabulous Superman 2, just failed to deliver for me - mainly due to Richard Pryor and the overall comedic tone of the movie.

Unfortunately I was still too young to see the raft of great horror that I had to wait to see either on TV or on VHS. Instead of watching zombies I was more eager to see 'Return of the Jedi' - again let's quickly pass over the Ewoks!

I thought I came across both Cronenberg's 'Scanners' and 'Videodrome' through Alex Cox's excellent BBC 2 Moviedrome series of cult movies, which he hosted from 1988 to 1994 (before handing over the reins to Mark Cousins). However it's strange how one's memory deceives, as after researching, it was only 'Dead Ringers' that I saw on Moviedrome, and I must've come across the other two independently in the late 80's.

'Long live the new flesh!'

Tuesday 19th September 2017

Cinema in Folkestone in 1983 Part 1

A few more adverts unearthed from the vaults... Again a good year for horror and fantasy cinema. Sadly Don Coscarelli's 'Beastmaster' was one I managed to overlook somehow. Aged 12 I could have made it into this PG rated film - perhaps I just didn't hear about it at the time, as it's a firm favourite and addition to my BluRay library now...

Jim Henson's 'Dark Crystal' is my favourite Jim Henson creation... well perhaps tied with the TV series 'The Storyteller'. And it was so great to visit the Jim Henson exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image on London's South Bank, shortly after his death, and see the actual props used in the film. For me this was so much better that 'Labyrinth' - and that's coming from a huge David Bowie fan!

Again two classics that I was too young to see on the big screen. 'Halloween 3' was shown on British TV not too long after, as I remember taping it on Betamax. A bit of a marmite film for some, but I've always loved it and found it offers so much more that the stalk and slash of all the other Halloween films.

'The Evil Dead' was something I had to wait until the late 80s to see on VHS.

Monday 18th September 2017

More from TK Maxx

The Folkestone store is starting to put Halloween decorations out on their main display tables rather than on the shelving in the aisles. There's a lot of skull motifs this year, like last year; but also some rustic items like the cat in the pumpkin which is about 1 foot in diameter. The Draculas are a bit twee but the cats with the gaping mouths in which to store candy or whatever are fun though.

Friday 8th September 2017

Poundland start putting out Halloween decorations... and more from TK Maxx

Poundland have started putting out their Halloween decorations. As has happened in previous years, the usual run of the mill costumes and decorations are out but there's nothing of note yet.

TK Maxx in Folkestone has started to fill more shelves, but again there was nothing I felt the need to buy - although the Frankenstein bust was a bit different and fun.

Sainsburys have also put out some childrens' costumes but have nothing else yet.

Monday 4th September 2017