THE DAVE CULLEN SHOW: OLD-SCHOOL STAR TREK MOVIE REVIEWS

Dave Cullen, of YouTube's The Dave Cullen Show, is a smart, insightful chap when it comes to Star Trek, old-school Trek, that is, which includes the 1960s saga and its successful successor, The Next Generation. In particular, he understands the ten movies they inspired and dissects each chapter by crossing the objective with the subjective. 

He's also good at pinpointing a movie's best attributes. Such is evidenced in his astute analyses of Star Trek--The Motion Picture and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, where he explains how and why these entries succeed more than some believe.  

In addition, he's not timid about admonishing a chapter's foibles, as with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis. However, when he believes an entry hits the stellar bullseye, as with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: First Contact, he layers his praise with meticulous cause and effect: a technique that many (if not most) novice reviewers bypass. To his credit, he's not another franchise shill.  

If you're a conscientious Trekkie, one who reveres the mythology conceived and constructed by Gene Roddenberry, Cullen's essays will be a breath of fresh air. So please, do yourself a favor and pay his page a visit. (For the heck of it, I've inserted a link to what I considered to be his most penetrating review. Give it a whirl. This, in itself, should convey why I'm so enthused with his work.)  

https://www.youtube.com/@TheDaveCullenShow

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: BATMAN, ROBIN, GODZILLA

 

I SAW BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD

Billy Idol Should Be Dead is a revealing biodoc on the perennial, 1980s icon, which for all intent, acts as an effectual Jekyll and Hyde variant. 

Director/coproducer/writer Jonas (Metallica Saved My Life) Ackerlund performs an honorable service by bringing Idol's amazing and arduous tale to the screen, detailing the individual behind the idol, William Broad, a once eggheaded chap who allowed his wild visage to control his life. 

Drugs (i.e. the continual consumption of ghastly formulas) pressed the matter, and their dire consequences are emphasized via vivid, animated segues, but Idol's present presence, juxtaposed with archival Generation X and MTV segments, puts everything in perspective. We see a man who tried to please his father, Bill, while being nurtured by his mother, Joan, who met some who cared and many who didn't, nudging him ever closer toward a demise comparable to Robert Louis Stevenson's tragic protagonist/antagonist. 

Idol's plethora of ups and downs are relayed through his family, friends and various associates, though his long-time girlfriend/"spouse," Perri Lister (the fetching bride of "White Wedding"), dominates much of their relationship's maddening extremes, and therefore, molds the movie's narrative as much as he. 

A portion of the movie covers Idol's motorcycle accident (around the time of Charmed Life's completion): a harrowing turn that not only limited his presence in Oliver Stones' The Doors, but prevented him from becoming the T-1000 in James Cameron's Terminator 2. (Genuine, test footage of the latter is featured.) On this basis, the prospect of Idol having become a major movie star (and there's no doubt that he was pitch-perfect for cyberpunk cinema) can't be ignored. However, per the narrative, the opportunity's loss wasn't the fault of off-the-cuff luck, but rather Idol's rambunctious antics and questionable pacts, which made him his greatest foe. 

The film also explores the possible prompts that inspired his debilitating paths, insinuating that his father's tough love may have been an overriding motivator, but it's a hard sell. In contrast, Idol's comebacks are uplifting (with his later, family relations being a redemptive highlight), but they never justify or eclipse his regrettable choices, and to his credit, he never asks for pity or forgiveness. 

Billy Idol Should Be Dead works as a warning and a testament to perseverance, despite life's devilish pulls. It's a parable on how virtue overcomes indulgence, marked by heartbreaking, behind-the-scenes insights that some may have suspected, but few in the public knew. For fans of the man, Billy Idol Should Be Dead is essential, honest-to-the-core viewing and can be accessed through Hulu/Disney+.  

HAPPY, HOLY EASTER 2026

 

EIGHTH TOWER'S ANTHOLOGY OF ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC FROM PORTUGAL CD

As a provocative companion piece to the innovative Eighth Tower Magazine of Music and Modern Mythologies, mastermind/curator/CEO Raffaele Pezzella has curated a CD of audio exceptionalism, which epitomizes the Unexplained Sounds Group's aesthetic intent. The compendium is entitled Anthology of Electroacoustic Music From Portugal, and it probes (or more precisely, X-rays) the mind-bending grooves and vibrations of the region.  

On the whole, the exquisite compositions conjure an unearthly climate, which ranges from the serene to the demented, but on occasion, when the extremes do, in fact, meet, one is treated to a haunting hybrid of both fantastic factions. Some tracks even feature environmental and tribal beats to enhance their epic content. 

As a taste of what's in store, the CD's enlightened artists are listed on the left, with their track titles on the right:

1) Vitor Joaquim ... Forgotten Voices (ft. Lula Pena)

2) Manuel Mota ... aah ooh

3) NIN-FAE - Vesper

4) Haarvol ... Intersticial Topographies of Quietude

5) David Maranha ... Circunscrita

6) Joao Alegria ... Vertigem

7) Reixelo ... arte nativa portugueza - parte IV

8) David Maranha ... Circunscrita

9) Margarida Garcia ... Cinza, Agulha e Lapis

10) HHY & The Macumbas ... Reanima Electrica

11) @c ... 30xN-LRJ1

12) Ana Durana ... Neblina

13) Alfredo Costa Monteiro ... contingencia zero

The Anthology of Electroacoustic Music From Portugal acts as one's recondite ticket to exotic, audio escape. Treat oneself by preordering the CD (along with its companion magazine) today:

https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/album/anthology-of-electroacoustic-music-from-portugal-2

EIGHTH TOWER MAGAZINE OF MUSIC AND MODERN MYTHOLOGIES, LIMITED EDITION

 

The Eighth Tower Magazine of Music and Modern Mythologies has hit print, and its founder, Raffaele Pezzella has ensured that its contents are eclectic, eccentric and above all, thought-provoking.  

Inside one will find a revealing interview with ambient-music composer, Robert Rich (conducted by Mr. Pezzella); articles on Electronic Music from Portugal; Italian Post Industrial Music from the 1980s; Rare and Recommended, Japanese Science-Fiction Films; Chris McAuley's Dark, Martian Fiction; YouTube's Weird, Watchful Portals; John Keel's Analysis on Silencers (aka the Men in Black); plus a fertile retrospective on author, J.G. Ballard.

This magnificent, 64-page magazine is limited to a strict, 50-copy run, so if you desire a copy, now is the time to act. 

https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/merch/eighth-tower-magazine-vol-i

FOR THE FUN OF IT: