Popular Culture – Stephen Liddell

Indiana Jones and the hunt for his Fedora Hat

Summer is traditionally the time for the biggest blockbuster, fan pleasing movies and whilst the recently opened Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is still pulling in the punters, there is another company that is doing very well out of it all. They being Herbert Johnson, a 134-year-old London hatmaker that makes the original… Continue reading Indiana Jones and the hunt for his Fedora Hat

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

There is a rule in Star Trek films that the even numbered ones are usually considered better than the odd numbered ones. With Indiana Jones it seems to be the other way round. Everyone loves Raiders of the Lost Ark, except for some epic chase and action sequences, the Temple of Doom doesn’t seem to… Continue reading Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

In the footsteps of Stan Laurel

Whilst out and about on Tyneside, I wanted to visit a little spot that I’d never got to make it to previously, the one time home of Stan Laurel, one half of that legendary comedy duo of a century ago, Laurel and Hardy. Like myself, Stan was born in Cumbria and moved to Newcastle at… Continue reading In the footsteps of Stan Laurel

A London street transformed to look like WW2 in The Blitz

A few weeks ago I was giving a Churchill Walking Tour to a family of 8 in London. It was a cold wintery Sunday morning and the streets were largely quiet until towards the end of the tour we came across a filming unit down a side-street near Parliament. There were a few doorways surrounded… Continue reading A London street transformed to look like WW2 in The Blitz

Standing by Ziggy Stardust and the Spidermen from Mars

Well that’s weird isn’t it? I got for years and years without doing a music related post and here are two in successive posts. It wasn’t at all planned this way but on Sunday morning I was out early in London and was happening by a very famous music related location. It was the very… Continue reading Standing by Ziggy Stardust and the Spidermen from Mars

A Man Called Otto Film Review

There was a time when the whole world seemed to love Tom Hanks, I never really knew why. He was always perfectly amiable but generally seemed to be just going through the motions in what happened to be often big and popular films. In truth I only really liked CastAway, Saving Private Ryan was too… Continue reading A Man Called Otto Film Review

Babylon Film Review

I’d been waiting to see Babylon for several months. Not that I knew that much about it but the advertising I had seen onscreen made me think this could be for me. Additionally, Burlington Arcade in London where I visit several times a week with my tours has been decorated in a Babylon theme for… Continue reading Babylon Film Review

Empire of Light Film Review

Out of the 3 or 4 films I’ve seen so far this year, the best by far has been Empire of Light. It’s also the one I only found out about the evening before I went to watch it as opposed to the big budget Hollywood films that are invariably trailed months or even a… Continue reading Empire of Light Film Review

M3gan Film Review

I’ve always been a horror fan and within that genre is a niche area about creepy dolls. One of my favourite episodes of the old Black and White show The Twilight Zone features Talking Tina and the 1980’s saw Chucky who was possessed by an ancient evil demon. More recently Annabelle has strutted her stuff… Continue reading M3gan Film Review

Having a drink with Wham!

Anyone who remembers the mid 1980’s will know of the bang Wham! I have a not particularly but still rather unique memory of this as the duo lived locally to myself and in fact the mother of one was a teacher at my Primary School so to the excitement of many we were often treated… Continue reading Having a drink with Wham!