The Adventures of Dysfunctional Dan

Previously on The Adventures of Dysfunctional Dan: I began an odyssey through film history ( See the 1920s post here ) I'm deep into a big project to watch my way through the book  1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die . I'm pleased to say I've now watched every film in the book that was released in the 1930s! It's been a fascinating journey so far, watching cinema develop in front of my very eyes and observing the world itself change too. Whilst Charlie Chaplin was still making silent films throughout the 1930s, everyone else was now making sound films. Chaplin remained famous but the decade saw the rise of the comedy group. The Marx Brothers have both Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera  on the list and I struggled with them. I enjoyed Laurel and Hardy in Sons of the Desert a lot more and the pair exist as a middle ground between the verbal gags of the Marx Brothers and the pratfalls of the silent era. Many of the genres of film we know and love today were refined in...

In which I recall a celebrity experience... I've previously written here about my celebrity encounters including accidentally giving celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh a pen and bumping elbows with the Archbishop of Canterbury. But there was one celebrity encounter which wasn't awkward at all and turned out to be really inspiring.  I was about eleven or twelve I think and most weeks a magazine or newsletter would arrive in the post for me from one environmental organisation or another, be it from the RSPB or in this case the local Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Their quarterly newsletter for kids included a writing competition where you had to write a five hundred word short story on about the environment.  This was very much in my wheelhouse and I barely had to think about it before an idea developed in my head. A quick bit of research later- well not that quick because this was still the days of dial-up internet- and I'd identified the star of my story. Withi...

In which I discuss loneliness for Mental Health Awareness Week... It's been a good few weeks since I last wrote here and the main reason for that is I was feeling a bit down for in the last few weeks of April. It's perhaps appropriate then that this week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme this year is loneliness.  Loneliness feels like a really important theme as the pandemic has reduced our contact with each other. Due to isolation periods, not being allowed to cross bubbles and only meeting on Zoom, I have regularly felt cut off from the world over the last few years.  I have never considered myself a particularly outgoing or sociable person, indeed I am generally something of an introvert, but I've come to recognise the value of interacting with other people. Humans have evolved to be together and every human brain needs interaction with other human brains to really function properly. If I spend a day on my own I start to feel an emptiness, a sense that my bra...

In which I lament the loss of a childhood haunt... The words 'closing down' can be fraught with emotion. There are some places that feel eternal and there's something comforting about the idea that when you need their services, the place is just there waiting for you. But inevitably time marches on and everything must come to an end.  I was sad to learn recently that the Toy shop, imaginatively named 'Toys', in my home town is closing down. The shop opened in the same year I was born so in my eyes it's always been there. After thirty years of trading the owners are retiring but I will mourn the loss of that shop.  There are a handful of places that meant so much to me in childhood and Toys was one of them. Whilst you could go to Toys R Us for a much wider selection and probably better prices, Toys felt much quieter and calmer. It felt old-fashioned in the best of ways, it was comforting in the same way a grandparent is. As long as I can remember it's always ...

In which I discuss this year's Oscar contenders... It's become something of a tradition for me to write about the year's Best Picture nominees. Usually what happens is that I see about 80% of the nominees and one of the films I hasn't seen goes on to win the award. I'm pleased to say that's not the case this year as I've seen all ten nominees! As usual I'm going to give a brief rundown of each film and it's chances of winning.  Belfast This is a story about growing up in Belfast in the 60s and 70s inspired by director Kenneth Branagh's own childhood. It touches on the Troubles as nine-year old Buddy doesn't really understand the conflict and his Pa is pressurised to join the Protestant action. It's also just a lovely story about childhood taking in everything from a first crush to the popular culture of the time. It's not totally dissimilar to Roma which won the award a few years back and personally I loved the film and it's my to...

New Netflix film The Adam Project sees Ryan Reynolds play Adam, who travels back in time from 2050 to 2022 and meets his twelve-year-old self. It's one of those films that makes you wonder what the scenario it depicts would be like. So I've wondered and written it... 2004. The boy leans on the windowsill, carefully avoiding the cacti that are housed there, wondering what the noise was. It sounded a lot like a futuristic time-travelling jet had just landed on the playing field at the end of the street. He tried to take in another view from his parents bedroom but still nothing could be seen. Perhaps it had just been a noisy car. He picked up the controller and continued in his attempts to complete the tricky motorbike chase level on his latest PlayStation 2 game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.  There was a sound from downstairs. The boy listened for a moment to confirm and sure enough, there was definitely something down there. The distraction had meant that Jaws had onc...

In which I reflect on a train... My 30th birthday is rapidly approaching, a fact I'm not entirely comfortable with. There's a feeling that I should have done more by this point- I'm single, the idea of having children seems a world away and my career has yet to really go anywhere. I'm not especially maudlin about any one of these things but together they combine to leave me feeling somewhat insignificant. I recently took a train ride between Bournemouth and Winchester, the literal journey making me reflect on the journey of my life up to this point.  Before long I'm in the New Forest, essentially where I grew up. I've increasingly realised how sheltered growing up in a small town with no transport links was. This was probably a mixed blessing. I was protected from so much in that environment yet at the same time I felt stifled there and I had no experience of the wider world.  Eventually the train pulls into Winchester and I have a lovely day with my friend from...