From lust to Bugs Bunny – the evolution of a symbol

March 12 – April 29, 2023

January 25 – April 23, 2023

It has been more than ten years since I wrote these words for this magazine’s website: “At last I had begun writing my long-planned book about Captain Ahab’s doomed enterprise in Moby-Dick—about Robur’s doomed enterprise in Verne’s Maître du Monde—about the doomed enterprise of Doctor Hans Reinhardt from the 1979 science-fiction film The Black Hole.”

And now maybe we can approach the same topic from a different angle, as the contortionist said on prom night. Refuse to accept that it is your fate to refuse to accept your fate. The only way not to be driven insane by it is to be insane from the outset.

The Black Hole, 1979. It amazes me that a group of people could make a movie about being afraid of a hole, being attracted to a hole, feeling excited and curious about going into a hole, feeling concerned that, while on the one hand it might not be such a good idea to go into the hole, on the other hand maybe all the best things in life will become possible only after you have gone into the hole, and so on. It’s not the feelings that amaze me; I feel them all myself. It’s the idea that $20 million and a crew of more than a hundred crew members should have been devoted to dramatizing, over ninety minutes, an idea that any healthy child could express in a single simple sentence. Go ahead, smart guy, write that sentence.

Briefly: The USS Palomino, in deep space, approaches a black hole into which a nearby and apparently derelict ship, the Cygnus, mysteriously does not fall. While the crew is examining this ghost ship, the Palomino incurs structural damage and is about to be drawn into the black hole itself when the Cygnus comes alive and tractor-beams her aboard. Robots escort the crew of the Palomino to the bridge of the Cygnus, where they find the mad genius Dr. Hans Reinhardt, an Ahab with a black hole for his white whale. While the Palomino awaits repairs, it becomes clear that many of the “robots” who work on the Cygnus are in fact undead human beings, cyborgs built from its former crew. Reinhardt’s plan is revealed: to drive the Cygnus into and through the black hole. The survivors of the Palomino’s crew seize a probe ship and escape from the Cygnus, but both ships are drawn into the black hole. We see a scene of Reinhardt in torment, imprisoned in a robot body in the fires of hell. But the probe ship passes through cinematic psychedelic turbulence into a realm of heavenly light.

What Lionel Messi wants and what PSG want are no longer compatible. But where does this season’s World Cup-winning captain head to next? It really could be the beaches of Miami…

Dotun, Andy and Miguel give you the inside track and ponder on whether the Messi experiment in Paris has worked at all – for either party. 

Plus, we discuss José Mourinho’s realistic future and after reaching the final of the Copa del Rey, we look at how Miguel’s very own Osasuna are showing the way for Spanish football with an organised, community-led approach!

Got a question for us? Tweet us @FootballRamble, @dotunadebayo and @andybrassell. 

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Quiet "stealth luxury" is dominating runways and TV screens – but why now?

February 17 – April 16, 2023

February 25 – April 16, 2023

Some said we shouldn’t bother with this episode of Reacts. But if we don’t investigate just how close Chelsea are to hiring Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson or Duncan Ferguson as their new manager, then who will? 

Marcus and Vish hear your takes on one of the worst games of the season at Stamford Bridge, which left both teams with some incredibly harsh truths. Elsewhere, Marcus reveals his plans to tarmac over Anfield for Everton’s new stadium car park and Vish accidentally brings back Jeremy Kyle. Plus, are Nottingham Forest about to contract managerial-merry-go-round FOMO?

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How historical authenticity swept the gaming world