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Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Adam Buxton: ‘I met Johnny Cash on the beach and introduced him to my mum'
First film I saw at the cinema Disney's The Rescuers, quite an odd film about a United Nations-style organisation run by mice, who go on a mission to rescue a human girl kidnapped in the bayou. I remember an incredibly exciting boat chase involving a dragonfly. First cinema event Star Wars. We were living in south Wales, but my mum drove us all the way to London to see it. I remember stumbling out, dazed, desperate to buy merch. My mum bought me the soundtrack on cassette, and I was initially gutted that it was just the music and not the actors' voices too. First TV obsession I remember being so excited about The Muppet Show. In a pre-VCR age, I wanted a record of it. Borrowing my dad's Dictaphone [he was a travel journalist], I would lie right in front of the TV, recording as close to the speaker as I could. I would shush anyone who came in: 'No talking during the Muppets!' I liked Gonzo best, because he was hapless but funny. First single I owned Kraftwerk's The Model. When I was nine, I was shipped off to boarding school. On Thursdays, seniors were allowed to stay up to watch Top of the Pops. With few exceptions, I loved it all, but particularly synth-pop, so, Gary Numan, Landscape, who had a hit with Einstein a Go-Go, Ultravox and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. First concert I went to My first memory of live music was seeing a reggae band in Jamaica or Barbados during one of my dad's travel trips. It wasn't a tourist gig but something we had been taken to by a local PR. I was quite young and found it gut-quakingly loud. My dad asked the PR if they could ask the band to turn the music down. She laughed, then realised he was serious. The first band I saw for myself was Prefab Sprout at the Hammersmith Palais, along with my comedy wife Joe Cornish [the screenwriter and director]. • Joe Cornish: 'I turned down every franchise out there' Buxton met Johnny Cash on holiday as a child JACK VARTOOGIAN/GETTY IMAGES First famous person I met Possibly on that same Caribbean trip, while playing in the sea I got talking to a man with a boy about the same age as me. This dad, who was nice and gentle, asked me what I liked doing. I said: 'Drawing robots and watching TV.' The boy liked TV too. 'Come and meet my mum,' I said. Afterwards she said: 'Do you know who that was? He's very famous. He's called Johnny Cash.' First break While at art school, I sent a videotape into a Channel 4 public access show called Takeover TV. I'd recorded a comedy song over a Velvet Underground instrumental about a pretentious performance artist called Randy Tartt. The guy who ran the production company, Fenton Bailey, loved the video, and also felt it was a sign that he had a partner called Randy and a band called The Fabulous Pop Tarts. That led to The Adam and Joe Show. First podcast I enjoyed We took over from the Ricky Gervais show on XFM when he and Stephen Merchant went off to film the second series of The Office. They already had a hit podcast of that show, so we were offered that option too. I was quite insecure and soon discovered it was nice to have the opportunity to craft something, rather than just stumbling live on air. First moment I felt I'd made it A recent notch was having Paul McCartney on The Adam Buxton Podcast. In the days when it was less offensive to do so, I used to joke that my Native American name would have to be Stumbles at Hurdles, because at any point in my career when the pressure was on, I'd f*** it up. I was nervous McCartney would be another one of those challenges. But I think it was really good, and people liked it. I Love You, Byeee by Adam Buxton is out now (Mudlark £22 pp320). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
New York Post
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Lilo & Stitch' review: Can Disney please stop torturing innocent cartoons?
movie review LILO & STITCH Running time: 108 minutes. Rated PG (action, peril and thematic elements). In theaters May 23. 'I like you better as a sister than a mom,' says little orphaned Lilo to her older sister Nani. Similarly, I like 'Lilo & Stitch' a lot better as a cartoon than yet another creativity-free live-action remake. Advertisement Obviously, because no Disney carbon copy has ever so much as matched an original, let alone topped it. I loathe this 2D-to-too-real trend, which seems meant purely for Bob Iger to have something easy to announce during quarterly earnings calls. What's next, Bob? 'In 2028, we got um, um, um, live-action 'The Rescuers'!' It's too much. Advertisement The House of Mouse's latest go at making childhood less magical is, at least, not as ponderous as 'Mufasa: The Lion King' or as universally unwanted as 'Snow White.' But, as is almost always the case, the animated action set to Elvis songs translates awkwardly to actual people in familiar places with kitchen-table problems. Just what tots want — bland doses of harsh reality. What was great fun before is mostly mopey and depressing now. A hunk, a hunk of burning IP. 3 'Lilo & Stitch' is Disney's latest live-action remake. AP Advertisement For instance, a social worker played by Tia Carrere tells high-school-age Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) to get health insurance for her and her six-year-old sister, whose parents died in a car crash, and to stock their barren fridge with food. Otherwise, Lilo goes into foster care. Pretty bleak! Even the most adorable alien visitor can't help you sign up for Medicaid. To be honest, this time I spent much of the movie, rudimentarily directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, actually thinking Lilo should go live with a more stable family. So, I wasn't sure who to root for … other than hand-drawn animation. The spunky, King-obsessed girl is played by a very young actress, seven-year-old Maia Kealoha. She's very sweet with Stitch — there are 'aww's aplenty — and that connection is all the movie's got going for it. Advertisement However, being so small, when she's bullied by classmates, left home alone, sent to the hospital after nearly drowning or is imperiled by gun-toting villains, it's extremely uncomfortable. They should've made the character older. 3 Stitch isn't as lovable as he was in the cartoon. What of our gibberish-talking blue buddy? Considering the toon has been around for 23 years, Stitch is already cherished by kids the world over — the stuff of millions of stuffed animals. He's a lab-engineered super-intelligent weapon created by Jumba, an extraterrestrial scientist. Feisty Stitch escapes captivity to Hawaii, and Jumba and frenzied Earth expert Pleakley are tasked with retrieving him by Hannah Waddingham, who's in far too many movies. Although Stitch is well-designed, he's harder to embrace. My thought bubble the whole time: I can help falling in love with you. After Lilo adopts Stitch thinking he's just a weird indigo dog, his previously silly mischief (trashing the house, setting fire to the luau-themed restaurant where Nani waitresses) ain't cute — it's distressing. The 2002, pen-and-ink rascal went on a buyable emotional journey of self-discovery. The CGI guy does not. 3 AP Advertisement Some fans will be miffed that Jumba and Pleakley (Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen) use technology to resemble humans — a la 'Men in Black' — instead of donning dresses and other disguises. They behave with generic oddness, like the outline of a 'Coneheads' sketch. The duo isn't funny. Courtney B. Vance, an exceptional actor, is horribly wasted as secretive Cobra Bubbles. I hope the paycheck was nice. The only scene I really enjoyed was when Lilo, Nani and Stitch go surfing to that happy tune 'Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride.' During that playful minuite, the movie is colorful, carefree and light on its feet. Advertisement For a brief and sunny moment, 'Lilo & Stitch' finally resembles a cartoon. I've just read that Disney has at least four more poorly considered live-action retreads in some stage of development. Only fools rush in!
Buzz Feed
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
These Disney Villains Are Underrated In My Opinion
1. Amos Slade (The Fox and the Hound) He may not look like it, but he's actually quite a twisted villain. For one thing, he teaches Copper to become a hunting dog, which puts a HUGE strain between him and Tod, and then he goes as far as trespassing onto private property in order to kill the poor fox. Kinda messed up if you ask me... 2. Dawn Bellwether (Zootopia) Disney / Via Don't let those cute looks fool ya.. She's a little lamb with a BIG secret agenda. Her ultimate goal was to supplant the position held by Mayor Lionheart and create a new order where prey animals dominate the predators. She certainly is a wolf in sheep's clothing. 3. Madame Medusa (The Rescuers) This not at all crazy woman kidnapped a young orphan girl and forced her to work in an underground cave for a diamond? Pretty messed up. Oh, and she has crocodiles as pets. So there's that. 4. Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective) Disney / Via He's the world's greatest criminal mind! And he is voiced by none other than the horror icon himself, Vincent Price. What's not to love about him? 5. Yzma (The Emperor's New Groove) Disney / Via Yzma is a gal who knows what she wants, and will do whatever it takes to do it, even if it means 'poisoning' them to do it. Now if she can just do something about those levers. 6. Charles Muntz (Up) Disney/Pixar / Via He was once a celebrated figure, but now he has become a shell of his former self, over a bird. His search has become an obsession and is willing to kill anyone who is after 'his' bird. 7. Prince John (Robin Hood) Disney / Via Prince John is perhaps the most pathetic Disney villain I've ever seen, but that's what makes him so memorable. Him sucking on his thumb calling for his mommy? Classic. 8. Lady Tremaine (Cinderella) Disney / Via Lady Tremaine could be considered more of a negligent stepparent more than a villain, but she still is quite a cold hearted person. Forcing Cinderella to wait on her and her sisters 24/7, and her just standing and watching her daughters go tear up Cinderella's dress that was her mother's. Has she no soul? 9. Horned King (The Black Cauldron) Disney / Via The Horned King has got to be the most horrifying villain Disney has ever made, which is fitting considering The Black Cauldron is also one of THE darkest films that Disney has ever made. I wonder how many kids had nightmares from watching this guy? 10. Randall (Monsters Inc.) Disney/Pixar / Via Randall is a hardcore competitor with an unforgiving attitude and no regard for anyone else. He even went as far as teaming up with Mr. Waternoose claiming that it would benefit the company. And he also tries to kill Sulley. He's violent as well. 11. Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) Disney / Via Here we have one of the most twisted Disney villains ever. He is convinced that all his actions are justified because they are God's will, like when he briefly smiles while his ex-captain of the guard is tortured and also takes pleasure in burning Esmeralda at the stake. He also refuses to allow the hunchback to experience freedom, and allows him to be humiliated in public without even bothering to help him, as punishment for disobeying him. 12. Clayton (Tarzan) Disney / Via He's an opportunistic hunter with a ruthless disregard for the natural world, and was initially hired as a protector for Jane and Archimedes on an expedition to study gorillas in Africa, but covertly orchestrated a trafficking ring with an agenda to poach the gorillas and sell them on the black market. He also has one of the most disturbing death scenes in Disney history. 13. Percival C. McLeach (The Rescuers Down Under) Disney / Via There's Madame Medusa, and then there's McLeach, a poacher who captures rare animals and sells them for their hides. He clearly enjoys killing animals, and is also sadistic when he kidnaps Cody and later attempts to feed him to a group of crocodiles. Which one's worse? 14. Lotso (Toy Story 3) Disney/Pixar / Via
