This Week In Weird: Microwave Porn

Greetings internet. I know it ‘s been a couple of weeks since my last instalment but I’m still alive and writing for myself and anyone out there who needs a scribbler.

One segment I am keen to continue here is ‘This Week in Weird’. And this week’s instalment is on the funnier side of the surrealism that inhabits the internet. By that I am referring to webseries: Microwave Porn.

The title alone is enough to make you go, ‘What the fuck?’ But trust me, you won’t be left disappointed when you tune into it. Microwave Porn was a webseries posted on YouTube around 2009/2010 by independent production group: Cancelproof. The theme song will summarise the entire series for you so there’s no need for me to ramble on here.

You’ll find all 12 episodes on Cancelproof’s channel. This, I have to say is the only sitcom which has made many great laughs out of the kooky world of urban dating. All that’s left to say, is why the hell did they stop? If only more episodes of this show existed. And it would have done well on some cable channel for independent comedy shows.

With that said, enjoy your Microwave Porn.

Film Review - Thor: The Dark World

Last night, after 36 hours of celebrating my friend’s 23^rd birthday, we headed down to the nearest cineworld to see Thor: The Dark World. This is the sequel to the 2011 film which precluded The Avengers and set up the backstory for antagonist: Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Dark World picks up directly after The Avengers, with Odin, king of Asgard sentencing Loki to life in the city’s prison, before cutting to the eponymous hero (Chris Hemsworth) who is enforcing brutal law and order across the nine mythological worlds. Loki’s attack on New York led to the outbreak of chaos and it is now up to Thor to restore faith in Odin.

Thor eventually discovers that one of Asgard’s sworn enemies: Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston), is returning from a 5,000 year sleep to retrieve the ultimate weapon: The Aether, capable of possessing mortal and god-like beings. This leads him to London, where he meets up with love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and comic relief Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), whose expertise he must use to stop Malekith and his Dark Elves from obtaining The Aether.

Through a confusing sequence of discovering a rift between the mortal world and Asgard, Foster is accidentally infected with The Aether and is left in need of protection. Thor steps in and takes her back to Asgard to protect her with Odin’s might. Eventually, the hammer wielding guardian works out he has to tackle Malekith on earth before the nine worlds align and must return by betraying his father and enlisting Loki’s help.

Soon, the heroes end up back in London for the final showdown, leading to a battle of epic proportions and a very witty use of the London Underground.

Above all the epic fantasy battle scenes, this film was much funnier than the last. An excellent cameo from comedy actor Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd) and Kat Dennings’ crazy observations made me laugh out loud more times than any other Marvel film. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t atrocious either. I went into the cinema expecting to see fantasy battles and a growing love story between the protagonists and that is what I got. Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith put up a courageous fight knowing he meant business. Natalie Portman also offered a stellar performance with plenty of intelligence oozing from her character and not falling into the ‘damsel in distress’ trope.

But I must say, I felt sorry most for Chris O’Dowd being cast as the lovable human loser who’s attempts at finding a girlfriend got him caught up in a battle that would have destroyed nine worlds if lost. 

Here’s to one very funny and entertaining Marvel film. Proper ‘park-your-brain-at-the-door’ entertainment.

Rating: 3/5

This Week In Weird: Wizadora, The Original Series.

If you grew up in the 90s, you’re in for a nostalgia trip in the first installment of ‘This Week In Weird.’ This is a segment where I write about the weirdest things I’ve come across in my daily internet browsing.

For those of you who watched CITV (ITV’s children’s slot) in the mid-90s, it’s likely you’ll remember the show: Wizadora, following the adventures of a young wizard in training. Her friends included: Hangle, a talking coat-hanger, Tatty Bogle – a cowardly scarecrow and Filbert – a talking vegetable who was also training to master magical power.

 

Anyone well acquainted with ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ or ‘WorzelGummidge’ might understand the suspension of disbelief required for the fantasy world of Wizadora, so this was ideal TV for anyone interested in the weird and wonderful before the dreadful onslaught of Harry Potter.

But what most people don’t remember is Wizadora was originally a schools’ programme, commissioned by Oxford University Press (OUP) in 1991 to teach basic English language and literacy. And this is where things get weird.

One of the show's minor characters was Phoebe, an anthropomorphic telephone fluent in nearly every language. The first episode of the OUP Wizadora covered her arrival at the young wizard’s house. Being such a low budget production, OUP had to use a real actress to play Phoebe. They obviously didn’t have a production team skilled in sewing to make convincing sock puppets either. Unlike the CITV version the ‘Drawer People’ in this series look like they were made from bits of old pyjamas found in a skip behind the television studios.

All in all, this version defines everything surreal about historical children’s television. Taking a nostalgia trip into this realm of childhood is certainly not recommended for the faint hearted. But if you did grow up with this version of the show and have many fond memories, enjoy.