Don't be scared because it's Friday the 13th people! Embrace the weirdness and go and do something Crystal Lake-y which would so be my drag queen name if I were that way inclined. But I'm not. So I can't. Or something. Still I have been looking forward to this day for a couple of reasons as you will see from the first two main items of le blog de aujourd hui (for my continental readers!). And I have a fairly bonza weekend ahead (see coming soon) so I am all chilled and ready to research my upcoming male singers post for Monday, when Mr Panteloons pisses off to Gran Canaria for a week. Without me, the swine…

THE PLAY'S THE THING:

So today is the day that my fave new obsession The History Boys goes from being a rather excellent stage play to being committed to celluloid for time and all eternity. What is rather alarming is that only one of the big "movie-plexes" in Birmingham – a fairly major and cosmopolitan city – has this little Brit-flik showing. I remained outraged that I have to go to Star City a) because it is full of chavs and b) it's not christened Stab City for nothing. I was lucky to come back with my kidneys intact.

But the movie, mercifully, was everything I had hoped. I was somewhat concerned that after taking the play around the world, the original actors would be somewhat weary of playing the same characters, but the film sizzles and pops along nicely, with the boys exuding the right amount of energy, wit, humour and pathos in every scene. And Dakin is almost (but not quite) as sexy as the touring Dakin who will be parking in West End next year…;) There are lots of things I want to talk about with this movie, but seeing as I already reviewed the play here, I want to focus on the music.

Music was a major part of the stage show, used as a backdrop to stage changes and to move forward the story. In the film, it successfully becomes part of the story. The boys sing a couple of times in class, but they sing the songs that their beloved Hector remembers from his youth (e.g. Bye Bye Blackbird at his funeral). The songs that backdrop the story are those which the boys would have been listening to in their own time (new Order, The Smiths, The Clash). The highlights from the soundtrack are those actually sung by the history boys, the dance remixes of old classics (Echo and The Bunnymen take a bow) and a rather gorgeous new take on Bewitched that has finally made me sit up and take notice of Rufus Wainwright. Just lovely…

MP3: The History Boys – Bye Bye Blackbird
MP3: Echo And The Bunnymen – Never Stop (Discotheque version)
MP3: Rufus Wainwright – Bewitched

THE END IS HERE:

Fear not doom avoiders! The end of the world is still an undetermined date (as far as I know) but the fictional (as far as I know ;) ) Unfortunate Series Of Events so morosely chronicled by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) has reached its sorry conclusion. That is to say, the final 13th book The End is out this very day. While this won't be as lamented as the Harry Potter series, it certainly will be missed by its legions of fans. Delightfully macabre and brimming with more mystery that a season of Lost, Prison Break and Veronica Mars put together, it certainly has been an entertaining journey. If your only experience of this great series has been the woefully misguided film, the please pick up A Bad Beginning and immerse yourself in a deliciously malevolent series of very unfortunate events…

MP3: The Gothic Archies - Smile! No One Cares How You Feel
MP3: The Gothic Archies - We Are The Gothic Archies

THE MUSIC OF THE SMALL SCREEN:

Any music that features in the frankly quite brilliant Grey's Anatomy seems to do quite well doesn't it – I mean The Fray and Snow Patrol who have featured quite heavily in the past are sitting pretty in the middle of the top ten. So maybe there are hope for some of the British acts featured in the early part of this season, including D'Luv fave Lily Allen, XO fave The Pipettes and me fave Molly McQueen (though am pretty sure it’s a Faders track)… Also the rather lovely James Carrington (who I wrote about here) popped up in this weeks Smallville and he didn't even get to see it cos it hasn't aired in England yet :( (it's called limewire…;) )

MP3: Lily Allen - Take What You Take
MP3: The Pipettes – Dirty Mind
MP3: Molly McQueen – Better Off Dead

THE ONE WHERE JEALOUSY IS SO UNBECOMING:

I admit it – I'm jealous. I mean you do a public service by introducing the world to super new band The Feeling and then you get shafted good and hard up the back passage when people that aren't you get to go and meet them – and take a bloody brilliant picture with them too ;) Of course I can't stay mad at Mr D'Luv for long – he did coin the Daz variation DazPanic after all. Here is Join With Us reposted just for him, and a secret song here that I think describes what he will be doing now he has met the suave Daniel Gillespie Sells…

MP3: The Feeling – Join With Us (live)

QUICK BITZ:

~ The Ordinary Boys are a) playing a small set at HMV in Birmingham on Tuesday evening and b) edited todays Something For The Weekend in The Sun which created this hilarious quote from them when reviewing the latest Meatloaf single…"This is what Keane's third album will sound like after Tom's cocaine hell…" Not sure if it was meant to be funny, but I nearly choked on my Boots Ham and Light Philadelphia sandwiches laughing…

~ Rumour has it that number four Zapping celebrity crush William Young (not Hung) may be taking over from Adam Garcia as Fiyero in Wicked. Which would be just too delightful for words, so it probably isn't true then…

~ Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood starts on BBC3 on October 29th. What with the rather good Robin Hood on BBC1 you can't help but feel that Auntie Beeb are spoiling us. Pop over to Dan's for much more news on that…

Coming soon: No post tomorrow as will be down in london at Dirty Dancing The Musical and hanging with the lovely Simon and Mark, so review of that coming soon, upcoming boy singers, fashion special, the perfect deborah gibson christmas special, maybe some interviews with the stars...oh and probably some more live lounge refresh. Plus don't forget thezapping is on myspace!!

SATURDAY EDIT ALERT: Check out the new Robbie Williams track She's Madonna here and a rather nice Nats Beds remix of The One That Got Away here...