Soulboy Film Bbc2 Tonight

[Guest drewid]

well im off on hols tomorrow ,thank christ ,hopefully my non soul mates will have forgot about it when i get back

[bri phill]

It was worth watching for me as I never went to Wigan so at least I now know what it was like.

Brian

[Pat]

Saw the film some time ago on a boot d.v.d. I didn't watch it again. i am NOT a glutton for punishment!!!!!!!!!

[MrsWoodsrules]

Recorded it & just watched as I was out last night.

Wasn't great was it?

What the heck was that dance off thing?

Highlight was the dying fly, I'm gonna do that next time I'm at a soul night :-)

Hope Elaine Constantines effort is better, I'm pretty sure it will be.

Aid.

[MrsWoodsrules]

It was worth watching for me as I never went to Wigan so at least I now know what it was like.

Brian

Soz Bri, wait for Elaine's film as it wasn't a good representation.

Not being picky, but how come the toilet was totally silent? No muffled music in the back ground.

Aid

[Guest Bogue]

Forgot to tape it, kicking myself I am

I taped it ... watched it ... & then hastily wiped it before the kids could see it !!

showed up on my tellys iplayer this morning, so guess it be on the online one ?

Oh f**k no

Think Mark Bicknell's earlier post sums it up much better than I could..... just a bad film full stop! ... & like him, I am so glad I didn't pay to see it in any way.

Just how many times have we seen the same regurgitated plot .. 'Better to go for the good looker that wants you & is really clever too,... than go for the popular good looker who wears a bit more make up, has easier opening legs & is good with her hands' ..... & the ending?

I was one of those vehemently defending their right to make the film .... wish I hadn't now !

I even agree with the pedantic 'trouser length' comment now too! ... I mean...there is 'long' & there is taking the P !! .... Don't know about falling over trying to spin.... it's a wonder he didn't go arse over tit every 5 steps!!

It was bad wasn't it

P.s.

Thought of one small + point .... I didn't notice any over 40's looking in the crowd like it was feared would happen

[Russ Vickers]

Its just a bad movie - subject matter is irelevant, just very, very poor all round to be honest.

Best Russ

[Guest drewid]

It was worth watching for me as I never went to Wigan so at least I now know what it was like.

Brian

it only looked like wigan mate,thats all

[Headsy]

its utter shit

I told you..........................

[Quinvy]

I can't believe anyone who was attending allnighters in the 70's did not relate to Quadrophenia, especially the living for the weekend ethic, the highs of saturday night followed by the comedowns, being ill at work etc, looking for gear during the week, visits to chemists and so on, absolutely 100% reminded me of "us" when we were younger and still does.

I never went to allnighters in the 70's, and I've never taken drugs. It's just the music and scooters that I love. I also thought that Quad was supposed to be about the 60's?

[pikeys dog]

I-player link for anyone feeling the need to watch it...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mm0gy/Soulboy/

[Mak]

It was worth watching for me as I never went to Wigan so at least I now know what it was like.

Brian

:D , sarcastic bugger ..

[Winnie :-)]

I just watched it again, and I really enjoyed it, yeah there's a couple of naff bits, but if I compare it to the ''normal'' TV fare on offer, it comes out top by miles

[Guest toffee lady]

Strange flurry of recent TV coverage for the Northern scene, with George Gently last week, Soulboy tonight - re-run of This England documentary about Wigan up next??

Ive heared Tainted Love played twice today on t.v ,on The Indian Doctor and Eastenders Revealed

Janette

[Guest Donz]

Record it, I meant record it. I'll be seeing you in 2 weeks - you can tell Tony all about it

Don't bother Joan, it's dire, with a capital D! ...see you soon bud.

Donna x

[Guest Droylsdonian]

Just seen it on i-player, for 1st time.

Had a feckin good laff at that 'Dexy' character, made even more hilarious by the gal tellin the guy that there were 'strictly no divvies allowed'.

A fillum full of contradictions, but it has to be 'said', that one thing they got right was the gal bein a hairdresser. Let's not forget that vanity played a huge part @ WC.

edit: Timothy Spall - 'Barry' from 'Auf Wiedersehen' should have had that part, if only he was younger.

Edited September 2, 2012 by Droylsdonian

[Jordirip]

It was like a bad school play. No atmosphere, nothing filmic about it, the audio production was diabolical and could have added to the atmosphere massively but it just ended up sounding dead and empty in every scene. Was it made by students? How it got on BBC 2 i'll never know. it was like a first year student project. In the right hands (say, Ken Loach) a good script, decent production values, better acting etc, blah, blah. I did laugh at the "he came second in this, second in that and second in this...." little scene.

[Guest Roddy]

Two words "more pish" !

[Phild]

The "only" positive thing I can say is that the venue looked a lot like the casino. particularly the "This England" bits

Edited September 3, 2012 by phild

[Guest brenc]

Biggest load of rubbish i have ever seen on Wigan Casino.

Firstly there never was a pecking order on the dancefloor

i just danced at the front with the Wolverhampton lot and

never had any bother at all. Secondly the staff at the casino

never coerced in any way with the drug dealers, i always

found them a friendly bunch. Thirdly i never saw any

trouble whatsoever and i went reguarly from 1973-

1977, a few bags got rifed and saw a few rather dodgy

looking people but always had a great time. Met some

great people and Wigan Casino will always have a place

in my heart.

[Little-stevie]

As a Modern Soul fan I'm looking forwards to this to see what our cousins on the Northern Soul scene get up to

[Barry]

Biggest load of rubbish i have ever seen on Wigan Casino.

Firstly there never was a pecking order on the dancefloor

i just danced at the front with the Wolverhampton lot and

never had any bother at all. Secondly the staff at the casino

never coerced in any way with the drug dealers, i always

found them a friendly bunch. Thirdly i never saw any

trouble whatsoever and i went reguarly from 1973-

1977, a few bags got rifed and saw a few rather dodgy

looking people but always had a great time. Met some

great people and Wigan Casino will always have a place

in my heart.

Speaking of doorman and gear.

I remember being taken into Mike Walker's, the manager, office one morning to get my bag back which someone had attempted to rob and another of the doorman walked in and boshed a handful of various caps and tabs into a big marble ashtray that was on his desk, obvioulsy the prevoius nights haul from some poor unfortunates ;0)

[jocko]

Well, I quite enjoyed it. It had shortcomings but 99% of movies do.

So all films are the same, despite the shortcomings!

The best post on here ever.

I give in, lets not critisize a film or judge its quality against other films as long as it has nice music in it, great criteria to have a discussion. Its a bit like someone comparing Southern Soul and Southern Thrash metal and saying none of it is perfect so who cares.......

Mr Byrne says it all, it was a very poorly executed film. Full stop,

Although no doubt, these bedwetters will be saying it was great.

The specific part in it that reveals its heart, or lack of it, was the end where he says "I only went because of you" as they give up Wigan after being regulars for a few months and they sail off into the far off land of Nottingham never to go to another soul do until they are in their 50's, divorced and desolate at the closing of their local British Legion.

That the subject matter equals who influenced the film and who it was made for I suppose says a lot.

The end. Roll The Credits.

Edited September 5, 2012 by jocko

[KevH]

Barton buses - Nottingham.(reference only).

[Jumpinjoan]

Speaking of doorman and gear.

I remember being taken into Mike Walker's, the manager, office one morning to get my bag back which someone had attempted to rob and another of the doorman walked in and boshed a handful of various caps and tabs into a big marble ashtray that was on his desk, obvioulsy the prevoius nights haul from some poor unfortunates ;0)

Perfect title for a soul film - The Unfortunates

[Tiberius]

Weird on the most basic level. Not one Stokie accent to be heard......it was just as if aliens had landed. They did use a PMT bus at one point tho.

[Steve L]

He must have been a fit lad walking/running from Stoke to Wigan ( &vice versa) on regular basis

[sir cumference]

He must have been a fit lad walking/running from Stoke to Wigan ( &vice versa) on regular basis

Stoke diet of Joules or Parkers Ale/Oatcakes and Wrights Pies!

[Tiberius]

Stoke diet of Joules or Parkers Ale/Oatcakes and Wrights Pies!

Couple of Oatcakes, or a Wrights meat and potato definitely! Washed down with Peddie not Parkers.

[Geeselad]

it has few moments where they get it right, like the sense of trying to desparatly fit into the scene at the start. but the film reeks of low budget and cheap popcorn fun which is OK, but not when your up against so many for who the scene meant so much.

[sir cumference]

Couple of Oatcakes, or a Wrights meat and potato definitely! Washed down with Peddie not Parkers.

Hi mate-only referenced the ales as they were local to Stoke.Pedigree is from Burton.Still a fine pint,though.

[Tiberius]

Hi mate-only referenced the ales as they were local to Stoke.Pedigree is from Burton.Still a fine pint,though.

Knew where you were coming from, just quoting what I grew up drinking back then, although my memories (poor) of the pubs seem to be haunted by Ansells!!!

Having re-read my 1st post #76 re lack of Stokie accent, I'd like to ammend #79 to read "Wrights meat 'n' tayter".......

[Guest daz mycroft]

watched the film last night, never went to wigan but no alot of the mansfield lot who did, so cant really comment on its accuracy

however from reading most of the comments on hear i can only guage that The Snake, Tainted love, young foolish and happy, out on the floor etc were never played at wigan. there were never any drugs at wigan. never any trouble or had any undesirable elements.. no specific dance style, no vanity. oh and barton Buses ran in stoke.

As a regular Bus traveller around notts in the Seventies i think i know which inaccuracy the film actually had .

[Geeselad]

When I watched it initially, what struck me about the lack of accuracy towrds stoke was the fact the main character had never heard of or mentioned the Torch, cant imagine anyone at that time not being aware about it., as a young kid I grew up surrounded by

graffiti and hushed wispers related to the scene, you couldnt help but pick up on it.

[MrsWoodsrules]

There was token gesture to Stoke, someone called someone else 'Duck'.

Which I presume is a parochial term of endearment.

What's the thing with birds in those terms of endearments?

In Edinburgh I've heard them say 'Hen', In Warrington we say 'Cock' (I know!).

Sure there is loads more.

Aid

Edited September 6, 2012 by MrsWoodsrules

[Soulman]

watched the film last night, never went to wigan but no alot of the mansfield lot who did, so cant really comment on its accuracy

however from reading most of the comments on hear i can only guage that The Snake, Tainted love, young foolish and happy, out on the floor etc were never played at wigan. there were never any drugs at wigan. never any trouble or had any undesirable elements.. no specific dance style, no vanity. oh and barton Buses ran in stoke.

As a regular Bus traveller around notts in the Seventies i think i know which inaccuracy the film actually had .

The thing is.... it was just a film. It wasn't a documentary about how it was. It was a perspective made to appeal to a wider audience than the soul scene. Love, romance, action, a bit of violence, skullduggery.... it was just a film. I'm sorry but I really don't understand the need for a thread such as this. I've not seen it yet but, Ted is the "buzz" movie at the moment. I've seen a "Teddy" at an all dayer... ripped to shreds at the After 8 Club in Grantham way back then... fluff all over the floor. Has that any relevence to Northern Soul... no, because it's just a film, but it could have quite easily been written into the script, and Soulboy should be taken in the same context.

Jees

Steve

Edited September 6, 2012 by soulman

[Ernie Andrews]

AS a film its poor but every time I see the Wigan Excerpts I still get hairs standing on the back of my neck!

Quite Like Felicity Jones!

[Mike]

The thing is.... it was just a film. It wasn't a documentary about how it was. It was a perspective made to appeal to a wider audience than the soul scene. Love, romance, action, a bit of violence, skullduggery.... it was just a film. I'm sorry but I really don't understand the need for a thread such as this. I've not seen it yet but, Ted is the "buzz" movie at the moment. I've seen a "Teddy" at an all dayer... ripped to shreds at the After 8 Club in Grantham way back then... fluff all over the floor. Has that any relevence to Northern Soul... no, because it's just a film, but it could have quite easily been written into the script, and Soulboy should be taken in the same context.

Jees

Steve

don't really get the bit about "why there is a thread" on here at all

or the jees comment

think we had about all together 7 years worth of discussion etc on here

don't think this is the first mention of the film, but one of the first threads

[Soulman]

don't really get the bit about "why there is a thread" on here at all

or the jees comment

think we had about all together 7 years worth of discussion etc on here

don't think this is the first mention of the film, but one of the first threads

Sorry Mike,

maybe you missed the point or maybe I've not put it into context. A thread is fine to say that "Soulboy" the movie is being shown on telly after it's cinema and DVD release. But then the backlash about its content. If I was to say that ... "Psycho" was being shown on TV this weekend and get all sorts of ... the facade of the house didn't look real (which it isn't by the way) etc etc..what I'm trying to say is this is a movie, bad or good, is down to the individual opinion. But it's a movie... watch it and don't associate it with the scene that we know. TV always gets it wrong and one day (with a bit of luck) it may be more consistent with what we know as Northern Soul history.

Sorry if I've offended

Steve

[Mike]

Sorry Mike,

maybe you missed the point or maybe I've not put it into context. A thread is fine to say that "Soulboy" the movie is being shown on telly after it's cinema and DVD release. But then the backlash about its content. If I was to say that ... "Psycho" was being shown on TV this weekend and get all sorts of ... the facade of the house didn't look real (which it isn't by the way) etc etc..what I'm trying to say is this is a movie, bad or good, is down to the individual opinion. But it's a movie... watch it and don't associate it with the scene that we know. TV always gets it wrong and one day (with a bit of luck) it may be more consistent with what we know as Northern Soul history.

Sorry if I've offended

Steve

nah no offence, I just didn't really get the bit I quoted or the comparison to another film, given the history on here

thru out the years there was always issues, with many posts about wait till its out and such

with it showing on tv, I would say that a thread like this is a sort of logical opportunity to close the door on whole thing for good

sort of a final reckoning if know what I mean

[Soulman]

Yup got ya.

[Agentsmith]

The Telegraph review of it summed it up perfectly for me - "It also feels oddly detached from the compelling genre of music it claims to advocate"

Poor on almost every level and that is being as objective as possible.

didn't even realise it was on, but when you're 10 miles from oban, out in the wilderness wi' nowt but 1200 tunes on the ipod and a wee dram...guess thats adequate compensation so i guess that broadsheet reviewers are much more knowledgeable & refined on the subject matter than the ner-do -well strawheads of the previous epoch.the music being the only thing of relevance, but this offering was of considerably less laughability than say, a certain liverpudlian in a tank top performing a high wire act whilst ted rogers sidekick, dusty bin watched on. surprised i suppose, thats its took as long as it has to be screened terrestrially...oops!, perhaps that should be.....extraterrestrially....almost as much fun for them as the smash ad the fact that it was put on so late wasnt even a tribute to damage limitation then?, it hasn't left anyone in particular feeling embarrased and we're not beating ourselves up over it,..are we??. if anything, the george gently storyline probably provided more emphasis on period for arguementativeness here, where the music was concerned as the script itself had entirely nothing to do with northern soul....and is it not so, from the previous thread pertaining to that program, that not too many soulies watch period drama?...you tell me. moving on, perhaps a more rational critique will be applied to the forthcoming northern soul story.

[Guest turntableterra]

Definetly worth a look forget about all the critics and see for yourself

TOTALLY AGREE, i reckon if it was made in 1978 it would have been a smash. with so few people criticising it, i would bet many were sitting thinking, "yep, thats what it was like for me, a 16 yr old soul fan, crap work all week, a bus with all your mates going to a weekend away to hear great music". yes the bogs were a lake, the clothes were pretty damn close, yes yvonne baker was wrong, but think about it another way........ you know its wrong coz you were there!!!!! the dance floor made up for it. i recall seeing guys dance and trying to copy them, was this a dance off! i thought the visual effect of the actual movie was spot on for the time. drugs were there, i never used them. but it was different in those days. we had a different out look and we were only starting on our journey. mind so many people went to wigan im surprised it wasnt crammed every week and police raids every week to pic up the 12 year olds who reckon they were there too PMSL. a lot of people criticised the ian levine S.W.O.N.S. when it was done, but i reckon we should be gratefull that someone had the bottle to put there money where thier mouth was......... and thier time and put this all together for us. some of those artists are no longer with us, so lets just start enjoying it, coz it wont ever get done again.... the opportunity has passed...............

[Soulman]

Definetly worth a look forget about all the critics and see for yourself

TOTALLY AGREE, i reckon if it was made in 1978 it would have been a smash. with so few people criticising it, i would bet many were sitting thinking, "yep, thats what it was like for me, a 16 yr old soul fan, crap work all week, a bus with all your mates going to a weekend away to hear great music". yes the bogs were a lake, the clothes were pretty damn close, yes yvonne baker was wrong, but think about it another way........ you know its wrong coz you were there!!!!! the dance floor made up for it. i recall seeing guys dance and trying to copy them, was this a dance off! i thought the visual effect of the actual movie was spot on for the time. drugs were there, i never used them. but it was different in those days. we had a different out look and we were only starting on our journey. mind so many people went to wigan im surprised it wasnt crammed every week and police raids every week to pic up the 12 year olds who reckon they were there too PMSL. a lot of people criticised the ian levine S.W.O.N.S. when it was done, but i reckon we should be gratefull that someone had the bottle to put there money where thier mouth was......... and thier time and put this all together for us. some of those artists are no longer with us, so lets just start enjoying it, coz it wont ever get done again.... the opportunity has passed...............

Yes, yes and thrice yes

Steve

[Guest Byrney]

Just speaking for my self a criticiser of the film, northern content aside it's a poor film. I can break it down further, having said that cant be arsed, but if you understand films and how they are constructed technically its a mess. I hoped if a film was to be about or set around Northern Soul it would at least be well put together, this wasn't.

I'm just glad there's another film being made on Northern Soul that I fully expect will be of a much better quality.

[Haydn]

I watched it again in case I was wrong............I wasn't, imo its a bad movie on the whole. Acting is terrible but as I ain't a film-maker, I can only sit back and criticise that it didn't do anything for me.

I am sure it did something for somebody and we should at least be glad that small time film companies are still churning out movies, despite big blockbusters being remade time and time again.

The only reason I watched it in the first instance was the northern connection. If you want a coming of age/love drama, there are better films out there that are more enjoyable.

If I am honest, there was probably more thought went into the northern bit in Blue Juice. But that wasn't a film just about northern either.

H

[Guest soul elite]

Just watch as any other film instead picking holes in it constantly! If you watch as a 'Rites of Passage' film it was actually good!

[Stevie T]

Just watch as any other film instead picking holes in it constantly! If you watch as a 'Rites of Passage' film it was actually good!

Have to agree , nothing more nothing less , historical accuracy not needed .

[Guest Byrney]

Just watch as any other film instead picking holes in it constantly! If you watch as a 'Rites of Passage' film it was actually good!

That's my point, I did and i cant help but pick it to bits as it's poor. Or should we just gleefully accept poor films and not voice an opinion.

Script, characters, sets, editing, story; poor IMO but that's just my opinion, no need to head bang if you have a different one ;-)

[Stevie T]

i have to admit though , i went to see it with a group of friends at the imax in Bradford and at one point stood up and shouted

"Spencers were not around then" (the year the film was based) job done ! smiled and sat me arse down !!