Matt Tuckey is a writer from Oldham, England. He covers celebrities, night life, Manchester, fitness, creative writing, social media, psychology and events. Some of this may, in some way, help others. Or maybe it'll just entertain you for a while.
Commonwealth Games are in full swing. We get to see parts on Channel 5, and a little more on BBC Alba. England are in 2nd place on the medals table behind Australia. I’m working through this Commonwealth Games Fit project I set for myself.
Manchester Day Parade took place yesterday, a celebration of the city by a consortium of different local social groups. More on each of these soon.
Greater Manchester elects a new mayor on Thursday. Looks like I’ll be going for Greens, with Geraldine Goggins on the ballot. I’m disgusted in Labour’s Zionism, their refusal to accept the ICC’s ruling that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza, and their apparent lack of understanding of their own rules on Personal Independence Payment. It’s not an out-of-work benefit. Labour seem unaware of this.
Greens, on the other hand, want to properly tax the billionaires, fund the NHS and social care system, build more affordable homes, fund proper mental health support, increase the minimum wage, stop the gig economy and stop corporations from dumping literal shit in our rivers, to name a few reforms. So they’ve got my vote.
Friday night: Manchester club Joshua Brooks welcomes house music producer Miguel Campbell for Full Circle, a night of deep house. His 2011 hit Something Special is still a banger.
Manchester Nightlife are headed there. 3 of us have signed up so far. Be 4th!
New Batman spinoff Clayface has finally released their trailer.
Clayface was partly filmed in Castlefield Manchester, and also Stockport Centre. Look carefully and you’ll notice Stockport Plaza.
Back in September last year, the production of the movie used Castlefield Manchester as a filming location. I took a look.
Sunday night: The Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony takes place, around 6pm (the exact details aren’t readily available). I’m working through this absurd Commonwealth Games Fit project, with an unrealistic goal of losing nearly 13 kilos. I wouldn’t count on it happening at present.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games starts Wednesday 23rd. I’ve got a fitness project that I’m going to do in conjunction with that. More to come.
Saturday: Comic Con Manchester returns to Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester for 2 days of stalls, movie stars, photo ops, Q+A panels and cosplay. I’m looking forward to meeting Carrie Henn – Newt off Aliens – and Bill Duke – Mac off Predator and Cook off Commando. This will be my third attempt to meet him – looks like he’s actually turning up this time. It’s gonna be great.
There’s a meetup with Manc Mates with a couple of people signed up. Saturday has sold out, though, so they’ve either bought their tickets or they haven’t.
Last night Meetup group Manchester Nightlife met in the lobby of Malmaison near the Town Hall and headed up to their second floor observatory bar Sora for some cocktails and mocktails. Good group. 4 of 9 showed up, plus 1 member who didn’t RSVP, but he’s a regular. Incredible décor, chilled house music, majestic views of the city and fine company from new and regular members.
After this a few of us took a look at the new Katie O’Brien’s on Peter St, formerly the Peaky Blinders bar. Good atmos, heaving with people, shame about the generic indie and pop music but a popular spot. I’ll be back there next week.
Scenes from Manchester's new Katie O'Brien's bar in Manchester
In other news, Brian O’Halloran – Dante off Clerks – liked my comment about the best films of ‘77, ‘87 and ‘94. Not sure why I picked Dumb and Dumber over Pulp Fiction. (As it happens, both directors – Tarantino and Farrelly – are Zionists anyway.)
Well. That IDRA meetup didn’t take off, for whatever reason. Too niche, perhaps. Anyway, I ended up staying in last night. Hence, I accidentally woke up at 5am, when I’d like to have been coming home.
I’m off work until Friday. I have a ton to do.
Saturday night: Join Manchester Nightlife Meetup as we head to hidden bar Kodo Their location requires a bit of legwork to find, but I’ve figured it out. There’s a door. There’s a code to get in. (I’ve found all of this for you.) Think moody red lights, Japanese décor… and that’s all that’s available online. All you have to do is meet me and the group in Roxy Ballroom, Withy Grove, first. 9pm, Saturday.
Went out to Castlefield last night with Manchester Nightlife. Good group of people. The area is popular when the sun comes out thanks to a few different bars having outdoor areas next to each other, on the banks of a canal. Have a cocktail and a pint, and watch the Canada Geese strut by. My plan was to meet in Dukes 92, but sadly the entirety of Manchester seemingly had the same idea and the queue was horrendous. Weirdly, Barca next door was spacious with a few customers and lots of free benches, and minimal bar queues. Toilets needed checking though.
Good group of people again. No drama. Moved on to Blues Kitchen, Alchemist, Lawn Club. Great afternoon.
Also, look who I met: Magali Gorre off Real Housewives of Cheshire!
Stay tuned for a psychology book review on the blog.
Saturday Afternoon: join Manchester Nightlife in Castlefield for some hopefully outdoor drinks in the sun. Dukes 92 from 3pm. The sun should just about be coming out, as are 6 people at the time of writing. It’s the perfect time of year for that area.
Sunday Afternoon: Manchester Nightlife are out again, this time to new club venue IDRA on store St. Veteran house music DJ John Digweed, from the Kiss 102 days if you’re in your 40s and 50s, shares the set with headliner Sasha. Second release tickets are £37. They will increase! I haven’t bought yet. At the time of writing I’m still waiting for attendees.
There isn’t a great deal else happening on Meetup this weekend, particularly not on the bank holiday Sunday. I’ve noticed this a lot on Meetup, that when it comes to those Mondays off, nobody seems to want to do anything on the Sunday night. Either I put something up (I ran a Northern Quarter bar crawl on a bank holiday Sunday a few months ago) or nobody does.
Daytime Disco returned to Joshua Brooks Saturday 18th. Disco house, headlining DJs, a packed room and no taxi necessary at the end. This time, Michael Gray headlined, whose track ‘The Weekend’ was a top 10 hit in 2004.
I put up a Meetup with Manchester Nightlife, got a couple of attendees, I bought a ticket because they claimed to have done… then they reversed their RSVPs. Did they buy a ticket? I don’t know. Upshot: I went on my own.
Oh well.
The upstairs bar already had a party with a DJ at 5:30pm, but the main event was in the basement. The moment I got in a girl dropped her glasses right in front of me and I inadvertently stepped on them. Awks. She told me not to worry about it. Clientele mostly 30s and 40s, as you’d expect from an event featuring a DJ whose fame was at his height 22 years ago.
Michael Gray himself didn’t come on until 6:30pm but warm-up DJs still offered great disco house. Friendly crowd too. I spoke to someone who, it turned out, knew a couple of friends of mine. By the time Gray was playing, the club was heaving, and stayed that way ‘til 10pm. Superb music.
He was patient and chatted with people at the end, including myself. What a dude.
Wednesdays: food hall Diecast, out near Piccadilly train station, offers a 40% discount on their delectable range of pizzas. I’ve had at least one a few months ago. The Diecast meetup I ran last summer with Manchester Nightlife was probably the most attended meetup I’ve ever organised. I’ve been meaning to run it again. But their midweek deal looks so good that I’m first going to gather a group for food this Wednesday night, if poss. Here’s the meetup for that.
This ridiculous Excess Month project comes to a close the next day as we tick over into May. Last push now.
Saturday: I’m going to give someone else’s meetup a shot. Making Friends in Manchester is hosting Drinks and Pizza in Yes bar near Circle Square. I’ve had their pizza. It’s good. 3 of us at the time of writing.
It’s a Bank Holiday, so the Sunday is open too: Joshua Brooks’Daytime Disco returns, this time with another headlining DJ. Remember the Horny song from 1999? Of course you do. Producer Mousse T takes over the decks for an afternoon of disco house. Manchester Nightlife will be there. Get involved! Tickets are £14 now but will go up.
Once again, For the Love of Horror was an astounding local movie event with some superb guests offering photo ops, autographs, stage discussions and there was even a Blade-style blood rave (that I missed). Find part 1 and part 2 of my writeups.
I got a follow back on Instagram from Finn Carter, Rhonda off Tremors.
Jeff Daniel Phillips, Herman Munster in the Munsters remake, liked my picture of him.
Unfortunately, after paying for a picture with Mekhi Pfifer, he then turned out to be Zionist. Well. Terrifier’s Jenna Kanell liked my pic of her.
Rewatched City of God, the Brazilian gangster movie. Excellent crime drama set in the Rio favelas, taking inspiration from real life, Goodfellas and I expect Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels.
Rewatched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, an outrageous drug-fuelled trip through a police convention, a motorbike race and a desert. So many cameos that I didn’t recognise until this week.
Rewatched Lost Highway, David Lynch’s weird tale of a sax player sentenced over the murder of his wife (an act of which he has no recollection) only for him to disappear in jail and be replaced by another guy who has no recollection of how he got there. So good, but such a headfuck. Not seen it in maybe 20 years. Patricia Arquette, man. Good lord.
Polished off a citrus single malt 5cl bottle from the Chivas Regal blending kit I got Christmas before last. I’ve actually got 2 kits and am tapping through the content. I should try making a blend for the hip flask.
Excess Month ends on Thursday. I’ve read one of the books that I’d pulled out that fit this theme; review to be uploaded at some point.
Lastly, today is Alien Day: 26th April. 4/26. As in LV-426, the planet they land on in Alien.
FC: Tremors bombed on release, then 35 years later it’s remembered. Michael carried the mantel for 6 more movies.
MG: (Lead actor Val) Kevin Bacon felt he was a failure. He walked away.
FC: He said he’d come back now if there’s another.
MG: There’s a script for ‘Tremors 8’ but it’s in legal limbo. I said to a producer, ‘we’d better do it quick, because we’re getting old.’ I didn’t intend for Burt to be a main character. But the writers fell in love with the character, and when that happens it’s great.
MG: Quite heavy! It was a terrifying scene for me because I knew if I got it wrong, they’d have to take an entire day to reset the wall.
AQ: What was it like seeing the creature for the first time?
FC: I was in a few scenes. It was massive. I got dragged. The director (Ron Underwood) was 5’ (1.5m) tall, and the sweetest man, saying, “it’s getting closer! It’s getting closer! IT’S REALLY SCARY NOW!”
AQ: Did you speak to seizmologists to prepare for the role?
MG: Americans are crazy as you know. We have a president to prove it. We had a survivalist store, and they gave us the basics on booby traps, making a retreat, which I’m a little paranoid about. I took a lot of firearms training. You have to convince the audience that I was an expert. I worked quite a long time with firearms instructors, loading, unloading, to make it look like expertise.
COMPARE: What was your journey into that character, from the audition?
FC: I was doing a play in LA, and my classmates were laughing at this potential movie. Then I got it. But I got time, got just proficient enough (in seismology) to fool you. If experts come in, they’d disagree.
MG: I never wanted anyone down the barrel of my gun. If I put it down, I had to assume someone had touched it. I’d check it. If I hear about mistakes with guns on set, I say, ‘someone screwed up.’ I’m not a gun fan. I love model trains. Burt never points his gun at other people: only the monsters. We don’t fight each other; we come together as a team to fight a common enemy.
FC: When I was running away from the monster in my underwear, there were men under the set moving the ground. Everything you see is being moved by a huge team. On set there were no egos, or conflict. It was the perfect storm. I don’t remember there being any problems.
MG: There were no bad apples on set. No A-holes. Everyone was nice. It was, ‘Let’s try this.’
FC: The only time was when the Director of Photography said, ‘you cannot make that shot! There is no sun!’ In the evenings we partied in the hot tub. When they’re blowing away, that was a great scene. You think, oh my god, these people are prepared. They have a chance. My favourite scene, though, was Kevin Bacon saying ‘let her have blonde hair, big green eyes,’ then I turn around. All my insecurities and lack of confidence gave me the power to carry through Tremors. I’d think, ‘another day of work.’
Horror movie convention For the Love of Horror has landed back in Manchester. It’s Saturday 18th April and I’m looking forward to meeting a Commando actor (someone from the movie, not someone who left their underwear at the hotel). I’m going to try and get a few more photos, and hear what people have to say about their film careers. But first… let’s take a look around Bowlers Exhibition Centre.
The first Q+A Panel: 78-year-old Ken Foree, Peter from Dawn of the Dead (1978), who tells us he has “talents like Ernest Hemingway.” He tells us of his days of acting and writing.
“Have you ever tried to get something published? If you haven’t, I’ll tell you: I was between acting jobs, coaching basketball, little kids. I like to see the lightbulb come on. One of the kids’ dads said ‘let’s write a low budget action film.’ He’s in New Jersey, I’m in California. I had execs come by, they saw it on a coffee table. They said, who wrote this? I said, I’m not the writer. They said, you’re the writer. They pestered me for a call for months. I said okay. What about my family? A month later, the response has been tremendous at this late time in my life. This was about 10 years ago. You know Taxi? There was a series I wrote, ‘Limo 8.’ It was mine, but the same story. I wrote a horror story, called ‘Shadows.’ That got the same response. My 2 leads were in World War II. They were sending the letters. I wanted you to feel sorry for a serial killer character. But, as you know, everyone has challenges in life. I had things going on with family members. I said to my agent, ‘I’ll call you when I’m ready. Don’t call me.’ After turning down 15-20 projects in 20 years, now I’m overwhelmed. I’ve got loads. I’m ‘back.’”
COMPARE: There’s a lot of diversity in your career. Drama, horror, comedy. In Rob Zombie’s Halloween, do you bring fun?
KF: Not always. Joe Grizzly (Foree’s character in Halloween) was the most fun. There were 2 young lads in here today who said, ‘That’s Kenan and Kel’s Mr Rothmore!’
The mic is handed out to the audience queue.
AUDIENCE QUESTION: In Dawn of the Dead, the zombies are slow. These days in films, they’re fast. What do you prefer?
KF: The one where I’m paid! Rob Zombie has great way with words. I don’t have a favourite character or speed. I like a piece of this, a style of directing there.
AQ: What was it like filming the fight scene with Tyler Mane? (In the ‘07 Halloween remake.)
KF: I met Rob Zombie, I said Yeah, I’ll do Devil’s Rejects. I had food with Tyler Mane. Everything was real. We tore up the wall, rebuilt the wall, beat the shit out of that too. Tyler is a very nice gent.
AQ: What was the most memorable moment on Dawn of the Dead?
KF: It was an adventure every time we put on the costumes. The entire film. There was something every night.
To round off, Foree gives us some insight into what to expect next.
KF: Max Brooks is Mel Brooks’ son. We were having lunch in the US with a music artist. We had lunch every couple of months. We’d have a great time talking. Max did World War Z. He asked, ‘did you write anything on zombies?’ I said, ‘yes, but it was too expensive.’ I sat there, I said, ‘pass me the paper.’ He said, ‘you have to have the zombie thing as a comic book.’ Max thanked me through that. You’ll know more as soon as we have a distributor.
Next to stage: Mekhi Pfifer, Future in Eminem vehicle 8 Mile, and Tyrell Martin in 90s horror I know What you Did Last Summer. He was also Dr Gregory Pratt in medical drama ER.
MP: ER was fast-paced, dealing with other doctors and patients. I try and stay as fit as possible so I can enjoy doing these projects. ER was first for me in TV. We really forged a family atmosphere. We had each other’s backs and had vacations together. We’d spend 14 hrs a day, then go to Lake Tahoe to get food. Everyone was wonderful.
MP: Filming in 90s, I was doing soundtracks when I got the offer to do the music with Brandy and Monica (The titular ‘boy’ in The Boy is Mine.) 30 years later it’s still embedded in people’s memory.
AQ: What was it like filming (Dr Who spin-off) Torchwood in Wales?
MP: It was cold as hell on the beach. It was supposed to be summer, so we had no coats on. It was the coldest I’d ever been. I had no idea John Barrowman was as talented as he is.
AQ: in 8 Mile, who was the biggest joker?
MP: We were all in our 20s. Most people it was our first big movie. Eminem was the biggest joker. He was shy when you first met him.
AQ: Who would you most want to fight on film?
MP: I always wanted to fight Freddy or Jason.
CMPR: Who would you avoid?
MP: Hellraiser’s Pinhead. How’s he walking around with pins in his head?!
AQ: How would you survive the zombie apocalypse?
MP: I’d need a stocked freezer, dried food, weapons, and it takes a little community with doctors and engineers.
MP: Eminem had 3 trailers: a movie trailer, a gym trailer for working out, and a music trailer. He said, ‘I want you to listen to this track.’ Nobody knew Lose Yourself was going to be as big as it was, but it shows we bonded. When it came to the rap battle, director Curtis Hanson, RIP, he was not of the hip hop scene at all; he was a beach bum. He rolled around in a jeep with the top down. He let us have carte blanche. We had a great time.
Mekhi Phifer
-
Next to the stage: David Patrick Kelly, Sully the henchman in Commando representing the mercenaries who have taken Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter. He also played Luther in The Warriors, T-Bird in The Crow, Howie in K-Pax, Jerry in Twin Peaks and Charlie in John Wick.
COMPARE: Every good guy needs a villain. How did you bring intensity to bad guys?
DPK: There were a group of guys working for Nixon. They ended up on the run, but they were mercenaries. What drove them was money.
COMPARE: What was your journey into performance?
DPK: I was a busker, playing songs. The Beatles came, and played in my hometown (Detroit Michigan). They came after the Kennedy assassination, and they were so joyful, a good break.
COMPARE: What was your first break?
DPK: I was in the musical Hair, on Broadway. I played guitar because of The Beatles. I like to say I’m a precursor to psychedelic music.
COMPARE: Let’s talk The Warriors. These days it’s still such a cultural phenomenon. Were you aware when filming?
DPK: No. Do you have drive in movies?
COMPARE: No. It rains too much.
DPK: It became this cultural phenomenon to see people on screen. The issues were really important in The Warriors, which was my first film. (Director) Walter Hill calls everything ‘a western.’
A queue forms for the audience questions. I’m second in line.
AQ: What was David Lynch like to work with?
(Kelly worked with Lynch on Twin Peaks.)
DPK: David was magical; so revolutionary. The script was like a song. I got a feeling; I knew at the time. I was filming Wild at Heart. He gave me the script. It was something special. You don’t normally see a director leave the camera on a drawing. But you’ve got to remember, Lynch was a painter before he switched to film.
COMPARE: This guy’s come prepared. He’s got a notebook!
DPK: I was attached to a crane by my ankle, like in the cowboys and Indians movies. I was up there for 5 hours! It’s a real rush of blood to the head.
COMPARE: Let’s talk The Crow. My dad showed me movies. When you came on, he’d go, ‘bad guy.’
(Starring lead Brandon Lee was shot when a live was accidentally entered into a chamber of a gun on the set of The Crow in 1993.)
DPK: Brandon’s passing was a huge tragedy. He had a stunt double. We didn’t know if the film would finish. My brother was in London. I went to Stratford and found this copy of Paradise Lost in a bookstore. I managed to get it into the film. I also managed to get It Can’t Rain All the Time into the soundtrack.
AQ: What’s the key to longevity in Hollywood?
DPK: Just stay healthy. So many people are gone because of drugs. I’m not preaching, but you’ve got to stay fit. I love being here, but my passion is Broadway. You gotta keep breathing.
The last question comes from a guy celebrating his birthday, so Kelly encourages all to join in singing Happy Birthday to You. Then he gives us a performance of his own.
