The second of this year's special episodes of Doctor Who (in place of a regular series as the BBC tried to bribe parliament into increasing the television license fee by holding back some of their top rating shows claiming they didn't have the cash).
RTD is one of those writers where the ideas are all too often better than the execution - For every Utopia there's been a Last of the Time Lords. For every Turn Left a Partners in Crime. The Waters of Mars is definitely closer to the top end of the scale after the last disappointing special which killed any excitement from the exotic filming locations with Lara Croft-lite and the flying bus. It's back down to essentials as the Tardis materializes near the first life-supporting base on Mars (slyly named Bowie Base One) and then follows the basic mold of the classic Who adventure and the standard sci-fi and slasher movies where a group of diverse and roughly sketched characters fight the monster du jour.
The only trouble with this is that the basic plot is a little too close to 42 or The Impossible Planet, following an almost identical mold. Still, it's a classic, but nonetheless, it's getting a bit creaky by now.
However, the subplot is what lifts the episode above the norm, thanks to guest star Lindsay Duncan, who adds real gravitas to her role, while Tennant gets the chance to bust out his acting chops once more, alternating between excited, sorrowful, vengeful and haunted with a rapidity that rivals Eccleston's quickfire mood changes. Certainly the most effective scenes in the episode are the two-handers between Tennant and Duncan. The darkness that creeps in, by the point most kids are safely hid behind the sofa, presumably, is surprising and it's understandable that the BBC chose to move this episode from Christmas day. Despite the splashes of snow, funny robot and a Marley-esque moment, it would have been too dark to be seasonal.
As has been repeatedly stated, this episode was set up as being the "beginning of the end" for Tennant's Doctor. I'm not sure it establishes that as clearly as the writers might have intended, but certainly the darkness that starts to creep in, then jump in with bloody great boots on, ensuring that everyone knows that something REALLY SERIOUS™ is to come.
So, with this special the game is stepped up and proves to be quite a compelling view, making the most of its guest stars (Shane from Neighbors joins Jim from Neighbors and Charlene from Neighbors in cropping up in a Whoniverse story) and a simple, but damn creepy design for the villains.
Even the (deliberately) irritating funny robot couldn't drag things down too far. But amidst all the cracking acting and dark turns there had to be something for the kids, right?
- Mood:
sick
"Mr. Rafiel's bloodhound - his avenging angel. She looks so harmless, doesn't she? But her camouflage is perfect because she is partly just what she seems - a gossipy old village lady, but her logic is ruthless and her powers of synthesis formidable. And above all she never lets go."
I've recently been addicted to the BBC's adaptations of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories when I picked up the DVD in response to the star studded, but lamentable, recent ITV productions. I've always had a soft spot for Miss Marple, far more so than Christie's more famous creation Poirot. Originally airing between 1984 and 1992 the BBC adaptated all twelve of the Miss Marple novels, featuring the superlative Joan Hickson in the title role. I remember watching many of the adaptations as a child (a good murder mystery is just the ticket for kids. I certainly recall being terrified by the chilling murderer in The Sleeping Murder, with their hands like "grey, monkey paws".) The complete DVD collection is 1,360 minutes of solid, glossy crime, with some fabulous scripts from playwrights like Alan Plater, a cast of great British character actors (Joan Sims, Peter Davison, Samantha Bond, Paul Eddington, Donald Pleasence, Liz Fraser, Josh Ackland and many others), and directed by some memorable directors, including the Boulting Brother's Roy Boulting.
Most impressive though is Joan Hickson, who's widely regarded as the definitive Miss Marple. (After seeing Hickson in an adaptation of her "Appointment With Death," as early as 1946 Christie reportedly sent her a note expressing the hope she would one day "play my dear Miss Marple.") She play Miss Marple not as a simpering twitterer nor as a comical eccentric, but as a rather stiff upright observer whose gaze can be unflinching. As she says in Nemesis: "He called me Nemesis, you know, and he wasn't being entirely humorous". You might invite Margaret Rutherford's Marple out for drinks. You'd probably wonder why sprightly Angela Lansbury was hanging out with all the fuddy duddies. You'd certainly pretend to be out if ghastly Geraldine McEwan battered on the door with a gin bottle.. It's Joan Hickson who you'd choose to solve your murder. Hickson quietly layers Miss Marple with the many qualities that make her a good detective and a good person—keen reasoning skills, a willingness to really look and listen, patience, a little sadness and cynicism, perseverance, and, of course, an ear for gossip. As Inspector Slack memorably states in one of the episodes, "She's a little old lady who knits and wears lace. She also has a mind like a bacon slicer. It's a very good disguise." And all the while quintesentially the grande dame of the village circle - unflinching and unforgiving, whilst politely sipping at her tea.
The collection of adaptations is excellent and, unlike the more recent ITV adaptations, true to the books with slight exceptions (the wonderful, unsubtle, long-suffering and insufferable Inspector Slack is slipped into a couple of the adaptations where he was otherwise absent), but there's none of the playing hard and fast with the stories or attempts to modernize them - the period detail is near perfect and feels true, rather than forcing political correctness onto a character that would undoubtedly be of her time. It's a strength of the performances and the screenwriting that even the most irritating Christie-isms, where red herrings crop up to the point of ridiculousness, don't spoil the enjoyment of the adaptations of a whole.
The boxed set includes The Body in the Library, At Bertram’s Hotel, The Moving Finger, Nemesis, A Murder Is Announced, 4.50 from Paddington, A Pocketful of Rye, A Caribbean Mystery, Murder at the Vicarage, They Do it with Mirrors, Sleeping Murder, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, of which my favourite is probably Nemesis, where Miss Marple is a fearless and unforgiving avenging angel in tweed.
All of which, with the unforgettable (trust me, I've tried) theme music makes this one of the most enjoyable boxed sets I've picked up in a very long time.
- Mood:
contemplative
- Mood:
impressed
(For those colonials who can't see the vid, try this link.)
Not different from the older logos, of course, and it feels like a cross between a comic publisher's logo and the McCoy era logo with added lens flare. Shouldn't every logo have that?
Some minor spoilers from the set of the new series, showing Karen Gillan shooting some scenes. If you're a straight male and/or appreciative of slim redheads in uniform I imagine there's something here for you. The police are getting younger every day. And, apparently, the skirts are getting shorter.
And because I'm equal opportunity, here's some of Matt Smith as the Doctor too. But he didn't bother to change. Lazy bastard. Well, I guess he did bother to change, but you know what I mean.
You can tell I'm a graphic designer because of my priorities - putting a new logo before Karen Gillan in hotpants.
- Mood:
exanimate
I wound up buying a boxed set of the BBC production of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories starring Joan Hickson after watching a rather lamentable more recent ITV adaptation while I was on holiday, that appeared unrecognisable as the original story and also, inexplicably, crammed with sizzling lesbians.
And I was pleasantly pleased by how well the productions have held up. Being period already and shot on location rather than some dodgy sets like, say, I Claudius was cursed by, the BBC version stands up incredibly well and knocks the recent versions into a cocked hat. not least because of the utterly sublime performance of Miss Marple by Joan Hickson.
And Hickson's everything a Miss Marple should be - prim, almost shrewish, gossipy, sometimes patronising, but also kind, genteel, intelligent, beautifully doddery. And, supposedly, Christie's own choice for the role as she remarked years before they were filmed she considered her perfect.
And she is. Joan Hickson's a wonderful actress and lucky to be ably supported by a host of obscure and not so obscure character actors in the adaptations.
But never fear, not a lesbian free zone. While the recent adaptations seem determined to squeeze them in for modern audiences, there was a perfectly depicted lesbian couple in the adaptation I watched today of A Murder is Announced, notable for the fact that while modern television must think itself daring and sensational for depicting lesbian couples, it was being done quite comfortably 20 years ago and far more successfully. In this case with Paola Dionisotti and Joan Sims playing a wonderful couple who clearly adore one another and who are never sensationalized or deliberately focused on in the "OH LOOK AT US, WE'RE SO DARING!" way modern TV shows seem determined to portray anything but a purely heterosexual relationship. It was refreshing to see a same-sex partnership portrayed in exactly the same way a heterosexual relationship would have been and not cheapened. It's just a shame it's from a show that's twenty years old and not the modern version.
All in all it's not one of the best Miss Marple stories, relying too much on so many red herrings and people masquerading as people they're not, but Joan Hickson's wonderful portrayal of Miss Marple's slightly snobbish musing on how village life has changed after the war and a bunch of well known faces playing well rounded characters made it thoroughly enjoyable.
All that and lesbians too. See, ITV, you don't need to alter the books beyond recognition to produce a cracking Miss Marple adaptation.
- Mood:
cynical
I find myself pleased by the news that after the sudden axe a few months ago, Primeval has been saved from the scrapyard by a deal which sees ITV sharing the bill for two new seasons with digital channel Watch, with some of the cost being born by BBC Worldwide as well. (Curious to see the BBC paying for one of their rival's big hits, but they hold the worldwide distribution rights, so financially it's a sound deal.)
Apparently Andrew Lee Potts, Jason Flemyng and Hannah Spearritt are all signed up to return to the show.
I'm glad about this because A) The show had stepped up its game dramatically with the arrival of Jason Flemyng and B) They left the damn show on a cliffhanger. Oh and C) It brings hope for other popular sci-fi that the axe doesn't have to be permanent.
The only bad thing is that the new eps are delayed until 2011, which is a long gap between series.
Demons, thankfully, isn't returning.
- Mood:
pleased
Speaking of recent television, I've got myself hooked on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares after discovering that Channel 4 has every episode available for viewing on their 4oD online service. Unlike the BBC iPlayer, this has a lot of old series, not just recent programming. And it's been an opportunity to get hooked on Ramsay's expose of failing restaurants.
Of course, colonials in the audience may be familiar with the US version, but I've been watching the true Brit version, where restaurant owners don't collapse into floods of emotional tears at the end of every episode and where there's even more unbleeped obscenity. Despite Ramsay's foul mouth and tendency to rile people up just to get a reaction, I like the guy and I always found the show fascinating. However, I missed a bunch first time around, so in the space of about four days I've managed to get addicted and watch a dozen episodes or more.
The formula, for those that don't know it, is pretty simple. Grumbling Ramsay is invited to a failing restaurant to offer advice to turn the business around. Now, the advice that is given on Kitchen Nightmares is usually pretty uniform. Clean kitchen. Motivate staff. Redecorate. Local produce. Reasonable prices. Work hard. Make money.
Of course, it's getting the restaurant owners and staff to realise that which is the entertaining part. Usually that involves Gordon swearing, shouting, getting exasperated and throwing out something beloved of the owners, then pushing his own menu. And it's the variations on this that make the interesting part. Take, for example, the episode featuring The Fish and Anchor in Wales, where the bright blue eaterie was inhabited by ex-Boxer Mike, who copied all his recipes from Ramsay's home cook books and writes his reviews himself, and his wife Caron, with an an explosive temper and memorably described as "like f**king Shrek in a frock". The arguments there were biblical. With each other, with Ramsay, with the customers. For once Ramsay played it softly, clearly recognising that if he spoke to Mike like he did some of the milder landlords he'd be looking in the tinned curry for his teeth.
But what's lovely is that Ramsay does manage to turn things around in many cases and when he returns, the places he's visited and the people he's touched usually are better for it. In the case of Mike and Caron, not just a saved business, but a saved marriage, seemingly, as well. But getting there is a rocky, including near fist-fights and a distressing accident that nearly ends the relaunch for good.
However, just occasionally there's one episode where Gordon just can't make it work. Take the case of Rachel, originally from Scotland, but now trying to run a vegetarian restaurant in Paris which was losing 5000 euros a month. Bailed out by daddy's money, and despite his and Gordon's help and the appearance of talented new chef India (after Ramsay had to physically carry a crazed Brazilian off the premises), Rachel managed to blow the chance within four days, deciding she just couldn't be bothered. The laziness and bad attitude was staggering ("Since I closed it's like a weight's been lifted from my shoulders!" But not daddy's, who had to pay off her massive loans and debts) and it was clear the prospect of having to actually work for a living was too much. Most people come out of the experience better. Rachel, by the end of the show, was demonstrated to be even more selfish, lazy and repulsive than previously imagined. Good news for India, however, who made such a strong impression she was given a placement at one of Ramsay's own London restaurants.
It's great TV, anyway, and the stark reminder that two thirds of restaurants close within their first year is brought home by show after show of people clearly out of their depths who had no clue what they were getting into. Running a restaurant or pub might seem an idyllic fantasy, but this show demonstrates how much bloody hard work it has to be to succeed.
- Mood:
cranky
Last night I ended up watching "102 Minutes That Changed America", History's documentary on 9/11 which was shown for the first time on Channel 4 here in the UK. For those who aren't aware of it, it's less a documentary and more a real time compilation of raw video footage, mostly from amateurs, taken in New York during the events along with recordings of emergency calls taken and radio communications between the emergency services.
And it was hard watching. It brought it all home to me that I was there less than a year before and recognizing specific places from my visit from footage taken during the attack... well, it provoked a pretty strong emotional response, let's say.
All of it, of course, is hard to watch: the people leaping from the upper floors; the firefighters, some presumably doomed, headed toward the buildings while everyone else is running away. But one of the things that set this apart from the other films that cover the events was the uniqueness of the footage. It’s not all familiar: just where you’re expecting one of the well-known long shots of the second plane flying into the south tower, you get a startling close-up image taken by two New York University students from their dorm window. The point where the conversation between the two off-camera students turns to screams of horror is one of the most chilling and heartwrenching things I've ever heard. Or the recurring view of the burning buildings, from an apartment a mile north of the site, that seems unremarkable until you listen to the accompanying audio: a child’s voice keeps asking what’s going on, and the parents are heard shooing the youngster away, trying to shield the child from the reality they can hardly comprehend themselves.
Elsewhere, firemen are heard reaching survivors on the 70th floor of the Tower as colleagues attempt to reach them for support; a dispatch controller is heard to tell WTC workers to stay put as rescuers attempt to reach them; crowds convene in Times Square to watch the events on big screens and vent their anger at those who could have perpetrated the atrocities. And then the moments as the towers come down, where a lot of the footage is unique and all of it personal.
I'm choking up now just thinking about it and, needless to say, I spent most of the 102 minutes of the programme sat there feeling sick and trying not to cry. But as a historical document, I don't think any better has been produced. This is powerful and harrowing stuff, made all the more so by the fact that it was all recorded as it happened, by the people who witnessed it, without editorial comments. It should not be missed by anyone who cares, or is interested, about one of the moments that shaped the world in which we live today and probably, hopefully, the most horrifying of our lifetimes.
- Mood:
indescribable
Apparently Warner Brothers have optioned the series for the US and it's looking like it may be rebooted and remade with an American cast, so presumably that kills any chance of the production company producing any one shots to wind the stories up. In addition, apparently a feature film is being planned that the series will spin out of, from Akiva Goldman, who scripted Angels & Demons, and Kerry Foster who will produce the film.
For those not in the know, Primeval was billed as ITV's answer to the rival BBC's Doctor Who, where a team of scientists investigate the appearance of temporal anomalies across Great Britain which bring prehistoric and futuristic creatures which enter the present.
Unfortunately, by attempting to hang onto Doctor Who's shirttails, the show never attained anything above that level - coming across as a cheap answer to the BBC, with less originality, a less charming cast, weaker special effects and weaker writing.
In actual fact, while all that's undoubtedly true, there's a fair bit to enjoy. Some of the characters grow on you like a rash, the fanservice is so blatant it's charming (there's a whole plotline just to ensure that cute zoologist Hannah Spearritt ends up in her panties as often as possible, when the villainess returns in the second series, you can tell she's evil because she bought herself a push up bra) and some of the performances are actually quite fun when you look a little closer (Hannah Spearritt, Ben Miller and Andrew-Lee Potts mostly and Jason Flemyng come the third series).
( Read more... )
- Mood:
relaxed
Johnny Deep's apparently pulled out of Terry Gilliam's famously cursed version of Don Quixote. After ten years since the last attempt, a scheduling clash means that when (if) if starts shooting again, Depp's not available. Cue Terry Gilliam:
"I wanted to shoot Don Quixote next spring. He said he's not available and we have both agreed that I'm going to die soon, so it would be nice to get this film under my belt."
Curious juxtaposition of quotes about the new Sherlock Holmes movie from Guy Ritchie. Ritchie himself has stated he wanted to make a Sherlock Holmes movie for his kids to watch, whilst the News of the World, in typical subdued fashion (Queerstalker!") is reporting Downey Jr. playing up the homoerotic aspects of the characters, talking about sweaty wrestling and sharing a bed with Watson. So, a homoerotic, gay-friendly Holmes that's also good for the kids? Why not. The new Doctor Who team managed to create a kids show as bent as a nine bob note, so I don't see why Sherlock can't go the same way. I'm more turned off by the Sherlock Holmes: Action Hero route they seem to be going, personally.
However:
"But Michael Medved, a former Post movie critic, says Downey and Law must be joking. "There's not a seething, bubbling hunger to see straight stars impersonating homosexuals," Medved told us. "I think they're just trying to generate controversy . . . They know that making Holmes and Watson homosexual will take away two-thirds of their box office. Who is going to want to see Downey Jr. and Jude Law make out? I don't think it would be appealing to women."
Um... I think Michael Medved needs to get out more, personally.
Production started yesterday on Machete, the film that Robert Rodriguez is co-directing with his protege Ethan Maniquis. Variety's reporting that Danny Trejo is playing the title character and Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson and Jeff Fahey play supporting roles. Oh, and Lindsay Lohan. What?
Whatever happened to Sin City II anyway?
Twilight meets Transformers fanfic. Weep.
Leonardo DiCaprio's production company are developing a gothic version of Little Red Riding Hood. "My, Grandma, what black nailpolish you have."
Then Movie Retriever has an article on Six Ways The GI Joe Movie Could Be Better Than Transformers 2. I'm not sure I agree with them because, well, it's going to be really really bad, but I did think this quote rung true:
This might sound ridiculous, but Michael Bay movies take themselves very, very seriously. That's right, Michael Bay movies. (And, yes, we're counting Bad Boys 2.) Even with their ridiculous premises, there is an arrogance, a pomp, a slick, pre-packaged, out-of-the-box desire to be EPIC to Bay's movies that can be entertaining, but also can occasionally suck all of the fun out of a movie theatre thanks to their painful efforts to be either cool or profound in every second of every frame. On the other side of the spectrum, there's Stephen Sommers, and let's be honest, there is NOTHING cool about Stephen Sommers. If Bay was the high school kid who spent all of his energy being cool, Sommers is the class clown, the class speed freak, the kid in your class who'd skateboard off the roof just to make his friends laugh. This doesn't mean that Sommers makes great movies - he doesn't. Deep Rising is a hysterical B-movie, The Mummy is a fairly solid popcorn flick, The Mummy Returns is bat-s*** insane, and Van Helsing is so over-the-top it's almost Kabuki. However, all four of those movies are never boring and were obviously made by a guy who was trying to make every second of every frame pure sugar-sweet FUN.
And finally, Skottie Young Twitters about Smallville:
"Watching Superman movies as a kid I would pretend I could fly. I wonder if kids that watch Smallville pretend they can mope around & whine?"
- Mood:
geeky
- Mood:
confused
Also watched the entire first series of Life on Mars. I get why people raved about this series now. Clever, intiguing, funny, different, satirical and gripping, it's cracking entertainment and although the premise emerged from a group of writers who initially intended it as a remake of The Sweeney, it morphed into a far more interesting beast when they decided to add the time travel element into the mix. The double mystery of whether Sam's actually just in a fantasy world prompted by his coma or actually transported into the past, somehow, and the crime stories in the episodes themselves, as well as some memorable characterizations, ensure that it's a cut above the average TV cop show.
I'm interested to see how the US version played out now. Has anyone seen it? I've heard it's very different, more Starsky and Hutch than The Sweeney.
Sad to hear that one of comedy's most overlooked actors - Colin Bean, who played Private Sponge in all but four of the 80 episodes of Dad's Army - has died aged 83.
I need more sleep.
- Mood:
apathetic
Here's the full picture: http://www.sfx.co.uk/resources/sfx/2007
The main reaction seems to be "meh". I appreciate the idea of juxtaposing a young man in old man's clothes, but I think he looks more like an out of work Geography teacher than anything. Yeah, I know people have said before that Nu-Who's looks haven't been quirky enough, but they've looked just fine when in action, but this is so... ordinary. Deliberately so, I know, to show that just because the new Doctor's really young, doesn't mean his brain's suddenly turned into a trendy young thing's, but even taking that into account, I'm finding it very bland.
I do like the extremely practical boots though, just right for all that running.
This other release has more details on The Grand Moff's run and the name of the new companion revealed.
About the series Moffat commented: “Here's me, with the job I wanted since I was seven. 40 years to here! If I could go back in time and tell that little boy that one day all this would happen, he'd scream, call for his Mum and I'd be talking to you now from a prison cell in 1969. So probably best not then."
EDIT: Oh, and if you reaaallllly want to spoil yourself, the first day's filming revealed the guest star on set. Big spoiler there.
And a bunch more pics here.
EDIT EDIT: Oh my goodness, he does actually have leather patches on his elbows. Someone get the man a leaky fountain pen, stat!
- Mood: exanimate
So it's now all over. Five days of hour long specials culminating in this.
Many's the time RTD has written great stories and then blown everything in the final act. For me, at least, that didn't happen here. There were a few glimpses of deus ex machinas being plucked from nowhere, but for the most part he avoided the excesses of his Doctor Who work. This was dark stuff.
Torchwood has finally become what it first claimed to be - sci-fi for adults. In the first series it was a fifteen year old boy's idea of what adult is - swearing, nudity, sex, graphic violence. In Children of the Earth it built on the sudden maturity of Series Two and went even further. After last episode's chilling moments, this went even further with scenes that were truly adult.
Hard to single out any member of the cast (although, frankly, John Barrowman was the weakest link) but the scenes with Peter Capaldi and Susan Brown as Frobisher and ever loyal assistant Bridget Spears were incredibly well performed and well judged.
It's impossible to say any more without spoilers. I'll just sit here thinking about the episode and think "Wow, Russell T. Davis finally pulled it off."
Powerful TV.
And from the first series of the show, almost unrecognizable. How do you go from metal bikinied Cyberwomen in high heels to this? Although they did keep tradition alive by including at least one moment to make us all want to slap Gwen.
- Mood:
satisfied
I've been thinking about how to talk about this episode without giving spoilers away all day (I've already put my foot in it once) and concluded it's nigh on impossible.
I will say that plotwise, it dragged a little, apart from the dramatic climax, as it was mostly an episode where all the loose ends and reveals from earlier episodes were gathered together.
I will also say that it delivered some of the strongest and most chilling character pieces on television, demonstrating the true banality of evil. Not since Conspiracy has there been a piece of television as compelling and harrowing. Deborah Findlay and Nicholas Briggs (normally the voice of the Daleks), joined Nicholas Farrell, Peter Capaldi and Susan Brown in a set piece that was truly horrifying but also frighteningly logical. Never has the phrase "That's what school league tables are for" been more shocking.
In fact the episode was clearly focused on giving chills rather than thrills and the sudden change in pace was strength as well as weakness. Effectively an episode about government, it could never expect to be action packed. But this was writing of a maturity that almost seemed at odds with what had gone before (although not entirely with Torchwood as a series, after it's far more mature second series).
And the ending... Oh boy. Even if you saw it coming, it still got you right in the gut.
- Mood:
worried
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of fangirls suddenly cried out in joy and were suddenly silenced. By Rhys' beans.
- Mood:
giddy
I'm not going to do full reviews on each episode, rather a few (generally non-spoilery) thoughts on each episode as they appear and then a full review at the end of the week.
So, for now, just some brief thoughts on Day Two:
A cracking episode which took the tension from the climax of Day One and ran with it. Okay, a few slight flaws in that it was tough to keep the tension so high across an hour long episode. Again, like last night's episode, I think it's something which will play out far better when viewed as a continuous five hours of television, but as a stand alone episode, the new hourly format felt slightly unwieldy.
( Read more... )
- Mood: satisfied
Last night saw the return of Captain Reacharound™* and the rest of the Torchwood crew, promoted from BBC2 to mainstream BBC1 and chopped from an entire season to a short "five nights in one week" format. So, I guess it's Torchwood week this week. I shall celebrate by standing on a rooftop in a long coat and/or indulging in some ill-advised sodomy with work colleagues maybe.
So, Day One. Actually, this is the second episode of Torchwood called Day One. Does that make this Day Two? And if so, what will tonight's episode be called? Oh my goodness, confusion.
( Read more... )
- Mood:
rushed
Posting on the new Safari 4.0. Which is INSANELY slow and keeps hanging. I should know not to download software updates until at least a couple of weeks after they first appear.
Anyhoo...
Just been running through my "To Watch" list in my head. My conclusion? I have way too many DVDs. Prompted by the discussion of Astonishing X-men over on Scans_Daily and my current... dissatisfaction with Whedon, I was reminded I still have a boxed set of Firefly to watch. And absolutely no desire to watch it after Whedon's recent output's turned me off. BUT, I shall make the effort.
However, I realized that it's just one of many many DVDs and collections I have to watch. Just trying to compile a list in my head and these include:
Ken Burn's The West
The Complete Firefly & Serenity
House - Seasons 1-4
The Ultimate Westerns Collection Box Set (Rio Bravo, Chisum, Pale Rider, Wild Bunch, The Searchers, Outlaw Josey Wales, Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, Unforgiven)
Western Classics Triple (The Magnificent Seven, The Big Country, The Long Riders)
Sherlock Holmes The Definitive Collection (All of the Basil Rathbone movies)
Primeval Series 2
Alias: Season 2
Life on Mars: Series 1
The Complete Muppet Show
Heroes Season 2
Michael Palin: Round the World in 80 Days
The Tudors: Season 1
Teachers: Series 4
Doc Martin: Complete Series 1 & 2
ER Season 1 & 2 (Rewatch, but I bought on DVD since I only had them on VHS)
Alfred Hitchcock Box Set (14 movies)
Tru Calling: The Complete Series (I've watched about 6 episodes of this)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 3 (Rewatch, again because I only had it on VHS)
The Osbournes - Series 2 (Apparently. I don't remember buying this but Play.com says I did)
The Complete Steptoe & Son
The Street - Series 1
That doesn't even include individual movies I've picked up.
What does this tell me?
A) I have a tendency to slurge when I see a bargain
B) I REALLY NEED TO STOP BUYING STUFF.
Someone give me strength not to buy those Deadwood and Rome boxed sets that are calling out to me.
- Mood:
pensive
- Mood:
cheerful
So, yeah, I've been quiet most of the weekend. In combination between deadline snowballing into Saturday (and then Saturday night) and... other stuff I've been in a BAD PLACE™. There were highs (yesterday I had a nice day with the folks and spent most of the day sunning myself on the beach) and lows (please do not ask about last night as emo Matt often offends).
Thankfully I'm feeling better today, looking at things afresh and wondering where to go from here. Yes, I'm being cryptic AND ranting. Gotta love it, haven't you?
So, random distractions:
Rich Johnson's new comic site's launched - www.bleedingcool.com I like Rich, have enjoyed butting heads with him on the occasions we have and wish him luck with his new site. He's rarely anything less than an entertaining read, even when he's completely and utterly wrong.
I managed to miss the actual announcement of the winner of Britain's Got Talent as I was on the phone to our printers, sorting out a major crisis, but walked in to see Susan Boyle's face as the Diversity boys celebrated. I have a few things to say on this - frankly I wouldn't have been disappointed if any of the final ten acts had won it - everyone was very good at what they did, but that said, i thought that Diversity were worthy winners, who upped their game for every performance and created a completely original routine each time. And the final performance was mindblowing. A lot of the other performers came out and repeated the routines that had got them through the auditions (with the exception of Stavros Flatley, god bless 'em), but for delivering something new each time, Diversity deserved the win.
Which leads us to Susan Boyle who, this morning, has been sectioned under the mental health act and booked into The Priory after an incident with the police after her running wild in a hotel. Now, I do feel sympathy for her, as she clearly believed everyone telling her there was no way she couldn't win. And then didn't. Clearly she's ill equipped emotionally to cope with the pressure that has been put on her. I'm not entirely sure whether she's disgruntled over losing or blown away by the multi-million pound contract she's just signed, but either way, I can understand her struggling to deal with it.
But at the end of the day, as she said herself, the better act won.
In other geek news, Tom Hiddleston talks Thor’s Loki. "Ken wants Loki to have a lean and hungry look, like Cassius in Julius Caesar." Sounds good to me.
And, of course, Doctor Who has his new companion. And, much like the new Doctor himself, I don't really have a clue who she is. Chalk this up as a good thing, in my mind. General opinion appears to be OMG SHE'S SO YOUNG!, which I don't really see myself. She's 21 and looks it.
Looks like Wolverine's still ahead of Star Trek in the worldwide box office. I'm not sure what this tells us, but it's probably not great.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mash tells it how it is. "SEVEN million people in the UK are illegally downloading the sort of music and films you wouldn't pay for even as you heard the ominous click of a gun being cocked."
Oh, and FilmDrunk can always be relied upon to deliver the best summaries of Twilight sequel news. Vampires are so dreamy!
Was that really a No Country For Old Men spoof in Benidorm last night? Fair play for them for including an extended joke only about 2% of the audience actually got. The Die Hard gag? Probably more obvious.
And Michael Caine is epic.
- Mood: worried
I admit it. I have a problem. Bad enough that I enjoy X-Factor, but now I've gotten myself addicted to Britain's Got Talent.
Mind you, this year I don't feel so bad, because the whole world seems to have got in on the act after Susan Boyle stunned us all by being fat, frumpy, a bit of a nutcase and also talented. It's made international news that someone fat and ugly could actually have a good voice as well. She's naturally sailed through the semi-finals this week, where 40 acts are whittled down to 10 for the finals at the weekend. I have to say, however, based on her performance on Sunday night, the bubble should have burst. After the initial thing of getting us to confront our prejudices, I have to agree with Lily Allen, who's pointed out she's overrated. She's good, but she's a long way off world-class.
Of course, the search to find a world class variety act is a rocky road anyway and, frankly, most of the acts on the show are miles away from that standard too. Except, of course, for the ones that they put through that are either clearly insane or useless, who aren't so much miles away as light-years. Like Darth Jackson, the man dancing to Michael Jackson tracks in a Darth Vader costume. Or Kay Oresanya, the "human saxophone", who the judges put through and then immediately hang out to dry, having had their chuckle from them. Britain's most loathed woman, Amanda Holden, being particularly good at disassociating herself from any of these acts that are set up for mockery. It was nice to see that when she attempted this with Merlin Cadogan, the enthusiastic gentle giant escapologist, she made a complete and utter fool of herself. (After he escaped from a strait jacket while hanging upside down on a burning rope she commented that "I never thought you were in any real danger of burning to death had you not got out of the straps", apparently oblivious to the idea that dropping onto his head from 10 foot when the rope burnt through was actually the dangerous part.)
There's been a few surprises, though. I expected Jamie Pugh, the soft spoken Welshman who suffers from terrible stage fright to sail through. But he delivered a performance that wasn't a patch on his original appearance and his personality didn't come through and he didn't even make the final three of the evening. Hotly tipped contender to Susan Boyle, Shaheen Jafargholi, the 12 year old schoolboy with a powerful voice, almost didn't make it through to the final after he found himself contending for the judges votes opposite the MD Show Group, a dance troupe from Liverpool. It probably didn't help that they were comprised mostly of pubescent girls dressed like Victorian child prostitutes and shaking themselves along to a Michael Jackson song. Whatever anti-knife crime message they had to get over was kinda drowned out by that uncomfortable juxtaposition. I expect Michael got a thrill, though.
Of course, last night's surprising winner was "Stavros Flatley", the father and son dance act comedy dance act of Greek-Cypriot Demetrios Demetriou and 12-year-old Michalakis who, I'm almost ashamed to admit it, just make me laugh my ass off every time they appear on stage. The relationship between them is so damn endearing for one thing, but they're both just naturally funny in the way that two fat people doing comedy dance routines in ill-fitting wigs shouldn't really be. I have to agree with Simon Cowell: "I should hate you. It's sort of rubbish but brilliant."
Seriously, how could you not love faces like this as the winning result was announced?
Look at them. They're adorable. What added an extra layer of amusement last night was that when questioned where the backing dancers came from it was revealed that they were the waiters from Demetrios' Greek restaurant.
The most talented? Maybe not, but by gum, they're stupidly entertaining and such a lovely pair. Much like that belly dancer earlier in the week.
- Mood:
energetic
Here's some interesting Doctor Who stuff.
No, not the sexy Daleks.
I'm talking about THIS.
Don't bother with the link provided because the info has been pulled from RTD's online CV. Just scroll down and you'll see what was said.
On a more official line, it's been announced that DavidTennant will be playing the Doctor in two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Surely the perfect opportunity to reunite The Doctor, Sarah Jane and the Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, since Nicholas Courtney's already appeared and the reunion's never occurred in Nu-Who. (Of course there's something to be said for the Brigadier encountering a youthful Matt Smith Doctor too...)
Oh, and they're doing another online cartoon special too. Hmm, could that last paragraph be a reference to what's mentioned in the first link mayhap?
Oh, and also to be filed under "reportedly..." is the news that Timothy Dalton will supposedly be appearing in one of the upcoming specials.
How they'll fit him in, I don't know, seeing as they seem to be cramming in a bunch of guest appearances already, including, of course, Bernard Cribbins returning as a "fully fledged companion". (As seen here. And also a bunch of spoilers for another return in the Christmas specials.)
Oh, there's also the horribly ill-advised team-up of Captain Jack and the Doctor on John Barrowman's hideous Saturday night TV show Tonight's the Night. Here. But the least said about that, the better.
- Mood:
restless
Finally got around to watching the final episodes of Wolverine and the X-men. Thoughts on the episodes specifically below the cut, but in general terms, a few comments:
Frankly, this series was excellent from start to finish. For what is effectively a Wolverine-centric show, they managed to balance most of the other characters with his screentime (Storm being the one character who was severely underused) as well as avoiding the pratfall of inexplicably and suddenly making Logan team leader material. One of the highlights of the show is that he's not a good team leader and has constantly messed up along the way. The series has served certain other characters well too - Kitty and Bobby didn't get a lot of face time, but what they did was great, Beast was handled excellently, the new take on Forge was a lot of fun, but most particularly Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch got a great dynamic and individual characterisation and plenty to do.
The continuity made good use of the rich X-men mythos by bringing in elements from the comics, cartoons and movies and mixing it all up to create something fresh, whilst also hitting enough notes to be accessible to anyone who was only familiar with one of those sources. The grand over-arching story meant a mild suspension of disbelief, but nothing that those familiar with the X-men wouldn't be familiar with and it was refreshing to see something that balanced both the new and familiar.
One of the highlights, as I've said before, was seeing the X-men who were clearly familiar with each other's abilities working together as a team from the first. It's been rare that any series has really made the most of each member's abilities, but the cartoon certainly managed to do so.
Solid animation, solid character designs and voice acting that was rarely less than excellent all contributed to its success.
I'm pleased to note that the series has been officially renewed after it proved to be a strong ratings winner.
( And now onto the individual reviews of the last few episodes. )
- Mood: geeky
Wow. O.o
- Mood: confused
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