Tuesday 9 December 2008

TV

Spooks
7x08 Nuclear Strike [season finale]
A good old "biggest threat yet!" season finale, marred somewhat by logic flaws (there's no way you could ever get an iris scan off a CCTV image. Ever.) Nasty little cliffhanger too.

Films

Ultimate Avengers II (2006)
[#83 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
A superior sequel.

Fiction

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Luke Ross
(collecting Jonah Hex Vol.2 #1-6)
Issues 1 - 4
Comics aren't just about superheroes you know: DC's Jonah Hex is a Western in the traditional sense, albeit with lots of violence and nastiness that you likely wouldn't find in films made before the '60s, at least. The other nice thing about Hex is that each issue is an individual tale, a self-contained burst of Western action that makes for an entertaining read while it lasts, leaving this collection to feel like a book of short stories, or a box set of episodic TV -- in the old sense, before everything had to have grand arc plots. On the strength of this, I expect I'll acquire further volumes.

Articles

2009 TV Preview: Moving Wallpaper returns by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
While Echo Beach turned out to be twaddle, Moving Wallpaper was fab. Very excited about it's return. "We ran around the houses to come up with [an Echo Beach replacement] that I thought hadn't been seen on British television for a while -- and then in the middle of writing [a zombie series], bloody Dead Set came out!"

The Dark Knight breaks Blu-ray records by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Yep, it's at it again. It "shifted 513,000 units on its first day of release on Monday, 21% of which (107,730) were Blu-ray discs. The format has experienced a surge in popularity, with sales of 463,000 for November 2008 a 66% increase from the previous month."

Horgan's Pulling axed by BBC Three by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Right after it beats other, better known, shows to a Comedy Award. "Oops"?

John Stevenson hired for We3 by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
"Producer Don Murphy [said] that the movie version will retain the comic book's violent tone. "We're doing it as an R-rating. It's not going to be cutesy. There's killer rabbits and stuff. We're in the process right now of trying to figure out where we're going to make it."" Whoo!

Will David Tennant make it on stage tonight? That is the question on Hamlet opening night after actor hurts back
(from Mail Online)
Ah the Mail -- everything you need to know in the headline. Still -- oh dear! Glad this didn't happen to me.

Poem of the Day: The Trust Territory II

II. I imagine you've changed little...
by Andy Brown

This week and next, Poem of the Day is presenting Andy Brown's 10-part poem, The Trust Territory. I think there's much to enjoy in each individual segment, and even more so when all ten pieces are put together. Also, at least some parts of it are especially suited to this time of year.

Please see after today's piece for information on where to find the poem in print.

I imagine you've changed little since our thing
in the Great Rift, so far away this morning
as I sit here drinking coffee on the terrace of the café
            La DĂ©licieuse.

I imagine you still wear that face all other
men could love. I am tempted to believe, however
briefly, that although there is no antidote
            there's hope --

the feeling that we've lived through this before
and know what's coming next. Your silence is
obscure. Still you're
            imprisoned

by a world where things are held by threads --
the prince on the princess's hair; Damocles' sword;
all those feelings you shored-up,
            but never fully expressed.

The Trust Territory was originally published as a poetry chapbook, now out of print. It's currently available in Fall of the Rebel Angels: Poems 1996-2006 (find the best prices online here). The versions posted here are taken from the latter. From the author's acknowledgements for that volume: "Many [poems in this collection] appear as they were first published in individual volumes, others have been edited over the years and it is these final versions I wish to preserve."

Andy Brown's latest book is Goose Music, co-authored with John Burnside.

Please see here for information on Poem of the Day and copyright.

What makes a film a film?

What makes a film a film, as opposed to a TV special, or different to a direct-to-DVD movie — indeed, is there a difference?

This is the sort of thing that’s bothered me for a while, mainly thanks to the Radio Times. The Radio Times’ film section frequently features reviews for something that’s labelled “US TVM” — translation: an American TV Movie. But not everything falls into this category. 24: Redemption didn't, but one-off editions of other (older) series have, so why are they different?

What about Paul Greengrass’ excellent Bloody Sunday, simultaneously screened on Channel 4 and released in cinemas? Or more recently, Ballet Shoes — just part of last year’s Christmas schedule in the UK, but it received a limited late-summer theatrical release in the US. So is that a film, or ‘just’ a TV special?

Read the full article over at 100 Films in a Year.