TV

The Sandbaggers
3x01 All in a Good Cause
It feels a long while since I last watched any Sandbaggers (it's been almost five months, in fact), but now's rather appropriate timing: it's 29 years to the month since these episodes originally aired. The plot of this episode is astoundingly complicated, even for The Sandbaggers, but in the modern climate of simplistic and over-explained drama it remains a refreshing change of pace. Even when not at its best, it's certainly one of my favourite TV series ever.

That Mitchell and Webb Look
3x01 Episode 1
3x02 Episode 2
As with any sketch show, the quality of Mitchell and Webb can be variable -- or, indeed, hit and miss. That said, their hit rate is well above average. Their self-referential sketches and TV spoofs are particularly good, including an Apprentice-related one that I sincerely hope many Apprentice fans saw.
Incidentally, I missed the second series of Mitchell and Webb because it clashed with something (I guess in pre-iPlayer-on-TV days) -- I still have it all downloaded somewhere. Ought to actually watch it really...
[Watch both episode one and episode two on iPlayer.]

Articles

Angelina Wanted Again by Owen Williams
(from Empire)
"reports are coming in that wunderkind Russian director Timur Bekmabetov is planning to bring Angelina Jolie back for Wanted 2." For anyone who saw the first film, this will undoubtedly provoke a bit of a "hm" reaction.
More worryingly, in fact: "No mention of James McAvoy". Oh.

Bruno gets 18 certificate by Mayer Nissim
(from Digital Spy)
Though to enjoy it you'll need a much lower mental age.

Comparing cameras: iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S by Eric Steil III
(from betanews)
The 3G S's camera is a massive improvement -- it's like comparing a phone camera to a real camera. But, as far as I'm concerned, the thing's still a phone -- if I wanted a great camera, I'd buy a camera. So I'm not one for the upgrade, no.

Fans cause Pattinson cab accident
(from BBC News)
"Twilight star Robert Pattinson was hit by a taxi in New York as he tried to run away from a crowd of teenage fans... The actor's security guards were... heard shouting: "You see what you did, you almost killed him.""
Ah, Twilight fans. Lovely people.

Indy 5 Is A Go! by Phil de Semlyen
(from Empire)
Producer Frank Marshall expands on Shia LaBeouf's comments. Note: there's not even a script yet.

Shyamalan still keen on Unbreakable sequel by Tim Parks
(from Digital Spy)
He keeps saying that -- I wish he'd just get on and make it!
Incidentally, the original is now 9 years old; and with Airbender keeping Shyamalan busy 'til 2010, presumably no Unbreakable 2 before about 2012 -- when it will, obviously, be 12 years old. Crikey.

Stephen Fry: How I lost six stones in just six months by Tim Oglethorpe
(from Mail Online)
In spite of the nastily tabloid title, this is actually an interview with Mr Fry, and therefore of course has some bits of interest.

new review at 100 Films

Glory (1989)

it would be easy to slide into Issue of the Week melodrama in handling such a tale, but Zwick manages it without undue sentiment — there’s an appropriate realisation of the importance of events, perhaps even occasional reverence, but time is taken to show doubts and prejudices.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 17 new films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

Poem of the Week: Sonnet 130

by William Shakespeare

I don't think I've included any Shakespeare in Poem of the Week before. Here's his debut then, as something of a break from all the modern comic poetry of recent weeks -- though the Bard's not necessarily at his most serious as he "mocks the conventions of the garish and flowery courtly sonnets in its realistic portrayal of his mistress."

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,—
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
      And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
      As any she belied with false compare.

For more information on this sonnet, try Wikipedia and its associated links.