Thursday 3 September 2009

TV

From the Earth to the Moon
Part Seven That's All There Is
Part Eight We Interrupt This Program
Two different episodes after the rather standard Apollo 11 one. The first is an almost comedic covering of Apollo 12 from the perspective of first-time astronaut Al Bean, while the second takes on Apollo 13 from the perspective of the press. It's as much about the dying days of proper journalism and the birth of tabloid trash as it is that particular mission (a decision made by the production team because of Apollo 13 already having covered that story).

A Night at The Office
For no discernible reason, last weekend BBC Two elected to repeat the whole of The Office season one, mixed in with a selection of interview clips from the creators and fans. Having seen the series a couple of times already, I recorded the whole lot and just fastforwarded to the interviews. It's a shame they didn't just show these as a new 30-minute piece really, because they were quite in-depth and I suspect more people would've watched it as a single piece.
[Watch The Office season one again on iPlayer, complete with all the little interview bits. The BBC Comedy microsite also has additional interview clips.]

Films

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (TV edit) (2005)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

DVD Extras

Alien Nation extras
A pair of rubbish featurettes and a handful of trailers, that's the lot.

Articles

Gladiator Blu-ray Review by Michael Mackenzie
(from DVD Times)
This has been a pretty big story in the Blu-ray world, but just in case you've missed it this review includes some summaries. Essentially: don't buy Gladiator on Blu-ray, the transfer is appalling. This isn't just bad for this particular film, but damages the reputation of both Paramount's new Sapphire Series and, potentially, Blu-ray as a whole.