TV

Dave's One Night Stand
2x01 Chris Addison
'ello 'ello, didn't really expect to see this back! I suppose it must be quite cheap to make really, and then endlessly recyclable if you're a repeats-based network.

Wallander [film series]
The Pyramid (aka Pyramiden)
Fulfilling my Scandinavian crime fix now that The Killing is over and I've got through the Millennium trilogy, this was the ninth and final Wallander adaptation to star Rolf Lassgård (the first episode of the other Swedish Wallander was also an adaptation). This one hasn't been tackled by the British series (yet), most likely because its narrative is a combination of several tales from a book of short stories. It was the best of the Lassgård Wallanders, in my opinion, perhaps because it was less familiar and I've finally accepted him in the role.
I believe BBC Four are intending to show some more of the Lassgård episodes later this year (they showed the sixth, eighth, seventh and this one (in that order) around the end of 2010).

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

this is a real showcase for Pacino. As Sonny the whole film rests on his shoulders, and he’s more than capable of bearing the weight. Some roles allow an actor to subtly be good throughout the film; others allow a few grandstanding set-pieces where they can Act; but Dog Day Afternoon gives Pacino both... Pacino is brilliant, understated but revealing, cementing the conflicting forces that have pulled on Sonny throughout the film.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)

To succinctly compare this to its predecessors, it’s better than The Girl Who Played with Fire but not really as good as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This is in part because there’s not as much detail of the investigation. Lots of the plot seems to be forwarded by people explaining it to each other, rather than genuinely digging and uncovering information, while the villains futilely attempt to stop the heroes publishing everything they already seem to know.

Lumet: Film Maker (1975)

This ten-minute documentary short is made up of behind-the-scenes footage of some of the filming of Dog Day Afternoon, with the occasional on-set interview with some (to be honest, minor) crew members, snippets of audio interview with Lumet himself, and a voiceover narration.

Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (2010)

Thompson treats the audience with respect in relation to the first film, playing on expectations and speeding through parts of the story we know. You don’t need to have seen it, but you’ll get a bit more if you have. Also as with the first film, there’s a perhaps surprising undercurrent of genuine emotion and serious issues. This is one of the things that marks these two films out from the overcrowded kids’ film genre

More next Sunday.