Monday 13 February 2012

TV

The Jonathan Ross Show
2x02 (14/1/12 edition)
Lots of catching up to do...
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Law & Order: UK
6x06 Dawn Till Dusk
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
5x05 (11/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Onion News Network
1x10 American Dream [season finale]
I was wondering why ONN had suddenly developed end credits. Answer (as I suspected): season finale.

Comics


All Star Western #5 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti & Moritat

Last issue I comment that "some of these 20-page comics feel brief, lightweight and not worth their cover price, while others pack so much in I'm counting the pages to check it's not a bumper-length edition." This is another example of that. The speed of storytelling, humour and strong plotting make this a great action/adventure/detective comic. Nice work all.

Back-up strip The Barbary Ghost continues too, again with solid art by Phil Winslade, though Gray and Palmiotti provide more clunky dialogue and a tale heavy on exposition, setting up next issue's (final?) part. I don't know if they're overworked or going for a different pulpier style, but I don't think these secondary stories work as well as the main Hex-starring one.


Animal Man #6 by Jeff Lemire, John Paul Leon & Travel Foreman
Remember how issue 1 mentioned Buddy Baker (aka Animal Man) had recently acted in a movie about a washed-up superhero? Well, here we get to see it... or the opening chunk of it anyway, before a clever conceit kicks in. It's a filler issue, certainly -- presumably needing to sync up with Swamp Thing or something -- but as filler issues go it's an excellent idea.


Wolverine and the X-Men #5 by Jason Aaron & Nick Bradshaw
This continues to be exactly the kind of X-Men comic I want to be reading: fun, accessible, not reliant on plot points from other books that I don't read, and with a darker edge at times. The slightly cartoony art sets the tone perfectly, actually. This isn't a kiddy book -- the T+ rating seems bang on -- but it is for people who like their comics to be enjoyable, rather than mired in decades of continuity and po-faced seriousness.

Articles

BitTorrent doesn't hurt US box-office, delayed international releases drive downloading
by Cory Doctorow (from boingboing)

Title says it all, really. Or, to expand a little:

There's only one Internet, networked culture doesn't respect national boundaries. A particularly effective marketing campaign for a new release in America will stimulate demand in other countries, and if there's no legitimate way to fulfill demand, then some portion of viewers will choose illegitimate routes... the delayed release makes downloading easier and more attractive.