Articles

24 movie heading to Europe? by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Not really news -- as long as there's been discussion of a 24 movie it's been mooted that London wold be the setting -- but the concept of Jack being able to traverse Europe within the timespan is quite a neat one. On the other hand, it's still not a concept that really works as a movie. You either do it as two hours of real time, which isn't "24", or do the producers' oft-discussed method, where one hour of the film covers 23 hours and the final hour is real time -- which is just an ordinary thriller with a clock pointing the timings out to you. But hey, we'll see -- they might not even make it yet.

David Chase cuts Ribbon at HBO by Michael Schneider
(from Variety)
This series sounds great. And if they can pull it off, it will be.

Five Favorite Films with Alex Proyas by Jen Yamato
(from Rotten Tomatoes)
Not quite as good as Danny Boyle's from a few weeks back, but Proyas is a good filmmaker (Dark City is underrated and I, Robot isn't anything like as bad as some would have us believe) and his choices and interview are interesting.

Radio 4 ditches last remaining children's series by Ben Dowell
(from guardian.co.uk)
"Go4it [the cancelled series] sometimes registered zero listeners from its target four-to-14 age range, with an average of about 20,000 listeners in that age bracket tuning in. The average age of its 450,000 listeners was between 52 and 55." It's a shame really, but also, it must be said, quite funny.

Way Cooler Than Anything In Either Alien Vs. Predator Film... by Merrick
(from Ain't It Cool News)
Amusing indeed.

Watchmen: Portraits

by Clay Enos

I only had a relatively fast look through this beautifully huge volume, but it was enough to garner the following thoughts:

The format, blurb and price give away the truth: this isn't really a Watchmen tie-in book, it's a book of photography -- portraiture, to be precise -- that happens to be about Watchmen. It's the visual-arts equivalent of poetry, where each unexplained image is designed to be perused slowly for its own beauty and its placement in relation to the other images, not rushed over in pursuit of an overall narrative. It is, if you will, an Art of the Film book taken to its furthest extreme.

However many times you've seen the film -- and, for some people, that's already a bizarrely large number -- there will still be far more faces here you don't recognise than those you do. For example, in amongst the previously faceless punks, prostitutes, protestors, prisoners, politicians and pedestrians there is only one shot of Nite Owl II and not even that many of Dan Dreiberg or a CGI Dr Manhattan.

This isn't about the film, it's about the people, and the art.

Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places) by Nightwish

Nightwish's latest is a live CD (plus documentary DVD), including a variety of tracks from their most recent album as performed on their most recent tour. The selections are, shall we say, interesting -- as well as the singles (Bye Bye Beautiful, Amaranth) and centrepiece track (The Poet and the Pendulum) they offer up a couple of songs I can't even remember. In fact, a glance at my iTunes playcounts reveals I've only listened to them twice, as opposed to the decent double-figures of some tracks not included here. It's a shame, to say the least.

Arguably the most notable omission is Eva, which was the first single released featuring the group's new frontwoman, Anette Olzon. Talking of Olzon, while she was fine on the album she seems a bit weak live, leaving a few songs sounding decent but not as good as their studio counterparts. Those with male lead vocalists, or instrumental track Last of the Wilds, seem to transfer best.

The album is pushed up to 66-minute running time by the inclusion of some B-sides (and one new demo version). A nice inclusion for some, I'm sure, but in the days when individual tracks are easily acquired by digital download, any band/company which does this begins to seem a tad greedy, as fans will surely have got hold of these tracks already (I know I had). To be fair, it does no harm them being there if the alternative was blank space, but equally it could've been used for some more live cuts.

The Pope wants Africans to die of AIDS

Pope says condoms are not the solution to Aids - they make it worse by Richard Owen
(from Times Online)

The Pope courted further controversy on his first trip to Africa today by declaring that condoms were not a solution to the Aids epidemic – but were instead part of the problem.

Yeah, helpful.

TV

Horne & Corden
1x01 Episode 1
Varying degrees of funniness, just like most sketch shows. Not a failure then, but not yet a success. We shall see...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Law & Order: UK
1x04 Unsafe
Nothing like as bad as the Radio Times try to make out. In fact, after expressing his support for this week's villain, I'm slightly concerned for the mental state of RT's review...
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Articles

100 Things More Popular Than Twitter by Nicholas Carlson
(from Silicon Alley Insider at The Business Insider)
Twitter's received a huge spike in popularity of late. Here's a dose of reality, reminding us that it doesn't rule the world. Yet.

The Big Writing FAQ by James Moran
(from the pen is mightier than the spork)
James Moran -- writer of the movie Severance and episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and other things -- gives advice on how to break into the industry and a bit about what being a writer is like. There are no magic solutions here, but there is truth.

Google Earth used by thief to pinpoint buildings with valuable lead roofs
(from Telegraph.co.uk)
Yes, it's crime; but it's funny crime.

K9 and Co by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
Oh no, poor K9 -- what have they done to you?

TV

The Graham Norton Show
5x01 (5/3/09 edition, uncut repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Yep, that's it for today.

1984 gets closer every day...

The New Book Banning

Children’s books burn, courtesy of the federal government...

It’s hard to believe, but true: under a law Congress passed last year aimed at regulating hazards in children’s products, the federal government has now advised that children’s books published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or distribute.

It really is as shocking as that sounds. For the full story, look here.

TV

Comic Relief: Funny For Money
There was some good stuff post-midnight. Not that I can really remember what happened when now...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Let's Dance for Comic Relief
Episode 4 (of 4)
Webb won! It's only right.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mad Men
2x03 The Benefactor

QI
6x11 Film (extended edition)
I got several right! This may be a first. Also, brilliance from Emma Thompson.
[Watch the standard edition on iPlayer.]

TV

Comic Relief: Funny For Money
This being most of Red Nose Day 2009 (as it goes on after midnight, it'll be here again tomorrow).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Lunch Date (1990)
[#9a in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Oscar-winning short film. It's brilliant.

Watchmen (2009)
[2nd watch]
Still love it.

Poem of the Week: Ozymandias

aka On A Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered Standing by Itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription Inserted Below
by Horace Smith

As detailed last Friday, I've had this poetic pair lined up since November to tie in with the cinema release of Watchmen. It was great, wasn't it? What do you mean you've not seen it yet?

Anyway, here's the second of the pair:

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
     Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
     The only shadow that the Desert knows --
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
     "The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand."-- The City's gone,--
     Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.

We wonder,-- and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
     Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
     What powerful but unrecorded race
     Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

Again as explained before, this was written in 1817 (published sometime in early 1818) as part of a writing competition with Smith's friend, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley's poem is well-remembered and quoted; Smith's is now mainly known as a footnote. Poor guy.

Next week, no more tenuously-linked-to-new-releases poetry. Promise. (It's explicitly linked instead.)

TV

Comic Relief Does the Apprentice
Well, I wanted a Swap Belt. And how horrid was Patsy Palmer? She came across incredibly badly, walking out on a charity event because she felt personally insulted and all but saying to someone, "who are you to talk to me like that? I'm famous and you're nobody" (the first half she did say). Bitchy, selfish and egotistical.
Tune in to tomorrow's concluding few minutes (shown during the main Comic Relief event) to see who gets fired. Not that it matters one jot.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Kilimanjaro: The Big Red Nose Climb
An impressive feat, and they've done very well for charity. Only half watched because, if I'm honest, I don't care that much about any of the people who took part. Though there was a funny bit with Gary Barlow and Chris Moyles almost-discussing Take That songs (Moyles actually being funny?! I was shocked too).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Websites

Jon Hamm (from Mad Men) stars as Lex Luthor in this recession-based spoof. Apparently it's web-exclusive, which surely makes getting a TV star quite impressive.

It's not actually that funny (well, maybe it is to Superman fans...), but is notable for the above reason.

"Lex Luthor Bailout" with Jon Hamm - watch more funny videos

Hunt for the Special Red Dwarf SFX Covers

To celebrate the long-awaited return of Red Dwarf to satellite channel Dave, SFX has hidden 50 highly collectable Red Dwarf editions amongst copies on the newsstand.

Alongside the regular Doctor Who cover for SFX’s April issue, fans of Red Dwarf and SFX readers are in with a chance of finding one of 50 copies with a Red Dwarf cover.

For the full story -- including how this is related to the specials themselves -- look here.

Chances of actually finding one? Very, very slim. Though if you live in London I'd bet they're massively higher.

Tuesday's updates

As well as Wednesday's updates going up on time, Tuesday's are now online too. They include...

TV - Lark Rise and orangutans.

Non-Fiction - more about poetry.

Articles - including fantastic Watchmen LEGO!

TV

Damages
2x04 Hey! Mr Pibb
Purcell is switching sides more often than a tennis ball! Some potentially huge logic holes in this week's episode, but with nine still to go there's plenty of time for those to be filled.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mad Men
2x02 Flight 1
Some answers already. The key word being "some".

Articles: Watchmen

Once again, there's only one topic in today's articles -- Watchmen, of course. Today's lot are primarily aimed at fans of the book...

Easter Eggs (And Missing Parts) In Watchmen's Titles by Meredith Woerner
(from io9)
Any chance to admire the amazing title sequence is a good one. There's also mention of some tableaus that had to be cut -- fingers crossed the turn up in the Director's Cut!

Watchmen Director Explains His Favorite Additions & Subtractions From The Comic Book by Rick Marshall
(from MTV Splash Page)
To be honest, some of these changes and omissions I hadn't even noticed!

What If Stan Lee Wrote The Watchmen Comic Books? by Brian Warmoth
(from MTV Splash Page)
A funny idea, but rather reliant on a familiarity with Stan Lee's writing style -- something I don't have, unfortunately.

And don't forget screenwriter David Hayter's open letter to fans, which you can read here.

An Open Letter From Watchmen Screenwriter David Hayter

You may well have seen this around the web already (most sites seem to have reported on it; the original is here), but it's a well-written piece with an interesting -- and, potentially, important -- message to convey. Go on, give it a read:

AN OPEN LETTER FROM A WATCHMEN SCREENWRITER

So it has been five months since I saw my first rough cut of Watchmen, and eight days since the premiere of the film I've been working on since late in the year 2000.

The reviews are out -- Some outstanding, others rankly dismissive, which can be frustrating for the people involved, (though I can only speak for myself,) because I firmly believe that Watchmen, the novel, must be read through more than once to even have the faintest grip on it. And I believe the film is the same.

I've seen it twice now, and despite having run the movie in my head thousands of times, my two viewings still don’t' allow me to view the film with the proper distance or objectivity. Is it Apocalypse Now? Is it Blade Runner? Is it Kubrick, or Starship Troopers? I don’t know yet.

All I know is that I had a pretty amazing experience the two times I've seen it. And both viewings produced remarkably different experiences. The point is, I have listened for years, to complaints from true comic book fans, that "not enough movies take the source material seriously." "Too many movies puss out," or "They change great stories, just to be commercial." Well, I f***ing dare you to say any one of those things about this movie.

This is a movie made by fans, for fans. Hundreds of people put in years of their lives to make this movie happen, and every one of them was insanely committed to retaining the integrity of this amazing, epic tale. This is a rare success story, bordering on the impossible, and every studio in town is watching to see if it will work. Hell, most of them own a piece of the movie.

So look, this is a note to the fanboys and fangirls. The true believers. Dedicated for life.

If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse.

Please go see the movie again next weekend.

You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film's got both, literally), or true adaptations -- And if you're thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it'll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we'd like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.

In the interests of full disclosure, let me also point out that I do not profit one cent from an increase in box office, although an increase in box office can add to the value of the writers' eventual residual profits from dvd and tv sales.

But I'm not saying it for money. I'm saying it for people like me. I'm saying it for people who love smart, dark entertainment, on a grand, operatic scale. I'm talking to the Snake fans, the Rorschach fans, the people of the Dark Knight.

And hey, if you hated the film, if you think we committed atrocities, or literary mistakes of a massive, cephalopodic nature. If the movie made you a little sick to your stomach, or made you feel bad about your life. If you hated it for whatever reason, that's cool too. I'm not suggesting you risk gastro-intestinal distress just for the sake of risky filmmaking.

But if you haven't seen it yet? Well, I'll just say this...

It may upset you. And it probably will upset you.

And all along, we really meant it to.

Because face it. All this time...You there, with the Smiley-face pin. Admit it.

All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story. To just crack you in the jaw, and then bend you over the pool table with this story. With its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions. Like a fry-basket full of hot grease in the face. Like the Comedian on the Grassy Knoll. I know, I know...

You say you don't like it. You say you've got issues. I get it.

And yet... You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.

Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.

Might as well make it count for something.

Personally, I was always going to see Watchmen again on the big screen at some point, though I probably would've gone the middle of next week before I read this. Now, Friday afternoon is looking good again...

[In the unlikely event you don't get any/all of Hayter's references, I'll be fully linking this up later.]

Delay

The usual variety of updates will appear for Tuesday, but unfortunately I'm too busy to sort them this evening.

Expect them tomorrow, then, though they will still be dated for Tuesday night.