TV

24: Redemption Extended Edition
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Top Gear
4x01 (9/5/04 edition)
Featuring a Lotus Exige vs an Apache gunship helicopter, possibly the coolest car-chase-like-thing you've seen outside a Bond movie.

Films

The Aristocrats (2005)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Cube (1997)
[3rd watch; #83a in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Cube²: Hypercube (2002)
[#84 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Oh dear.

Cube Zero (2004)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Equally oh dear.

Articles

2009 TV Preview: Ashes To Ashes 2 by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
Very revealing, though not spoilersome, preview of the second series. Can't wait!

Buckley to beat X Factor at Christmas? by Michael Thornton
(from Digital Spy)
Do your duty!

Fuller bashes Heroes: Villains by Ben Rawson-Jones
(from Digital Spy)
Sounds like things should be improving...

Goyer's Magneto relying on Wolverine by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
"They're going to wait until Wolverine comes out to decide whether or not they're going to greenlight another X-Men-related film. They like the script a lot and it's definitely a movie they say they want to make, it's a movie I'm still interested in making, so we're just waiting on Wolverine." No surprises there then.

Movie Reviews: The Day The Earth Stood Still
(from Studio Briefing)
"as cold and blank as the expression on [star Keanu] Reeves's face."

Movie Reviews: Gran Torino
(from Studio Briefing)
"The notion of a 78-year-old action hero may sound like a contradiction in terms, but Eastwood brings it off... it's clearly a career-capping work." Hurrah!

Who boss reveals Morrissey helped Tennant by Ben Rawson-Jones
(from Digital Spy)
"It was particularly good for David Tennant, cos we were at the end of a very gruelling shoot, making 15 episodes in a row for the first time ever. So for him to have a good friend coming on board, right at the end, was a real boost." Aww.

Buckley to beat X Factor at Christmas!

Buckley to beat X Factor at Christmas? by Michael Thornton
(from Digital Spy)

A campaign has been launched to get Jeff Buckley to the top of the Christmas chart ahead of the winner of this year's X Factor.

[The winner] will release a cover of Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah, but Buckley fans are drumming up support for his 1994 interpretation. A Facebook group has been launched urging fans to help the Buckley track, which is currently at number 43 in the charts, reach number one by purchasing it online.

I don't care what you think of Jeff Buckley, you have to get behind this simply to stop The X Factor winning. Come on Britain, we can do it!

To make this as easy as possible we will post the download links, but make sure you WAIT UNTIL the 15th... (many thanks to Kevin Adams)

7digital - unencumbered high quality 320k mp3 89p...

tunetribe.com - cheaper but semi-crippled WMA (windows file) only 49p

iTunes - 79p but DRM AAC file from Apple

...they're all recorded by the official UK chart.

Heck, splash out £2.17 and get all three -- it's all going to a good cause!

TV

Golden Balls
(12/12/08 edition)
I know I know, utter trash, but it was on and I was curious how it worked. It's a twist on Deal or No Deal, of course, and it's equally as dull.

Films

The Green Mile (1999)
[2nd watch]
We got through all three hours of this in a single two-hour seminar, including pauses for comment and discussion. So maybe doesn't quite 'count' as a watch...

Little Miss Sunshine
[2nd watch]
It really doesn't feel like nearly two years (to be precise, 21 months) since I watched this first, as part of 100 Films in a Year 2007. But there you go, time flies & all that. Anyway, the film itself is ludicrously heartwarming and has perhaps the greatest climax of any film ever. Seriously.

DVD Extras

Alternate Endings
and
Alternate Endings with Commentary by directors Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
(from Little Miss Sunshine)
Four offerings that are not so much alternate endings as alternate final beats -- including one directed by Abigail Breslin, the film's 9-year-old star! It's easy to see why they were excised, though they're certainly fun to see.

Hugh Jackman to host the Oscars

I kid you not!

From People.com via IMDb:

And the hosting honor goes to … Hugh Jackman.

People's reigning Sexiest Man Alive has been chosen to host the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony, to take place Feb. 22 The Australia star, 40, who'll be hosting the Oscars for the first time, was selected "because we want the ceremony to be fun," says Laurence Mark, producer of the telecast. "He can hold the screen and he can hold a stage. It doesn't hurt that he looks amazing in a tuxedo and he's the Sexiest Man Alive."

Jackman won an Emmy in 2005 for hosting the 59th annual Tony Awards in 2004. He was also nominated as host of the Tonys in 2005. ABC will broadcast the Oscar ceremony live from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 22.

Well I'll be damned -- they usually choose comedians!

I think Jackman will be good though -- clearly he has hosting credentials, plus he's a very likable and very funny guy. Though this rather suggests they're not expecting Australia to get any noms...

Poem of the Day: The Trust Territory V

V. da Capo
by Andy Brown

This week and next, Poem of the Day is presenting Andy Brown's 10-part poem, The Trust Territory. I think there's much to enjoy in each individual segment, and even more so when all ten pieces are put together. Also, at least some parts of it are especially suited to this time of year.

Please see after today's piece for information on where to find the poem in print.

                               da capo / Mus: 'repeat from the beginning'

You scan the line of albums, lick your lips
and ease one out. It opens in your palm.
Wetting a finger you shuffle through the pages
like a teller. A smile fields your face:

'You see, I'm right,' you say (again).
'It was here. You must remember --
'our naked bodies joined together;
'warm breezes shaking perfume

'from the clover?' Why is it, I wonder,
I don't recall a thing; but you -- oh you! --
your memory is so sharp? You slide it back.
We go to bed. Stare at the ceiling; our latest books.

The Trust Territory was originally published as a poetry chapbook, now out of print. It's currently available in Fall of the Rebel Angels: Poems 1996-2006 (find the best prices online here). The versions posted here are taken from the latter. From the author's acknowledgements for that volume: "Many [poems in this collection] appear as they were first published in individual volumes, others have been edited over the years and it is these final versions I wish to preserve."

Andy Brown's latest book is Goose Music, co-authored with John Burnside.

Please see here for information on Poem of the Day and copyright.

TV

Broken Saints
Chapter 4 Epiphany
Chapter 5 Awakening
With such short early episodes, Chapter 1 can only provide a brief overview of the four main characters, while the four chapters that follow successively introduce the start of their journey. It's still a bit slow and pretentious, but there's also promise. And 19 chapters to go...

Little Dorrit
Part 13 (of 14)
Part 14 (of 14)
A feature-length dose of Little Boring -- sorry, I mean, Little Dorrit -- as it finally reaches its conclusion. The (very literal) fall of the house of Clenham was perhaps the most entertaining bit yet, and certainly the most ludicrous in a story filled with ludicrous elements. Nothing like as good as Bleak House. Most of its audience understandably dropped off before the end, which is a shame because the format works so well (as proved by Bleak House) and this may've killed off hope of any more done in a similar style.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x11 (11/12/08 edition) [season finale]
Josh Groban: surprisingly likable and willing to take the mick out of himself. Grant From Feeder: shouldn't really have bothered going.
Odd length series too. I rather suspect it would've been 12, were it not for the Brand episode.

Fiction

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Luke Ross
(collecting Jonah Hex Vol.2 #1-6)
Issue 6 [the end]
A good set of standalone Western tales. Now, where's book two...

Poem of the Day: The Trust Territory IV

IV. Waking in Manhattan
by Andy Brown

This week and next, Poem of the Day is presenting Andy Brown's 10-part poem, The Trust Territory. I think there's much to enjoy in each individual segment, and even more so when all ten pieces are put together. Also, at least some parts of it are especially suited to this time of year.

Please see after today's piece for information on where to find the poem in print.

The night that raised my hopes now whittles down
our options. The morning's heavy snowfall
consumes the blue masses of skyscrapers
and builds on our distance. I open the grille;
imagine us both -- exiles on far shores --
staring past the smuts on our windows.
There are patterns in the bird tracks on the ledge.
I fill my eyes with their secret language:
the text of our future; the novel of our love.
All I ask today is you & I rise above
this interval in the theatre of weather,
but I am restless beneath a drift of lies,
blocking light from the glass. I retrieve the dull
hammer of my self and nail the window shut.

The Trust Territory was originally published as a poetry chapbook, now out of print. It's currently available in Fall of the Rebel Angels: Poems 1996-2006 (find the best prices online here). The versions posted here are taken from the latter. From the author's acknowledgements for that volume: "Many [poems in this collection] appear as they were first published in individual volumes, others have been edited over the years and it is these final versions I wish to preserve."

Andy Brown's latest book is Goose Music, co-authored with John Burnside.

Please see here for information on Poem of the Day and copyright.

TV

Argumental
1x07 (8/12/08 edition)

Broken Saints
Chapter 1 Introitus
Chapter 2 Cryptic
Chapter 3 Versus [2nd watch]
(Chapters 3 & 4 were the ones infamously included on the UK 2-disc release of Night Watch, where I saw them before.)
An intriguing opening -- a bit slow paced, a bit arty, a bit pretentious. Not everyone's cup of tea, but promising. For a brief introduction to the series, so my post here.

The Devil's Whore
Part 4 (of 4)
Another strong episode rounds off an excellent series. It doesn't feel fast-paced, yet at over an hour an episode (with breaks) rushes past faster than even something supposedly super-speedy and modern like Spooks. If you missed this, catch up with it when & where you can.

The Graham Norton Show
4x10 (4/12/08 edition, uncut repeat)
Only one guest was fine when it was Robin Williams, but Barry Manilow? Barry Manilow? In fact, he turned out to be fairly amiable -- especially as I could fast-forward the singing.

Fiction

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Tony DeZuniga
(collecting Jonah Hex Vol.2 #1-6)
Issue 5

Articles

The Dark Knight Score Up For Oscar Again by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire)
Didn't see that coming, but hurrah!

A Fresh Start For 'Bond 23', Says Daniel Craig by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"We've finished this story as far as I'm concerned." Plus, the chances of Moneypenny and Q returning seem to get stronger by the day.

Movie Poster Mash-Ups
(from Empire)
Not exactly a new idea, but a very amusing one. Not all hit the mark, obviously, but enough do to make it worthwhile. Check out themed galleries of Star Wars (I especially recommend number 24) and Harry Potter.

Poem of the Day: The Trust Territory III

III. Koi Carp
by Andy Brown

This week and next, Poem of the Day is presenting Andy Brown's 10-part poem, The Trust Territory. I think there's much to enjoy in each individual segment, and even more so when all ten pieces are put together. Also, at least some parts of it are especially suited to this time of year.

Please see after today's piece for information on where to find the poem in print.

This pollen-honeyed evening
your parting gift of Koi carp
rise to the gilded surface.

They flash their dog-brown eyes
beneath the pond's lens;
twitch a muscle and disappear.

But tight in the kernel
of night, they cut through
the dream's meniscus,

stirring the pool's surprises;
quick insects; slow molluscs
down in the muck & the silt.

The Trust Territory was originally published as a poetry chapbook, now out of print. It's currently available in Fall of the Rebel Angels: Poems 1996-2006 (find the best prices online here). The versions posted here are taken from the latter. From the author's acknowledgements for that volume: "Many [poems in this collection] appear as they were first published in individual volumes, others have been edited over the years and it is these final versions I wish to preserve."

Andy Brown's latest book is Goose Music, co-authored with John Burnside.

Please see here for information on Poem of the Day and copyright.

Broken Saints

Broken Saints was something of an internet sensation when it was first released online during 2001 to 2003.

The series -- which is in 24 chapters with a total running time of 12 hours (the early episodes are short while the finale hits an hour and a half) -- has been referred to by its creators as a "cinematic novel". Essentially, this means an 'animated comic': in its original version, limited animation (mainly for scene transitions) with speech bubbles instead of voice acting, but still a video with music and sound effects.

Eventually purchased by Fox and released on DVD, the series exists in two (or three, depending how you count it) versions: as well as the original online version, there's the 'DVD version' with spruced-up animation (for parts 1 to 12) and a choice of either the original soundtrack or a fully voice-acted one. It's this last option that I'm choosing to watch. (For the completist, the original Flash-animated versions of the first twelve episodes are included via DVD-ROM.)

It's recently been announced that a long-rumoured live action series is in development (or, "trying to find funding", by the sounds of things), so I decided it was finally time (I've owned the DVD since its UK release) to get round to watching the original.

You can still watch the original version online, for free, here. For more information, check out Wikipedia's good overview; the creator's blog, which includes the November 30th announcement of the live-action series; a live-action trailer (in various qualities); and DVD Times' review of the R2 DVD. (The rest of the official site is currently down.)

TV

Spooks
7x08 Nuclear Strike [season finale]
A good old "biggest threat yet!" season finale, marred somewhat by logic flaws (there's no way you could ever get an iris scan off a CCTV image. Ever.) Nasty little cliffhanger too.

Films

Ultimate Avengers II (2006)
[#83 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
A superior sequel.

Fiction

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Luke Ross
(collecting Jonah Hex Vol.2 #1-6)
Issues 1 - 4
Comics aren't just about superheroes you know: DC's Jonah Hex is a Western in the traditional sense, albeit with lots of violence and nastiness that you likely wouldn't find in films made before the '60s, at least. The other nice thing about Hex is that each issue is an individual tale, a self-contained burst of Western action that makes for an entertaining read while it lasts, leaving this collection to feel like a book of short stories, or a box set of episodic TV -- in the old sense, before everything had to have grand arc plots. On the strength of this, I expect I'll acquire further volumes.