TV

An hour and a quarter in the company of Ben Miller this evening...

Moving Wallpaper
2x01 Episode 1
Hurrah for the return of Moving Wallpaper! I love this show. This first ep suffers a little from having to transition from the cancelled Echo Beach to a new project (sadly, a one-off at the end of the season rather than another accompanying drama), but hopefully they can return to the old style for a third season (just with a better paired show than Echo Beach).
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

QI
6x09 The Future (extended edition)
Christ, Ben Miller's clever. But also very interesting. And That Moment with Rob Brydon is surely a classic.
The extended episodes are still disappointingly hidden on iPlayer, but I assure you the one below works (or will do 'til the episode goes offline in 22 hours and 45 minutes).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Pre-Post-Production
(from reddwarf.co.uk)
The official Red Dwarf site has plenty of info on the forthcoming specials, but this is pretty remarkable I think. With the setup they have their, footage filmed is synced up with the soundtrack and available to be edited within an hour! Technology is super.

The Spider-Man Broadway Musical Swings to an Opening Date, a Full-Title, and a First Poster by Matt Goldberg
(from Collider.com)
It's called Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which is pretty bloody stupid if you ask me (or most people, it would seem). Follow the link for the distinctly uninspiring poster.

TV

Damages
2x01 I Lied, Too
A bit of a slow start, having to pick up threads left hanging from last season as well as trying to kick off new ones. But there are promising signs, so we'll see how things develop.

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
16x05 (20/2/09 edition)
Poor Mickey, he so deserved the Oscar (says someone who hasn't actually seen either film).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

There Will Be Blood (2007)
[#7 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

Samuel L. Jackson IS Nick Fury After All by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire)
The headline says it all. Additional info: it's a nine film deal! Madness!

And check out the latest set of Watchmen reviews here.

Articles: Watchmen reviews

And the negative reviews begin to pour in, from respectable sources this time. Check out this little lot...

from The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Clearly a non-fan perspective -- I don't think he'd 'get' the graphic novel either -- so perhaps best ignored by those of us who are. Not so the next, however...

from ign.com Movies UK by Orlando Parfitt
The internationally ubiquitous IGN is already offering differing perspectives: this fan-centred UK review hates it, while the Australian reviewer loved it. Fan reviews are coming out split thusly, it seems.

from Variety by Justin Chang
I've never liked Variety -- I hate their snobby use of a specialist vocabulary, which, however easy to understand with a little effort, is still awkward and (probably deliberately) elitist. Doesn't necessarily make their opinion worthless though.

For a more positive perspective, see the first round of reviews here, and keep an eye on the Tomatometer for the latest critical consensus. Seems like this is gonna be a divisive one though...

TV

Mad Men
1x12 Nixon vs. Kennedy [2nd watch]
1x13 The Wheel [season finale; 2nd watch]
Don's pitch to Kodak is stunning, one of the best moments of the series and possibly a great TV moment too.
So, with season one fully caught up on, it's on to season two (only two weeks behind the UK airings). Finally, resolutions for those cliffhangers!

Fiction

The Gruffalo's Child by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
The only (so far) sequel to the ubiquitous Gruffalo -- written five years ago, making it equidistant between the original now... which I read a week ago today. Oh, look how well I've timed this! (All by accident.)
It does what all good sequels to do: takes elements from the original as a basis, but develops them in a new way. For example, the original saw a little mouse telling tales of the fictional Gruffalo, who turned out to be real; here, the Gruffalo's child goes in search of the Big Bad Mouse, who isn't real. Yep, it's pretty much the children's picture book equivalent of the Terminator turning good in T2.

Articles

Michel Gondry To Direct Green Hornet by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire)
Gondry (he of Eternal Sunshine... and Be Kind Rewind, amongst even quirkier efforts) directing a superhero film starring Seth Rogen and Stephen Chow? This will be interesting...

Pirates' Verbinski Gets A Clue by Emily Phillips
(from Empire)
Who'd've thought Cluedo (or Clue for any yankee readers) would inspire two film adaptations?! And why isn't 13 Dead End Drive well enough known to get one, hm? That'd be fab. So, the first one wasn't renamed for the UK; will this one be? Cluedo is the original title after all...
The real burning issue, however: will it be based on the original, proper version of the game, or the 2008 'reinvention' travesty? We can only hope the former, but, having learnt of the latter's existence, I fear that is the impetus behind this new film.

Watchmen - Film Review by Todd Gilchrist
(from h)
A faintly scholarly review, which does come to this very interesting conclusion:
"Watchmen, overall, is for everyone. It’s for people who love the graphic novels, and for people who have never read them. It’s for people who are sick to death of cinematic self-seriousness, and for people who want their movies to be treated more seriously. It’s for people who love movies, and for people who appreciate film. Watchmen is a benchmark achievement, a high water mark for adaptations, and an imperfect entry in the canon of comic-based cinema all at the same time. In other words, it defines the difference between a movie and a film: not merely entertainment, but the articulation of real concepts and ideas, which are effective in their exploration, even if in some cases it’s to the exclusion of more immediate gratification."

TV

Mad Men
1x11 Indian Summer [2nd watch]

The One Show
(24/2/09 edition)
Featuring Patrick Stewart bravely facing down a stream of Star Trek references, while simultaneously being far, far too clever for the presenters (or, I think, the crew) to understand. Only the ever-wonderful Hardeep Singh Kohli came close to him.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles: Watchmen reviews

Today sees the first proper reviews of Watchmen coming in (it's out a week Friday), and here's a summary of a few of 'em...

from CHUD.com by Devin Faraci
The longest and most in-depth review, which is why I've popped it at the top. Mainly aimed at people familiar with the book, I think, so perhaps best to skip it if you haven't. On the other hand, in its completeness it's possibly the best of all these reviews (certainly the most positive), and the truly spoilertastic bits have to be highlighted to be read.

from Empire by Ian Nathan
Some have said this review sounds too negative for the 4 stars awarded. Pay attention and read between the lines, though, and it's clear that Nathan enjoyed the film but is explaining why it hasn't hit 5 stars more than why it's made it up to 4. "A smart, stylish, decent adaptation, if low on accessibility for the non-convert."

from Total Film by Jonathan Crocker
'The Other Film Magazine', as I call it, give an equally favourable review. "Uncompromising, uncommercial and unique."

from Times Online by Kevin Maher
Favourable again (most are at the minute, though we'll reach a dissenter soon) -- "a movie that is reaching utterly beyond the confines of its genre." Though he does try to claim it's "the first attempt to make a truly post-adolescent comic book movie". Firstly, he means "superhero movie"; secondly, I'm not convinced it is.

from Mirror.co.uk by Steve Anglesey
"10 reasons you’ve got to watch Watchmen", which makes for a different perspective. Interestingly, lists the sex scene as the #2 reason to see the film, while everyone else dislikes it. Including our final review for the day...

from News of the World by Robbie Collin
Remember that dissenter? Well, here he is. Is he right? Well, I don't know, obviously, but the review itself sounds as braindead as you'd expect from this paper. With both Empire and Total Film -- and an increasing array of others -- disagreeing, I'd wager he's as stupid as he sounds.

For a comprehensive, constantly updated summary, you must of course keep your eyes glued to Rotten Tomatoes. As I post this there are far too few reviews for a definitive Tomatometer score, but it's a solid start nonetheless.

Check out some more Watchmen news from today here.

Articles

25 Greatest Active Film Directors
(from EW.com)
An unusual list. Yes, lots of them definitely deserve their place, but some probably don't. And is that the right order? At the very least, it makes for an interesting read.

Ratings: Oscars up, Dollhouse down by Mandi Bierly
(from EW.com)
Yay for those big awards; oh dear (already) for Joss Whedon's latest effort. Apparently it's not so good anyhow.

Plus, two stories about a certain huge film that's just on the horizon...

Watchmen World Premiere Report by Emily Phillips
(from Empire)
In London! Yeah baby! And wouldya look at that red yellow carpet...

Zack Snyder says Watchmen DVD will be 3 hours 25 minutes! by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub
(from Collider.com)
Some fairly concrete details on the long-confirmed (double meaning there!) Watchmen DVD releases. Essentially, we should get the Director's Cut in the first DVD/Blu-ray release, and the 'Ultimate Cut' (the DC with Tales of the Black Freighter and a tad more live action footage) later in '09. Sounds just super to me.

Also today in articles, the first few reviews for Watchmen. Check them out here.

TV

81st Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars; mentioned today because I'm in the UK, which means they started at 1am. Very few real surprises, which is no bad thing in the case of Kate Winslet or Slumdog Millionare. Shame for Mickey Rourke, though at least Sean Penn used his speech well.

Law & Order: UK
1x01 Care
Not being a fan of the US original (I've seen two, maybe three, episodes, but never gotten into it), I can't compare this to its inspiration beyond saying that a lot of the superficial elements (e.g. the opening voiceover, the unusual editing style) are intact. As a drama in and of itself, however, it's not bad. It certainly rattles past, aided by its unusual structure, and felt more like a glossy US drama than your typical British fare. God only knows if that means it'll be a success or a flop.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Mad Men
1x10 The Long Weekend [2nd watch]

TV

Mad Men
1x07 Red in the Face [2nd watch]
1x08 The Hobo Code [2nd watch]
1x09 Shoot [2nd watch]
There are so many great things about Mad Men. Today's favourite: the put-downs. Also, Betty Draper shooting her neighbour's pigeons. You have to see it to get it.

Oscars 2009: Live from the Red Carpet
And so Sky's coverage begins. And, in fact, is ongoing as this is posted, because the actual ceremony doesn't start until 1am over here. So there's an hour of red carpet to go, and the ceremony itself will be part of tomorrow's updates... or just sometime after midnight, if I have thoughts to share before then.

Articles

CGI Team Creates Realistic Oscar For Michael Bay
(from The Onion)
"A leading team of CGI experts hand-selected by blockbuster producer and director Michael Bay has pushed the limits of what can be accomplished with special effects and digital imaging by creating a computer- generated best-director Oscar for the 43-year-old filmmaker... CGI technology is still decades away from making an Academy Award win for Rush Hour 3 director Brett Ratner look plausible."

100 Films update

It's been a long, long time since the last 100 Films update -- closing in on three months, in fact -- and the day of the Oscars seemed an appropriate time to finally post this. Not that anything up for a major award is included. Still, the long gap means there are a huge pile of reviews to cover.

This update, then, I'll be rounding off 2008, dipping the first toe into 2009, and finally (finally!) finishing 2007.

First, the 'new' reviews, being those from 2008 and 2009:

24: Redemption (Extended Edition) (2008)

The Aristocrats (2005)

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Becoming Jane (2007)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Chicago (2002)

Clockwise (1986)

Cube (1997)

Cube²: Hypercube (2002)

Cube Zero (2004)

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Enchanted (2007)

The Green Mile (1999)

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Madagascar (2005)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

Russian Ark (2002)

Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Son of Paleface (1952)

Swing Time (1936)

Ultimate Avengers (2006)

Ultimate Avengers II (2006)

White Christmas (1954)

Also, the following shorts...

Gasman (1997)

Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)

Plus, thoughts on the Cube trilogy and what makes a film a film?

Secondly (well, kinda fourthly), the last of the re-posted reviews from 2007:

Annie Hall (1977)

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

The Crowd (1928)

Fantômas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine (1913)

Fantômas: Juve Versus Fantômas (1913)

Goodfellas (1990)

The King of Comedy (1983)

Manhattan (1979)

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Mean Streets (1973)

The Naked City (1948)

New York Stories (1989)

The Paleface (1948)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Traffic in Souls (1913)

And finally, some more shorts...

Manhatta (1921)

À Propos de Nice (1930)

Skyscraper Symphony (1929)

From here on it's just '09 reviews then. Which I'm rather behind on; and I'm nowhere near where I need to be to hit 100 by December either -- at my current rate, I won't even make it to 40...

TV

Lark Rise to Candleford
2x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Let's Dance for Comic Relief
Episode 1 (of 4)
It's for charity, you can't begrudge it too much. Besides which, Michael McIntyre was an inspired choice for a judge (I hope he's on it every week) and Robert Webb's rendition of Flashdance was priceless. And to top it off there was the video for Nessa & Bryn's Barry Islands in the Stream -- fantastic.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Poetry

a selection by Carol Ann Duffy:

Mrs Beast (from The World's Wife)

Anon (from Feminine Gospels)

Kipling (from Answering Back)

As part of my reading of new (to me) poetry (mentioned ages ago), I've acquired three books by Duffy, staple of GCSE and A-Level English lit and beloved by critics. This is thanks to the ever-wonderful Book People, who offered this selection of three books for a total cost lower than buying one individually. Hurrah for the Book People!

The main reason I bought it was for the highly intriguingAnswering Back collection, in which 50 poets have written new poems in response to classics (though don't expect to have actually heard of a great deal of the new authors or that many of the 'classic' poems). Duffy's Kipling is in answer to the Nation's Favourite Poem, If--... and isn't even close to being as good, or as memorable. Anon, on the other hand, is a much better piece on a famous poetry author.

These few are ones I've read as a randomish initial selection; I'll be reading the collections in full later.

Articles

30 Novels Worth Buying For the Cover Alone by Beth Carswell
(from AbeBooks.co.uk)
Can't say I agree with many of them, but, to someone who loves packaging as much as I do, it's a nice idea.

RT Predicts the Oscars by Jen Yamato
(from Rotten Tomatoes)
As the day nears, more and more sites will be predicting things (if they haven't already, that is). RT's justifications -- and that they've made a prediction for every category -- make it a more interesting read than most.

Why Alan Moore Hates Comic-Book Movies by Sam Ashurst
(from Total Film)
And all sorts of ranting about other stuff too. Depending on your perspective, what he has to say is either quite sensible or a bit loopy. Personally, I land somewhere in between -- his points about why America feels the need to create superheroes while the rest of the world doesn't seem pretty valid.

New Zealand Internet blackout

A reminder for the weekend...

Join New Zealand Internet blackout
protest against insane copyright law