TV

How I Met Your Mother
2x05 World's Greatest Couple

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x03 (15/10/09 edition)
Alex James looked nervous as anything, but actually did a great job as this week's guest host of another hilarious edition. Those viewers who are trying not to enjoy Buzzcocks now that Amstell's left are really missing out.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ross Noble's Australian Trip
Part 1 (of 6)
The frequently surreal comedian conducts a tour of Australia on his motorbike, in a cross between the Ewan McGregor/Charley Boorman series and, well, any recorded stand-up gig. Like most of his work, it's a mix of the hilarious and the lacklustre.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Sarah Jane Adventures
3x02 Prisoner of the Judoon Part Two
A strong second part, showing off even more of the things that made the first so good. Next week's looks promisingly spooky too.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Twitter and Facebook outrage over Jan Moir's Stephen Gately article by Mercedes Bunz
(from PDA at guardian.co.uk)
The Daily Mail post an even more hate-filled and ridiculous article than usual, and face the wrath of the Internet for it. If that doesn't sound too scary, it's resulted in over 6,000 complaints to the PCC, in the process crashing their website. Read the article for more details.

Why there is nothing 'natural' about the life of Jan Moir by Anton Vowl
(from The enemies of reason)
And also this one, which is an excellent rebuttal to Moir's stupidity.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
2x03 Brunch
2x04 Ted Mosby: Architect

Last Chance to See
Part 4 Komodo Dragon
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Sarah Jane Adventures
2x12 Enemy of the Bane Part Two [season finale]
3x01 Prisoner of the Judoon Part One
Despite reaching the end of SJA season two way back in December, I never got round to the final episode. And knowing the new series was coming for the past few weeks, I still didn't get to it. Until today, of course, with season three just beginning.
The first part of the new season was excellent, incidentally. Looking glorious in HD, Liz Sladen was given a real chance to shine once possessed by the Evil Alien Type, and the Judoon made for some brilliant humour. If the whole season is up to this standard then SJA is now better than ever.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 57 - 72 [the end]

Dead and Alive -- and, by extension, the whole of the Dean Koontz's Frankenstein trilogy (probably) -- reaches its conclusion. And it seems somewhat rushed, as if Koontz got fed up with his creation and its multitudinous plot threads so just brought about the quickest ending he felt he could get away with once he crossed the 300-page mark. It's not wholly flawed -- in fact, much of it is very good -- it's just incredibly brief compared to the long, winding, frequent-aside-taking style of the rest of the novel (and series).

My final impression is that Koontz should have either condensed the whole trilogy into a reasonable-length, reasonably-plotted storyline (i.e. lose the asides and the waffle), or expanded all his various ideas into proper, fully-developed motifs and arcs, rather than discarding each after their one over-written scene. As it stands, the novel has its moments, but doesn't live up to their full potential.

Koontz also concludes the novel (and, probably, the series) with both a cliffhanger and a fully-resolved-sounding final chapter. Will there be more or won't there? Maybe he just wants the option. Maybe he's planning a sequel trilogy -- these three make such a connected trilogy that a lone fourth book would seem odd. I suppose those of us who've enjoyed the series to date (more or less) will have to wait and see...

Edit: After some moderately thorough web-searching, I found just one tiny article that confirms the series will continue and it shall indeed be a new trilogy. (Even the series' official website implies Dead and Alive is the final end and makes no mention of books four to six. To be fair however, the news story is only dated today.)

The most relevant details: "The first new volume, Lost Souls, will be published in May 2010 and begins a new story cycle that will continue with the two subsequent books, to be released in May 2011 and May 2012... Lost Souls will pick up where Dead and Alive left off, with the setting moving to the American West and a new villain arriving on the scene."

Articles

Ridley Scott to remake C4's Red Riding by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
"the film will move the action from Britain to the US."
Missing the point much?

TV

Argumental
2x07 (13/10/09 edition)
Series two resumes after a five-month gap (as suspected). Rufus Hound made an argument that certainly showed he has some balls (ho ho!)

FlashForward
1x03 137 Sekunden
I can see why this episode prompted TV.com to suggest we all just give up on FlashForward now. It's riddled with so many holes, inconsistencies and plain old flaws of logic that I don't even feel capable of listing them here. Disheartening.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Generation Kill
Part 2 The Cradle of Civilization
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

House: An Insider's Guide
Sky1's attempt at a season six preview. Bit of nothing, really.

TV

House
5x23 Under My Skin
5x24 Both Sides Now [season finale]
Twist-tastic closing episodes, Under My Skin showing off Hugh Laurie's finest detox acting and Both Sides Now managing a genuinely interesting Case of the Week at the same time as letting the arc plots take over more than ever. Still, it did make for a damn fine episode, with a highly unusual ending. Looking forward to the much-hyped feature-length season six opener.

How I Met Your Mother
2x02 The Scorpion and the Toad

Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
1x05 Succubi: The Dawn's Early Light
A handy BBC HD repeat means I can finally catch the last two episodes of Kröd, only four months after I last saw it (I can't even remember why I missed these last two episodes any more).

TV

Emma
Part 2 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Harper's Island
1x11 Splash
Now that was a better twist. Last week's reveal has certainly rejuvenated the series though, providing one of the best episodes. Next week, it all comes to an end...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Harper's Island Unsolved
Half-hour behind-the-scenes special looking back over the first ten episodes, which rather makes you wonder why BBC Three didn't just wait until before episode thirteen and cover the whole series. Still, it was a surprisingly decent effort, in spite of Fearne Cotton's inane commentary.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Life
Part 1 Challenges of Life
The BBC's latest natural history epic, not that Damian Lewis cop show. Looks stunning in HD.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Life On Location
Part 1 Ice Alliance
Behind the scenes of the BBC's latest natural history epic.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

House
5x21 Saviors
5x22 House Divided
The first episode here is nothing to write home about, but the second was brilliant, the return of a familiar face -- though in an unusual way -- making for an excellent twist that works magnificently. The only downside is some poor CGI, the opening shot to Saviors looking no better than a bad computer game and the fire in House Divided having all the reality of a child's painting. That said, it did make for a hilarious scene in the morgue -- not something you see very often. Except in House.

How I Met Your Mother
1x22 Come On [season finale]
2x01 Where Were We?

Merlin
2x04 Lancelot and Guinevere
Wetter than a rainstorm on a river with a wet blanket floating down it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Graham Norton Show
6x01 (5/10/09 edition)
Worries that Graham would be neutered by his move to BBC One prove to be unfounded, thankfully, but the show has been affected in other ways. Primarily, the number of guests: yes, he technically had two in 30 minutes before, while this new format is 50 minutes; but the uncut editions lasted 45 and worked fine with two guests, so upping the number to four just crowds things. Jonathan Ross has lots of guests because he simply interviews them; Graham does lots of silly audience things and other asides, and they're lessened by the too-many-guests issue. Maybe things will settle as the series progresses...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

House
5x20 Simple Explanation
The one in which you-know-who does you-know-what (if you've seen it, you'll surely remember; if not, I won't spoil it). It's another in a run of beautifully complex episodes for House -- complex in terms of its regular characters and their lives rather than the Case of the Week. Again, it marks this year out as an exceptional one for the series. Also worth noting in this episode is the way it's been shot, gaining an unusually cold, grey palette after Foreman and Thirteen discover... well, you know.

Films

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982/2007)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Numbering this may be bending the rules slightly (I've seen the 1992 Director's Cut before). But come on, this is Blade Runner -- in its final form after 25 years! The rules are justifiably bent.

DVD Extras

Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner
[1st half]
At just over 3½ hours long, this is a seriously in depth look at the making of Blade Runner, found on disc two of both the DVD and Blu-ray releases (in each case, the disc's a DVD). You'd think at that length it would be complete, but the five-disc editions of the film include the same again in further featurettes and interviews -- not to mention the four audio commentaries, 46 minutes of deleted scenes and five cuts of the film.
The four segments that make up this first half cover screenwriting & funding, casting, pre-production (with a focus on design) and some of the filming and atmosphere on set.

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 51 - 56
Pieces move into place as the final end draws near. They do an awful lot of moving into place though...

Articles

Barry Letts (1925-2009) by Anthony Weight
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Sad news indeed as one of the key figures in the history of Doctor Who passes away (ironically, the same day as his autobiography was announced). Letts worked on Who as a director, producer, writer, executive producer, novelist and DVD commentator, and in his time guided the programme through significant change in the Jon Pertwee era, helped create Sarah Jane Smith, and cast Tom Baker in the lead role. His influence can't be underestimated.

TV

House
5x18 Here Kitty
5x19 Locked In
First, a cat that can predict when people are going to die; second, House remakes The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (but with a happy ending). The writers are certainly experimenting a lot more this season, perhaps a bit tired of identikit Case of the Week episodes -- even if the majority seem to involve dialysis, brain surgery or both. not to mention the constant quitting and rehiring of team members. Whatever the reasons -- and in spite of these similarities -- it's paying off: this season has contained several of the show's best-ever instalments.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x02 (8/10/09 edition)
Rhod Gilbert takes the chair this week, proving himself to be a different but adept host. Not a bad choice if they want a permanent replacement next series, then.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 47 - 50

Articles

Defying Gravity Press Pack
(from BBC Press Office)
"Defying Gravity was inspired by the BBC drama-documentary series Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets broadcast on BBC One in 2004."
I loved Space Odyssey and always thought it would work brilliantly as an extended series, so I'm very much looking forward to this. It's not revealed in the press pack, but the BBC's Programme Information confirms it starts on Wednesday 21st October, with a double bill, on BBC Two and BBC HD.

Hacker refused extradition appeal

from BBC News.

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon has been refused permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to the US. The High Court ruled the case was not of "general public importance" to go to the UK's highest court.

Mr McKinnon is accused of breaking into the US's military computer system. Mr McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, insists he was just seeking evidence of UFOs... Mr McKinnon faces 60 years in prison if convicted in the US. His lawyers have said they may now take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. They argue that extradition of their client would have "disastrous consequences" for his health, including possible psychosis and suicide.

Mr McKinnon had challenged the refusal of Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to put him on trial in the UK on charges of computer misuse - which would have allowed him to avoid extradition. Giving the court's decision on Friday, Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, who heard Mr McKinnon's latest appeal earlier this year, said extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response" to his alleged offending...

Reacting after the latest ruling, his mother Janis Sharp said no other country would offer its citizens to the US so readily "as sacrificial lambs" just to safeguard the special political relationship. She said: "To use my desperately vulnerable son in this way is despicable, immoral and devoid of humanity."

Mr McKinnon's solicitor, Karen Todner, said... "Why is our government so inhumane as to allow this to happen to someone, particularly someone with Aspergers, a form of autism? This is the wholesale destruction and bullying of a small individual by the United States and now our own government. Our extradition treaty with the US is unfair and prejudicial to UK citizens and should be repealed or amended immediately."

Sabina Frediani, campaigns co-ordinator for Liberty, which supported Mr McKinnon's case, said: "Never were justice and the law so out of sync as in the case of Britain's rotten extradition arrangements."

The Tories also criticised the UK's extradition arrangements with the US. Backbench MP David Davis said: "The reason this decision has been arrived at is because the British government created a set of laws and agreements which, masquerading as anti-terror laws, actually disadvantaged a whole range of British citizens. This is why the courts find themselves having to dispatch this young man to America, when he should face a proper trial in British courts. It is long past time that this travesty of justice was put right."

Read the full article here.

Poem of the Week: A Good Poem

by Roger McGough

You may have noticed (though, probably not) that the once-regular Poem of the Week has disappeared for the past couple of months. This is primarily due to my general disillusionment with poetry following a Creative Writing Masters degree -- whatever they might try to teach or tell you, it seems the 'poetry establishment' (if there is such a thing) is just as elitist and pretentious as it appears from the outside. I had no aspirations to 'break in' to poetry, but I was prepared to enjoy reading and writing it for my own entertainment. Both of these activities have been damaged, rather than encouraged, by my course.

As such, Poem of the Week is no more. But here's one final entry; one that captures some of my feelings about poetry, not only in its content but also with its light, readable style. There's a reason poets like McGough are well-known and well-loved beyond just the world of poetry itself, and perhaps some of the people stuck in that world would do well to remember it.

I like a good poem
one with lots of fighting
in it. Blood, and the
clanging of armour. Poems

against Scotland are good,
and poems that defeat
the French with crossbows.
I don't like poems that

aren't about anything.
Sonnets are wet and
a waste of time.
Also poems that don't

know how to rhyme.
If I was a poem
I'd play football and
get picked for England.

Cheerio.

new post at 100 Films

Alien vs Predator - Part 3

And that’s it. Except not for long, because Robert Rodriguez is working on a Predator continuation/reboot, not to mention the much-discussed Ridley Scott reboot/remake/prequel of Alien.

Read the full post at 100 Films.