TV

Argumental
2x10 (3/11/09 edition)

Defying Gravity
1x04 H2IK
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
2x16 Stuff
The episode I accidentally skipped. Not that it matters, and it seems this links more directly into the next one anyhow.

The Sarah Jane Adventures
3x07 The Eternity Trap Part One
Ooh, spooky! Some kids'll be having nightmares tonight.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Buffy creator bids for Terminator
(from BBC News)
Ah Joss, funny as ever. It's sometimes hard to tell if the journalist writing the article has twigged it's a joke...

new review at 100 Films

Babel (2006)

The quickest way to assess Babel is to say that it is about something — or, About Something. The plots, such as they are, aren’t really the point; nor is how they connect, or what chronology they actually occurred in... Naturally, because it is About Something, the Something it is About isn’t made blindingly clear, though there are many contenders

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 17 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Charley Boorman: By Any Means - Sydney to Tokyo
Part 1 (of 6)
No detail on the preparation? No running vehicle count? No Russ accompanying? Have to say, so far, series two is lacking some of the first's charm.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Generation Kill
Part 5 A Burning Dog
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x06 (4/11/09 edition)
Winkleman's a poor host, of course, but this episode did manage to pick up once it got going.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ross Noble's Australian Trip
Part 6 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Spooks
8x01 Episode 1
Over-written, over-directed, over-acted, and over-wrought -- makes for a distinctly underwhelming return for the spy series. Must do better, or the whole show should be retired.
(Incidentally, with episode titles now turning up on Wikipedia, I've updated all my entries for series 7. And, as predicted here, this is the first time I've watched an episode of Spooks on its first broadcast since 1x02 in May 2002.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Gibbons Gabs
and
Gibbons Galore
(from WatchmenComicMovie.com)
Nice interview with Watchmen co-creator/illustrator Dave Gibbons. In part one he discusses the film, its reception and the various cuts, while part is a general grabbag of broadly related topics.

new review at 100 Films

Eastern Promises (2007)

director David Cronenberg widened his appeal somewhat with the excellent crime thriller A History of Violence. Here he reunites with star Viggo Mortensen for another grim tale, switching the bright searing heat of the American Midwest for the rain-drenched nighttime streets of our fair capital. But despite some similarities in plot and theme, Eastern Promises failed to engage me in the same way as the earlier effort

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 18 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x01 Episode 1
As hit and miss as sketch shows always are, but with a good enough hit ratio. There are too many wonderfully accurate impersonations to mention, but Stephenson's uncanny Davina McCall takes the biscuit. A decent impression show has been missing from the schedule for a while -- this fills the void nicely.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

It's Only a Theory
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Russell Howard's Good News
1x02 (29/10/09 edition, extended repeat)
[You can only see the shorter version on iPlayer.]

DVD Extras

Deleted Scene on Hilary and Jackie
It's a shame this doesn't come with a director's introduction/commentary, because it's a beautifully shot little sequence that looks great. Perhaps that's why, though -- the swish camerawork distracts too much from the point of the scene?

Articles

A-list stars honour Jonathan Ross
(from BBC News)
What the headline misses out is that Ross was given a music award. "What?" I hear you say. "He's not a musician!" Don't worry, it all makes sense (pretty much...) when you read the full story.

new review at 100 Films

For Your Consideration (2006)

The team who basically invented the spoof documentary finally taking on their own industry? Brilliant! But it feels like they felt the same way and rushed into production without properly thinking it through. Which, in its own way, is rather ironic.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 19 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

FlashForward
1x05 Give Me Some Truth
FlashForward hits new heights of lunacy with a Big Dramatic Shoot-Out set to some chart-bothering pop-rock. Except it's '80s chart-bothering pop-rock. I just can't tell if it's meant to be a comic bad-'80s-movie-style gunfight or if the producers actually thought this was a cool idea. Either way, it just seems laughable for all the wrong reasons.
Oh dear.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Have I Got News For You
38x03 (30/10/09 edition; uncut repeat).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Ripley's Game (2002)
[#67 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Ebert numbers this among his Great Movies. That may be over-egging it a bit, but it's certainly underrated.

TV

Criminal Justice
2x03 Part 3
2x04 Part 4
2x05 Part 5 [season finale]

The Graham Norton Show
6x04 (26/10/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock
Originally broadcast sometime last year, Merton co-writes, presents and directs this look at Hitchcock's early life and British films. It's a brilliant piece: analytical and informative, but also incredibly playful. Despite being known as the Master of Suspense, Hitch was incessantly humourous -- one of the reasons his films are so well regarded is this contrast -- and one imagines he would delight in the occasionally irreverent style Merton employs here. Most documentaries are watch-once contains for information, but the intelligence and entertainment Merton brings to this make it worth seeking out and, at some point, seeking out again.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

The Fry debacle by @brumplum
(from Plum's plums)
Remember yesterday's Stephen Fry story? Here's the (reasonable, I should point out) response from the guy who 'insulted' him. There certainly has been a media overreaction. (And you'll be pleased to know they've made up and Stephen's still on twitter).

Review of The Complete Fritz Lang Mabuse Boxset DVD by Clydefro Jones
(from DVD Times)
Comprehensive review of Masters of Cinema's excellent-looking new box set. Lengthy, but fascinating.

TV

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

Articles

With the next Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars (brilliant title), screening for the press yesterday, the net is naturally awash with stories relating to it. And quite right too. Here are a few of the best/most interesting/etc that I've seen...

Be warned, all articles contain spoilers.

Ten Waters of Mars teasers by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
Does what it says on the tin, and naturally is spectacularly spoilersome.

Transcript: Doctor Who press conference by Neil Wilkes & Philippa Warr (from Digital Spy)
and
Doctor Who: It’s Time by Ian Wylie (from Life of Wylie)
Both claim to offer a full transcript of the post-screening press conference. They're similar, but still amusingly different, in some cases missing whole questions (and answers, obviously). Clearly journalists have a different definition of "full" to the rest of us... but then that should be no surprise.

And in Who DVD news...

The Mind of Evil In Colour (Just Not Yet) and More! by Graeme
(from The Doctor Who Blog)
Some good news, some bad there -- I seriously hope "no incomplete story is currently on the DVD release schedule" means "in the immediate future", because there are some brilliant and very releasable incomplete stories left. Even if they're scheduled for November 2013 (when the range will end) to allow time for animated reconstructions to become viable, they deserve a release.

And in other news entirely...

Blog sparks mass council walkout
(from BBC News)
Hurrah for the power of the blog!

Fry ponders leaving Twitter site
(from BBC News)
Because of one stupid comment, the article implies, but it seems to have been building for a while -- too many news sources seem to think Twitter's Opinion and Stephen Fry's Opinion are synonymous, and that understandably irritates him.

Paranormal Activity breaks Witch record by Tim Parks
(from Digital Spy)
"Paranormal Activity has surpassed The Blair Witch Project to become the most profitable movie ever made. The film, directed by Oren Peli on a budget of $15,000 (£9,059)... has now made $65.1m (£39.5m) and has reaped a 433,900% return on its initial investment"

new review at 100 Films

Saw IV (2007)

After the overly gory third film, Saw IV returns to the franchise’s roots by playing more like a thriller than a horror film — even more so than the previous instalments, one might argue, as aside from a couple of jumps and a few instances of gore, the story and its key sequences move forward via police investigation, endless flashbacks and copious twists. The Saw franchise should be applauded for trying to be more than just another slasher series, but needs to learn the value of restraint in other areas.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 19 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

The Armstrong and Miller Show
2x02 Episode 2
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Criminal Justice
2x01 Part 1
2x02 Part 2
Finally catching up with this. It's grim and depressing, as promised, but also utterly brilliant. Marvellous performances all round, particularly from Maxine Peake.

How I Met Your Mother
2x17 Arrivederci, Fiero
Oops, skipped one again. Fortunately this was entirely standalone.

The Sarah Jane Adventures
3x06 The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith Part Two
Another brilliant episode -- SJA is really excelling this series -- with a moving send-off to David T.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

High Anxiety (1977)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
On 4HD, though the D didn't look very H to me.

Articles

The Thief of Bagdad (1940) by Roger Ebert
(from Great Movies at rogerebert.com)
Lovely review/article on 100 Films' #66.