TV

ATP World Tour Finals
Final
Two worthy players, but great to see Federer win in his 100th career final, and break the record for number of wins at these year-end finals in the process.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Cruise of the Gods
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
BBC TV movie from 2002 about a fan cruise for a forgotten '80s sci-fi show, starring a pre-Little Britain David Walliams, pre-Gavin & Stacey James Corden and post-Marion and Geoff but pre-anything much else Rob Brydon. And Steve Coogan too. And Russell Brand has one line -- not as a cameo, just as a bit player. This is long before he got anywhere.
It's really very good, actually. Liked it so much I'm going to bend my rules slightly and include it in 100 Films (hence the number up above. Just in case you hadn't guessed.)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Onion News Network
1x01 Enter the FactZone
The American spiritual successor to The Day Today (which I've still not seen) comes to Sky Arts after beginning back in January in the US. But that's OK -- it's about The News but not news, so it's not in the least bit topical. Very funny though.

Pointless
3x45 (15/11/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 14

An under-rated sci-fi gem

Oh, there are loads that could go here! But I choose this one:

Ultraviolet

No, not that crappy 2006 movie, but a British miniseries from 1998 starring Jack Davenport From This Life and Coupling And Pirates Of The Caribbean and Idris Elba From The Wire and Luther and written & directed by Joe Ahearne Who Directed Half Of Doctor Who's First Season Back.

It was about vampires & that, but as you can see it was before the whole current craze took off -- indeed, Buffy would only have fairly recently started in the US at the time, and even that some would say predates the current vogue that bloodsuckers are experiencing.

But even for that, it took an alternative view of the creatures, a very technological and modern view. I haven't watched it for years but my God was it good. I really ought to watch it again. Nonetheless, I think it deserves to be more widely remembered as a classic of the genre.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

this week on 100 Films

2 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Holiday (1938)

not the funniest of comedies — though I did think it was funny — instead hitting a level of dramatic/character interest that I didn’t predict. I think it’s more a personal favourite than an objective Great Film (but then, one might argue, what is?), so the best I can do is encourage you to seek it out

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Prince of Persia is analogous to an average entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, only without the craziness and humour provided by Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. This probably explains Persia’s relative lack of success: Pirates began with an exceptionally good blockbuster flick, and has since coasted on goodwill and affection for Depp’s character; Persia has neither of these benefits.

More next Sunday.