An Interview with Scott Allie
(from Stakes & Salvation)
Allie is the editor of Buffy Season Eight. Not a hugely interesting interview to be honest, especially as it's over a year old; unless you're really into exactly how Season Eight works behind the scenes.
Ron Glass announces A Shepherd’s Tale comic, reveals (some) secrets
(from SerenityStuff)
Slightly old news this (like, eight months) but I've only just come across it. As the prospect of a sequel to Serenity becomes increasingly unlikely, it seems the 'verse will be continuing in comic-form. Hopefully this third miniseries can improve on the first (I haven't read the second yet, though will when it hits tpb). It certainly looks set to be the best yet, potentially answering the largest remaining question(s) left hanging: who is Shepherd Book, and what is his history? I'm certifiably excited.
Whedon Can’t Get Enough Serenity by Wil Moss
(from Publishers Weekly)
Another article from 2007 (clearly no one's had anything to say in the last year), in which Joss discusses why Serenity would never work as an ongoing comic and why there aren't tie-in novels. The 'verse is still one great big missed opportunity, and it's a shame there's no suitable way for Joss to continue his larger story -- after all, a show that he was thinking would run for 150+ episodes has been reduced to 14, a movie, and three (standalone) comics. Hardly balanced, is it.
Monday, 8 September 2008
No Preacher either
Mark Steven Johnson: No Preacher on HBO
(from Comics Continuum)
No news for ages, then this.
"We were budgeting and everything and it was getting really close to going," Johnson said, "but the new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial. Which, of course, is kind of the point!" And I was so looking forward to it too. Wankers.
The article mentions the prospect of movie(s) -- "I've heard someone is in the process of getting the rights to turn it into a feature film... I hope it happens as a series of movies as one movie couldn't do it justice" -- but the script that was knocking around a few years back (by the comic's writer, Garth Ennis) wasn't great and was very much a single-film thing. So while it was exciting, the prospect of a full, faithful TV series-y adaptation was a dream come true. Of course, it was ultimately too good to be true.
(from Comics Continuum)
No news for ages, then this.
"We were budgeting and everything and it was getting really close to going," Johnson said, "but the new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial. Which, of course, is kind of the point!" And I was so looking forward to it too. Wankers.
The article mentions the prospect of movie(s) -- "I've heard someone is in the process of getting the rights to turn it into a feature film... I hope it happens as a series of movies as one movie couldn't do it justice" -- but the script that was knocking around a few years back (by the comic's writer, Garth Ennis) wasn't great and was very much a single-film thing. So while it was exciting, the prospect of a full, faithful TV series-y adaptation was a dream come true. Of course, it was ultimately too good to be true.
Buffy on(line), Firefly off
Immerse Yourself in a Virtual Buffyverse by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
"there’s a Buffy MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) on the way... The ground-breaking MMOG will offer a new experience for gamers, allowing them to play it either as a fully immersive 3D environment or as a Flash-based 2D game, where both types of players can interact."
Interesting idea. As much as I love Buffy, I wouldn't bother... though the easy-sounding 2D Flash version is kinda tempting, if it's free... Biggest question: will it follow the canon of the Season Eight comics?
Sadder news, however, is that "the previously-announced Firefly on-line game is now on hold." As dedicated as the Firefly fanbase is, I never believed it was large enough or gamery enough to support an MMOG, though maybe the sheer quality could have attracted non-fan gamers on the basis of it being a free-roaming space adventure? Who can say, as it'll probably (though kinda unsurprisingly) never see the light of day.
Shame, cos that one I would have played.
(from SFX)
"there’s a Buffy MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) on the way... The ground-breaking MMOG will offer a new experience for gamers, allowing them to play it either as a fully immersive 3D environment or as a Flash-based 2D game, where both types of players can interact."
Interesting idea. As much as I love Buffy, I wouldn't bother... though the easy-sounding 2D Flash version is kinda tempting, if it's free... Biggest question: will it follow the canon of the Season Eight comics?
Sadder news, however, is that "the previously-announced Firefly on-line game is now on hold." As dedicated as the Firefly fanbase is, I never believed it was large enough or gamery enough to support an MMOG, though maybe the sheer quality could have attracted non-fan gamers on the basis of it being a free-roaming space adventure? Who can say, as it'll probably (though kinda unsurprisingly) never see the light of day.
Shame, cos that one I would have played.
Sunday, 7 September 2008
TV
By Any Means
Part 1 (of 6)
Charley Boorman begins another round-the-world trip, this time Ewan McGregor-less, as he travels from Ireland down to Sydney by land- and sea-based methods appropriate to each region he passes through, specifically trying to avoid commercial flights. As per his two series with McGregor, the opening episode is half about the preparation for such an undertaking (an important phase that most travel shows ignore) and half about the opening leg of the journey, through Britain.
Dexter
2x03 An Inconvenient Lie
One of the best episodes yet. This season is shaping up very nicely.
God, the Devil and Bob
1x09 Bob Gets Greedy
1x10 There's Too Much Sex on TV
Have I Got News For You
35x07 (30/5/08 edition) [2nd watch]
Have I Got News should be on all year round. With Alexander Armstrong hosting, this is an especially good edition.
Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights
A bit padded, to be honest, but entirely worth it for the stunning shots of the Northern Lights.
Part 1 (of 6)
Charley Boorman begins another round-the-world trip, this time Ewan McGregor-less, as he travels from Ireland down to Sydney by land- and sea-based methods appropriate to each region he passes through, specifically trying to avoid commercial flights. As per his two series with McGregor, the opening episode is half about the preparation for such an undertaking (an important phase that most travel shows ignore) and half about the opening leg of the journey, through Britain.
Dexter
2x03 An Inconvenient Lie
One of the best episodes yet. This season is shaping up very nicely.
God, the Devil and Bob
1x09 Bob Gets Greedy
1x10 There's Too Much Sex on TV
Have I Got News For You
35x07 (30/5/08 edition) [2nd watch]
Have I Got News should be on all year round. With Alexander Armstrong hosting, this is an especially good edition.
Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights
A bit padded, to be honest, but entirely worth it for the stunning shots of the Northern Lights.
Articles
Review of Maid Marian and Her Merry Men: Complete Series 1-4 Special Edition DVD by Eamonn McCusker
(from DVD Times)
I vaguelly remember Maid Marian... from when I was younger, but this review makes me desperately want to see it again. So this set is seriously tempting...
Merlin Press Pack
(from the BBC Press Office)
Including, on page two, some surprising info on how much outgoing Who supremo Russell T Davies was involved in shaping the series.
(from DVD Times)
I vaguelly remember Maid Marian... from when I was younger, but this review makes me desperately want to see it again. So this set is seriously tempting...
Merlin Press Pack
(from the BBC Press Office)
Including, on page two, some surprising info on how much outgoing Who supremo Russell T Davies was involved in shaping the series.
Saturday, 6 September 2008
TV
Dexter
2x02 Waiting to Exhale
Gilmore Girls
5x04 Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too
Taylor Doose's reign is no more! Hurrah! And with no real last minute attempt at eliciting sympathy for him either, as is the usual Gilmore fashion. Good riddance, Taylor... though I sadly doubt it's the last we've seen of him.
2x02 Waiting to Exhale
Gilmore Girls
5x04 Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too
Taylor Doose's reign is no more! Hurrah! And with no real last minute attempt at eliciting sympathy for him either, as is the usual Gilmore fashion. Good riddance, Taylor... though I sadly doubt it's the last we've seen of him.
Articles
Exclusive James Bond Footage Scheduled For ITV1 Movie Awards by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
Normally I couldn't care less about ITV's pleb-voted National Movie Awards, but this is reason enough to watch. From the press release: "On Tuesday 9th September, ITV1's National Movie Awards will unveil a global exclusive with the first broadcast of preview footage from James Bond's 22nd adventure Quantum of Solace... Playing at over two minutes in length, the preview is action packed with the latest offerings from Daniel Craig's iconic Bond, and gives fans the unique opportunity to see Camille (Olga Kurylenko) -- Bond's unlikely ally -- and sinister Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) in action. This dramatic and explosive footage is sure to delight fans and viewers with a taster of what is to come". It's obviously unclear if this is just a selection of clips or the full trailer, which sources suggested would be released around September 9th. Either way, it'll be a good'un.
Review of Spooks: Code 9 DVD by Michael Mackenzie
(from DVD Times)
I would add "Series One" to that title, but I rather suspect "The Complete Series" would be more apt. Yep, it's another scathing review. I was going to try to download this show (as I missed it on TV), but I don't think I'll bother.
(from CommanderBond.net)
Normally I couldn't care less about ITV's pleb-voted National Movie Awards, but this is reason enough to watch. From the press release: "On Tuesday 9th September, ITV1's National Movie Awards will unveil a global exclusive with the first broadcast of preview footage from James Bond's 22nd adventure Quantum of Solace... Playing at over two minutes in length, the preview is action packed with the latest offerings from Daniel Craig's iconic Bond, and gives fans the unique opportunity to see Camille (Olga Kurylenko) -- Bond's unlikely ally -- and sinister Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) in action. This dramatic and explosive footage is sure to delight fans and viewers with a taster of what is to come". It's obviously unclear if this is just a selection of clips or the full trailer, which sources suggested would be released around September 9th. Either way, it'll be a good'un.
Review of Spooks: Code 9 DVD by Michael Mackenzie
(from DVD Times)
I would add "Series One" to that title, but I rather suspect "The Complete Series" would be more apt. Yep, it's another scathing review. I was going to try to download this show (as I missed it on TV), but I don't think I'll bother.
Film News
Turns out there was a mass of interesting film news yesterday, when I didn't bother to read any. Here's the best bits:
Mark Strong Joins Sherlock Holmes by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
Mark Strong's doing very well for himself these days. Following roles in Syriana, Sunshine and Stardust (I sense a pattern...), recent releases Babylon A.D. and RocknRolla, as well as forthcoming flicks Body of Lies and The Young Victoria, he'll be seen as a villain (not Moriarty) in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.
Monster Of Florence Attracts Tom Cruise by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
My interest in this is heightened because it was a book I worked on promotion for while I was in New York recently. It sounds like a fantastic read too (I have a free copy, ha ha!), so hopefully it'll make a good film. Learn about the book here. No links for the film I'm afraid.
No Edge Of Darkness For Robert De Niro by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Sounds like The Clashing of the Egos to me.
Raimi And Maguire Back For More Spideys by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
I'm not sure whether I'm surprised or, well, not. Better news than a second-rate director and C-list star trying to emulate the formula, though hopefully it'll be an improvement on Spider-Man 3. In all honesty I hold little hope -- the last one was weak, and other recent attempts at shooting a pair of sequels back-to-back (Matrix, Pirates) have led to worse films. Still, they do have the writer of Zodiac on board, and a 2011 release date for Spider-Man 4 suggests they're not rushing it.
Who You Gonna Call... Again? by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Ghostbusters 3? With the original cast? Best. News. Ever. (Read the article for a somewhat deeper commentary on the news.)
Mark Strong Joins Sherlock Holmes by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
Mark Strong's doing very well for himself these days. Following roles in Syriana, Sunshine and Stardust (I sense a pattern...), recent releases Babylon A.D. and RocknRolla, as well as forthcoming flicks Body of Lies and The Young Victoria, he'll be seen as a villain (not Moriarty) in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.
Monster Of Florence Attracts Tom Cruise by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
My interest in this is heightened because it was a book I worked on promotion for while I was in New York recently. It sounds like a fantastic read too (I have a free copy, ha ha!), so hopefully it'll make a good film. Learn about the book here. No links for the film I'm afraid.
No Edge Of Darkness For Robert De Niro by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Sounds like The Clashing of the Egos to me.
Raimi And Maguire Back For More Spideys by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
I'm not sure whether I'm surprised or, well, not. Better news than a second-rate director and C-list star trying to emulate the formula, though hopefully it'll be an improvement on Spider-Man 3. In all honesty I hold little hope -- the last one was weak, and other recent attempts at shooting a pair of sequels back-to-back (Matrix, Pirates) have led to worse films. Still, they do have the writer of Zodiac on board, and a 2011 release date for Spider-Man 4 suggests they're not rushing it.
Who You Gonna Call... Again? by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Ghostbusters 3? With the original cast? Best. News. Ever. (Read the article for a somewhat deeper commentary on the news.)
Friday, 5 September 2008
TV
Dexter
2x01 It's Alive!
I happened to catch the first season of Dexter on FX (the UK one) last year, before all the hype surrounding it's ITV1 repeat run, and I'm very glad I did -- it's bloody brilliant, one of the best shows currently in production. Not having FX available to me this year (where season two is airing long before it makes its way to one of the ITVs), I'm having to findless than legal legal, honest, ways to watch this second season. Starting now.
Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x01 (5/9/08 edition)
Wossy returns for another 15 weeks of fawning over celebrities and wannabe-celebrities.
The Tudors
2x06 The Definition of Love
2x01 It's Alive!
I happened to catch the first season of Dexter on FX (the UK one) last year, before all the hype surrounding it's ITV1 repeat run, and I'm very glad I did -- it's bloody brilliant, one of the best shows currently in production. Not having FX available to me this year (where season two is airing long before it makes its way to one of the ITVs), I'm having to find
Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x01 (5/9/08 edition)
Wossy returns for another 15 weeks of fawning over celebrities and wannabe-celebrities.
The Tudors
2x06 The Definition of Love
Fiction
Double or Die by Charlie Higson
Chapters 1 - 6
With the release this week of the fifth Young Bond adventure, By Royal Command, it's really time for me to get caught up so I can read the damn thing. So I now embark on the third book,The Deadlock Cipher... sorry, N.E.M.E.S.I.S.... sorry, Double or Die. It certainly has a strong opening, living up to Higson's description of it as "Da Vinci Code like". One of the best things about the Young Bond books is the level of variety contained within them (thus far, at least), especially as it's so successfully performed -- they don't just rehash each other in new locations with marginally different enemies, as even the regular Bond novels do at times.
Chapters 1 - 6
With the release this week of the fifth Young Bond adventure, By Royal Command, it's really time for me to get caught up so I can read the damn thing. So I now embark on the third book,
Music
Greatest Hits 1970-2002 by Elton John
Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Original Soundtrack
Available worldwide from iTunes.
Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Original Soundtrack
Available worldwide from iTunes.
Websites
getcloser.com
HMV bravely try to launch a social networking site, based on the USP of connecting your interests in music, film, TV, and the people who produce them.
It's not a bad concept, but the world hardly needs yet another social networking site, especially when there are already places that do similar concepts better -- e.g. sites that let you list your DVD collection, or YMDB (Your Movie DataBase) that allows you to list your personal top 20 movies, or various sites for music preferences, particularly last.fm.
There are a couple of other features HMV tries to offer in a USP-ish manner. The main one is a connections feature, which allows you to link artists, albums, films, etc, in a sort of brainstorm (or whatever the PC term is these days -- mindmap?) It's intriguing, but not always smooth to use and often downright awkward. Similarly, the displays of your films/albums/TV shows/actors/etc on your profile page is a nice concept, but seems difficult to manage and prone to suggest you like someone/thing much more than you actually do. getcloser can do other nifty things, like import information from iTunes to quickly fill out your profile, or use the things you're interested in to show categories in different font sizes... though my largest interest by far is "General" -- so that feature works well then.
If you're interested in investigating further, try the tour, or jump to my semi-complete profile (a link that wasn't easy to find -- another strike against it then).
HMV bravely try to launch a social networking site, based on the USP of connecting your interests in music, film, TV, and the people who produce them.
It's not a bad concept, but the world hardly needs yet another social networking site, especially when there are already places that do similar concepts better -- e.g. sites that let you list your DVD collection, or YMDB (Your Movie DataBase) that allows you to list your personal top 20 movies, or various sites for music preferences, particularly last.fm.
There are a couple of other features HMV tries to offer in a USP-ish manner. The main one is a connections feature, which allows you to link artists, albums, films, etc, in a sort of brainstorm (or whatever the PC term is these days -- mindmap?) It's intriguing, but not always smooth to use and often downright awkward. Similarly, the displays of your films/albums/TV shows/actors/etc on your profile page is a nice concept, but seems difficult to manage and prone to suggest you like someone/thing much more than you actually do. getcloser can do other nifty things, like import information from iTunes to quickly fill out your profile, or use the things you're interested in to show categories in different font sizes... though my largest interest by far is "General" -- so that feature works well then.
If you're interested in investigating further, try the tour, or jump to my semi-complete profile (a link that wasn't easy to find -- another strike against it then).
"The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones"
The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
A bit of a flick-through this Indiana Jones tie-in, which, as I'm sure you can guess, is designed to be the character's journal. As such it's a bit of an odd volume -- it's not a novelisation, or a new story, or a guide book, or a making of, but more a ragtag collection of all those stripped to their most basic, combined with a 'prop replica' souvenir value (though it isn't really a prop replica). The text is a bit slight and the images spartan, but it still sounds like a cool idea. I rather suspect the latter was the governing idea here: someone thought it was cool, but then it couldn't quite be executed.
Perhaps its primary value is in providing a unified canon of the Indiana Jones universe: as well as covering the four movies (obviously) it includes the TV series, a bit of time before that, brief allusions to Indy's World War II service, and also the various computer games (most of the focus here is on the popular classic The Fate of Atlantis, but there are hints toward others too). I don't know if the comics get a mention (I suspect not), but the period in which the tie-in novels occur is 'ripped out'.
A bit of a flick-through this Indiana Jones tie-in, which, as I'm sure you can guess, is designed to be the character's journal. As such it's a bit of an odd volume -- it's not a novelisation, or a new story, or a guide book, or a making of, but more a ragtag collection of all those stripped to their most basic, combined with a 'prop replica' souvenir value (though it isn't really a prop replica). The text is a bit slight and the images spartan, but it still sounds like a cool idea. I rather suspect the latter was the governing idea here: someone thought it was cool, but then it couldn't quite be executed.
Perhaps its primary value is in providing a unified canon of the Indiana Jones universe: as well as covering the four movies (obviously) it includes the TV series, a bit of time before that, brief allusions to Indy's World War II service, and also the various computer games (most of the focus here is on the popular classic The Fate of Atlantis, but there are hints toward others too). I don't know if the comics get a mention (I suspect not), but the period in which the tie-in novels occur is 'ripped out'.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
TV
8 Out of 10 Cats
7x01 (4/9/08 edition)
A whole episode without a single mention of Big Brother? The surest sign yet that Channel 4'smethod of torture reality show is on its way out.
God, the Devil and Bob
1x08 Lonely at the Top
Mock the Week
6x09 (4/9/08 edition)
Spooks
5x10 Aftermath [season finale]
It was all going fairly well... til the ludicrous climax that was too dependent on bad CGI water and huge coincidences. And then, just to make things worse, Ros didn't die. Anyway, I'm as now caught up on Spooks as I'm gonna get til series six is both released on DVD and has time to get cheap.
7x01 (4/9/08 edition)
A whole episode without a single mention of Big Brother? The surest sign yet that Channel 4's
God, the Devil and Bob
1x08 Lonely at the Top
Mock the Week
6x09 (4/9/08 edition)
Spooks
5x10 Aftermath [season finale]
It was all going fairly well... til the ludicrous climax that was too dependent on bad CGI water and huge coincidences. And then, just to make things worse, Ros didn't die. Anyway, I'm as now caught up on Spooks as I'm gonna get til series six is both released on DVD and has time to get cheap.
Articles
Del Toro Commits To Universal Until 2017 by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Following The Hobbit (and its mysterious sequel), he'll make/remake Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Slaughterhouse Five and Drood between 2012 and 2017. Worryingly, that leaves no sign of Hellboy 3 (can't imagine a decade-late sequel would be popular) or At the Mountains of Madness (which I suspect he'll get to if it's the last thing he does). I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Paxman: TV is biased against men
(from BBC News)
I hope not...
Two-Face Won't Be Back For Batman 3 by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
He's dead, fanboys. Dead. It's pretty clear y'know. Now, we just have to hope Nolan signs on for the inevitable second Begins sequel, cos otherwise it'll likely be shit. Unless Whedon gets it.
(from Empire Online)
Following The Hobbit (and its mysterious sequel), he'll make/remake Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Slaughterhouse Five and Drood between 2012 and 2017. Worryingly, that leaves no sign of Hellboy 3 (can't imagine a decade-late sequel would be popular) or At the Mountains of Madness (which I suspect he'll get to if it's the last thing he does). I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Paxman: TV is biased against men
(from BBC News)
I hope not...
Two-Face Won't Be Back For Batman 3 by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
He's dead, fanboys. Dead. It's pretty clear y'know. Now, we just have to hope Nolan signs on for the inevitable second Begins sequel, cos otherwise it'll likely be shit. Unless Whedon gets it.
Bond from the Beginning #10: The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me is one of the few films that Moore Haters (like me) sometimes like. To be honest, I'm not sure why.
As the 10th film in the series, and one not at all beholden to the original text (Fleming allowed them to use the title but none of the plot), someone apparently made the decision to remake some of the hits from previous films. While the pre-titles ski sequence is excellent and has become appropriately iconic, the rest of the film is a bit of a damp squib, with a nothingy villain who barely features, a Soviet-spy Bond girl almost as unrealistic as The World is Not Enough's nuclear scientist, and a plot more recycled than usual -- those who call it a remake of You Only Live Twice aren't far wrong.
Egypt looks stunning, Jaws is a good invention, parts are entertaining, but it's not Moore's best (though is surely better than much of what was to come). As the theme song says, nobody does it better... except Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Sorry Roger.
As the 10th film in the series, and one not at all beholden to the original text (Fleming allowed them to use the title but none of the plot), someone apparently made the decision to remake some of the hits from previous films. While the pre-titles ski sequence is excellent and has become appropriately iconic, the rest of the film is a bit of a damp squib, with a nothingy villain who barely features, a Soviet-spy Bond girl almost as unrealistic as The World is Not Enough's nuclear scientist, and a plot more recycled than usual -- those who call it a remake of You Only Live Twice aren't far wrong.
Egypt looks stunning, Jaws is a good invention, parts are entertaining, but it's not Moore's best (though is surely better than much of what was to come). As the theme song says, nobody does it better... except Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Sorry Roger.
Dr Horrible 2!
Slightly late on this one, but only just found it:
Doctor Horrible Sequel, Soundtrack Planned by Michael Hinman
(from SyFy Portal)
The soundtrack's already been released, but it's good to hear there'll be a sequel as the first three episodes of Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog were fantastic.
I can't wait for the DVD either:
"the writing crew already is preparing for a DVD release, which will be far more than simply 45 minutes of Whedon musical talents. "You probably heard about Commentary: The Musical," Jed Whedon said. "If you haven't, there is going to be commentary that we're writing songs for." There also will be a chance for fans to be involved. The crew is preparing to accept video from fans featuring their character they would like to be accepted into the Evil League of Evil. The 10 best videos will be picked and included in the DVD release."
Also, in a more random incident, Dr Horrible's van remote can be found online here. You'll need an iPhone to appreciate that at it's best though.
Doctor Horrible Sequel, Soundtrack Planned by Michael Hinman
(from SyFy Portal)
The soundtrack's already been released, but it's good to hear there'll be a sequel as the first three episodes of Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog were fantastic.
I can't wait for the DVD either:
"the writing crew already is preparing for a DVD release, which will be far more than simply 45 minutes of Whedon musical talents. "You probably heard about Commentary: The Musical," Jed Whedon said. "If you haven't, there is going to be commentary that we're writing songs for." There also will be a chance for fans to be involved. The crew is preparing to accept video from fans featuring their character they would like to be accepted into the Evil League of Evil. The 10 best videos will be picked and included in the DVD release."
Also, in a more random incident, Dr Horrible's van remote can be found online here. You'll need an iPhone to appreciate that at it's best though.
Young Bond 5 cover art revealed
Ever-so-slightly old news (already), this, but still:
"In keeping with the royal theme of the novel, the artwork is in striking red, black and silver with an embossed union-jack and regal-red edged pages." (It looks even better in the flesh.)
And also, the arguably-cooler (except for those yellow bars) audiobook:
"The Young Bond books have to date sold over three quarters of a million copies in Britain alone and have been translated in to 24 different languages. The series was launched with SilverFin in March 2005 and was followed by Blood Fever, Double or Die [should've been The Deadlock Cipher] and Hurricane Gold." By Royal Command is the fifth -- and final, for now -- entry in the series.
"In keeping with the royal theme of the novel, the artwork is in striking red, black and silver with an embossed union-jack and regal-red edged pages." (It looks even better in the flesh.)
And also, the arguably-cooler (except for those yellow bars) audiobook:
"The Young Bond books have to date sold over three quarters of a million copies in Britain alone and have been translated in to 24 different languages. The series was launched with SilverFin in March 2005 and was followed by Blood Fever, Double or Die [should've been The Deadlock Cipher] and Hurricane Gold." By Royal Command is the fifth -- and final, for now -- entry in the series.
Lost in Austen: Part One
"Is she mad, in a bonnet or back in time?"
ITV clearly think they have a huge hit on their hands here, based on the constant promotion it's been getting in their ad breaks and across their chat shows and morning TV thingies. And it's easy to see why, considering the mix of formulas they've concocted.
Period drama? Always popular -- just look at the recent success of series like Cranford and Lark Rise to Candleford, as well as innumerable others in the history of television.
Jane Austen? Especially popular -- look at the esteem in which the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice is still held, the financial and critical success of the recent Pride & Prej film, and again the success of ITV's even more recent adaptations of Austen's three lesser-done novels; not to mention the two biopics in the past year (or so), Becoming Jane and Miss Austen Regrets.
Time travel? Most definitely popular -- look at the ratings-dominating success of the revived Doctor Who, the more moderate but not irrelevant success of Primeval, and, most pertinent to this example, the critical and ratings success of Life On Mars and it's sequel/spin-off, Ashes to Ashes.
Put all these together -- with a dash of Bridget Jones for good measure -- and you get Lost in Austen, which mixes a cut-price Austen-esque cast (this is ITV rather than the BBC, after all) and all the popular tropes of traditional costume dramas, with time travel tomfoolery and jokes about reality TV and pubic hair styles (I kid you not). Plot-wise, it comes across a bit like they wanted to do an adaptation of Pride & Prej, but thought it was either too soon (considering the film was all of three years ago, and that felt hot on the heels of the then-10-years-old TV series) or that an ITV audience wouldn't be all that interested, so have given it a big twist.
After the first, largely entertaining, episode (of four), it remains to be seen if it can pass beyond being a LOM rip-off / yet another Austen adaptation to become something of its own.
ITV clearly think they have a huge hit on their hands here, based on the constant promotion it's been getting in their ad breaks and across their chat shows and morning TV thingies. And it's easy to see why, considering the mix of formulas they've concocted.
Period drama? Always popular -- just look at the recent success of series like Cranford and Lark Rise to Candleford, as well as innumerable others in the history of television.
Jane Austen? Especially popular -- look at the esteem in which the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice is still held, the financial and critical success of the recent Pride & Prej film, and again the success of ITV's even more recent adaptations of Austen's three lesser-done novels; not to mention the two biopics in the past year (or so), Becoming Jane and Miss Austen Regrets.
Time travel? Most definitely popular -- look at the ratings-dominating success of the revived Doctor Who, the more moderate but not irrelevant success of Primeval, and, most pertinent to this example, the critical and ratings success of Life On Mars and it's sequel/spin-off, Ashes to Ashes.
Put all these together -- with a dash of Bridget Jones for good measure -- and you get Lost in Austen, which mixes a cut-price Austen-esque cast (this is ITV rather than the BBC, after all) and all the popular tropes of traditional costume dramas, with time travel tomfoolery and jokes about reality TV and pubic hair styles (I kid you not). Plot-wise, it comes across a bit like they wanted to do an adaptation of Pride & Prej, but thought it was either too soon (considering the film was all of three years ago, and that felt hot on the heels of the then-10-years-old TV series) or that an ITV audience wouldn't be all that interested, so have given it a big twist.
After the first, largely entertaining, episode (of four), it remains to be seen if it can pass beyond being a LOM rip-off / yet another Austen adaptation to become something of its own.
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
TV
Gilmore Girls
5x03 Written in the Stars
God, the Devil and Bob
1x06 God's Favorite
1x07 Bob Gets Committed
Lost in Austen
Part 1 (of 4)
Read some of my thoughts on this here.
5x03 Written in the Stars
God, the Devil and Bob
1x06 God's Favorite
1x07 Bob Gets Committed
Lost in Austen
Part 1 (of 4)
Read some of my thoughts on this here.
Articles
Benjamin Button and the Curious Stories Surrounding Him by Brad Brevet
(from RopesofSilicon)
Somehow, all this fuss over The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has completely passed me by. Obviously it hasn't been big enough news for anyone other than the navel-gazing likes of AICN & co.
TMNT To Go Live Action Again by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
"Following last year’s all-CGI TMNT and a clutch of movies and animated series, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may indeed be back in real-life if [their creator] Kevin Eastman is to be believed... “Although the CGI film did well enough to warrant a sequel, there has been much talk between Imagi and Warners to do a better ‘re-invention’ of the TMNTs... Back to basics, back to the origin and the intro of the Shredder." While it might sound like a great idea, the problem with "going back to basics and adopting the darker tone of their original comic books" -- you see, "far from kid friendly, their initial adventures were bloody and broody affairs" -- is that it would be too hard-edged to sell to kids and too ludicrous to sell to most adults,
Watchmen Trial Date Set by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire Online)
"The crux of the matter is that Fox is arguing that it still has distribution rights to the film, based on a 1991 agreement... the judge has ordered expedited discovery (a legal term which means "Show the other side all your paperwork already") but denied a preliminary motion to dismiss (in English, "I'll see you in court, Counsellor"), so the parties now have four months to examine each other's records, prepare for a case and work frantically on some sort of settlement on the side, before it all goes to court and out of their hands."
(from RopesofSilicon)
Somehow, all this fuss over The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has completely passed me by. Obviously it hasn't been big enough news for anyone other than the navel-gazing likes of AICN & co.
TMNT To Go Live Action Again by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
"Following last year’s all-CGI TMNT and a clutch of movies and animated series, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may indeed be back in real-life if [their creator] Kevin Eastman is to be believed... “Although the CGI film did well enough to warrant a sequel, there has been much talk between Imagi and Warners to do a better ‘re-invention’ of the TMNTs... Back to basics, back to the origin and the intro of the Shredder." While it might sound like a great idea, the problem with "going back to basics and adopting the darker tone of their original comic books" -- you see, "far from kid friendly, their initial adventures were bloody and broody affairs" -- is that it would be too hard-edged to sell to kids and too ludicrous to sell to most adults,
Watchmen Trial Date Set by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire Online)
"The crux of the matter is that Fox is arguing that it still has distribution rights to the film, based on a 1991 agreement... the judge has ordered expedited discovery (a legal term which means "Show the other side all your paperwork already") but denied a preliminary motion to dismiss (in English, "I'll see you in court, Counsellor"), so the parties now have four months to examine each other's records, prepare for a case and work frantically on some sort of settlement on the side, before it all goes to court and out of their hands."
porn in the multiplex!
The full red band trailer (i.e. 18-rated) for Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Kevin Smith's latest comedic effort, is now available online.
Writers (and readers) at Empire seem to be reacting in much the way they might having watched a chunk of Zack and Miri's film -- "shaping up to be the man’s best for some time", "the perfect cross between Smith’s more caustic side and the ever-maturing sentimental streak", "the central relationship in particular looking particularly well-realised and full of warmth", "I haven't laughed that hard at a trailer in time", "the trailer is even funnier than i thought it'd be", "my most anticipated film of the year now has the best trailer I've seen this year"...
Maybe they were watching a different trailer to me. One that was funnier, for example, and had a warm central relationship. There were some amusing moments, but nothing that's going to have me rushing to see it on DVD, never mind at the cinema. Oh well.
Writers (and readers) at Empire seem to be reacting in much the way they might having watched a chunk of Zack and Miri's film -- "shaping up to be the man’s best for some time", "the perfect cross between Smith’s more caustic side and the ever-maturing sentimental streak", "the central relationship in particular looking particularly well-realised and full of warmth", "I haven't laughed that hard at a trailer in time", "the trailer is even funnier than i thought it'd be", "my most anticipated film of the year now has the best trailer I've seen this year"...
Maybe they were watching a different trailer to me. One that was funnier, for example, and had a warm central relationship. There were some amusing moments, but nothing that's going to have me rushing to see it on DVD, never mind at the cinema. Oh well.
"Midnight Sun" by Stephenie Meyer - Chapter 1
Earlier I reported on the leak of Midnight Sun, the uncompleted fifth book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. You can see what she'd completed for free, legally, here. I wouldn't recommend it though -- I made it to page 12 of the first 23-page chapter before I had to give up.
The novel retells the series' first book from the perspective of another character, and while this isn't particularly overt it does cloud things when you know it -- Meyer is clearly pulling some narrative gymnastics to slot this new perspective around established events, which will be a lot of fun for the series' fans but is awkward for a new reader.
The primary flaw with this lies in the fact that the first novel showed things from a human perspective*, while this utilises a vampire's -- not necessarily a fatal mistake, but for a newbie reader who doesn't know the characters it locks you out of the events that are occurring, while instead focussing on describing, at interminable length, the vampire's thoughts and feelings. This means it mostly reads like a fairly competent example of amateur/fanfic vampire writing, a sense that is exacerbated by the prose's style. It's not poorly written, but nor is it in any way exemplary -- unless you were looking for something slow and repetitive, that is.
So, having finally experienced a small chunk of the much-hyped (thanks to the forthcoming film) Twilight universe, I can assure you, dear readers, that I won't be bothering with any more of it. Except perhaps the film, depending on what the reviews are like, and once it's on DVD, and my rental site finally send it to me, which isn't likely to be very speedily.
* I should point out that I haven't read any other novels in the series, but know this from having read a little about it thanks to the upcoming film and this leaked manuscript.
The novel retells the series' first book from the perspective of another character, and while this isn't particularly overt it does cloud things when you know it -- Meyer is clearly pulling some narrative gymnastics to slot this new perspective around established events, which will be a lot of fun for the series' fans but is awkward for a new reader.
The primary flaw with this lies in the fact that the first novel showed things from a human perspective*, while this utilises a vampire's -- not necessarily a fatal mistake, but for a newbie reader who doesn't know the characters it locks you out of the events that are occurring, while instead focussing on describing, at interminable length, the vampire's thoughts and feelings. This means it mostly reads like a fairly competent example of amateur/fanfic vampire writing, a sense that is exacerbated by the prose's style. It's not poorly written, but nor is it in any way exemplary -- unless you were looking for something slow and repetitive, that is.
So, having finally experienced a small chunk of the much-hyped (thanks to the forthcoming film) Twilight universe, I can assure you, dear readers, that I won't be bothering with any more of it. Except perhaps the film, depending on what the reviews are like, and once it's on DVD, and my rental site finally send it to me, which isn't likely to be very speedily.
* I should point out that I haven't read any other novels in the series, but know this from having read a little about it thanks to the upcoming film and this leaked manuscript.
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
TV
God, the Devil and Bob
1x05 Neighbor's Keeper
Mutual Friends
1x02 Episode Two
So, here's a comedy-drama, which, as we now all know, means it's neither very funny nor very dramatic. Except, sometimes, it is quite funny... just not funny enough to be a full-on comedy. But the drama's utterly pathetic, as if they knew it wasn't funny enough to be a comedy so decided to make it a comedy-drama. And thanks to it being a comedy-drama it's an hour, because I think they now want it to be more of a drama. But it gets dull after an hour, and would be better in a shorter dose. All this considered, it's a bit of a muddle.
Outnumbered
1x06 Episode 6 [2nd watch; season finale]
Unlike Mutual Friends, this is flat-out excellent. Certainly one of the best sitcoms ever made, perhaps plainly one of the best programmes ever made. As well as being completely hilarious every episode, it also manages higher levels of pathos and proper drama than most dramas, never mind comedies. The fact it's not broadcast in a prime time slot to greater acclaim and larger audiences is surely a crime against the viewing public. A second season airs on BBC One at the end of the month -- make sure you see it.
1x05 Neighbor's Keeper
Mutual Friends
1x02 Episode Two
So, here's a comedy-drama, which, as we now all know, means it's neither very funny nor very dramatic. Except, sometimes, it is quite funny... just not funny enough to be a full-on comedy. But the drama's utterly pathetic, as if they knew it wasn't funny enough to be a comedy so decided to make it a comedy-drama. And thanks to it being a comedy-drama it's an hour, because I think they now want it to be more of a drama. But it gets dull after an hour, and would be better in a shorter dose. All this considered, it's a bit of a muddle.
Outnumbered
1x06 Episode 6 [2nd watch; season finale]
Unlike Mutual Friends, this is flat-out excellent. Certainly one of the best sitcoms ever made, perhaps plainly one of the best programmes ever made. As well as being completely hilarious every episode, it also manages higher levels of pathos and proper drama than most dramas, never mind comedies. The fact it's not broadcast in a prime time slot to greater acclaim and larger audiences is surely a crime against the viewing public. A second season airs on BBC One at the end of the month -- make sure you see it.
Articles
Don LaFontaine, voice of movie trailers, dies
(from Mail.com)
"LaFontaine has been a fixture in Hollywood for decades, working on about 5,000 movie trailers. Much of his fame stems from his trademark movie-trailer catch phrase, 'In a world where...'"
Review of Disaster Movie by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
"a possible hazard to brain cells, the only thing this offensive dross gets right is the title."
Twilight Series Halted, Read Stephenie Meyer's Midnight Sun Draft by Brad Brevet
(from RopeofSilicon)
"Midnight Sun, which would retell the Twilight stories only this time from the perspective of Edward. However, her draft found its way online... and she has decided to stop working on the story indefinitely... Meyer goes on to say the draft is incomplete, "the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes"... I thought that was her M.O." Ha ha.
I have to say, not only does the series sound rather crappy, but Meyer appears to be a dreadfully annoying J.K. Rowling wannabe who's probably decidedly bitter that she's not as big as Rowling and gets even more slated by those critics who have actually heard of her.
Some other articles read today can be found here and here.
(from Mail.com)
"LaFontaine has been a fixture in Hollywood for decades, working on about 5,000 movie trailers. Much of his fame stems from his trademark movie-trailer catch phrase, 'In a world where...'"
Review of Disaster Movie by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
"a possible hazard to brain cells, the only thing this offensive dross gets right is the title."
Twilight Series Halted, Read Stephenie Meyer's Midnight Sun Draft by Brad Brevet
(from RopeofSilicon)
"Midnight Sun, which would retell the Twilight stories only this time from the perspective of Edward. However, her draft found its way online... and she has decided to stop working on the story indefinitely... Meyer goes on to say the draft is incomplete, "the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes"... I thought that was her M.O." Ha ha.
I have to say, not only does the series sound rather crappy, but Meyer appears to be a dreadfully annoying J.K. Rowling wannabe who's probably decidedly bitter that she's not as big as Rowling and gets even more slated by those critics who have actually heard of her.
Some other articles read today can be found here and here.
Not the end for Young Bond?
The fifth and final book in Puffin's Young Bond series, By Royal Command, finally hits UK bookshelves tomorrow -- based on the preceding books and the hints that we've had about this one, it should be a good read.
Author Charlie Higson has been doing the rounds to promote the book, and it seems that this may not be the final book after all...
Take a look at:
Charlie Higson Talks Young Bond And Beyond by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
Covering the final book, the forthcoming SilverFin graphic novel, the potential for film adaptations, and what Higson has planned next ("basically 28 Days Later for kids").
Charlie Higson On The Future Of Young Bond by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"The most intriguing aspect of the interview is Higson’s reply when asked if By Royal Command represented the end of the Young Bond books: ‘No. I'm taking a break for the time being.’"
And for the full version of the above:
Charlie Higson Interview - BBC Breakfast
(on YouTube; originally from BBC Breakfast)
Author Charlie Higson has been doing the rounds to promote the book, and it seems that this may not be the final book after all...
Take a look at:
Charlie Higson Talks Young Bond And Beyond by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
Covering the final book, the forthcoming SilverFin graphic novel, the potential for film adaptations, and what Higson has planned next ("basically 28 Days Later for kids").
Charlie Higson On The Future Of Young Bond by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"The most intriguing aspect of the interview is Higson’s reply when asked if By Royal Command represented the end of the Young Bond books: ‘No. I'm taking a break for the time being.’"
And for the full version of the above:
Charlie Higson Interview - BBC Breakfast
(on YouTube; originally from BBC Breakfast)
"this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing"
Exclusive: Ritchie Talks Sherlock Holmes by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
I'm growing increasingly, but still cautiously, optimistic about this film.
Though this report is slightly more worrying:
Downey’s Holmes To Be “Bad-Ass” by 'Cybergosh'
(from UGO MovieBlog)
"Sherlock Holmes will be turned into a “bad-ass” martial arts expert in Guy Ritchie's hard-hitting new film... Robert Downey Jr. tells British newspaper The Sun, “I’ve got to spend some time with Guy and I love his take on it. We’re both martial arts enthusiasts and in the original stories of Sherlock Holmes, he’s kind of a bad-ass and a bare-knuckle boxer and studies the rare, fictional martial art of baritsu. If you look baritsu up, they can’t even really tell you what it is, so it gives us a lot of leeway.”" Hmm...
(from Empire Online)
I'm growing increasingly, but still cautiously, optimistic about this film.
Though this report is slightly more worrying:
Downey’s Holmes To Be “Bad-Ass” by 'Cybergosh'
(from UGO MovieBlog)
"Sherlock Holmes will be turned into a “bad-ass” martial arts expert in Guy Ritchie's hard-hitting new film... Robert Downey Jr. tells British newspaper The Sun, “I’ve got to spend some time with Guy and I love his take on it. We’re both martial arts enthusiasts and in the original stories of Sherlock Holmes, he’s kind of a bad-ass and a bare-knuckle boxer and studies the rare, fictional martial art of baritsu. If you look baritsu up, they can’t even really tell you what it is, so it gives us a lot of leeway.”" Hmm...
Monday, 1 September 2008
TV
The Children
Part 1 (of 3)
Surprisingly good drama, considering it's on ITV. It's about a group of separated and re-partnered adult couples, whose selfish actions have horrific effects on their children and new step-children -- actions which will, as we know from dramatic flash forwards (placed just before every ad break, of course), eventually lead to a murder. The thriller aspect works brilliantly, because almost any of the characters could conceivably have done it; plus it's a well-written piece about the problems of parenting, especially when the kids aren't yours and you're a self centred git.
God, the Devil and Bob
1x04 The Devil's Birthday
Merlin Cinema Trailer
This looks like it'll be about as good as Robin Hood, at best. On the other hand, the involvement of Anthony Head, Richard Wilson and John Hurt bodes well, and the dragon CGI looks great. I suspect the BBC still needs to try harder if it wants a Doctor Who stand-in of equal quality though.
Spooks
5x09 The Criminal
The biggest problem with this episode is that the mystery of who was in charge of the Black Op is a complete non-event: there's only one other guest character, so who the hell do you think it's going to turn out to be?! Elsewhere, the exact circumstances may be different, but Adam has basically followed Tom's "unfit for duty?" storyline... except he gets to stay at the end of it.
Part 1 (of 3)
Surprisingly good drama, considering it's on ITV. It's about a group of separated and re-partnered adult couples, whose selfish actions have horrific effects on their children and new step-children -- actions which will, as we know from dramatic flash forwards (placed just before every ad break, of course), eventually lead to a murder. The thriller aspect works brilliantly, because almost any of the characters could conceivably have done it; plus it's a well-written piece about the problems of parenting, especially when the kids aren't yours and you're a self centred git.
God, the Devil and Bob
1x04 The Devil's Birthday
Merlin Cinema Trailer
This looks like it'll be about as good as Robin Hood, at best. On the other hand, the involvement of Anthony Head, Richard Wilson and John Hurt bodes well, and the dragon CGI looks great. I suspect the BBC still needs to try harder if it wants a Doctor Who stand-in of equal quality though.
Spooks
5x09 The Criminal
The biggest problem with this episode is that the mystery of who was in charge of the Black Op is a complete non-event: there's only one other guest character, so who the hell do you think it's going to turn out to be?! Elsewhere, the exact circumstances may be different, but Adam has basically followed Tom's "unfit for duty?" storyline... except he gets to stay at the end of it.
Articles
BBC to offer "series stacking"
(from the BBC Press Office)
"The BBC is to offer viewers the chance to catch up on every episode of some of their favourite series as 'series stacking' is introduced to BBC iPlayer and programme sites from 13 September 2008. Viewers will be able to enjoy any episode, after it has first been broadcast, for the duration of the entire series." Wonderful news, if you ask me.
The Dark Knight Breaks $500 Million by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Yep, that Batman flick just keeps on rolling. "The Dark Knight passed the $500 million mark (that's US domestic, we're talking over $919 million worldwide) on Sunday... it still looks like the superhero phenomenon won’t hit the most-successful-film-of-all-time number one slot presently occupied by James Cameron’s watery epic, which grossed $600 million in the States back in 1997/98. Current estimates are that The Dark Knight will finish around $60 million short of that target... it won't even come close to beating Titanic's $1.8 worldwide haul." Not unexpected, but still a shame.
Film Review: Babylon A.D. by Jonathan Crocker
(from SFX)
"It’s only after some seriously clunky action scenes that it finally hits you: Kassovitz might have directed incendiary cult-fave La Haine... But that was 13 years ago. His last film was Gothika."
Mark Millar Talks Wanted 2 by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
Reassuring, I must say.
Spooks Viewers Give Up the Ghost by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
"Spooks spin-off Code 9 is proving an almighty flop, with episode four having lost nearly two thirds of the viewers who tuned in for episode one. The series debuted on BBC3 with 810,000 viewers, but last Sunday only 288,000 tuned in. That’s fewer than anything that makes it into the top ten on Dave, and they’re all repeats."
(from the BBC Press Office)
"The BBC is to offer viewers the chance to catch up on every episode of some of their favourite series as 'series stacking' is introduced to BBC iPlayer and programme sites from 13 September 2008. Viewers will be able to enjoy any episode, after it has first been broadcast, for the duration of the entire series." Wonderful news, if you ask me.
The Dark Knight Breaks $500 Million by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Yep, that Batman flick just keeps on rolling. "The Dark Knight passed the $500 million mark (that's US domestic, we're talking over $919 million worldwide) on Sunday... it still looks like the superhero phenomenon won’t hit the most-successful-film-of-all-time number one slot presently occupied by James Cameron’s watery epic, which grossed $600 million in the States back in 1997/98. Current estimates are that The Dark Knight will finish around $60 million short of that target... it won't even come close to beating Titanic's $1.8 worldwide haul." Not unexpected, but still a shame.
Film Review: Babylon A.D. by Jonathan Crocker
(from SFX)
"It’s only after some seriously clunky action scenes that it finally hits you: Kassovitz might have directed incendiary cult-fave La Haine... But that was 13 years ago. His last film was Gothika."
Mark Millar Talks Wanted 2 by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
Reassuring, I must say.
Spooks Viewers Give Up the Ghost by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
"Spooks spin-off Code 9 is proving an almighty flop, with episode four having lost nearly two thirds of the viewers who tuned in for episode one. The series debuted on BBC3 with 810,000 viewers, but last Sunday only 288,000 tuned in. That’s fewer than anything that makes it into the top ten on Dave, and they’re all repeats."
Websites
Merlin Official Website
Have a nose around the official site for the BBC's forthcoming Merlin (to air on NBC in the US sometime in the future -- oo-ooh!) As the series isn't on for a few weeks there's little there -- just the cinema trailer and some character profiles (good guys only), really -- but later there'll be the now-usual array of episode guides, photos, games and online-only video thingies.
Have a nose around the official site for the BBC's forthcoming Merlin (to air on NBC in the US sometime in the future -- oo-ooh!) As the series isn't on for a few weeks there's little there -- just the cinema trailer and some character profiles (good guys only), really -- but later there'll be the now-usual array of episode guides, photos, games and online-only video thingies.
James Bond Ultimate Editions
My geekiness -- or, as some would surely say, sadness -- knows no bounds:
Two years ago -- or, if we're precise, 25.5 months ago -- MGM released the first 20 James Bond films as Ultimate Edition DVDs. These re-releases featured remastered picture and sound, as well as an array of new special features, creating two-disc releases for every film (previously only Die Another Day had been rewarded with one). As well as being released individually, there was a box set -- packaged in a rather stylish Bond-like 007-logo-embossed briefcase -- that housed all 20. I bought this on release. It is rather lovely.
The point of all this is that now, 25.5 months on, I've finally finished going through all 40 discs... not watching them, you understand, just having a general look through. And counting up what's on them. And as I've done all that legwork, I'm now going to share some of my findings with you.
The Films
We'll start with the films themselves. Assume that I'm leaving the 21st film (that's Casino Royale, by-the-way) out of things unless I say otherwise.
So there are, as I've said, 20 Bond films, and if you wanted to watch them all back to back from UK DVD it would take you 40 hours, 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Except of course you'd have to change discs and sit through menu load times and what have you -- not to mention sleeping and eating -- so in reality it would take notably longer, but you know what I mean. I specifically say "on UK DVD" because they of course feature PAL speed-up; if you were to watch all 20 from a film print, it would take more like 41 hours, 43 minutes and 36 seconds. But that's just an estimate. (Additionally, throw Casino Royale into the mix -- from the first, slightly cut UK DVD (hopefully the new one will be uncut, but don't bank on it) -- and it'll take you 42 hours 22 mins.)
The longest Bond film is 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, at 2 hours 16 mins. (Casino Royale now pips it by 2 minutes 10 seconds.) The shortest is the first, 1962's Dr. No. Only eight of the films run under 2 hours, and in 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies (1 hour 54 mins) was the shortest Bond for 30 years. And two final pointless statistics: the actor who's got the longest total running time as Bond is Roger Moore (beating Sean Connery by just under 3 hours), while the longest average length belongs to one-time Bond George Lazenby -- entirely logically, if you think about it. (He'll probably keep hold of that too, as reports say Quantum of Solace will be shorter than Casino Royale, thereby keeping Daniel Craig's average down.)
The Commentaries
Moving on to the only first-disc extras for these films: commentaries (apart from two exceptions that I'll mention in a minute). There's no way I'm going to do something crazy like list all of the commentary participants -- while some stick to only using a couple of people (especially the specially-recorded ones on later films), many compile interviews with several people. What I can say is that, across the 20 films, there are a total of 35 commentary tracks. That's just over 70 hours of people yapping away over the top of movies. The additional 15 are provided for as follows:
Goldfinger has a "director & cast" track and a "crew" track
Thunderball has a "director & others" track and a "crew" track
Live and Let Die has three tracks: "director & others", the screenwriters, and Roger Moore solo
For Your Eyes Only also gets three: "director & cast", "crew", and Roger Moore solo
Timothy Dalton's second (and final) film, Licence to Kill, features "director & cast" and "producer & crew" tracks
Tomorrow Never Dies has one from the director and one from the producer & 2nd unit director
The World Is Not Enough has one by the director and one by three members of the crew
Die Another Day features one with the director & producer, and one with star Pierce Brosnan and sporadic contributions from Bond girl Rosamund Pike
And finally, the number is rounded out by an additional five solo Roger Moore commentaries -- that's one for each of his films.
I mentioned two exceptions. They are an 'isolated score' track on Tomorrow Never Dies, featuring David Arnold's wonderful score unobscured by sound effects or dialogue (it makes some awkward edits painfully obvious however), and an "MI6 Datastream" on Die Another Day. The latter is a silly name for a trivia track, where random bits of info are displayed in boxes on screen throughout the film. This one also occasionally branches out to featurettes (19 of them), during which the film is minimised to a tiny box while the behind-the-scenes footage plays in a larger one. It makes the film impossible to follow if you're not familiar with it, and also makes the featurettes awkward to find (or quantify the length of) without sitting through the whole thing.
"007 Mission Control"
I'll get to the extras proper in a minute, but first I have something stupid to mention. In what seems to be an effort to pad out the content of the second disc, each film contains something called "007 Mission Control". This is merely a selection of clips from the relevant film, divided up into six sections: 007, Women, Allies, Villains, Mission Combat Manual, and Q Branch. It is in every way pointless and just a waste of space, especially on Die Another Day (more on that in a moment).
The only worthwhile bit of it is a seventh 'category', called Exotic Locations. These are in fact short featurettes (three to five minutes long), narrated by a couple of different actresses from the series, that detail some of the locations featured in their relative films. In total they run 1 hour 19 minutes, which is clearly far from insubstantial... but it doesn't justify the 18 hours total wasted by Mission Control! Bloody stupid idea that was.
The Extras
So to the extras themselves. I'm not going to attempt to list all of them -- there are 250+ separate items across the series -- but there are a variety of things included: original documentaries, including specific Inside... 'making of's on each of the first 16 films, as well as broader ones that cover specific elements or contributors; vintage featurettes from the time of the film's release; newly-uncovered behind-the-scenes footage; deleted scenes (though not on Die Another Day, despite various sources having confirmed their existence); storyboards; image galleries; music videos; trailers, for every film (except Die Another Day), and TV and radio spots for many... I think that broadly summarises what's there.
You'll undoubtedly have noticed me having several jibes at Die Another Day throughout this post. Well, they're with good reason. The first 19 films all receive well-deserved re-releases: the image quality on all of them is immeasurably better than the dirty, standard definition transfers from the old releases; and all have been treated to new extras, as well as retaining everything that was already there. Not so Die Another Day. Apparently the picture quality of the film is improved from the original release -- which, incidentally, was only three years old when this new one appeared -- but the extras have been ransacked! True, there are a handful of new elements that reuse some of the old material... but they only total 40 minutes, and one of the things now missing is the 81 minute Inside Die Another Day feature! Not to mention other bits and bobs, including multi-angle sequences, shorter featurettes and music videos. Plus, as mentioned earlier, the deleted scenes still aren't present and the trailers and TV spots -- surely easily available just three-and-a-half years after release? -- haven't been added to the package.
It's especially galling because there's clearly room on the disc. Die Another Day's extras total 2 hours 10 mins; with "Mission Control" wasting space, that's 3 hours... but the three other Brosnan films have around 3 hours 45 minutes of material on disc two, as do several of the older films (Thunderball for one). How ludicrous is that? Especially when there's the Ultimate Edition label slapped on it -- all things considered, it's not really as good as the first release, never mind better than it! Of all the Bonds, this is clearly the one to hold out on -- I'd wager that, when it comes time to re-release them on Blu-ray (the first releases, coming soon, will just duplicate these Ultimate Editions), Die Another Day will regain some of that missing documentary material, and maybe even rediscover its deleted scenes (the other three Brosnan films all have deleted scenes that weren't on their original releases).
Totals
Rant over, I'll get to the final point of this thing: the total running times for the extras and the collection as a whole.
But first... The best film in the extras department is GoldenEye, with 2 hours 59 mins of the stuff. The weakest is For Your Eyes Only, which only scrapes together 1 hour 19 mins. The amount of new material on each release varies wildly, from as little as 18 minutes to as much as 1 hour 40 mins. Several have over an hour of new stuff, and it's only a few that sink below 30 mins.
But what of that grand total? Well, I can tell you that the running time of all those extras exceeds that of the films themselves, topping out at 43 hours, 4 minutes and 37 seconds!
So, when you put all of this stuff together, how long would it take you to get through the whole damn lot? You're going to need plenty of time, because the total length of these 20 Ultimate Editions' content is 173 hours, 50 minutes and 18 seconds!
I'm so never going to watch all of that. It's over seven solid days for crying out loud!
Casino Royale
Just to finish up, a note on Casino Royale.
As I said way back at the start of this post (do you remember that? It must seem a long time ago now...), it's about to be re-released in a three-disc edition bursting with extras. I say "bursting" -- it bloody better be as I'm going to be buying it again. Anyway, the initial release wasn't quite as shoddy as some might suppose: as well as containing a good-looking (and sounding) copy of the film, it also manages 54 minutes of film-specific extras plus a 49 minute documentary on Bond girls. That's not a bad tally really, even though the new edition should easily top it. That considered, I won't be including those numbers in a total here... so expect an update before long.
Incidentally, if you're an extras fan and want the re-release, but already own the old one, I suggest selling it sharpish -- you've got 49 days til the new edition hits shelves...
Two years ago -- or, if we're precise, 25.5 months ago -- MGM released the first 20 James Bond films as Ultimate Edition DVDs. These re-releases featured remastered picture and sound, as well as an array of new special features, creating two-disc releases for every film (previously only Die Another Day had been rewarded with one). As well as being released individually, there was a box set -- packaged in a rather stylish Bond-like 007-logo-embossed briefcase -- that housed all 20. I bought this on release. It is rather lovely.
The point of all this is that now, 25.5 months on, I've finally finished going through all 40 discs... not watching them, you understand, just having a general look through. And counting up what's on them. And as I've done all that legwork, I'm now going to share some of my findings with you.
The Films
We'll start with the films themselves. Assume that I'm leaving the 21st film (that's Casino Royale, by-the-way) out of things unless I say otherwise.
So there are, as I've said, 20 Bond films, and if you wanted to watch them all back to back from UK DVD it would take you 40 hours, 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Except of course you'd have to change discs and sit through menu load times and what have you -- not to mention sleeping and eating -- so in reality it would take notably longer, but you know what I mean. I specifically say "on UK DVD" because they of course feature PAL speed-up; if you were to watch all 20 from a film print, it would take more like 41 hours, 43 minutes and 36 seconds. But that's just an estimate. (Additionally, throw Casino Royale into the mix -- from the first, slightly cut UK DVD (hopefully the new one will be uncut, but don't bank on it) -- and it'll take you 42 hours 22 mins.)
The longest Bond film is 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, at 2 hours 16 mins. (Casino Royale now pips it by 2 minutes 10 seconds.) The shortest is the first, 1962's Dr. No. Only eight of the films run under 2 hours, and in 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies (1 hour 54 mins) was the shortest Bond for 30 years. And two final pointless statistics: the actor who's got the longest total running time as Bond is Roger Moore (beating Sean Connery by just under 3 hours), while the longest average length belongs to one-time Bond George Lazenby -- entirely logically, if you think about it. (He'll probably keep hold of that too, as reports say Quantum of Solace will be shorter than Casino Royale, thereby keeping Daniel Craig's average down.)
The Commentaries
Moving on to the only first-disc extras for these films: commentaries (apart from two exceptions that I'll mention in a minute). There's no way I'm going to do something crazy like list all of the commentary participants -- while some stick to only using a couple of people (especially the specially-recorded ones on later films), many compile interviews with several people. What I can say is that, across the 20 films, there are a total of 35 commentary tracks. That's just over 70 hours of people yapping away over the top of movies. The additional 15 are provided for as follows:
I mentioned two exceptions. They are an 'isolated score' track on Tomorrow Never Dies, featuring David Arnold's wonderful score unobscured by sound effects or dialogue (it makes some awkward edits painfully obvious however), and an "MI6 Datastream" on Die Another Day. The latter is a silly name for a trivia track, where random bits of info are displayed in boxes on screen throughout the film. This one also occasionally branches out to featurettes (19 of them), during which the film is minimised to a tiny box while the behind-the-scenes footage plays in a larger one. It makes the film impossible to follow if you're not familiar with it, and also makes the featurettes awkward to find (or quantify the length of) without sitting through the whole thing.
"007 Mission Control"
I'll get to the extras proper in a minute, but first I have something stupid to mention. In what seems to be an effort to pad out the content of the second disc, each film contains something called "007 Mission Control". This is merely a selection of clips from the relevant film, divided up into six sections: 007, Women, Allies, Villains, Mission Combat Manual, and Q Branch. It is in every way pointless and just a waste of space, especially on Die Another Day (more on that in a moment).
The only worthwhile bit of it is a seventh 'category', called Exotic Locations. These are in fact short featurettes (three to five minutes long), narrated by a couple of different actresses from the series, that detail some of the locations featured in their relative films. In total they run 1 hour 19 minutes, which is clearly far from insubstantial... but it doesn't justify the 18 hours total wasted by Mission Control! Bloody stupid idea that was.
The Extras
So to the extras themselves. I'm not going to attempt to list all of them -- there are 250+ separate items across the series -- but there are a variety of things included: original documentaries, including specific Inside... 'making of's on each of the first 16 films, as well as broader ones that cover specific elements or contributors; vintage featurettes from the time of the film's release; newly-uncovered behind-the-scenes footage; deleted scenes (though not on Die Another Day, despite various sources having confirmed their existence); storyboards; image galleries; music videos; trailers, for every film (except Die Another Day), and TV and radio spots for many... I think that broadly summarises what's there.
You'll undoubtedly have noticed me having several jibes at Die Another Day throughout this post. Well, they're with good reason. The first 19 films all receive well-deserved re-releases: the image quality on all of them is immeasurably better than the dirty, standard definition transfers from the old releases; and all have been treated to new extras, as well as retaining everything that was already there. Not so Die Another Day. Apparently the picture quality of the film is improved from the original release -- which, incidentally, was only three years old when this new one appeared -- but the extras have been ransacked! True, there are a handful of new elements that reuse some of the old material... but they only total 40 minutes, and one of the things now missing is the 81 minute Inside Die Another Day feature! Not to mention other bits and bobs, including multi-angle sequences, shorter featurettes and music videos. Plus, as mentioned earlier, the deleted scenes still aren't present and the trailers and TV spots -- surely easily available just three-and-a-half years after release? -- haven't been added to the package.
It's especially galling because there's clearly room on the disc. Die Another Day's extras total 2 hours 10 mins; with "Mission Control" wasting space, that's 3 hours... but the three other Brosnan films have around 3 hours 45 minutes of material on disc two, as do several of the older films (Thunderball for one). How ludicrous is that? Especially when there's the Ultimate Edition label slapped on it -- all things considered, it's not really as good as the first release, never mind better than it! Of all the Bonds, this is clearly the one to hold out on -- I'd wager that, when it comes time to re-release them on Blu-ray (the first releases, coming soon, will just duplicate these Ultimate Editions), Die Another Day will regain some of that missing documentary material, and maybe even rediscover its deleted scenes (the other three Brosnan films all have deleted scenes that weren't on their original releases).
Totals
Rant over, I'll get to the final point of this thing: the total running times for the extras and the collection as a whole.
But first... The best film in the extras department is GoldenEye, with 2 hours 59 mins of the stuff. The weakest is For Your Eyes Only, which only scrapes together 1 hour 19 mins. The amount of new material on each release varies wildly, from as little as 18 minutes to as much as 1 hour 40 mins. Several have over an hour of new stuff, and it's only a few that sink below 30 mins.
But what of that grand total? Well, I can tell you that the running time of all those extras exceeds that of the films themselves, topping out at 43 hours, 4 minutes and 37 seconds!
So, when you put all of this stuff together, how long would it take you to get through the whole damn lot? You're going to need plenty of time, because the total length of these 20 Ultimate Editions' content is 173 hours, 50 minutes and 18 seconds!
I'm so never going to watch all of that. It's over seven solid days for crying out loud!
Casino Royale
Just to finish up, a note on Casino Royale.
As I said way back at the start of this post (do you remember that? It must seem a long time ago now...), it's about to be re-released in a three-disc edition bursting with extras. I say "bursting" -- it bloody better be as I'm going to be buying it again. Anyway, the initial release wasn't quite as shoddy as some might suppose: as well as containing a good-looking (and sounding) copy of the film, it also manages 54 minutes of film-specific extras plus a 49 minute documentary on Bond girls. That's not a bad tally really, even though the new edition should easily top it. That considered, I won't be including those numbers in a total here... so expect an update before long.
Incidentally, if you're an extras fan and want the re-release, but already own the old one, I suggest selling it sharpish -- you've got 49 days til the new edition hits shelves...
Sunday, 31 August 2008
TV
Cathy Come Home
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Ken Loach's 1966 Wednesday Play about a family's descent into homelessness, which directly led to the formation of the charity Shelter and, later, changes in British law.
Fiona's Story
One-off drama starring Gina McKee as the wife of a man who is found to have downloaded child porn. It's Jeremy Northam who gives the piece's stand-out performance as the layered, complex husband, an ultimately nasty character who is consequently much more interesting than the rather stock Worried Wife character McKee's landed with.
Outnumbered
1x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]
Spooks
5x08 Agenda
Bloody Christians. Nice to see them as the villains for once. Brilliant. Down side: Adam seems to be following almost exactly the same plot arc that Tom travelled along in the run up to his dismissal from the show, and the trailer for the next episode suggests a total rehash of those elements from Tom's penultimate storyline. Oh dear. Still, at least I know Adam doesn't leave.
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Ken Loach's 1966 Wednesday Play about a family's descent into homelessness, which directly led to the formation of the charity Shelter and, later, changes in British law.
Fiona's Story
One-off drama starring Gina McKee as the wife of a man who is found to have downloaded child porn. It's Jeremy Northam who gives the piece's stand-out performance as the layered, complex husband, an ultimately nasty character who is consequently much more interesting than the rather stock Worried Wife character McKee's landed with.
Outnumbered
1x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]
Spooks
5x08 Agenda
Bloody Christians. Nice to see them as the villains for once. Brilliant. Down side: Adam seems to be following almost exactly the same plot arc that Tom travelled along in the run up to his dismissal from the show, and the trailer for the next episode suggests a total rehash of those elements from Tom's penultimate storyline. Oh dear. Still, at least I know Adam doesn't leave.
Saturday, 30 August 2008
TV
Gilmore Girls
5x02 A Messenger, Nothing More
"Huzzah!"
Outnumbered
1x04 Episode 4 [2nd watch]
Spooks
5x06 Hostage Takers Part 1
5x07 Hostage Takers Part 2
Presumably one of the reasons Spooks don't bandy their episode titles about is that they sometimes give the game away -- the twists at the end of part one are virtually nonexistent if you know it's going to turn into a hostage situation! On the other hand, part one is subpar across the board, so maybe it wouldn't've matter. Part two wasn't too bad though.
5x02 A Messenger, Nothing More
"Huzzah!"
Outnumbered
1x04 Episode 4 [2nd watch]
Spooks
5x06 Hostage Takers Part 1
5x07 Hostage Takers Part 2
Presumably one of the reasons Spooks don't bandy their episode titles about is that they sometimes give the game away -- the twists at the end of part one are virtually nonexistent if you know it's going to turn into a hostage situation! On the other hand, part one is subpar across the board, so maybe it wouldn't've matter. Part two wasn't too bad though.
Films
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
[3rd or so watch]
It's hardly a little-known piece of trivia, but Beauty and the Beast was the first (and, 17 years on, is still the only) animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Well-deserved it was too.
[3rd or so watch]
It's hardly a little-known piece of trivia, but Beauty and the Beast was the first (and, 17 years on, is still the only) animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Well-deserved it was too.
Articles
Review of Robot Chicken: Star Wars DVD by James Gray
(from DVD Times)
"Never, I would hazard to guess, has a single twenty-minute episode of anything been the focus of so much comprehensive coverage [but] it’d be daft to criticise a DVD for having too many extras [though] there's still a good argument to be made that no single episode is worth an entire DVD release"
(from DVD Times)
"Never, I would hazard to guess, has a single twenty-minute episode of anything been the focus of so much comprehensive coverage [but] it’d be daft to criticise a DVD for having too many extras [though] there's still a good argument to be made that no single episode is worth an entire DVD release"
100 Films on a Cover
Empire, not content with conducting a ludicrously huge reader poll to find the 500 greatest films ever made, have also roped in 150 (as yet unnamed) "key directors and producers" and "the world's most influential film critics" to have their say.
And Empire, not content with conducting a ludicrously huge reader poll and gathering the opinion of key directors, producers and critics to find the 500 greatest films ever made, have gone and created a "magazine milestone" -- 100 different covers for the issue featuring the list! In fact, it's 101, with the 101st being a subscriber-only cover that's currently secret. I'm currently quite glad that Empire's the only magazine I've bothered to keep up my subscription to.
I'm a bit of a collector and hoarder, but even I'm not made enough to fork out £150 to get all 100 covers. That said, at just £1.50 an issue it's a pretty reasonable deal, all things considered, and certainly better than the one Total Film offered when they did their 21 different Bond covers a short while back. Nonetheless, I'll surely try to get my hands on a few different ones, and here's my current pick of the bunch -- mainly, films I love that have especially cool covers, but also some that just look good.
Click to enlarge.
And Empire, not content with conducting a ludicrously huge reader poll and gathering the opinion of key directors, producers and critics to find the 500 greatest films ever made, have gone and created a "magazine milestone" -- 100 different covers for the issue featuring the list! In fact, it's 101, with the 101st being a subscriber-only cover that's currently secret. I'm currently quite glad that Empire's the only magazine I've bothered to keep up my subscription to.
I'm a bit of a collector and hoarder, but even I'm not made enough to fork out £150 to get all 100 covers. That said, at just £1.50 an issue it's a pretty reasonable deal, all things considered, and certainly better than the one Total Film offered when they did their 21 different Bond covers a short while back. Nonetheless, I'll surely try to get my hands on a few different ones, and here's my current pick of the bunch -- mainly, films I love that have especially cool covers, but also some that just look good.
Click to enlarge.
Friday, 29 August 2008
TV
God, the Devil and Bob
1x03 Date From Hell
The Tudors
2x05 His Majesty's Pleasure
After three opening episodes that continued the first season's model of going nowhere fast, these last two have seen The Tudors finally pick up the pace. Thank God! No, do -- He's what most of the plot's about right now.
Would I Lie To You?
2x08 (29/8/08 edition) [season finale]
1x03 Date From Hell
The Tudors
2x05 His Majesty's Pleasure
After three opening episodes that continued the first season's model of going nowhere fast, these last two have seen The Tudors finally pick up the pace. Thank God! No, do -- He's what most of the plot's about right now.
Would I Lie To You?
2x08 (29/8/08 edition) [season finale]
Films
Bond from the Beginning #10:
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
[2nd watch]
See here for my thoughts on this film.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
[2nd watch]
See here for my thoughts on this film.
Articles
Australia Pushed Back To Thanksgiving by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
More amusing witterings: "Looks like Harry Potter And The Shift Into Next Summer has had a real impact on the November schedules in the States... Australia has just moved back by a whopping 12 days, to November 26. [It] remains to be seen how a film that could only become more Australian if Rolf Harris showed up will play on the weekend when America is celebrating its most patriotic holiday. Australia is still scheduled to open here on Boxing G’day."
Duchovny enters sex rehab clinic
(from BBC News)
Well that's... unusual...
Interview: Quantum of Solace Game Co-Design Director Adam Gascoine by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"Daniel Craig was actually the most reluctant [to lend his voice and likeness to the game]. He’s a big gamer himself and didn’t want to be in a poorly made licensed game, so we sat him down and let him play an early build. He loved it and came back to us to say “Okay, I’ll do it.” Since then he’s been a very important part of making the game what it is."
Young Bond computer game aims to get boys reading by Alison Flood
(from guardian.co.uk)
If you haven't heard about The Shadow War online game, you may also want to check out links such as this and this; but I mention the Guardian article more for this little snippet: "Higson said there had also been "a lot of film interest" in the books. "It's just finding the time to get it right – it's very difficult to find a kid with the charisma to pull off the character of Bond at that age.""
(from Empire Online)
More amusing witterings: "Looks like Harry Potter And The Shift Into Next Summer has had a real impact on the November schedules in the States... Australia has just moved back by a whopping 12 days, to November 26. [It] remains to be seen how a film that could only become more Australian if Rolf Harris showed up will play on the weekend when America is celebrating its most patriotic holiday. Australia is still scheduled to open here on Boxing G’day."
Duchovny enters sex rehab clinic
(from BBC News)
Well that's... unusual...
Interview: Quantum of Solace Game Co-Design Director Adam Gascoine by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"Daniel Craig was actually the most reluctant [to lend his voice and likeness to the game]. He’s a big gamer himself and didn’t want to be in a poorly made licensed game, so we sat him down and let him play an early build. He loved it and came back to us to say “Okay, I’ll do it.” Since then he’s been a very important part of making the game what it is."
Young Bond computer game aims to get boys reading by Alison Flood
(from guardian.co.uk)
If you haven't heard about The Shadow War online game, you may also want to check out links such as this and this; but I mention the Guardian article more for this little snippet: "Higson said there had also been "a lot of film interest" in the books. "It's just finding the time to get it right – it's very difficult to find a kid with the charisma to pull off the character of Bond at that age.""
Super Bond interviews
No, it's not a new super-powered direction for the franchise, but rather interviews that are super about Bond -- and, specifically, Quantum of Solace. They're from a German site, but don't worry, they're in English.
So, check out the latest utterances of...
Gemma Arterton ('Agent Fields')
She's in bloody everything nowadays, y'know. "I’m glamorous but I don’t think I’m hot glamorous. There was this thing with my character where we wanted to make her really retro and a bit of a throwback. I can’t reveal her first name yet but it’s typically Fleming and quite cheeky and a little bit tongue in cheek."
Barbara Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson (producers)
"Bond is pursuing the people behind Vesper’s betrayal and her death. He is tracking them down and the mystery unfolds. He runs into CIA people later who are very ambivalent about their role in all of this." Americans are bad! Yay!
Marc Forster (director)
"Judi Dench is one of the greatest actresses living today... personally I could watch her read the phone book... I wanted to give her more scenes and have her interact with Bond more because she is the only woman Bond doesn’t see in a sexual context... The relationship between them is fascinating and I think it’s really important so I wanted more scenes between them and to go into that relationship with more depth."
Quantum of Solace hits UK cinemas on October 31st and the US on November 14th (allow my to say, "ha ha!"). For a full list of release dates by country, look here.
A new trailer is due in the next couple of weeks.
So, check out the latest utterances of...
Gemma Arterton ('Agent Fields')She's in bloody everything nowadays, y'know. "I’m glamorous but I don’t think I’m hot glamorous. There was this thing with my character where we wanted to make her really retro and a bit of a throwback. I can’t reveal her first name yet but it’s typically Fleming and quite cheeky and a little bit tongue in cheek."
Barbara Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson (producers)"Bond is pursuing the people behind Vesper’s betrayal and her death. He is tracking them down and the mystery unfolds. He runs into CIA people later who are very ambivalent about their role in all of this." Americans are bad! Yay!
Marc Forster (director)"Judi Dench is one of the greatest actresses living today... personally I could watch her read the phone book... I wanted to give her more scenes and have her interact with Bond more because she is the only woman Bond doesn’t see in a sexual context... The relationship between them is fascinating and I think it’s really important so I wanted more scenes between them and to go into that relationship with more depth."
Quantum of Solace hits UK cinemas on October 31st and the US on November 14th (allow my to say, "ha ha!"). For a full list of release dates by country, look here.
A new trailer is due in the next couple of weeks.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
TV
Big Cat Week
2x02 (4/1/2005 edition)
God, the Devil and Bob
1x01 In the Beginning
1x02 Andy Runs Away
I loved this when it first aired back in 2000, and I'm pleased to say that, unlike Hot Shots, it's still funny to me today. Hurray!
Mock the Week
6x08 (28/8/08 edition)
The Tudors
2x04 The Act of Succession
2x02 (4/1/2005 edition)
God, the Devil and Bob
1x01 In the Beginning
1x02 Andy Runs Away
I loved this when it first aired back in 2000, and I'm pleased to say that, unlike Hot Shots, it's still funny to me today. Hurray!
Mock the Week
6x08 (28/8/08 edition)
The Tudors
2x04 The Act of Succession
Articles
Quite a few today -- maybe I should start breaking these down / posting them throughout the day?
Documentaries Being Screened In Empty Auditoriums In N.Y.
(from Studio Briefing)
"Nine documentary films are being screened in mostly empty theaters at a New York arthouse this week in order to quality for Oscar consideration... The New York Times reported that when its reporter looked into the 7:00 p.m. screenings, it found two theaters with not a single person in the seats and one with just three."
Filming under way for new series of Torchwood
(from BBC Press Office)
Press release announcing the third season of Torchwood, a single five-part story entitled Children of Earth. One of the main guest stars is Peter Capaldi, from Doctor Who's The Fires of Pompeii. Another case of spatial genetic multiplicity in Cardiff?
Ghostbusters Tops Funny Films Poll
(from WENN)
I love Ghostbusters, so this is worth reporting. Follow the links for more of the list.
Movie Reviews: Hamlet 2
(from Studio Briefing)
While the trailer looked surprisingly good, it seems the film itself is as bad as you'd expect.
Pitt and Clooney at Venice debut
(from BBC News)
"Pitt picked up an award that he won in Venice last year -- the best actor's prize for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. "You can run but you can't hide," Pitt joked as he accepted the award. "It was an honour to receive this last year and it remains an honour to accept this this year.""
The Strangers Set For A Sequel by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Don't even really know what it is (and the article contains spoilers), but it makes this valid point: "Rogue is hoping that the [sequel] might see The Strangers develop into a Saw-like franchise. With the best will in the world, we hope not, for very few horror franchises have suffered from the law of diminishing returns like the Saw series. Isn’t it best to burn out with a couple of really good, strong efforts, than to fade away with increasingly awful sequels?"
Torchwood Season Three Revealed
(from Torchwood Official Site)
Mentioned purely for this quote: "Russell T Davies outlined his vision in a tone meeting with key production staff where he told them, 'I usually give you all one or two tone words when we have a meeting like this, but if I were to give you two words this time, they would be "Euros Lyn". More than ever before, this series of Torchwood will be director-led, and it will look absolutely amazing.'" How unusual, and therefore intriguing...
West Wing writer tackles Facebook
(from BBC News)
"Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has agreed to make a film about the founders of social networking site Facebook... "I have a fairly specific idea of what the first 15 pages of the screenplay will be and no idea what will happen on pages 16 thru 130," he wrote. "I have very strong feelings about the internet and its effect on our national culture, but frankly those feelings are being countered by the sophistication, kindness, curiosity and wit of the posts in this site. You people are screwing me up with your civility and intelligence.""
Also:
Get Ready For Facebook: The Movie by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Mentioned for these two somewhat amusing comments: "Empire has to ask: who is sad enough to start a fake Facebook page for Aaron Sorkin? ... should Sorkin’s next status update read, ‘Aaron was only kidding about the Facebook thing – it’s a very bad idea’?"
Documentaries Being Screened In Empty Auditoriums In N.Y.
(from Studio Briefing)
"Nine documentary films are being screened in mostly empty theaters at a New York arthouse this week in order to quality for Oscar consideration... The New York Times reported that when its reporter looked into the 7:00 p.m. screenings, it found two theaters with not a single person in the seats and one with just three."
Filming under way for new series of Torchwood
(from BBC Press Office)
Press release announcing the third season of Torchwood, a single five-part story entitled Children of Earth. One of the main guest stars is Peter Capaldi, from Doctor Who's The Fires of Pompeii. Another case of spatial genetic multiplicity in Cardiff?
Ghostbusters Tops Funny Films Poll
(from WENN)
I love Ghostbusters, so this is worth reporting. Follow the links for more of the list.
Movie Reviews: Hamlet 2
(from Studio Briefing)
While the trailer looked surprisingly good, it seems the film itself is as bad as you'd expect.
Pitt and Clooney at Venice debut
(from BBC News)
"Pitt picked up an award that he won in Venice last year -- the best actor's prize for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. "You can run but you can't hide," Pitt joked as he accepted the award. "It was an honour to receive this last year and it remains an honour to accept this this year.""
The Strangers Set For A Sequel by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Don't even really know what it is (and the article contains spoilers), but it makes this valid point: "Rogue is hoping that the [sequel] might see The Strangers develop into a Saw-like franchise. With the best will in the world, we hope not, for very few horror franchises have suffered from the law of diminishing returns like the Saw series. Isn’t it best to burn out with a couple of really good, strong efforts, than to fade away with increasingly awful sequels?"
Torchwood Season Three Revealed
(from Torchwood Official Site)
Mentioned purely for this quote: "Russell T Davies outlined his vision in a tone meeting with key production staff where he told them, 'I usually give you all one or two tone words when we have a meeting like this, but if I were to give you two words this time, they would be "Euros Lyn". More than ever before, this series of Torchwood will be director-led, and it will look absolutely amazing.'" How unusual, and therefore intriguing...
West Wing writer tackles Facebook
(from BBC News)
"Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has agreed to make a film about the founders of social networking site Facebook... "I have a fairly specific idea of what the first 15 pages of the screenplay will be and no idea what will happen on pages 16 thru 130," he wrote. "I have very strong feelings about the internet and its effect on our national culture, but frankly those feelings are being countered by the sophistication, kindness, curiosity and wit of the posts in this site. You people are screwing me up with your civility and intelligence.""
Also:
Get Ready For Facebook: The Movie by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
Mentioned for these two somewhat amusing comments: "Empire has to ask: who is sad enough to start a fake Facebook page for Aaron Sorkin? ... should Sorkin’s next status update read, ‘Aaron was only kidding about the Facebook thing – it’s a very bad idea’?"
"sing the theme toon..."
James Bond Theme (Casino Royale Trailer Version) by Pfeifer Broz. Music
Nearly two years on, I finally found the damn thing! And it's brilliant. You can download it for yourself here (less than legally, I should add, but there's no way to purchase the music as it's never been officially released).
Nearly two years on, I finally found the damn thing! And it's brilliant. You can download it for yourself here (less than legally, I should add, but there's no way to purchase the music as it's never been officially released).
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