shameless eBay self-promotion: update 2

As you may know from Sunday, I'm selling a variety of items on eBay at the moment, so thought I'd bring them to the attention of anyone reading this. All are available as either auctions (with low low low starting prices) or Buy It Now prices (the latter disappears when someone bids, incidentally).

Many items have sold already (anything sold from the last two days has been removed, anything sold since posting this is crossed out) while others are already being bid on (those are in bold) -- so act fast if you want anything!

DVDs

Casino Royale 2-disc Collector's Edition

Doctor Who Complete Davros Collection box set (new)

Ghost in the Shell

L.A. Confidential

Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles with Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart and Richard E. Grant

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking

The West Wing Season 1 Part 1

The West Wing Season 1 Part 2

Books

Casino Royale (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Diamonds Are Forever (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Dr No (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Goldfinger (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Live and Let Die (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Moonraker (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Thunderball (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Toys

Doctor Who Micro-Universe: Captain Jack's Chula Ship (with exclusive Captain Jack mini-figure)

All these auctions end next weekend, with the exception of the two Holmes DVDs, which end on Monday -- provided none of them go for Buy It Now before then of course.

I've still got one thing left to sell in this clear-out -- namely, a Doctor Who Empress of the Racnoss action figure -- but that's big and awkward to work out the postage on, so I'll list it when I can be bothered to sort that out.

I'm liking selling stuff on eBay. Money is good, as is the space it creates. I'm quite tempted to trawl through my nearly-900-titles DVD collection and find other stuff I'm not really fussed about to flog; or perhaps some of my duplicate Who toys (damn box sets always including a Doctor).

TV

The Sandbaggers
1x03 Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
Sandbaggers' surprise character deaths may not have the visceral impact of Spooks' (but then, very little beats a deep fat fryer in that respect), but they carry more than enough bleak punchiness of their own. This programme is excellent, by-the-way.

The Sarah Jane Adventures
2x03 The Day of the Clown Part One
I find it very intriguing that both SJA, Doctor Who's kid-friendly spin-off, and Torchwood, Doctor Who's adult-oriented spin-off, have done circus-related episodes. That must say something about the fear of clowns... (Both did them in their second series too, though that's not nearly as intriguing a coincidence/pattern.)

Wired
Part 1 (of 3)
The third (and final, I believe) serial in ITV's 'Monday thrillers' strand, this has a lot to live up to after the slow-paced (in a good way), intelligently written drama of both The Children and Place of Execution. The modern high-tech setting pushes it more toward Spooks territory, though it's not as whooshy (for want of a better phrase, clearly) as BBC shows of this ilk -- who'd've thought ITV would ever be less 'edgy', 'modern' and 'we need to make it appeal to people with no attention span' than the BBC? Part 1 shows potential; I hope it can maintain it.

Non-Fiction

Letters Between a Father and a Son (aka Between Father and Son: Family Letters) by V.S. Naipaul, edited by Gillon Aitken
Introduction by Gillon Aitken
The introduction seems to average about 10 commas and semi-colons per sentence.

Articles

Che & Day The Earth Stood Still Posters by Emily Phillips
(from Empire Online)
Continuing my Che coverage (why, I'm still not sure), it seems the film will be split in half -- in France, at least -- bearing the twin titles -- on the poster, at least -- of Che: Premiere Partie - L'Argentin and Che: Deuxieme Partie - Guerilla. "Un Film de Steven Soderbergh" indeed. For English-speaking readers, they translate as Che: First Part - The Argentinian and Che: Second Part - Guerilla. What titles will appear on screen at the films' open (or indeed close these days) is anyone's guess. Of course, most people won't care enough to guess. (There's also a poster for the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still at that link, as you may have guessed. I'm not fussed, to be honest.)

Fey Blamed For 'Ruining' Palin's Reputation
(from WENN)
To just get political, briefly: yay!

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes — FIRST PICTURES
and
Jude Law as Dr. Watson — FIRST LOOK
(from Just Jared.com)
The first link shows Holmes looking a little Charlie Chaplin-like (ironically enough), presumably undercover in some way. The second set of pictures are much more promising. I still think Law's a poor actor by and large, but at least he looks the part. I remain cautiously optimistic.

Will there be a Before Sunset Sequel? by Brad Brevet
(from RopeofSilicon)
Posting reviews of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset prompted me to look into this. The answer is... a bit vague...

Woody Allen's Manhattan Reveals the Meaning of Life by Brad Brevet
(from RopeofSilicon)
An interesting article, about both Allen's beautiful film and what is required of one's favourite movies.

shameless eBay self-promotion: update

As you may know from yesterday, I'm selling a variety of items on eBay at the moment, so thought I'd bring them to the attention of anyone reading this. All are available as either auctions (with low low low starting prices) or Buy It Now prices (the latter disappears when someone bids, incidentally).

Many items have sold already (anything sold from yesterday has been removed, anything sold since posting this is crossed out) while others are already being bid on (those are in bold) -- so act fast if you want anything!

DVDs

Casino Royale 2-disc Collector's Edition

Doctor Who Complete Davros Collection box set (new)

The Game

Ghost in the Shell

L.A. Confidential

Marnie (The Hitchcock Collection)

The Prisoner The Ultimate Collection (complete series)

The West Wing Season 1 Part 1

The West Wing Season 1 Part 2

Books

Casino Royale (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Diamonds Are Forever (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Dr No (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Goldfinger (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Live and Let Die (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Moonraker (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Thunderball (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Toys

Doctor Who Micro-Universe: Captain Jack's Chula Ship (with exclusive Captain Jack mini-figure)

All these auctions end next weekend -- provided they don't go for Buy It Now before then of course, which many have.

I've still got more items to sell, which I'll add soon. These include:

The Hound of the Baskervilles with Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart and Richard E. Grant

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking

Doctor Who Empress of the Racnoss action figure

So, eyes open -- though I'll undoubtedly mention them here.

TV

Big Cat Live
1x08 (12/10/08 edition) [season finale]

By Any Means
Part 6 (of 6)

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x06 (10/10/08 edition)
Sir Roger Moore! I may not always think highly of his Bond (though have been enjoying them a surprising amount on re-watching lately), but he's a wonderful entertainer.

Stephen Fry in America
Part 1 The New World

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Part 4 (of 4)
Ah, Hardy -- depressing to the bitter end.

shamless eBay self-promotion

I'm selling a variety of items on eBay at the moment, so just thought I'd bring them to the attention of anyone reading this blog. All are available as either auctions (with low low low starting prices) or Buy It Now prices (the latter disappears when someone bids, incidentally). Items are selling already (anything crossed out has now sold), so act fast if you want anything.

DVDs

Casino Royale 2-disc Collector's Edition

Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks

Frankenstein & The Bride of Frankenstein

The Game

Ghost in the Shell

The Godfather Trilogy

L.A. Confidential

Marnie (The Hitchcock Collection)

The Seventh Seal

Books

Casino Royale (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Diamonds Are Forever (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Dr No (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Goldfinger (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Live and Let Die (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Moonraker (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Thunderball (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

All these auctions end between 11:42pm on 18th October and 1:22am on 19th October (wow, I spent an hour and 40 minutes listing things?!)

I've got more items to sell, which I'll add sometime soon. These include:

Doctor Who Davros box set

The Hound of the Baskervilles with Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart and Richard E. Grant

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking

The Prisoner Complete Series

The West Wing Season 1 (Parts 1&2)

Doctor Who Empress of the Racnoss action figure

Doctor Who Micro Universe Chula Ship with Captain Jack figure

So, eyes out. I'm sure I'll mention them here again.

TV

Big Cat Live
1x07 (11/10/08 edition)

Blue Peter at 50
Who doesn't love Blue Peter? Or, at least, loved it when they were little. (If you don't/didn't, what's wrong with you?!) I have to say, it's quite odd seeing the current line-up of presenters, now devoid of anyone who presented it when I was younger (which is entirely down to Konnie Huq's bizarrely long ten-year run, of course).

Merlin
1x04 The Poisoned Chalice

No Heroics
1x02 The Fantastic Chore
One of the most thoroughly sex-obsessed shows I've seen in a while.

The Sandbaggers
1x02 A Proper Function of Government
Still brilliant. You could remake this today with the same scripts, I swear.

Articles

Moriarty Sees A Half-Hour Of Watchmen In Hollywood! by Drew McWeeny
(from Ain't It Cool News)
Massively spoiler-filled (even if you've read the book, it spoils some of the things they've changed/added), but also massively positive. Good news about the running time too: "The film’s running 2 hours and 43 minutes right now without closing credits, and he doesn’t feel like he’s really had to sacrifice anything to get it to that length. At most, a director’s extended cut might add 20 minutes or so to that time, and the Black Freighter material might add in another half-hour at most. The theatrical version might not be the last cut of Watchmen we see, but it’s certainly not a compromised edit in any way."

100 Films update

I last posted an update from my other blog, 100 Films in a Year, a little over a month ago. Since then I've updated it with numerous new reviews, so here's some handy links to them all.

from 2008...
Agatha (1979)
Cathy Come Home (1966)
Flushed Away (2006)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Road to Singapore (1940)
Southland Tales (2006)
Stardust (2007)
Texas Across the River (1966)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

from 2007...
Alfie (1966)
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004)
The Cat's Meow (2001)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
Mrs Brown (1997)
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997)
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Point Break (1991)
100 Films Special: The Star Wars Series
Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope - DVD Edition (1977/2004)
Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - DVD Edition (1980/2004)
Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - DVD Edition (1983/2004)
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)
Thunderbirds (2004)
Wilde (1997)

More to come -- from both years -- in the future.

TV

Big Cat Live
1x06 (10/10/08 edition)

Films

Quantum of Solace Music Exclusive
Composer David Arnold chats about the score -- including some nice snippets while the orchestra play it -- and briefly touches on the title theme.

Stand-Up

Tim Vine Live (DVD)
The great thing about Tim Vine's act is that he packs a Guiness World Record-breaking 499 jokes into an hour -- so if you don't find one gag particularly amusing there'll be another along in 7 seconds! Of course, if you don't like his style at all then that's pretty meaningless, but hey-ho.
He does songs too, which are more variable; especially the closing number, which is OK but probably the least funny bit of the whole act -- not the best thing to end on then. That said, it is catchy, and is still stuck in my head...

Fiction

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
Book Two
Messy, in much the same way those stupid 'event' books -- like Infinite Crisis or Civil War or 52 -- are messy. It assumes you know who all these characters are, but it's a Batman book, not a JLA or Silly DCU Event book, and while some of them are obvious (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow...), others aren't. At all. The rest of the time, it feels like it's the work of someone who really wants to emulate the quality of Dark Knight Returns (many of its tropes are still there), but has less style when it comes to both art -- over-huge panels, wasted space, too scratchy, etc -- or story -- it is, as I have said, messy.

Articles

The 100 Essential DVDs You Must Own
(from Empire Online)
Empire published this a month or two ago but, despite my DVD obsession, I've only just got round to going through it. Debates over inclusions and exclusions aside, there are some disappointing factual errors (Hearts of Darkness was available on DVD long before this piece was written; the UK Buffy sets are not "extras-lite"), but otherwise is as interesting as these lists ever are. I can tell you that I own 69 of them, and of the remaining 31 there are at least a couple that I am never going to bother with.

Studios To Sponsor Oscarcast For First Time
(from Studio Briefing)
For normal people: an "Oscarcast" is the TV broadcast of the Oscars. 2009's ceremony will be the first time trailers for films can be shown during the ceremony. However, they'll be under incredibly strict guidelines: "They can not promote any nominated film, nor any prequel or sequel. Only films that are scheduled to open in April or later in the year can be promoted. Each distributor will be allowed to purchase one 30- or 60-second commercial, and each can promote only one film. They may not have aired prior to the telecast. Only one movie spot can be broadcast during any commercial break. And none of the spots will be permitted to use the terms 'Oscar' or 'Academy Award'." OTT? Expect a slew of Super Bowl-style blockbuster trailers then, as they'll all be out after April and aren't likely to want to invoke Oscar's name.

Games

More Quantum of Solace videos here, this one looking at some elements of the game version.

"New Products Added"

I hate it when online retailers have sales that they then add new items to.

"New products added!", they proudly proclaim. But do they have a section where you can see these new products? No.

So if you trawled through the sale first time round, just in case they happened to have something worthwhile that you didn't already own at a worthwhile price, you now have to trawl through the whole thing again, just in case something they added is something worthwhile that you don't already own at a worthwhile price.

Which isn't very worth your while, if you ask me.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats
7x06 (9/10/08 edition)

Big Cat Live
1x05 (9/10/08 edition)

The Graham Norton Show
4x01 (2/10/08 edition, uncut repeat)
It's official: baboons are evil.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x02 (9/10/08 edition)

Films

Changeling Trailer
"The debut trailer for the Clint Eastwood-directed thriller... Existing somewhere between L.A. Confidential and Flightplan, Changeling tells the based-on-true-events tale of Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), a single mum living in 1920's Los Angeles whose young son goes missing one day. Months later, the police find the boy and return him to his mother's loving arms - but the problem is, he's not her son... A case that rocked California's legal system and uncovered the institutionalised corruption that was eating away at the prohibition-era LA police department". (Description from Empire.)

The Prestige (2006)
[2nd watch]
Even better a second time through. Obviously you have to see it once not knowing all the plot's revelations, but when you do its fun seeing the clues layered in, virtually unnoticeably, right from the start.

Some behind-the-scenes videos from Quantum of Solace...

First up, a look at the work going on for the title sequence, an essential element for any Bond film. There's no shots from the finished sequence, but the behind-the-scenes look at filming the girls gives an idea where it must be going -- as with the posters and the music video, the desert. (Available in HD, if you want it.)

From Crackle: Blog: Ben Randatz and Tim Fisher

And second, a more general and generic 'news wrap' containing interviews with Daniel Craig, director Marc Forster and producer Michael G. Wilson.

From Crackle: Quantum Of Solace: News Wrap 1

Articles

Exclusive: New Frost/Nixon Poster by Glen Ferris
(from Empire Online)
Yay for Michael Sheen! I've been assuming it was a two-hander though, so the rest of that cast list is more than a tad surprising -- Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, Matthew Macfadyen, Toby Jones and Rebecca Hall -- plus, of course, Frank Langella as Nixon -- are all named, among a very long cast list indeed.

The Stath Who Would Be King by Glen Ferris
(from the Empire Blog)
"The truth is unavoidable. No matter what he does, Jason Statham is hard as nails and no one else comes close to equalling him."

When Bad Films Turn Good by Olly Richards
(from the Empire Blog)
Personally, when I watched Van Helsing a second time, I still just thought it was mostly crap. But Richards does have some points:
"What is not to love? You have some Transylvanian accents that skirt the darker depths of Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Cleethorpes; a Frankenstein’s monster who looks like Mama Fratelli after an hour in a pressure cooker; Kate Beckinsale in impractically comely outfits that suggest she might be going to a Halloween party dressed as both members of Heart; Richard Roxburgh, as Dracula, devouring great lumps of scenery [he's the best thing in it, if you ask me]... Will Kemp giving absolute commitment to quite possibly the worst werewolf transformation committed to film; Hugh Jackman wearing Courtney Cox’s hair; and - as a cherry on the cake – some gas masked midgets on fire."

Who Will Watch the Watchmen? by Dan Goodswen
(from the Empire Blog)
"DC Comics, the publisher of Watchmen, sold 100,000 copies of the graphic novel in 2007. In July, The Dark Knight came to theatres around the world accompanied by a 3 minute trailer for the film version of Watchmen. Less than a week later, DC Comics ordered an additional print of 300,000 copies of the book. That figure has since risen to 900,000."

TV

Big Cat Live
1x04 (8/10/08 edition)

Heroes
3x02 The Butterfly Effect

Heroes Unmasked
3x02 New Heroes on the Block

The Sandbaggers
1x01 First Principles
See here for my thoughts on this episode.

Fiction

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
Top Cop Pops by Vicki Vale
Book One

Frank Miller is a helluva writer, but his opaque introductions (which that Vicki Vale thing is one of, believe it or not) leave something to be desired in my opinion.

Anyhow, this is the follow up to Miller's truly seminal Dark Knight Returns, probably the best Batman book ever written -- so no pressure following it up 15 years later then! It was largely poorly reviewed on release, and I can see why -- Miller's art is too sparse, coming across as rushed more than intentionally sketchy; the large amount of dead space (often only two or three panels on a page, undetailed splash pages for no reason) smacks of padding, especially as the story feels rather slight; plus, despite the room and apparent simplicity, it can be damn hard to follow at times.

It's not all bad -- the basics of the story are a decent idea, and do follow thematically from DKR plus, Superman gets thoroughly smashed at the end of Book One. That's something I always like to see.

Articles

The Dark Knight Screenwriter David Goyer On Batman 3 Rumors: ‘It’s All B.S.’ by Shawn Adler
(from MTV Splash Page)
"“It’s all B.S.,” he said. “ALL of it.”" Sums it up!

Exclusive: Watchmen Video Journal
(from Sci Fi Wire)
"The video, Blue Monday, offers a look behind the scenes at how director Zack Snyder and his team brought the indestructible Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) to life." Includes some previously-unseen clips from the film. I really ought to watch the rest of these video journals...

M. Night Shyamalan Further Ponders Unbreakable Sequel by Rick Marshall
(from MTV Splash Page)
Please please please please please!

Review of The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Jason Sanford
(from Flak Magazine)
"then the public actually read DK2. Reviewers called Miller's minimalist artwork "hastily drawn." Lynn Varley's super-bright digital colors were described as "green, flavored mouthwash." Worse, readers didn't like how Miller mocked the very mythology of superheroes that made his original book so powerful... Which is a shame, because in between the hype and the hate, DK2 makes as revolutionary a take on what troubles the comic books industry as Miller's original novel did... Just as The Dark Knight Returns opened a comic book door to the darker aspects of human life, so does DK2 show how to return fun to comics. It also makes a kind of tangled sense. In a world where Sept. 11 happens and the Justice Department wants postal workers to monitor un-American activity, perhaps the only way a superhero can save the day is to look around, have fun and laugh."

Articles: Dracula 2

Dracula Sequel Headed To Screens? by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire Online)

"The Stoker clan have banded together and authorised Dracula: The Un-Dead to follow Bram Stoker's original novel -- and have also sold the film rights... It is, perhaps, no surprise that the Stoker family are so keen on the plan, given that Bram's great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker has written the book along with Dracula historian [Ian] Holt."

"The story picks up 25 years after the original, as the heroes of the original novel are being stalked by... someone. Holt and Stoker used Bram Stoker's original notes and found characters and plot threads written by him but cut from the original novel. Even the title of this one is Bram's original title, so with a bit of luck it will feel like a real sequel and not just another spin on the myth."

"A screenplay for the book was written by Holt with Alexander Galant, and the plan is for that to shoot next June, just before the book is released in October 2009."

There's information to be found on Wikipedia about cast and crew, but it cites no sources and no other articles mention it, so it would seem to be groundless speculation. That said, there are some odd names in there, so it might be worth tracking down if you're interested.

The Sandbaggers: First Principles

The New York Times once described this late '70s drama as "the best spy series in television history", and on the evidence of this first episode I can see where they're coming from.

Unlike modern-day equivalents such as Spooks, The Sandbaggers concerns itself more with the planning and Whitehall political machinations than with the action on the ground. As such it's slower paced and wordier, but also much more intelligent. Even at the time this would have been unusual -- spy genre pedigree is the likes of James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., after all -- and episode one does a fantastic job of justifying its style.

When a Norwegian spy plane crashes behind enemy lines, they enlist the help of the British services -- specifically, the elite Sandbaggers division -- to rescue the scientists who were on board. When the British take their time planning the dangerous operation, the Norwegians get nervous and run off to the CIA... who rush in without a decent plan and consequently get themselves captured. This, as lead character and Sandbaggers director Neil Burnside points out to his Norwegian counterpart at the end, is why planning and forethought are even more important than the mission on the ground.

The other advantage Sandbaggers has over modern-day British series in this ilk is its setting. It's the height of the Cold War, when Britain was still just about a big enough world power, with a strong enough secret service, for all this to conceivable. These days, the lengths MI5 go to in Spooks often seems a bit... silly.

It's a shame they don't make programmes like Sandbaggers any more, as its change of pace and genuinely complex plotting would be welcome in the current TV landscape. As it is, at least we can enjoy it on DVD.

TV

Big Cat Live
1x03 (7/10/08 edition)

Films

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Day 2, film 2. Going well so far!

Articles

Fan Made: Dark Knight Sequel Poster by Erik Davis
(from Cinematical)
Personally, I don't want the Riddler in the next Batman film -- I think he'd be too much like the Joker, unless they have some damn good ideas -- but this is one mighty cool poster. So cool, in fact, that I'd accept having the Riddler just to see this plastered around the place. Click to see it in its full-sized glory.

On a related note...

Knowledge of fonts
(from BBC News)
"We see film posters every day. But have you ever stopped to think about the lettering they use? Sebastian Lester has. As a typeface designer... he's a literal font of knowledge. Many posters... use custom lettering. As Lester explains, though, others employ fonts in common everyday usage." Interesting picture-article.

TV

Big Cat Live
1x02 (6/10/08 edition)

No Heroics
1x01 Supergroupie
Sex obsessed, yes, but still pretty funny. So it's that rarest of things: a half-decent comedy on ITV!

Place of Execution
Part 3 (of 3)

The Sarah Jane Adventures
2x02 The Last Sontaran Part Two
A great conclusion. Hurrah for SJA being so good!

Films

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
My quest-within-a-quest: to watch one film a night for at least the next week (as in, seven days). This is, therefore, the first. Let's see how I do...

Articles

No Heroics: Geek detail
(from ITV.com)
A gallery of some of the inside jokes from No Heroics. Some are lacklustre, some very good. Here's the best:

Review of Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic DVD by Eamonn McCusker
(from DVD Times)
Scathing!

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 20-1.
So, that was that. Nothing greatly surprising in the final run, though the order is undoubtedly intriguing. Nice to see some reach such giddy heights; others should be considerably lower, in my opinion.

The Tudors has episode titles!

Turns out, despite the listings on TV.com, The Tudors has episode titles! It's true, they're on the iTunes Store. (Season One has titles too, but I watched them long before this blog began.)

So, hurrah -- titles are much better than plain numbers, if you ask me.

It's a minor point, I know, but I'll be going back and editing all my posts to add in their actual titles now. Bloody TV.com.

I'm blue!

Da-ba-dee da-ba-die!

This colour scheme -- which I've just noticed -- seems to suit the site and/or me better. So here it is!

TV

Big Cat Live
1x01 (5/10/08 edition)
The latest iteration of the BBC's long-running Big Cat... series. (I've just started from 1 with the numbering, 'cause that sorting got too much.)

By Any Means
Part 5 (of 6)

The Riches
2x07 The Lying King [series finale]
With the series now unfortunately cancelled, this is how it disappointingly ends -- not with a whimper, but with a multi-cliffhangered bang. Just as it gets really good, everything is frustratingly left hanging. I'm annoyed.

Secret Policeman's Ball '08
The blog had a live update of what was going on as it happened (the event itself was last night, Channel 4's TV broadcast tonight). Quite a bizarre idea for a gig of this nature, if you ask me. As for the content... Mitchell and Webb made a poor effort of their own, originally excellent sketch; Tim Minchin's song was very funny; but Eddie Izzard, closing the show, was comedy gold as ever -- the stand-out stand-up by a country mile.

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 50-21. More surprised -- primarily, the original Star Wars and all three Lord of the Rings films are outside the Top 20! No sign yet of the overrated Empire Strikes Back though...

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x05 (3/10/08 edition)
Parky! Yay!

Little Britain USA
1x01 Episode 1
Lucas and Walliams take some of their old character over the pond, and find some new ones there too. Despite the new setting and HBO funding (it airs nearly a week later over here, fact-fans), the style (and quality) of humour is unchanged.

Merlin
1x03 The Mark of Nimueh
I have to wonder if there's something in Nimueh and Morgana looking as if they could be twins...

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
2x04 (4/10/08 edition)

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Part 3 (of 4)
Ah, Hardy -- as unrelentingly depressing as ever.

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 100-51. Some surprising ones turning up this low, it must be said.

TV

The Riches
2x06 Dead Caelm
The Riches has now been officially cancelled. Bollocks.

Music

Another Way to Die (video) by Jack White & Alicia Keys
OK, so it's been floating around on the net for days (especially after it received its US premiere on Monday), but rather than watching it in some crappy blocky streaming window I've held out til now to catch it on TV (where it premiered on Channel 4 under an hour ago). I say "held out" -- I'm hardly good at getting round to watching things. But still... It's all rather uninspired, to be honest, and feels like it could do with some clips from the film to give it a good kick up the arse. More so than any other theme, this one seems designed to fit with a title sequence, so it's a bit odd when attached to such a lacklustre video. I still like the song mind.

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 133-101. Next up, the Important Bit -- The Top 100!

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats
7x05 (2/10/08 edition)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x01 (2/10/08 edition)

The Riches
2x05 Trust Never Sleeps

DVD Extras

Doctor Who: The Lost Season
(from Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord)
Brief featurette about the abandoned plans for the original season 23. They're illustrated, and someone clearly had too much fun drawing Peri's chest.
Three of these missing stories were novelised, donchaknow, and I read them all about 10 or 11 years ago. Go me.
I love features like this, about 'lost' stories. There's one on the Survival DVD too, but I don't think I got round to watching it. Maybe I'll do that now...

Articles

The greatest magazine cover of all time
(from Radio Times)
Photo article showing the complex process by which RT created their "Vote Dalek!" cover in 2005, which was recently voted the greatest magazine cover of all time (hence the title). It received over a quarter of the vote apparently. Well deserved too, if you ask me.

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 164-134. Yep, still going...

TV

Heroes
3x00 Countdown to the Premiere
3x01 The Second Coming
Not quite as mind-blowing an opening as some fans claimed at the time, this is still Heroes on good forms, with plenty of answers, twists, and new questions. The future glimpse of a city being destroyed is a bit too reminiscent of season one though.
(The countdown aired immediately prior to the 2-hour premiere in the US, and on BBC Three last Friday in the UK.)

Heroes Unmasked
3x01 Opening Pandora's Box
Now with new voiceover blokey, Santiago Cabrera. Nice that he's still connected with the show somehow.

Articles

Review of Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord DVD by James Gray
(from DVD Times)
Long, in-depth review of the latest classic Doctor Who DVD release, including an excellent summary of the problems surrounding this season. Now with only one "opening CGI shot" error. I have the box set (have since Saturday), but have yet to even unwrap it.

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 211-165.

TV

Mutual Friends
1x06 Episode Six [season finale]
And hopefully "series finale" too, I must say. While I'm sure it was lots of fun to film -- Alexander Armstrong especially seems to be having a whale of a time, and they've all noted in interviews how much they've enjoyed it -- the wobbly plotting, leaps in logic, and underwritten female characters render it something of a failure. Of course, it'll all come down to ratings in the end.

The Tudors
2x10 Destiny and Fortune [season finale]
Yep, it's not on TV til Friday -- but that's the joy of downloads! You'd think everyone knows what's coming here -- this episode includes the final fate of Henry VIII's (or, as the Americans have it on their posters for this, "Henry 8") second wife -- but I heard of someone on daytime TV the other day hoping everything turns out OK for her. Oh dear oh dear. Still, The Tudors is renowned (amongst me, anyway) for not going anywhere fast, and after the flurry of events in the last two episodes it slows back down for this final installment.
The US broadcast (which I was watching here, of course) also included a trailer for the next season, cunningly edited from clips and soundbites from season two! It was quite impressive really.

Music

Monkey: Journey to the West by Damon Albarn
"The album is a natural development of art and music based on the opera of the same name which Albarn and Jamie Hewlett created with director Chen Shi-Zheng." It's an unusual piece of work, a mix of beautiful pieces, cool pieces, and the odd splash of drivel. It's easy to see why some -- mainly those who foolishly expected this to be Gorillaz's third album -- were disappointed. For those with a more open mind, however, it's definitely worth a listen. Track 21, Monkey Bee, is allegedly the theme for the BBC's Beijing Olympics coverage, but I think you'd be relatively hard pushed to recognise it in there.

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 257-212. It's a most unusual list y'know.

TV

Place of Execution
Part 2 (of 3)

The Sarah Jane Adventures Season 2 Cinema Trailer
"From the Makers of Doctor Who" -- never mind the Sontaran stomping around the trailer, there's this notice at the end, just in case you forgot. In my typical fashion, I've had this knocking around for weeks but only got round to watching it half an hour before the series started. "Oops."

The Sarah Jane Adventures
2x01 The Last Sontaran Part One
"She's back, and it's not about time cos that's the show it's spun off from."

The Tudors
2x09 The Act of Treason

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 299-258. Almost halfway now...

TV

By Any Means
Part 4 (of 6)

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x04 (26/9/08 edition)
Three out of four of Wossy's guests were British comedians who've effectively moved to the US -- practically a themed show! Certainly, an above average edition, even with Jamie Oliver and Keane playing their nothingy new single (how much longer can they trade off having a couple of good tracks on their first album?)

Poirot
11x03 Third Girl
According to TV.com, there's a fourth episode in Poirot's 11th series. According to the Radio Times, this is the last episode ITV are airing for now. It must be said, ITV do very very odd things with their scheduling of new episodes of Poirot and Marple.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Part 2 (of 4)

Top Gear
11x04 (13/7/08 edition)
Hurrah for Dave!

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
Today: 449-300. (Or, "three times as much as yesterday, with twice as much as today still to go".)

TV

Merlin
1x02 Valiant

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
2x03 (27/9/08 edition)
I wouldn't normally watch a Lottery show, but this keeps being on after stuff and I wind up watching bits on mute, so this week I just turned the sound on. The final round, "Films Directed by Steven Spielberg", was bloody easy. I'd've had that £50k no problem.

Mock the Week
6x12 (25/9/08 edition) [season finale]
A highlights/cut bits show to end the series. Still very funny.

Articles

The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time by Simon Braund, Glen Ferris, Ian Freer, Nev Pierce, Chris Hewitt, Dan Jolin, Ian Nathan, Kim Newman, Helen O'Hara, Olly Richards & Owen Willams
(from Empire #233, p.88-172)
You may've heard about Empire's huge "500 Greatest Films Ever" poll. Well, the results are finally out -- in the new issue, which has 101 covers, or for free online. Personally, I'm reading them in the mag -- all 85(!) pages -- and it's gonna take some time.
Today: 500-450.

Theatre

Hamlet
(at the The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon)
Starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart! Oh yeah! Brilliant it was too.

iPhone 3G

I got one!

Yep, that counts as cultural experience.

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x02 (12/9/08 edition)

Films

Zodiac (2007)
[#64 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Just ahead of the director's cut making it to UK DVD on Monday (at last), I've finally gotten round to watching the original version. I thought I ought to, really, as I own it and have the DC on pre-order, and especially as the latter's only five minutes longer (I guess it'll be #a when I finally watch it then). Brilliant film, by-the-way.

Non-Fiction

Overheard in New York by S. Morgan Friedman & Michael Malice
"Going Underground" (pages 138-172)

Music

Another Way to Die (song) by Jack White & Alicia Keys
[40th listen]
While everyone else seems to be railing against this, it's grown on me and now I really like it. I imagine it'll be great in the film too. It's now been officially released -- it's digital download or vinyl only, so grab it from iTunes (not in the US til next month, ha ha!) -- and it sounds a lot better in full quality rather than via poor radio rips.

Articles

I Am Legend Prequel Moving Forward
(from ComingSoon.net)
Why? There's even less need than normal here -- the backstory was told in the film in flashbacks; we all know what'll happen at the end; and while the first film did good box office, most people were disappointed by it, surely meaning returning crowds will be down. I won't be surprised if this never really sees the light of day.

TV

Lost in Austen
Part 4 (of 4)
As fluffy as ever in its conclusion.

The Riches
2x04 Slums of Bayou Hills

Music

James Bond Theme (Casino Royale Trailer Version) by Pfeifer Broz. Music [many listens]
The Pfeifer Broz's amazing version of the Bond theme joins the elite list (eight members) of songs I've listened to over 100 times. Of course, being just two minutes long helps -- I've (apparently) spent 3 hours 24 minutes listening to it, compared to 9 hours 30 mins for my #1 song, or 16 hours 43 minutes for the song just below it (that one's 10 minutes long, you see).

Articles: Quantum of Solace

A variety of articles relating to the forthcoming Bond film (only one month to go here in the UK!)

Daniel Craig: Back For Bond 23 And The Next Few After That by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"Barbara Broccoli [producer]... confirmed that Craig would be back in Bond 23 and the ‘next few’ films... With news that the Quantum group represents a kind-of modern day SPECTRE... fans have been wondering which story lines in the Craig era would continue on from Quantum of Solace to Bond 23. Broccoli said: ‘This is a continuation, but I think the story kind of completes here. I think you know we had a lot of unanswered questions at the end of Casino Royale, and this story just kind of completes that cycle and will go on to other different stories from now on.’"
Doing a Bond sequel is a great idea -- the Connery ones had linking threads, but they were still totally standalone -- but it also makes sense to not drag it out too long. It would be quite nice if the Quantum group took a third film to finish off completely though, I think, even if it was in an otherwise unrelated story -- like the '60s ones.

David Arnold Gives Verdict On Another Way To Die by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"James Bond composer David Arnold has weighed in on the newest title theme... ‘Even from the first draft, I loved the atmosphere of it more than anything. You know, it’s got a kind of dirty, ugly, but very kind of sexy feel to it. I think when you see the song at the point in the movie where it comes, everything kind of fits in and makes sense.’"

The Name's Bond... Period. by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
"Quantum of Solace to drop the famous introduction as well as 'shaken, not stirred' line." Read the full article for some interesting thoughts on the Bond formula.

New Quantum of Solace Poster Artwork Revealed by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
It's actually the soundtrack cover in this article, but it's since appeared elsewhere as a poster-shaped poster. Odd to have the girl the same size as Bond, but its simple, sparse style ties with the previous poster and those for Casino Royale.

Quantum of Solace: Shortest Bond Film Ever by Matt Weston
(from CommanderBond.net)
Well, I didn't expect that! An economically-lengthed franchise film in this day & age? What's the world coming to? Intriguingly, virtually the same thing happened back in the mid-'90s, when Pierce Brosnan followed the two-hours-plus GoldenEye with Tomorrow Never Dies, easily the shortest Bond since Connery's films. Still, nothing like as brief as Quantum will be!

TV

Mutual Friends
1x05 Episode Five

The Riches
2x02 Friday Night Lights
2x03 Field of Dreams
Episode 2 feels very much like the second half of Episode 1, leading me to wonder if they were originally broadcast as a two-hour premiere in the US. I can't be bothered to check though. Even if they weren't, I bet they were intended to be -- the first half had a very unusual and abrupt ending, while this one continues the story very directly, establishes a new status quo, and comes to a more appropriate conclusion. And then Episode 3 is as crazy as ever, of course.

Articles

Bollywood's Hari Puttar wins Harry Potter suit by Ramola Talwar Badam
(from Mail.com)
Craziness.

Google phone to cost $179, debut Oct. 22 by Peter Svensson
(from Mail.com)
Will it beat the iPhone? Not looking like that it won't.

Study: Series TV showing more gays, lesbians
(from Mail.com)
Amusingly thorough study of the number of LGBT characters in the forthcoming US TV season.

Talking Shop by Rory Bremner
(from Radio Times 27 Sept-3 Oct 2008, p.20-23)
Bremner supposedly interviews Parky -- a great idea, but the article includes next to nothing from their conversation. Boo! Apparently more can be found online at radiotimes.com/parkinson, though I haven't looked for myself.

And finally, coming soon...

Loft in Space by Benjamin Cook
(from Radio Times 27 Sept-3 Oct 2008, p.8-9)
The Sarah Jane Adventures is almost back! I really ought to get round to watching the trailers...

Upping the anti by Jenny Eden
(from Radio Times 27 Sept-3 Oct 2008, p.10-11)
Heroes is almost back! And with a teeny tiny delay from the US too. Lovely.

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
15x03 (19/9/08 edition)
What's up with Iglu & Hartly? They look like Ashes to Ashes in reverse.

Place of Execution
Part 1 (of 3)
Adapted from the novel A Place of Execution -- why drop the "A"? Why? -- this was a lot better than I was expecting. I am suitably intrigued for part two, next week (of course).

TV

By Any Means
Part 3 (of 6)

Poirot
11x02 Cat Among the Pigeons
I was quite surprised to see this episode was written by Mark Gatiss. Also, it starred an unusually high number of recognisable people, even for a Poirot -- Harriet Walter, Claire Skinner, Elizabeth Berrington, Anton Lesser, Natasha Little, Pippa Haywood, Katie Leung, and Miranda Raison doing a terrible French accent.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Part 1 (of 4)

Top Gear
11x05 (20/7/08 edition)
I missed the second half of this series when I went to America, and now I've missed one during the repeats. Dammit. Scouring Dave's schedules it is then.