Films

Inception Trailer
The new film from Christopher 'The Dark Knight' Nolan. Little/nothing is known about the plot, but it does look rather cool. On the other hand, it also looks a little bit Matrixy -- but hopefully not too much, because obviously that's a decade old now. Brilliant cast too, incidentally.

Articles

Loophole over DVD age rating law
(from BBC News)
"Retailers who sell violent video games and 18-rated DVDs to children cannot be prosecuted because of a legal blunder 25 years ago."
Oops.

Robin Williams keen to play Susan Boyle in film biopic by Ben Child
(from guardian.co.uk)
"The comedy actor, who donned drag and assumed a Scottish accent in Mrs Doubtfire, has expressed a wish to play the Britain's Got Talent star in a biopic".
I've not bothered to watch any of the Susan Boyle footage (not any of it), but that I'd watch.

Smith's Hancock sequel finds writers by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Well well well, I didn't see that coming. Of course, I'd only heard the poor critical reception -- I didn't realise it had done so well at the box office. As ever, money beats quality.

TV

From the Earth to the Moon
Part Five Spider
Please look here for my thoughts on this episode.

The Last Volunteer
A tribute to Henry Allingham, one of the last survivors of the First World War, who died last month aged 113. Despite his age, he was clearly still young at heart with a twinkle in his eye, attending events and speaking in schools about his experiences in the War, now almost a century ago.

A Poem For Harry
Broadcast at the same time as the Allingham tribute, this documentary (filmed in early 2008) follows then-Poet Laureate Andrew Motion as he tried to write a poem about Harry Patch, the last man living to have fought in the trenches, who also died just one week after Allingham. The film interviews Patch and investigates his life along with Motion, as he gains insight and inspiration for his poem, meaning that when he reads it publicly for the first time (shown at the end of the programme) we know where all the various references and allusions originated. Perhaps it's the fault of the documentary making sure to explain every nuance of the poem, but it seemed a bit too on-the-nose for me.

Taking the Flak
1x02 Black Gold, Code Red
1x03 Cursed is the Country
Hastily catching up on this before it disappears from iPlayer on Wednesday.
[Watch both episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

From the Earth to the Moon - Part 5

The fifth part of HBO's From the Earth to the Moon jumps back in time to the beginnings of the plans to go to the Moon to cover the development of the Lunar Module, the craft that would actually put men on the Moon's surface.

Such a change of pace, structure and -- for most of the episode -- cast continues this series' unusual approach to serial storytelling, where the only constant is Tom Hanks' slightly awkward opening monologues (always a minute or two of apparently-unrelated but actually thematically-relevant anecdotes that convolute themselves to conclude with a sentence ending "...from the Earth to the Moon").

Writer Andy Wolk also manages to inject some levity into the series, the amount of humour bringing a subtly different tone to this episode. It works especially well here, considering the story is essentially about a group of engineers designing a piece of machinery. As for actual space missions, Apollo 9 (the first test of the Module in space, where it went by the call sign "Spider" -- yep, this episode's title) gets a bit of a look-in in the second half, while Apollo 10 is relegated to no more than two minutes at the close.

Of course, the Module's greatest test is still to come. Next stop, the Moon...

TV

As Seen on TV
1x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Jam & Jerusalem
3x03 New Beginnings / Ladies in Lavender [season finale]
A nice ending to a too-short series. Hopefully there'll be more, but if not this serves as a nice little ending.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rules of Film Noir
A nice overview of the genre for BBC Four's Film Noir Weekend. Not much new to learn if you're decently aware of the genre, but for those who have just heard of it or never delved into it this was a more-than-decent primer and spot of analysis. Nice work BBC.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Channel 4 announces 3D programming week by Dan French
(from Digital Spy)
"Channel 4 has announced a special week of 3D programming to celebrate 3D footage. This autumn, viewers will be invited to don 3D glasses to watch the programmes -- broadcast in ColorCode 3D -- which include previously unseen footage of the Queen during her Coronation year. The two hour-long episodes, titled The Queen In 3D, tell the story of two young men who filmed a 3D colour newsreel they named Royal Review...
The special week will also see the transmission of Derren Brown's 3D Magic Spectacular, The Greatest Ever 3D Moments and several 3D movies."

TV

Mock the Week
7x07 (20/8/09 edition)
A clips & outtakes edition, unusually placed halfway through the series. Although it started out weakly with a huge chunk of repeated material, it steadily improved, in the end almost inadvertently giving a real sense of what it must be like to watch a recording of the show rather than the tightly edited highlights package that each week's edition amounts to.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
3x02 (17/8/08 edition)
Brilliant turns from Reginald D Hunter and Stephen Mangan this week.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Do You Wanna Date James Cameron's Avatar?

It's always fun to mush news stories together for potentially comedic effect*.

So when I heard, on the same day, of the expected success of the trailer for James Cameron's Avatar -- or, as I've taken to calling it, Phantom Menace 2: This Time Everyone's Jar Jar -- and the surprising success of The Guild's music video for (Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar... well, I couldn't help seeing what would happen were the two to collide...

* I'll leave it to you to decide if this example is successful.

TV

From the Earth to the Moon
Part Four 1968
Please look here for my thoughts on this episode.

The Tudors
3x01 Civil Unrest
3x02 The Northern Uprising
Mm, HD! Thought it seems the BBC are intending to show this season in double bills, burning through it in just four weeks (though the series' BBC website says it has six episodes, so maybe they're abandoning it from episodes five). It works quite well in such big chunks, actually -- I certainly didn't spot the join, and a whole lot actually happened.
A bit like Desperate Romantics, The Tudors is historically dubious but an awful lot of fun. It's nice to have it back.
[Watch both episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

You Have Been Watching
1x07 (18/8/09 edition)
"They gone done fell in the water!"
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Music

(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar by The Guild & Felicia Day



Brilliant!

Articles

Cult web series tops iTunes chart by Mark Savage
(from BBC News)
"A music video by the creators of cult web sitcom The Guild has gone straight to number one in the UK iTunes chart, beating Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce.
(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar was written to promote the third series of the show, about a group of people who play an online role-playing game... More than 1.5 million people have watched the video on YouTube since it was uploaded on Monday, while the song itself is currently number two in the Amazon US download chart."
Hurrah for Internet geekdom! Well done one and all.

From the Earth to the Moon - Part 4

Part Four of HBO's From the Earth to the Moon is simply titled 1968 -- and for good reason.

For the first 20 minutes, writer Al Reinert (director of the 1989 documentary For All Mankind, as well as writer of Apollo 13) broadens the scope of the series to put the Moon missions in the context of news events at the time. It seems the titular year was a particularly poor one for America: mass casualties in Vietnam, violent protests against the war taking place worldwide -- not least in America itself -- and the crushing of dreams and hopes with the assassinations of, first, Martin Luther King, Jr., and then Bobby Kennedy.

And amongst all this, the Russians became the first to send an unmanned flight around the Moon and back to Earth.

In response, NASA wanted to best them -- of course -- and so in the days leading up to Christmas 1968, Apollo 8 headed for the Moon, and on Christmas Eve entered orbit -- ten times! -- before eventually returning safely to Earth. Naturally it's this that the majority of the episode focuses on, although the opening section feels longer, so densely packed is it with news footage (both real and faked) covering the events of that year. It perhaps shows Reinert's documentary roots that it so precisely evokes and retells history.

While it's good to cover the details of the missions themselves, the context is also very important -- not just because it's interesting to see these events in the light of what else was going on at the time, but also because they directly impacted on it. Were it not for Kennedy's promise that America would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade, for example, they might not have strived so hard to do it so quickly. Numerous other examples abound throughout the series.

And, as one telegram to the astronauts on Apollo 8 put it, they "saved 1968".

TV

From the Earth to the Moon
Part Three We Have Cleared the Tower
Please look here for my thoughts on this episode.

The Mentalist Finale Night
The Mentalist Revealed
Inside The Mentalist
And so Five chooses to close out the first season of its enjoyable House replacement with three hours of programming devoted to it. First up, two behind-the-scenes half-hours that feature the same narrator and cuts from the same set of interviews. Why isn't it just a single one-hour programme? God only knows.
They hardly dig deep into the production, characters, or anything else, but with a fun lightness about them ("Crowie and Kidders"!) they were perfectly in keeping with their subject matter. Lightweight, then, but enjoyably so. Nice work Five.

And they were of course followed by...

The Mentalist
1x22 Blood Brothers
1x23 Red John's Footsteps [season finale]
A slightly disappointing finale in my book, being rather too much like any other episode. (And, of course, ep22 was just any other episode, though Five did their best to convince people otherwise in promoting Finale Night.)
I do hope Red John doesn't get dragged out interminably, although once he's dealt with it'll leave Jane entirely nemesis-less (and any potential replacement couldn't possibly carry the same weight). Of course, seeing what happens to a Man With A Cause once he's fulfilled it -- is there fulfillment? -- could be very interesting if treated right.
[Watch episode 22 and episode 23 (again) on Demand Five.]

Films

Avatar Trailer
Just as overhyped as we all should have expected.
The CGI is very good, true, but it's no better than that: very good CGI. It does not look real. That journalist who said s/he knew the Big Blue Aliens couldn't be real but they certainly looked it was either a fool or just very gullible. And better CGI has been seen too, such as Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3.
Of course, if the story's good then this won't necessarily matter, but it's already harming it's chances in my book.

Music

No Line on the Horizon by U2
I'm not the biggest U2 fan, though I quite like them, but I couldn't resist this rather lovely edition at Amazon's reduced price (for this week only, I should add).
As for the album itself... it's not bad.

Articles

50 Greatest Movie Sequels
(from Empire)
I like lists, and this is an interesting (if long) one.

Guy Ritchie Talks Moriarty Rumours by Owen Williams
(from Empire)
""Some kind of appearance is probably the best way to describe it," says the director, replying "I believe not" when asked if anyone is officially named as the Prof in the credits. "All will be revealed. I'm afraid I have to be slightly ambiguous, but you'll understand when you se the movie.""
Ah, crystal clear.

Will The Hobbit Be A Trilogy? by Owen Williams
(from Empire)
Answer: we don't know. Obviously -- if we did, there'd be no question in the headline.

From the Earth to the Moon - Part 3

21 months on from the Apollo 1 disaster (depicted in Part Two of From the Earth to the Moon), NASA is preparing for the launch of Apollo 7 -- the first manned mission attempt since the fire. This episode's title -- We Have Cleared the Tower -- should give away its success.

Once again, FtEttM (a catchy acronym if ever I saw one) uses an unusual structure to tell it's story. Here, a young documentary crew follow the preparations for Apollo 7 -- while the mission is obviously real, the documentary crew are a fictional creation. On the one hand it works quite neatly, allowing characters to explain technical details and expand on their feelings in a way that would be unrealistic in a standard dramatisation. The major downside of this is that it occasionally feels like a documentary being performed by actors, rather than a genuine piece of drama.

The primary benefit of this, on the other hand, is to emphasise the effect of Apollo 1: it features ominously in the thoughts and words of the astronauts, ground crew and the media, the potential for a similar incident constantly hanging over them. So tangible is the memory of the accident that this episode almost feels more like a continuation of the Apollo 1 story, rather than the tale of Apollo 7. Certainly, by choosing to end the episode with the successful launch -- thus ignoring what occurred during the 11 days the men spent in space -- the story makes its focuses whether NASA can overcome the legacy of Apollo 1 rather than what Apollo 7 contributed to the space program.

It's the creation of this feeling that makes Part Three another successful episode of From the Earth.... As a series, it's finding new angles from which to tell the story of the Apollo missions, rather than just rehashing other films and documentaries. If it wasn't for this it would inevitably repeat itself with episode after episode of similar experiences in space, and while those tales are likely fascinating, a lot of other things went on around the program that are worthy of retelling too.

TV

Dragons' Den
7x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

From the Earth to the Moon
Part One Can We Do This?
Part Two Apollo One
Please look here for my thoughts on these episodes.

Articles

Davies has future Torchwood plans by Mayer Nissim
(from Digital Spy)
I actually noticed this story yesterday on a Who fansite, but as they don't have links to individual news stories this makes for a better link. Anyway:
"Davies said: "I could write you scene one of series four right now. I know exactly how to pick it up. I've got a shape in mind, and I've got stories. I know where you'd find Gwen and Rhys, and their baby, and Jack, and I know how you'd go forward with a new form of Torchwood... If the BBC asked for another 13 one-part stories, that's what we'd do... but I think it works well as one continuous story.""

Deayton 'to return for HIGNFY milestone by Daniel Kilkelly
(from Digital Spy)
Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

Scoop on those final Who specials by Dan French
(from Digital Spy)
It's not really all that much of a "scoop" -- it's just a brief, largely unrevealing interview with guest star David Harewood (most recently seen as Friar Tuck in Robin Hood (which I've still not seen the final two episodes of, incidentally)) -- but will still be of interest to fans (obviously).

U2 explain Spider-Man 'opera' by Greg Cochrane
(from BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat)
U2 do have some good songs/albums, but they really are a bunch of... well, I try to keep this blog family friendly, so let's say "twits".

From the Earth to the Moon - Parts 1 & 2

From the Earth to the Moon is HBO's 1998 miniseries from the team behind Apollo 13, which dramatises NASA's attempts to reach -- and, ultimately, various missions to -- the Moon.

Part One, titled Can We Do This? and directed by executive producer (and, of course, film star) Tom Hanks, covers the broadest spectrum of time, going from the Soviet's first spacewalk in 1961 to the end of the Gemini program in 1966 -- essentially, it's setup for what's to come: the Apollo missions to the Moon. As a summary of this period it's a slightly unusual mix of real contemporary footage, fake contemporary footage, and dramatised scenes. It still functions as a narrative, but it does enhance the feeling that it's a summary to get viewers up to speed for the real meat of the series -- the Apollo missions.

Part Two is simply titled Apollo One. As its title suggests, it covers the tragedy of Apollo 1: during a routine test, a fire broke out in the command module and killed three astronauts. Though more of a standard dramatic narrative than Part One, the episode still makes use of flashbacks to convey what the crew were like while moving forward with an investigation that could potentially shut down the entire space program.

With their different feels and self-contained stories, these opening episodes suggests how this miniseries will play out: not a twelve-hour story divided into twelve segments, but rather a series of twelve one-hour stories, each with their own focus and style, that build up into a chronological telling of NASA's attempts to reach the Moon. If they all maintain this level of quality, it'll be a pretty fine series.

TV

As Seen on TV
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Desperate Romantics
Part 4 (of 6)
Largely inaccurate, a bit barmy, and utterly silly -- and brilliant because of it. There's nothing on TV right now that's quite as much fun as Desperate Romantics.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
16x25 (24/7/09 edition) [season finale]
Despite this edition being nearly a month old, it featured Tarantino promoting Inglourious Basterds -- released tomorrow. The interview with the Dragons was a tad uncomfortable, but Tarantino and Denzel Washington were both excellent.

Films

For All Mankind (1989)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

Review of Inglourious Basterds by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire)
Talking of Inglourious Basterds... It does sound rather good.

Square Eyes; Bullets, Broads…and BBC 4 by John Hodson
(from From the Cheap Seats)
Just to draw your attention to this:
"The redoubtable BBC 4 is running a short film noir season this coming weekend with six movies shown Saturday and Sunday and no less than five screenings of a new hour long documentary presented by Matthew Sweet, The Rules of Film Noir."

Articles

Pitt to play Holmes villain Moriarty? by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
At first this sounds like one of those random, baseless casting rumours that always does the rounds but never comes to pass, but if you read the details in the article it begins to sound surprisingly definite.

Robert Downey Jr to play vampire Lestat? by Marcell Minaya
(from Digital Spy)
This, on the other hand, is just rumour-tastic.

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
(from The Digital Bits)
While sadly incomplete (and based on the "page created: 12/19/03" and "updated: 6/13/06" labels, it shall forever remain so), this is a nice overview of the Japanese Zatoichi film (and TV) series -- kind of a Japanese James Bond... in that it's a long-running popular series about one character, not in that it's a contemporary spy action/thriller.

new review at 100 Films

Stand By Me (1986)

it’s a paean for childhood, with the adult perspective and the ‘lost age’ setting of the ’50s succinctly highlighting the nostalgic spirit. To be precise, it’s not so much reflecting on “childhood” as on “growing up” — the choices that are open when young that either disappear with time or, for whatever reason, become closed off.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Jam & Jerusalem
3x02 Dinner Party / Missing Persons
A much better episode, though this time it was even more distinctly two Sellotaped together. Unfortunately this almost served to rob the first half of its surprising power, not allowing time for it to be digested before racing on to the next. Fortunately, the second half was a belter, so all was (almost) forgiven. Indeed, as a pair, they certainly make up for the weaker first part.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wildest Dreams
Part 3 (of 7)
"There can be only one," Nick Knowles says at one point this episode (well, almost -- what he said was near-identical and you can hear he was stopping himself), inadvertently nicking the catchphrase from something entirely different. I bet he wishes they were having deciders with swords though.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Grand Designs
2x03 Surrey: The Regency Villa
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Louis Theroux: The City Addicted to Crystal Meth
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
7x06 (13/8/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Babel (2006)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
On 4HD. Oo-ooh.

TV

Would I Lie To You?
3x01 (10/8/09 edition)
This has been rather buried in a late-night-Monday slot, which is a shame because it's a rather good show with broader appeal than that. Why not pair it with As Seen on TV on a Friday evening?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

You Have Been Watching
1x06 (11/8/09 edition) [2nd watch]

Films

District 9 Trailer
District 9 hit US cinemas today, so I figured it was about time I watched the trailer. It's a bit hard to tell what it's like from this, but it certainly has potential.

Fantastic Mr. Fox Trailer
And this just looks surprisingly old-school, but in a kinda endearing way.

TV

Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin
Surprisingly engrossing film about the people who really made penicillin possible: yes, Alexander Fleming discovered it, but without Howard Florey, Ernst Boris Chain and their team it would just be a little curio of no real use -- and Fleming (and others) more or less exploited their work for personal gain.

Desperate Romantics
Part 3 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
1x21 Miss Red
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Prisoner Comic-Con Trailer
A nine-minute trailer for the forthcoming remake of The Prisoner. It looks suitably intriguing, and with Ian McKellen in the cast it must be good on at least some level.

Music

West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian

Articles

Charles Dance blasts ITV2 over Hilton by Daniel Kilkelly
(from Digital Spy)
"Charles Dance has criticised ITV2 for keeping his new show off air in favour of Paris Hilton's British Best Friend. The veteran actor revealed that university drama Trinity was pushed out of the schedules to make way for Hilton's reality programme at the beginning of the year... "We're putting too much energy into junk and reality television. This show was going to be shown in January or February. But they shelved it until September to put you know what in its place? Paris Hilton's British Best Friend, which is possibly the most execrable piece of television I've ever seen in my life."
You tell 'em Charlie!

TV

Dragons' Den
7x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Brazil TV host 'ordered killings' by Gary Duffy
(from BBC News)
"Police have accused a TV presenter in Brazil of being involved in organised drug trafficking and ordering killings to get rid of rivals and boost ratings."
If it was a film you wouldn't believe it!

Kids' top searches include 'porn'
(from BBC News)
"Kids today!", eh? Or, in reality, "nothing changes."

The legend of the Witch lives on by Kev Geoghegan
(from BBC News)
A feature on the creators/directors of The Blair Witch Project, a decade on from its release. Whatever you think of it, it was undoubtedly a major event in terms of low-budget filmmaking and internet/viral marketing. The pair have barely done anything since, but it seems they have something in the pipeline... and yes, it's another Blair Witch project.

Translation appeal on video game
(from BBC News)
"A company behind a popular computer game based on Celtic mythology is appealing for Welsh speakers to help translate it. Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches is based on the medieval Welsh folk tales The Mabinogion, and has been translated into German, French and Russian. But Arberth Studios said a limited market means it cannot justify £16,500 Welsh translation costs."
Not only could you not make it up, but it's always nice to see adventure gaming making the headlines.)

TV

You Have Been Watching
1x06 (11/8/09 edition)

Articles

Bond Bombshell by Nev Pierce
(from the Empire Blog)
Empire suggest a female director for the next Bond film. More intelligently reasoned than that headline might suggest.

Facebook in challenge to Google by Maggie Shiels
(from BBC News)
It might not sound like it when you read the story, but apparently this is a Big Development.

John Hughes Documentary Picked Up by Owen Williams
(from Empire)
"Matt Austin-Sadowski's Don't You Forget About Me, a modest documentary about a road-trip in search of the reclusive John Hughes was, until last week, attracting scant attention. But the sad news of Hughes' death prompted a sudden flurry of interest in the independently produced Canadian film, and a large US distribution deal is in the offing,"
Ah Hollywood -- tactful and quick to cash in as ever.

Leterrier's dream: An Avengers epic told in four films over one summer by Geoff Boucher
(from Hero Complex at the Los Angeles Times)
An interesting interview with the Incredible Hulk director, who has some unusual ideas about what to do next at Marvel.

Films

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Only 20 behind where I should be now. (Madness!)

The Lord of the Rings Blu-ray Trailer
Oh my, it looks beautiful! I know I should hate this release -- it's theatrical cuts only, with extras confined to normal old DVDs -- but it looks so pretty that I may find it hard to resist. Maybe a rental then.
On another note, I haven't watched the films for years, and seeing what is effectively a seven-minute highlights reel from all three has just reminded me how amazing they are. It may be time for another all-day marathon...
(This trailer is available on Warner Bros.' US BD-Live service, hence the lack of a link. Sorry.)

Articles

Did We Land on the Moon? A Debunking of the Moon Hoax Theory by Robert A. Braeunig
(from Rocket & Space Technology)
This is very, very long, but is also a thoroughly comprehensive overview of why those who claim we never went to the Moon are wrong. Even if you're not interested in all the details, the opening and closing statements summarise well, and if you've ever had any specific questions about the science of the Apollo missions and Moon landings you'll likely find an answer in there.

TV

Five Minutes With
Alistair McGowan
"Celebrities and news-makers are grilled by Matthew Stadlen in exactly five minutes in a series for the BBC News website."
Sounds interesting, perhaps? And it is, in places, but McGowan looks understandably uncomfortable and Stadlen is an atrocious interviewer -- not only does he rattle on through his list of prepared questions without paying any heed to McGowan's answers (a fault too common in interviewers these days), but he frequently cuts McGowan off mid-answer, failing to notice clearly jokey responses as he motors on. He's not just too weak an interviewer to follow things up, he literally isn't listening to the answers.
Should you still want to watch this, you can do so online here.

Jam & Jerusalem
3x01 Easter / Working From Home
Jam undoubtedly still has its moments, but this episode felt distinctly over-long (it seemed clear that the episode was two half-hours spliced together) and light on laughs. Perhaps they're aiming more at Comedy-Drama than Comedy now.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

You Have Been Watching
1x05 (4/8/09 edition) [2nd watch]
Iron Chef America: "Ready Steady Cook as directed by Michael Bay." And that's why it looks amazing.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

As Seen on TV
1x04 Episode 4
I swear Sally Lindsay and Jo Joyner are the same person.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Single-Handed
1x01 Natural Justice
Irish police drama, currently showing on ITV1 in the UK.
It's quite reminiscent of the BBC's recent Wallander adaptations in tone and style (though this predates those by a year or two), which leads me to believe ITV bought it in the wake of their success, especially as its slow pace and grim beauty seem atypical of their usual output. I hope it's successful though, because on the evidence of this first film it would be good to see more.
(The series was original screened in Ireland as three two-parters in January 2007, January 2008 and April 2009, but ITV are showing them all as one series of three films.)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Articles

Review of Alien Nation by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
Ebert is always an entertaining writer. This review is 21 years old but feels like it could've been written yesterday (and that's a good thing). Though with quotes like, "Alien Nation feels like a movie made by people who have seen a lot of movies, but don't think the audience has", it automatically feels like one is reading a classic.

Review of Moon
(from Slate Scrawl)
A promising sci-fi film that perhaps doesn't quite deliver. One to catch on DVD/BD for me, especially as it's not showing round 'ere.

TV

Mock the Week
7x05 (6/8/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11
I watched the ITV edit, which apparently was cut from the original 91 minutes (without ad breaks) to just 69 minutes (again, without ads). To be honest, this was probably no bad thing.
While the drama had its moments -- and it certainly had a surprisingly starry, high-quality international cast (the lead astronauts were played by an Aussie, a Yank and a Brit, not to mention the various nationalities in the supporting roles) -- the quality was more like a drama/documentary that was short on documentary footage and voiceover narration than a fully-fledged feature-length dramatisation of what is undeniably an incredible moment in human history. With that fact being inescapable, the drama (as I said) managed a few good bits, but it was a bit disappointing overall.
See also today's Articles for a behind-the-scenes piece that's barely more interesting than the film itself, but at least answered my queries of how they filmed the weightless bits.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Articles

10 Films That Saved Their Franchise by Christopher Campbell
(from Spout Blog)
A film-related Top 10 list not from Total Film?! What is the world coming to? (It's good though.)

Behind the scenes of Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by David Bentley
(from the Geek Files at the Coventry Telegraph)
A brief piece, mainly of interest in how they faked weightlessness. It looked so poor on screen that I just thought they'd had the actors bob up and down a bit, but it appears they sadly attempted something more complicated. Wasn't worth the effort then.
See today's TV post for my thoughts on the programme itself.

Web attack blogger blames Russia by Jonathan Fildes
(from BBC News)
"A blogger who was targeted in a co-ordinated attack against websites such as Facebook and Twitter has told the BBC he blames Russia for the assault."

The Writer's Tale - New edition by Paul Hayes
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook's book The Writer's Tale is a phenomenal must-read for any Who fan or wannabe TV/film writer, but it's a shame that the "300 pages of new material" in this new edition ("detailing the conclusion of Davies's time on the programme, culminating in the final special episodes to star David Tennant") aren't in a new volume, instead forcing us to buy the book all over again for the new stuff.
On the other hand, it's not like a separate sequel would be much cheaper, so why not? (Though, from the publisher's point of view, they'd get even more sales if it were two volumes -- maybe they're trying to be fan-friendly after all.)

TV

Desperate Romantics
Part 2 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Kevin Bishop Show
2x01 Episode 1
I decided to give this ago because, a) I'd heard good things, and b) it also features Karen Gillan, the new Doctor Who companion. It's a sketch show, which these days is short hand for "at least some of it is entirely unfunny and goes on far too long", but overall it's relatively fast with some well-observed sketches (Gritty BAFTA is excellent) -- though it occasionally can't avoid the well-mined easy targets (when Top Gear itself has made jokes about how they're always on Dave it's a bit late to still be trying it on a sketch show).
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Mentalist
1x20 Red Sauce
A rather ludicrous episode... but then this is The Mentalist, so that makes it one of the best episodes. The show's really seen a return to form as the series heads towards its climax (only three more episodes to go).
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

You Have Been Watching
1x05 (4/8/09 edition)
As beautifully cutting as ever, especially about the dreadful Casualty season finale that I happened to mention the other day. Iron Chef America looks like pure genius though.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

Mad Men: So Wrong It's Right by Helen O'Hara
(from the Empire Blog)
A nice piece on what makes Mad Men so brilliant (beyond the surface niceties of "good writing, good acting", etc).

The Top 10 Ridiculous Movie Face-Off Titles by Kim Newman
(from Empire)
Make sure to read the "Kim Newman explains his choices..." sidebar too. I always miss those bits.

TV

Arena
Harold Pinter: Celebration
Concluding part of Arena's acclaimed 2002 documentary/biography of the famous playwright.
Although it's very much a Part Two, not a second programme on the same subject, a shift in focus explains why it's not just one two-hour piece: it continues the first's chronological run through Pinter's life and works, but it is less straightforwardly biographical and a little more analytical, and turns away from Pinter's inspirations and internal life to discuss his public persona and the perception of him -- ironically, this in turn perhaps reveals more about the man than the first half managed.
It's an unusual documentary -- almost self-conscious, certainly more complex than an average biography or surface analysis -- but all the better for it. Certainly, I have a greater understanding of and interest in Pinter and his works than I did before viewing.

Dragons' Den
7x04 Episode 4
Clearly they've run out of Exciting Final Pitches, at least for now.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wildest Dreams
Part 2 (of 7)
I fell asleep a couple of times during this. I blame Nick Knowles. Though, to be fair, bees and bats hold absolutely no interest for me.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Lovely Bones Trailer
This looks brilliant -- a great director, a great cast, and stunningly beautiful too. Can't wait.

Articles

How is Merlin faring in America? by Ben Rawson-Jones
(from Digital Spy)
Interesting. Well, almost.

How the euro crept into Britain by Marie Jackson
(from BBC News)
Bloody Europe.

How vital were Cold War spies? by Gordon Corera
(from BBC News)
Answer: "Quite. Well, maybe. Depending on your point of view." So, definitive then.

And one piece that doesn't begin "How"...

Radiohead: Harry Patch (In memory of)
(from Today at BBC News)
"World War I veteran Harry Patch will be buried tomorrow. The former plumber, who fought at the battle of Passchendaele in 1917, gave a memorable interview to Today in 2005. Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, was moved by the interview to write a tribute to the veteran. The song can be downloaded from the Radiohead website -- all profits will go to the Royal British Legion."
Surprising. But good.

TV

Arena
Harold Pinter: The Room
The first of a two-part documentary/biography of the famous playwright, originally screened in 2002 and recently repeated as part of a 'theme night' on BBC Four. While I can't say I've ever got on with Pinter's work, it is interesting, and this documentary is occasionally enlightening, and occasionally just as frustratingly obtuse as the man's plays.

As Seen on TV
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
13x07 (2/8/09 edition) [season finale]
I've been put off Volkswagens for life by how irritatingly humourless those two ad men were. Jeremy's car ads, however, were among the best I've ever, ever seen.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Music

Torchwood: Children of Earth - Original Television Soundtrack by Ben Foster
Tracks 26 - 40

Articles

David Twohy Talks Riddick 3 by Owen Williams
(from Empire)
Vin Diesel's super-duper keen to star, apparently, but the size of his salary is one of the biggest potential problems. About as bright as he looks then, eh?

Review of Comrades DVD by Gary Couzens
(from DVD Times)
A nice review of the BFI's new DVD, mainly for the interesting perspective and history on the film and director Bill Douglas.

TV

Elementary My Dear Viewer
Documentary examining the history of Sherlock Holmes. Nothing too revelatory, but it has its moments of interest.

The Mentalist
1x19 A Dozen Red Roses
The Mentalist takes aim at Hollywood in another particularly good episode. OK, the actual mystery plot wasn't that amazing, but that's only half the fun in a series like this.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Secret Millionaire
4x01 Kevin Morley
The true state our country is in can be really shocking. At the same time, when people like Morley do something to make a difference, it's incredibly heartwarming. Perhaps that's the charm of The Secret Millionaire: it makes you thoroughly depressed at how awful the world is for half the programme, then spends the second half building to a momentous and uplifting finale. Which I suppose is rather cynical of me, actually...
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Blu-ray UK Release Detailed by Brenden
(from the Blu-ray Blog)
It's been confirmed (elsewhere) that the UK release will contain the same extras as the US (and there are loads), but it now seems the little Cylon action figure -- available with all DVD and Blu-ray copies in the US -- will only be available here with the DVD as an online exclusive. I don't care about it being online-only -- with prices being the way they are, online is by and large the only sensible way to buy DVD/Blu-ray -- but it's very frustrating that it's only available with the DVD. Why not a Blu-ray exclusive version too, eh?

Watchmen powers Blu-ray sales, studios to favour BD releasing for selected movies by HCC News Time
(from Home Cinema Choice)
I mentioned the story of Watchmen's home video success the other day, so it's the second part of this article that's caught my attention.
"Both Paramount and Disney are giving further emphasis to Blu-ray by releasing selected titles on the format before DVD versions ship in the US. The first Paramount movie to benefit... will debut on Blu-ray September 8. The DVD edition will initially only be available for rental, eventually appearing for sale between four to eight weeks later... ‘We have been strategically evaluating new and innovative ways to maximize retail opportunities for each individual title. We believe that a DVD rental window will increase revenue in that channel and that releasing a Blu-ray exclusively for sell-through will help drive adoption of the format, so it's a win-win scenario.’"
Win-win for them, yes, but not for DVD consumers. On the other hand, as someone who's now adopted Blu-ray, I can't say I'm complaining too much.

TV

The Mentalist
1x18 Russet Potatoes
A distinctly above-average episode, which managed to avoid some of the early traps I thought it might fall into (regarding the potential uses of hypnotism). Hurrah all round!
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Secret Millionaire
3x05 Carl Hopkins
A surprisingly uplifting programme, giving a new perspective on both millionaires (not all so self-obsessed after all) and deprived areas (not all full of worthless chavs after all).
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Tim Minchin: Live
aka Tim Minchin: So F***ing Rock Live
Highly intelligent and incredibly funny, Tim Minchin is a slightly different kind of stand-up. Not just because he's both intelligent and funny -- there are plenty like that around, most notably in this case Eddie Izzard, who Minchin is pleasantly reminiscent of -- but because of the style of his act.
For one, he does lots of comic songs. Minchin is clearly a gifted musician and lyricist, which makes these a proper musical/comedy joy, not just a brief aside now and then.
For another, the actual stand-up part of his act is... awkward. Yes, it's funny, but he takes time to warm into it and offers a lot of faintly philosophical observations rather than a stream of gags or humourous stories. It makes him atypical, but certainly worth the effort with the right frame of mind.

Films

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Marking out big gaps of time for me, this film: it's over a month since I last watched a film, and it's almost two years since I saw the companion film to this.

Articles

Review of Kagemusha (1980) by Cal
(from Heroes of the East)
It's rare to ever hear a bad word written about a Kurosawa film (in fact, I'm not sure I ever have), so it makes an interesting change to see one criticised. Still, if anyone could do it and retain my respect and interest, Heroes of the East is near the top of the list.

TV

Casualty
23x48 No Fjords in Finland Part 2 [season finale]
I didn't actually watch this, I happened to see the last 10 minutes. Normally I wouldn't mention such a minor happenstance, but I felt compelled to, because my God is it dreadful! I swear it wasn't as bad when I used to watch it (probably about 15 years ago now), but then maybe I just didn't have the critical faculties to assess it. I don't want to lay the blame at everyone's door -- the directing is adequate, the performances too (I've certainly seen a lot worse on prime time TV), but the writing is appalling, each scene and line of dialogue seemingly dragged wholesale from The Big Book Of Drama Cliches. What a pile of tosh.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
2x03 Episode 3 [2nd watch]
Came across this in the same way as last week, funnily enough, but it really does stand up to repeated viewings.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Proms 2009
Prom 22 A Celebration of Classic MGM Film Musicals
Live on BBC HD, with 5.1 Surround Sound -- lovely! The story behind this prom is pretty incredible (see today's Articles post for more) and the music was suitably glorious. I'm not a great one for the Proms (as you'll've noticed by their lack of mention here before now), though I often feel I should give them more of a go, but this filmy one appealed to me and it was certainly worth it. It was a huge surprise to hear Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was performing at it, and perhaps even more surprising how right he was -- if you didn't know better you'd believe he was just a professional musicals performer.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

May starts building Lego house
(from BBC News)
Those Top Gear lads have the best ideas. I sincerely hope this is being filmed for a TV special sometime soon (I mean, it must be, surely).

Technicolor for the Ears: Reconstructing Hollywood's Musical Past by John Wilson
and
The Making of Make Believe and Programme Notes by David Benedict
(from BBC Proms - Prom 22: A Celebration of MGM Film Musicals)
Liner notes to accompany the 22nd 2009 Prom (read more about that in today's TV post).
The first piece is by the conductor, discussing the lengths he had to go to in preparing this concert -- unbelievably, all of the sheet music for MGM musicals was destroyed in 1969 -- while the second piece discusses the history of musicals more generally. Finally, the Programme Notes discuss each piece performed in more detail, though sadly (but unsurprisingly) skip the encore.
All three (and a bit more) can be read in a full digital version of the programme available here, while just the track-by-track programme notes are also available as a normal webpage here.

Watchmen Dominates Video Charts
(from WatchmenComicMovie.com)
"Watchmen shot to the top of the [US] home video sales and rental charts in its first week in stores, with 36% of the total unit sales coming from the high-definition edition. The 36% Blu-ray sales number is a record-breaking figure... The previous BD percentage record was for Quantum of Solace, released March 24, 2009, which got 28%...
Coraline snagged the No. 2 spot... A solid 18% of the cartoon's unit sales came from Blu-ray Discs, a surprisingly strong showing that indicates the format is fast moving out of the early adopter phase and into the mainstream."
Hurrah for Watchmen (follow the link for info on how it did in rental charts), but also interesting commentary on the rise of Blu-ray.

TV

Lee Mack Live
I didn't realise until about three-quarters of the way through this that I'd actually seen it before. I thought most of the jokes seemed familiar...

Top Gear
13x06 (26/7/09 edition)
Ooh, dinosaurs! I saw them live.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

You Have Been Watching
1x04 Weird TV Special
While The Jeremy Kyle Show is undeniably fowl, I think The Swan has to take the 'honours' as the worst TV programme in the history of the medium. It appears to be utterly depraved, lacking even one redeeming quality, and is enough to make you weep for the state of humanity. It's so horrendous that it is literally (as far as I'm concerned) not even funny.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

The Mentalist
1x17 Carnelian Inc.
I'm not sure if this was a really good episode or a surprisingly middling one. There were certainly too many similarities in its initial setup to an earlier episode, not to mention a good few inconsistencies when you really think about it. It can be quite nice that The Mentalist is even more lightweight than the likes of CSI, but sometimes you do wish for a bit more meat on its bones.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Mock the Week
7x04 (30/7/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

DVD / Blu-ray

DVE Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics
If you've got a Blu-ray player or are serious about high-quality home entertainment, you may well have heard of this. Essentially, it's a Blu-ray Disc (formerly available in a DVD version) that helps you calibrate your system to get the best possible quality out of it (it focuses on the image quality, but also includes audio tests and some information).

As well as tests, guides and demo materials, it also includes a 97-minute documentary on these areas. I haven't watched that, but jumped straight to the calibration bits to get my display going. I checked out some bits however -- it seems a bit dry, certainly extremely technical, and in both these respects is definitely not for everyone. Some will be interested though -- me, for example, though I'm not sure how much I could handle in one sessions!

The disc is widely available from online retailers, plus there's a dedicated and information-packed website here.

Music

Torchwood: Children of Earth - Original Television Soundtrack by Ben Foster
Tracks 1 - 25

Articles

...but is it art? by Graham Kibble-White
(from Doctor Who Magazine #411, p.24-33)
In which Proper TV Critics give their view on where Doctor Who sits in the wider world of television. Perhaps not as comprehensive as it could have been, but then it's a subject you could probably write a whole book on, so for a magazine article (and a sizable one at that) it does a fine job.

Gibbons: 'Superman needs to be reimagined' by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
""Perhaps it would be a good idea to reimagine it the way that the Batman franchise was reimagined," he said [but] stressed that he felt it would be unwise to make the next Superman dark like Christopher Nolan's reconceived Batman series. "I've always thought of Superman and Batman as yin and yang. One is dark and mysterious and the other is bright and adventurous... my personal view is that they should make it lighter, with that sense of wonder that Superman has always had. Not to make it childish or puerile but to make it something that has a bright sense of adventure and possibility.""
Couldn't agree more.

Review of The Bill Douglas Trilogy Blu-ray
and
Review of Comrades Blu-ray
by Noel Megahey (from DVD Times)
Insightful reviews on two related and widely-recommended new releases.

the Virgin Media HD rip-off... is no surprise.

After months -- perhaps even years, depending how you look at it -- of promises, Virgin Media have finally launched some HD channels today (besides BBC HD, that is).

To get HD via Virgin you have to pay a £69 installation fee and £5 a month. Actually, no -- that's only if you argue with them on the phone, because otherwise they'll charge you either £99 or £150 for that.

But still, once that's set up you get all four current HD channels, with two more announced on the way. Right?

Wrong.

You get BBC HD, and rumour has it C4HD will be free when it arrives, but for their other channels you need to take out their more-expensive XL package. Yes, despite paying £5 every month for the privilege of having an HD box, you then need to pay however-much-more to actually get most of the HD content. Incidentally, there's no mention of this on their HD info page -- it just names the available channels -- and in the 'complete' list of channel-by-package, it conveniently doesn't list any of the HD ones.

It's a rip-off, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, this is the company who insist on you taking an £11 monthly line rental for most (all? I didn't check) of their services... but don't include this £11 in the quotes slapped all over their site -- so when you sign up your monthly bill will always by £11 more than that nice low number advertised in such a big font. Yes there's a footnote to the effect of "when you take £11 line rental", but if it's always the case then why isn't it just included in the quote? To make the price look smaller, obviously.

Getting a vaguely equivalent package on Sky still works out more expensive... but, actually, not that much more -- and what you get for your extra cash is a massive load of extra HD channels and a more upfront approach to them. I don't say this as a Sky advocate, but as someone who took Virgin because they'd be cheaper and is now stuck in a long contract for a less-than-impressive service.

As you can tell, I'm not best pleased.

TV

Dragons' Den
7x03 Episode 3
Someone who goes to my Uni! Whoo!
Otherwise, not the most exciting episode.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]